JCM at Sundance 2019

The Department of Journalism and Creative Media at the University of Alabama took 15 students to the Sundance Film Festival as part of a semester long course called "Film Festivals and Independent Cinema: Theory and Praxis." This blog serves as a fun travelogue of our individual experiences collectively.

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The Last Thing I Wanted Was The Last Thing He Wanted To Be So Bad

One of the films that had a substantial amount of buzz heading into the festival was Netflix’s release of Dee Rees’ film, The Last Thing He Wanted. The film had been scheduled for release in 2019, but had been held by Netflix and subsequently added to the 2020 Sundance Film Festival lineup. Expectations for the film were high following Dee Rees’ incredible success with her last Sundance foray, Mudbound. The film sold to Netflix for 12.5 million dollars and went on to earn 4 Academy Award nominations in 2017. Needless to say, Rees’ follow-up film was expected to do big things, especially considering The Last Thing He Wanted boasted a stellar cast that included Anne Hathaway, Willem Dafoe, and Rosie Perez. However, upon premiering at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, The Last Thing He Wanted was met with vicious reviews from critics and mediocre notices from its confused and disappointed Sundance audience. The film currently sits at 9% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

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Netflix + Sundance = A No From the Audience

One thing I noticed while talking with people throughout the festival was the lack of interest in films that were brought to the festival from streaming platforms, especially Netflix. Films like Miss Americana and Horse Girlwere all seemingly looked down upon by the festival goers I talked with because everyone knew these films would be available to the public in just a few days or weeks. Although it was unsaid, there seemed to be a distaste for films that everyone would be able to experience soon. It was almost as if most festival goers only cared about the films that felt special because only those attending Sundance would be able to see them for awhile.

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Nepotism & Sundance

Sundance has a very particular brand when it comes to the films it selects for its main lineup. While there, I noticed that there were two very particular types of films that played at the festival. Firstly, there were a lot of films that were follow-up films from artists who Sundance helped launch. The curation of such films as The Last Thing He Wanted from Dee Rees (her follow up to Mudbound and Pariah, both of which previously played at Sundance) and The Nest from Sean Durkin (his follow-up to Martha Marcy May Marlenea film that launched Durkin at Sundance almost ten-years ago), all speak to the insulated and nepotistic attitude Sundance has towards filmmakers they feel as though they discovered and launched.

Secondly, and similar to the first note, the rest of the films in the lineup seemed to be selected as a way to find “the next big thing”. Much of this year’s lineup felt like a big net cast out into the sea of emerging talent, hoping to find the next artist that Sundance could claim as an auteur they helped the world discover. Films like Zola, Nine Days, and Minari all seem to fit this brand and Sundance’s model of self-curated sustainability.

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The “Karen” culture of Sundance

My experience with Sundance culture took a hard left turn on Wednesday night. Upon arriving at the festival, I felt as though the people I encountered were very gracious and welcoming. Each person I spoke with or saw was very polite and gracious; everyone seemed to exhibit an attitude that said “We’re all in this together”, even when lines were backed up or waitlists were cut short. However, on Wednesday night, I stood in line with several other people to see a late screening of Sylvie’s Love.Most of the people who were in line with me were elderly white couples who had taken the time to jaunt out to the Redstone Theatre to see the film. Watching the people around me interact with the Sundance volunteers was a distasteful experience to say the least. An air of entitlement and self-importance pervaded the waitlist line and the ticket line. Individuals who showed up late for the waitlist line and were told they could not enter began to cuss out volunteers and “demand to see the manager”. It was all very eye-opening to the sort of festival goer that feels as though the festival is there for them and them alone. Since that encounter on Wednesday, I picked up on a similar attitude among many other festival goers throughout the week. It seems as though the culture of Sundance curated by festival goers can, at times, be one of privilege and self importance.

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Underdog: Minari

While at the festival, one of the films that I noticed had very little hype or word-of-mouth- surrounding it was Minari. The Lee Isaac Chung film about a young South Korean family who move from California to Arkansas played very well to its audience during the Tuesday afternoon screening I went to. However, as I talked with people throughout the course of the festival, it seemed that most people had not seen, or even heard of the film. In hindsight of the festival, I find the lack of buzz very interesting considering Minari won both the Sundance Grand Jury Prize and the Sundance Audience Award.

