Friday, January 18, 2013

Sundance: Day One

Day One at Sundance was incredibly unforgettable and surreal! I can't believe that I'm finally here and I think how tired I am can attest to my full exhaust. Once we arrived, I immediately left for the Eccles Theatre so that my friend and I could wait in the waitlist line. We were about 15th in line- not counting the 5 people who ended up cutting in front of us- and finally 22nd. We got in line at 3:30 and finally heard that the first 25 people were being admitted to the screening of May In The Summer. I COULDN'T BELIEVE I ACTUALLY MADE IT IN TO TO THE FIRST SCREENING!!!

Cherien Dabis, the director, opened the film- and in turn the entire festival- with a quote that her mother once said to her: "This is Sunny Dance." And what an introduction to my first Sundance film ever! It was a beautiful film with so many real-world conflicts: parent/child relationships, May at a crossroads in her life in many respects (leading to the overall Sundance theme of arrows and moving forward), and acceptance in religion, sexuality, age, and gender roles & rights.

Also, random celebrity appearance goes to...Bill Pullman!

Afterwards, Cherien explained parts of her filmmaking process, leading to her "speaking star" in casting herself as the lead. She believed in herself and the film, allowing it the chance to flourish with endless positive energy.

Overall, I give the film a 3.5/5. I definitely still want to see her directorial debut, Amreeka.

We've basically been planning all day for tomorrow which is definitely going to be an even more exhaustive day, let alone the 3 or 4 films I plan to see. 3:55am wakeup call, here I come...

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