Sundance kicks off
January 17, 2003 5:39 AM   Subscribe

The 2003 Sundance Film Festival kicked off last night in Park City, Utah, surrounded by alt-fests and alt-alt-fests as indie film steps center stage. But you don't have to be there to feel like you are, you can gourge on indie coverage or biz news from the trades, aggregated news from major portals or speciality broadcasters ... or just browse through all the pretty pictures.
posted by bclark (6 comments total)
 
You know this isn't really a place to sell your own products, people tend to frown upon that type of behavior around here.

Besides that, what is "indie" supposed to mean anyway, isn't it just a term that is thrown out in the entertainment industry to try to sell big hollywood schlock to angst filled "gen-xers" that hate big hollywood schlock?
posted by Pollomacho at 6:52 AM on January 17, 2003


Actually didn't mean to sell my own service at all, more that the mini-bookmarks I had assembled to keep track of the Festival seemed like they be of interest to the Metafilter community at large. For the record, though, a website I work with was among the links in that pile, even though it wasn't the point of the post (and wasn't the main link.) I've been around long enough to try and toe the line.

But what "indie" means is a good question -- a constant debate among any of the arts fortunate enough to have a community outside the corporate world. I personally prefer the phrase "Indiewood" to describe the kind of "hollywood schlock" you're describing, Pollomacho ... the biz term would be "speciality films."

However, places like Sundance (or Slamdance, or No Dance, or SchmoozeDANCE) are still crawling with first-time filmmakers giddy with the excitement of showing their labor of love to their first real audiences. Even if you have to look past the extra sponsor logos here and there to notice them.
posted by bclark at 7:03 AM on January 17, 2003


Surely someone is blogging the festival, with pictures?

A local columnist recently referred to Robert Redford as "a leathery midget." It was the funniest, most blasphemous thing I had read in a long time.
posted by mecran01 at 7:44 AM on January 17, 2003


However, places like Sundance (or Slamdance, or No Dance, or SchmoozeDANCE) are still crawling with first-time filmmakers giddy with the excitement of showing their labor of love to their first real audiences.

Agreed. As a Utah local who volunteers the festival whenever she gets the chance, it's really nice to see the filmmakers so happy about showing their films. Sure, you get the usual PIBs (People in Black, as the local media types call them), but I remember when "Urbania" premiered at the fest a couple years back, the producers, editors and others involved with the film would excitedly talk your ear off about it -- it was exciting just seeing them so revved up. It was very genuine.
posted by pfafflin at 9:10 AM on January 17, 2003


Slightly off topic:

I love Park City. If I was rich enough, I would move to there in a minute.
posted by Blubble at 10:59 AM on January 17, 2003


what is "indie" supposed to mean anyway

It's just like "alternative" but with movies instead of music.
posted by timeistight at 2:00 PM on January 17, 2003


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