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The Glorias Sells to Roadside and LD Entertainment

According to Deadline Hollywood, the Gloria Steinem biopic, The Glorias, has sold to Roadside Attractions and LD Entertainment for an undisclosed sum. It seems as though the studios will be positioning the film for a late Fall 2020 release. My guess is that they are trying to replicate their recent Awards Season success with a similar release strategy to that of their 2019 release, Judy. The Glorias, which stars Julianne Moore and Alicia Vikander as differing ages of Gloria Steinem, is directed by Julie Taymor, a female director who’s films, fun fact, have all been nominated in the Academy Award category for Best Achievement in Costume Design. 

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New Frontier - The Industry of Sundance

I do believe that New Frontier has a place at Sundance, but the programming of the event could be a little bit more strict. It is important to explore the future of film viewing, and different mediums of experiencing media, but not at the cost of the viewer’s enjoyment. I witnessed a “Machine for Viewing,” which utilized virtual reality to explore a new mode of viewing films. A comedy of technical difficulties mixed with flat and bland storytelling made the virtual reality concept unnecessary. The experience talked about the potential of VR, but still placed the subject in a virtual theatre watching a virtual screen, failing to see the irony of everyone sitting in a real theatre. If anything, the experience managed to cement my belief that while VR is an entertaining media, film and the film experience still belong on the silver screen. 

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The Business of Sundance - The Streaming Effect

Streaming platforms scouting for Sundance films is a genius tactic to snag films, that might not do so well in a theatric release. I do believe that when a streaming service brings a film to premiere, with a release day already set, it jeopardizes the success of the film at the festival. For example, Sundance purchasing “His House,” right before the festival, but not having a release date had an intriguing lure to it, to see what Netflix saw in this film that they bought it before its premiere. On the other side of the coin, Netflix bringing Miss Americana jeopardized its success. What I heard in every waitlist line and shuttle was “it’s coming to Netflix this weekend so I won’t waste a ticket on it.” It seems almost unnecessary to create a buzz for a movie, by taking a slot from a film that might still be seeking distribution. 

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The Hit or Miss - His House

I normally don’t go anywhere near horror movies, especially with a paranormal presence. “His House” offers more than just jump scares, as the intriguing story of two refugees trying to assimilate in London outweighs my hatred for anything scary. It is not common that a plot and mystery can be so well rounded that I am willing to put aside my fear for ghosts in order to fully understand these fully fleshed out characters, and their motivations. The set design and cinematography was some of the best I had seen at Sundance, and the half of the film I didn’t close my eyes was the best experience I had all week. 

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The Business Side of Sundance

While attending the festival I was surrounded by quite a bit of opinionated people, and some had a little bit of knowledge on what was going on in the business world of the film festival. While attending the festival I befriended a student from Utah State named Collin. While Collin, Emma, and I were eating lunch Collin mentioned that one of the biggest deals in Sundance History took place this year. He said that Palm Springs was bought by Hulu for 17 million dollars and 69 cents. I laughed and said “why does that sound fake?” He said it was because the previous record holder, Searchlight bought Birth of a Nation for 17 million, so I guess Hulu just wanted to be petty, who knows. I looked it up later and I think the final number ended up being 22 million. Good for Palm Springs. 

I also noticed a lot of people steered clear of the films that were already known to have a deal lined up. They actually did more than steer clear, they seemed quite repulsed at the idea of even watching anything of the sort. It was funny because I kind of felt the same way. I wanted to watch things that no one else would see unless they were here. I guess we all just want to feel like we’re apart of something exclusive and special. Then again I would have loved to see Palm Springs. I didn’t get to watch anything comical while I was there this time.

There seemed to be a lot of hype for some of the films there this year. Bad Hair, Minari, Run Sweetheart Run, Impetigor, Miss Americana, Zola, and Nine days staring Winston Duke and Zazie Beetz.

There are always the underdogs no matter where you go. I saw some ood shorts, and some good dramas but I think my heart is invested into documentaries. So the underdog award from me goes to Time. No one really talked about it. I felt like I was watching a hidden gem. I almost went to a different film instead of that one but I am so glad I went to see it. It was so beautifully done and Garrett Bradley, the Director of the Film won the award for best directing in the U.S. documetary category. She did a fantastic job! I am so glad I got the chance to connect with her and get a picture! Truly inspiring 

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The Industry of Sundance - Common Traits

After watching the first couple of films, it is not hard to see what kind of films Sundance is looking for, and who the festival is trying to represent. The Sundance film festival has a large interest in making sure all stories are told. Representation is a large focus of the Sundance message, and that becomes clear through the films they program. The most obvious sign of this message coming through was with the film, “His House,” while it seemed like a simple horror film, the representation and importance of telling the story of refugees must’ve played a large part in the film being programmed.

