Sundance Days 5 & 6: Then We Came To The End

It’s hard to believe that our time here at Sundance is almost over. I’ll get all sentimental whenever we actually leave, though, because there’s no room for that right now. I have too much to catch you guys up on.

Yesterday, I decided to take a break from Sundancing and check out the Slamdance Film Festival - Sundance’s younger, defiant brother, which takes place in Park City at the exact same time. A friend of mine from Cannes had a short film that she executive produced in competition, so I checked it out along with a few others:

• The Good Person, a Japanese short about mistaken identity and gorillas, was delightfully strange and uproariously funny, thanks to the over-the-top performances by all of the actors involved and the sharp writing.
• 33 Teeth, my friend Kelsey’s film, was a tight little comedy about a boy’s crush on his next-door neighbor. Also, it was set in Austin, which only ups the awesomeness levels.
• I’m Coming Over - my favorite of the block - was a hilarious story about an unconventional “holistic happiness” instructor who eschews modern technology for simpler pleasures and spreads his enlightened knowledge to those in need.
• Blind Deaf was the only disappointment of the four shorts. A British drama about a blind deaf woman who has a guardian angel of sorts living in her house without her knowledge, it was awkward, paced too slowly, and seemed incredibly out of place with the comedies that had already been screened

I also got to interview Jake Schreier, the director of Robot and Frank and a Sundance first-timer. He was very humble, great to meet, and filled with insight on being a first-time feature director. We’ll post the video when we’re back in Elon.

This morning, I saw my last screening of the festival: Smashed, a dramedy starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Aaron Paul as married alcoholics. When Winstead’s character Kate decides to get sober, her life begins to shift in ways she didn’t expect. Director and co-writer James Ponsoldt, a Sundance veteran, crafts an incredibly moving film about the struggles of addiction without ever letting it devolve into mindless melodrama, while keeping plenty of humor in the process as Kate works through overcoming her alcoholism. It was moving, hilarious, and far and away one of my favorites of the festival.

All I have left now is an interview with the cast of Goats and a final volunteer shift, and then I’m on a plane back to Elon. Weird.