The Sun Always Shines at Sundance: Musings from Woodstock Film Festival’s Executive Director, Meira Blaustein
I have been attending the Sundance Film Festival for about twenty years. Often the Academy Awards buzz gets intertwined as the Oscars nomination announcements usually occur in the midst of Sundance. With so many films and filmmakers connected to the Woodstock Film Festival both participating at Sundance and/or vying for Oscar noms, it’s no surprise that my preparation this year was all about both.
Our shorts programmer Amanda Naseem and I arrived in Park City, Utah on Friday, January 20th. We made it right in time to catch the world premiere of our beloved board member Roger Ross Williams’ feature narrative directorial debut, CASSANDRO, edited by our advisory board member Sabine Hoffman. And wow, what a tour de force!
I usually try not to predict what I wish will happen in fear that it may jinx it, but I feel quite confident in this case that I can say Gael Garcia Bernal will be nominated for an Oscar in 2024, so mark my words! Speaking of jinxing, just days before we left for Sundance, The Woodstock Film Festival screened the short doc THE MARTHA MITCHELL EFFECT, and I told the filmmakers who were present for the Q&A that they were going to the Oscars. I was confident enough and not worried about jinxing anything then, and I was right! The film was nominated!
But back to Sundance. The days become a blur when you are in Park City as there is always so much going on all at once, plans often go out the window, and you end up doing what you have not planned on before.
WFF DINNER
Soon upon arrival, we hosted a lovely dinner for some of the attending Woodstock Film Festival friends and colleagues who made the pilgrimage to Sundance from all corners of the country. During this very busy time in Park City where everyone has to get to too many things at the same time, it was great to enjoy a couple of hours of intimate and friendly conversation amongst colleagues and friends over good food and drinks.
Thanks to all who took time from their busy schedule to join us. Please join us again next January when we host a much larger event in Sundance to celebrate our 25th year! I’m already checking out spots and looking forward to that one!
BACK TO THE MOVIES
I was happy to see our good friend and alumni filmmaker Ira Sachs at the premiere of his new film PASSAGES, which boasts an all-star European cast in a steamy and complex film set in Paris, France. The film was just acquired by MUBI, so you will be able to see it at some point. I highly recommend it.
Another highlight was the film FAIR PLAY, an intense and, yes, another steamy film set in the high-stakes Wall Street finance world, which was soon acquired by Netflix for the bargain price of (drum roll) twenty million dollars! So you will be able to see this one soon, too.
A film I unfortunately missed but need to catch soon is THEATER CAMP (winner, U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award, Ensemble), shot in Upstate New York. I was planning on attending a screening, but other things pulled me away, as it goes. It was acquired by our friends at Searchlight, which means it will be in theaters at some point.
Another film that I should probably note is BAD BEHAVIOUR, where Jennifer Connelly, who attended the Woodstock Film Festival back in 2014 with Natalie Portman and Darren Aronofsky, gave an amazing raw performance, the likes of which you have not seen from her yet. Definitely a recommendation.
On the documentary side, the film FOOD & COUNTRY, produced by Woodstock Film Festival alumni and partially shot in Upstate New York, is one of the many films I would like to bring to the Woodstock Film Festival, either during the fall event or at one of our many year-round special screenings. The film is all about farming and the broken agricultural system in our country, anchored by the renowned food critic Ruth Reichl.
And let's not forget the special documentary THE TUBA THIEVES, filmed partly at Woodstock’s own Maverick Concert Hall and produced by our good friend Wendy Ettinger. This beautiful, poetic, and conceptual film about sound, deafness, and connectivity was a treat to behold.
The surprise world premiere screening of Doug Liman’s Brett Kavanaugh investigative documentary had people talking just before Sundance (it was literally announced the day before Sundance started), and after watching it (it screened only twice, once for the public, other times for press & industry). I was one of the few who actually got to see it, and I am curious to see what impact, if anything, it will have.
THE PARTIES
Of course, there is no Sundance without the endless amount of parties. I feel like I significantly cut down this year on the number of parties that I attended (the lingering Covid kept on looming over my head), but still, there were so many. I’m not quite sure which ones were my favorites; perhaps it was the Kentucky party hosted by our good friend and producer extraordinaire, Gill Holland. I ran into many colleagues and friends there and had to try some of that famous Kentucky Bourbon– it wasn't bad! Or the Impact Partners party, co-hosted by our friend Geralyn White Dreyfus, where so many of the documentary filmmakers who were nominated for an Oscar were in attendance. Or the BMI party, where I reunited with my friend Tracy McKnight, a great music supervisor who just started her new position at BMI that day, replacing the one and only Doreen Ringer Ross as the new Vice President of Creative, Film, TV & Visual Media. Wishing you lots of luck, Tracy, and I hope you bring BMI back to Woodstock. We have been missing it.
THE VIBE
It was our first time back to a full-blown, in-person Sundance following Covid years, and despite the particularly cold weather (5-20 degrees Fahrenheit, daily), Park City was overflowing with attendees from all over the country and the world, all excited to be back, to see the world premieres of many amazing and highly anticipated movies, and to reconnect with friends and colleagues. Some people go to Sundance JUST to have meetings, as everyone from the film world is there. Others go to Sundance to soak in the atmosphere and see world premieres of exciting new films. Many are there to show their films, buy new films, promote new films, and some are there to have fun. I was there to scout new films for Woodstock, see and reconnect with colleagues from all over the country, and promote the Woodstock Film Festival to the universal filmmaking community.
FINAL THOUGHTS
As we head back to the Salt Lake City airport early morning of Thursday, January 26th, I think back to what inspired me at Sundance: the festival’s beautiful tribute trailer to the first nation’s land Sundance is on; the many panel conversations about the future of our world; the countless surprise and breakout talents that were discovered; and the numerous films, some connected to us, that stayed with me long after their last frame.
Sundance is a place of discovery, inspiration, and connection, and this year it certainly afforded all of that, yet again.
Sundance Films and Projects with Connection to The Woodstock Film Festival
A THOUSAND AND ONE, edited by advisory board member Sabine Hoffman (winner, U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic)
CASSANDRO, edited by advisory board member Sabine Hoffman, directed by Roger Ross Williams, produced by advisory board member Ted Hope and alum Julie Goldman
GOING VARSITY IN MARIACHI, executive produced by alum Geralyn White Dreyfus
ITS ONLY LIFE AFTER ALL, executive produced by alum Geralyn White Dreyfus
LITTLE RICHARD: I AM EVERYTHING, directed by alum Lisa Cortes (acquired at Sundance by Magnolia Pictures)
INVISIBLE BEAUTY, produced by alum Lisa Cortes
VICTIM/SUSPECT, produced by alum Julie Goldman
DEEP RISING, executive produced by alum and sponsor Shari Sant
EILEEN, executive produced by alum Jamin O’Brien
JUDY BLUME FOREVER, executive produced by alum Sara Bernstein
PASSAGES, directed by alum Ira Sachs (acquired at Sundance by MUBI)
THE ETERNAL MEMORY, produced by alumni Julie Goldman and Christopher Clements (acquired at Sundance by MTV Documentary Films. Winner, World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Documentary)
KOKOMO CITY, produced by alum Harris Doran (acquired at Sundance by Magnolia Pictures. Winner, Audience Award: NEXT and NEXT Innovator Award presented by Adobe)