Sundance Shorts: Part One

January 21st, 2010

Let me begin by telling you my dilemma.

Not too long ago, I was contacted by the press office at Sundance, asking if I could cover the shorts in the festival. I thought this was a great idea, except that I would be nowhere near Park City, Utah during the final weeks of January.

I arranged press credentials for a partner of mine out of Los Angeles so that he would go on my behalf, but some critical factors didn’t work out favorably, and now we’re not sure if he’ll be able to make it to the festival at all.

In the meantime, I’ve been contacted by others, e.g. someone from the National Film Board of Canada, requesting interviews with filmmakers they represent.

So, if you are at the festival, and are blogging, vlogging, tweeting or otherwise documenting the goings-on, and ESPECIALLY if you have press credentials, PLEASE let me hear from you. Let’s collaborate.

In the meantime, if my contact manages to make it after all, bonus.

That said, I’d like to draw your attention to an article by Daniel Fienberg that takes a look at what screened yesterday at the festival. Below is an excerpt:

Shorts Program I was chosen as part of Sundance’s opening night slate because it represents the many sides of the Festival’s shorts slate. It includes an American narrative short (“I’m Here”), an American doc short (“The Fence”), an international animated short (“Logorama”) and an international narrative short (“Seeds of the Fall”). The official Sundance guide tries to make the argument that the films in Program I are unified by the theme of love. That’s ridiculous. They’re mostly unified by the aforementioned diversity and being among the longest shorts on that side of the Sundance lineup.

He then gives a brief commentary on each short film. Read it yourself!

I know that there was a lot of buzz around “I’m Here” from Spike Jonze (Where the Wild Things Are, Adaptation, Being John Malkovich) and I personally was intrigued by the trailer for Logorama, though the description in Daniel’s article led me to believe that I wouldn’t have liked it after all. What do you think?

Here are a couple highlights to look for today (if you are present, if not, just enjoy it here).

Le Petit Dragon (The Little Dragon)

My Mom Smokes Weed

Every day is pretty packed, but if you missed a screening on one day, there’s a good chance you can catch it again.

Be sure to check back here for more updates as the festival goes on, and don’t forget to contact me about covering the rest of the festival. We’ll have fun, I promise.