The space is not as convoluted as, say, that of the computer matrix in which William Gibson’s protagonist, Case, found himself in the classic sci-fi noir “Neuromancer.” But if one were to share a few “chops” with that quite adept “interface cowboy,” it wouldn’t hurt their chances of emerging with a satisfied smirk from this year’s newly-enhanced online Sundance Festival Film Guide.
Actually, the guide to selected films and assorted other events attendant to the “SundanceTwentyTen” festival appears at the outset to be rather user-friendly. There is none of that hour-long downloading that has seemingly been the norm for us Pleistocene dial-up cyberspastic types in the past.
This year, the guide’s heavy lifting has been handed over to Sundance’s “technology partner,” a film-buff bunch called “b-side,” and, so far anyway, the browsing experience has proven relatively smooth. You gotta love an outfit that quotes Billy Wilder on its webpage: “An audience is never wrong. An individual member of it may be an imbecile, but a thousand imbeciles together in the dark — that is critical genius.”
For instance, accessing “NEXT,” the festival’s new category of “films selected for their innovative and original work in low- and no-budget filmmaking,” went without a hitch. In what is obviously an attempt to reinvigorate its earlier function as one of filmdom’s primary resources for the cutting edge, Sundance is providing specific space for grassroots cinema reflective of today’s light-tackle media.
When I did run into a dilemma with the online guide, it almost always resolved itself before I finished reading the “problem” alert, as was the case when navigating to and through the “Spotlight” section. This is sort of a grouping of films that Sundance selectors saw in their travels along with new out-of-competition films that they felt warranted inclusion.
One of the first sub-genres I would always head to after logging onto the festival guide in the past was “Native Forum.” The wonderful success of indigenous filmmakers over the years, however, provided the gratifying result of the category being eliminated as a separate entity.
This well-deserved inclusion into the official program just makes those of us who still wish to sort out the current crop of “Smoke Signals,” “The Business of Fancy Dancing,” “Barking Water,” “Trudell,” and “Miss Navajo” be more attentive while scrolling through the offerings.
It’s somewhat the same with Mexican films, another longtime favorite from among the classic Latin American cinema’s entries over the years. From “El Coronel no tiene quien le escriba” (Nobody Writes to the Colonel), which walked off with the Grand Jury Prize for Latin American Cinema at the 2000 Festival, to — although it screened in the U.S. Dramatic category –“Sin Nombre” from last year, I’ve remained quite smitten with south-of-the-border film fare.
Screening this year as part of the “Premiers” category is longtime Sundance regular Diego Luna’s debut effort, “Abel.” Luna, who along with co-stars Gael Garcia Bernal and Maribel Verdu completely captivated cinema buffs everywhere with the in-your-face-charming coming-of-age story “Y tu mamá también” back in 2002, seems to show up almost annually at Sundance as either a competition judge or an executive producer or, as is the case this year, a filmmaker.
At deadline, it was still a bit early to get actual performer schedules from the Sundance ASCAP Music Café page but it should be up and running shortly. The jewel of the festival to many, the Music Café has showcased the likes of Nickel Creek, Rodney Crowell, Patti Smith, Emmylou Harris, Guy Clark, Daniel Lanois, Buddy Miller, Mary Gauthier, Donovan, The Swell Season, Rufus Wainwright, Johnny Lang, Tim O’Brien, Silversun Pickups, Kings of Leon, John Hiatt, Joe Jackson, and Patty Griffin over the years.
By far, at least until you can procure a hard copy of the 2010 Sundance Festival Film Guide, the easiest method of negotiating your way through the 112 feature films from 39 countries is by logging onto the online version via the festival website and just taking your time discovering whatever turns your celluloid crank.
More than a few have caught my eye including the Argentine film “Sins of My Father” from the World Cinema Documentary category, which takes a look at the life and times of Columbian drug kingpin Pablo Escobar through the eyes of his son and one in “Spotlight,” which looks into the Mormon hierarchy’s involvement with California’s Proposition 8.
Check out the online Film Guide. But be careful, you may fall in!
Jay Meehan is a culture junkie and a free-lance writer with a background in commercial and community radio, among other pursuits. He has been a columnist and feature writer for various Park City publications going back to 1973.