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Culture of Sundance - Hierarchy of Sundance

By far one of the most appealing aspects of Sundance culture was the lack of an obvious hierarchy between ticket holders, pass holders, and even celebrities. There wasn’t a single experience I had that made me feel less important than anyone else at the festival and save Minari, I made it into every single screening I tried to get into. Sundance does a fantastic job of throwing everyone into the midst of the action, and I was able to meet celebrities, attend events, so I can’t imagine how the perks of being a pass holder could justify the price jump.

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Buzzkills - The Last Thing He Wanted

The last thing I wanted was for “The Last Thing He Wanted” to be the last thing I wanted out of the newest Dee Rees’ geo-political thriller with a star-studded cast. With the feature being the first film I saw at Sundance, after a successful waitlist, I had high hopes and was excited to see the chemistry between Anne Hathaway, Willem Dafoe, and Ben Affleck. The film quickly lost my attention with its confusing plot, and oddly paced action sequences. Most of the big name actors have minimal screen time, save Anne Hathaway, and the performances made me believe that no one was happy to be working on that set. 

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The Business of Sundance      “The Streaming Effect”

Going into this experience I did not believe that “the streaming effect” would truly occur. However, to my surprise, the movies that had been already picked up by streaming platforms were only as packed as a bag of Lays chip – nothing but air to be found in those theaters. Tickets were being given out on the streets like flyers, making it clear that they were just trying to get seats filled. I did not personally see any of the films at Sundance that have been already picked up by streaming platforms like Netflix or Hulu. However, in the time that I have been home since Sundance, I have already watched two of the films that “premiered” at Sundance while sitting comfortably on my couch, without any worry of getting to the theater early for the waitlist. I absolutely believe that “the streaming effect” is completely real.

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The Business of Sundance           “The Biggest Buzz”

In the first few days of my experience at Sundance, Saturday and Sunday, I heard so much about the movie Promising Young Women. I would even claim it to be the talk of the town, as the excitement from all patrons could be heard even just walking around. I heard one person even predict it to be the movie of the year. On the night of the premier, I did not have a ticket to be able to get into the showing. However, I was lucky enough to be gifted a ticket at the last minute. I am so grateful to have received that ticket because the movie really did live up to the hype. It was a gripping thriller – keeping me constantly at the edge of my seat. I was truly enthralled, even catching myself thinking, “Wow, really?” and “You fool!” as the characters did some unthinkable actions. Overall, I would say that Promising Young Women deserves the excitement it has received and more.

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The Culture of Sundance - “The Hierarchy”

The cultural hierarchy of Sundance, while there definitely is one, is far more nebulous of a thing than anyone attending lets it on to be. If I had to put it into simplest terms, the two types of people present at the festival could be described as the typical “haves and have-nots”. Rather, there are those that are already (to intensely varying degrees) a part of the film industry, and there are those that are desperately trying to work their way into it. Now this whole dynamic becomes a bit muddled when you actually stop and talk with those that are supposedly “in the biz”. Almost anyone you talk to will identify themselves as a filmmaker, producer, or actor, even if their name-tag says “volunteer” or “parking lot attendant”. This is, of course, because everyone there is trying to sell themselves in some way. The obvious dividing factor, though, what makes the majority of us have-nots, is that there are actually people who have films premiering in the festival, which makes all other filmmakers immediately and subconsciously fall out of the “career category”. Even still, among those that are actually working on and promoting their films, there’s still a big difference between the up and coming filmmakers and the celebrities that often times star in their films. Given a choice between the two, the have-nots will without question flock towards the Josh Brolins and Zazie Beats walking down the sidewalk instead. But then again, everyone looks famous at Sundance. 

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The Future of Film

As the beginning of film festival season, Sundance has long been heralded as shaping the course of American cinema throughout the year. But Sundance is bigger than that. Sundance is not only influencing cinema throughout 2020, it is influencing the future of entertainment for the foreseeable future. Sundance’s “New Frontier” has been a showcase of Virtual and Augmented Reality for several years now. I was fortunate enough to partake in several of the New Frontier exhibits, including Spaced Out, an underwater VR exhibit. While Virtual Reality has a long way to go before it can be seen as a cheap, viable, entertainment option, The New Frontier demonstrated that this is the likely future of film. Since the beginning of entertainment, people have strived for more convenient and more interactive entertainment. Theater evolved into radio and film, and then the advent of the television changed the course of entertainment once again. The logical next step, is for virtual reality to move to the forefront of entertainment and Sundance is leading this revolution by showcasing the best, most immersive experiences that VR has to offer.