Among this year’s Sundance films, 53 are from first-time directors and it is a safe bet that a bunch of these directors harbor the same secret fantasy – to win accolades from peers and audiences at one of the world’s premier festivals, to be able to say their film made a difference in the social landscape and, in the process, go from a debt-ridden indie artist to a hot commodity among Hollywood powerbrokers overnight.
Isn’t that a bit much, you ask?
It happened to Morgan Spurlock, they reply.
In 2004 Morgan Spurlock stole the show at the Sundance Film Festival and became somewhat of a legend among his peers. His documentary, “Supersize Me,” established him as nemesis of the fast-food industry and at the same time launched his filmmaking career. He readily admits, “It is a festival that completely changed my whole life.”
Spurlock is returning this year with another documentary but the circumstances are quite different. His documentary, “Where in the World is Osama bin Laden,” is not in competition; in fact it has already been sold and will be released this spring.
Nevertheless, he is thrilled that his film was accepted into this year’s festival.
“It is a blessing. For me to go back is really special,” he in a telephone interview from his home in New York City.
This time around, Spurlock says he is intent on having fun. In addition to his snowboard Spurlock has ordered a fistful of film tickets.
“I am actually going to go see films.”
Last month, after learning that “Osama” had been chosen to screen in the Spectrum Documentary Spotlight category, Spurlock attended a Sundance orientation for filmmakers who had been accepted for the ’08 festival. To those who asked for advice, he said, “Enjoy yourself, meet as many filmmakers as you can, go to every mixer and event you can. It is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
And if you can scrape together enough money for a publicist and someone to help sell your movie, do it. “You want to assemble the best team possible. Sundance is overwhelming.”
However, while he was more than happy to effuse about Sundance, Spurlock was stingy with details about his new film.
“I’d like people to see it clean, to experience it for themselves.”
Obviously, he wouldn’t comment on whether he and his film crew actually find bin Laden.
He would say, though, that the film benefited from a bigger budget than “Supersize Me.” With financing from Wild Bunch, a French film distribution company, he was able to travel around the world. According to the Sundance film catalog, scenes were filmed in Egypt, Morocco, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
“It was shot all in high def with a Sony 900 camera. The pictures are beautiful.”
He adds that it is also a very personal film. Now that he is a father, Spurlock said part of the motivation for the project was to ask “what kind of world am I bringing my child into?”
Other clues about the film might be found in Spurlock’s FX TV series, “30 Days” in which he spends a month trying on a different lifestyle. For one segment he and his wife live on a minimum-wage salary for 30 days; in another Spurlock works as a coal miner in West Virginia and in another he spends 30 days in a minimum-security prison.
“I like to immerse myself in a topic, give you a play-by-play of my personal experience so you, the viewer, are living vicariously through what I feel and what I think and what is happening to me.”
So, perhaps, the film is more about searching for bin Laden than finding him. Either way, Spurlock is bound to deliver an adventure.
Where in the World is Osama bin Laden will screen: Monday, Jan. 21, 8:30 p.m., Library Center Theatre, Park City Wednesday, Jan. 23, Midnight, Holiday Village Cinema IV, Park City Thursday, Jan. 24, 6:30 p.m., Redstone Cinemas, Kimball Junction Fridya, Jan. 25, 10:30 p.m., Broadway Centre Cinemas VI, SLC Saturday, Jan. 26, 8:30 p.m., Library Center Theatre, Park City