the sundance blog

Sounds, Starts and Padres

A roundup of some the last few days' NYC film premieres at Sundance

Shocking Footage! Filmmaker Kills Reeler

Stuart meets Miller, hears Jennings before snapping on last night in Park City

also:

Kampmeier's Lowdown Hounddog Ad Copy Blues

Filmmaker misspells, malaprops and exploits her way to a free Volkswagen

Screening Park City: Manohla Keeps it Real

Also: Coming Soon reporter sets rookie record for festival coverage, Sienna Miller empties tear ducts into 500-thread-count Kleenex

Glass Reflects on Televised Life

Iconic NPR host describes adapting his radio institution to Showtime

read the blog

from nyc to park city

New York stories from this year's Sundance Film Festival

Rob Meyer, Aquarium

"I sort of started from scratch in terms of learning how to write a screenplay or cast. I learned by doing."

Lisa F. Jackson, The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo

"10 Darfurs have happened in the Congo in the last 10 years. Four million people have died. It's unimaginable."

Azazel Jacobs, Momma's Man

"I wanted to figure out a way to hold on to some things that I knew I wouldn't be able to hold on to in the future."

Signe Baumane, Teat Beat of Sex

"The episodes are a take on sex from a woman's point of view. Do you know why women need panties?"

Alex Rivera Sleep Dealer

"This film really ought not exist. It's science fiction spoken in Spanish; the hero is a futuristic migrant worker."

Ari Gold, Adventures of Power

"It's about a person who wishes he had drums discovering the drums within himself. It's a spiritual story."

Boaz Yakin, Death in Love

"It's really about the cycles and the psychological patterns that are passed down from generation to generation."

Tim Sternberg, Salim Baba

"It's one of those happy stories that hopefully happens more than once in your cinematic life."

Courtney Hunt, Frozen River

"We didn't have favorable conditions. We had very little funding. What we had was a good script, and people fell back on that."

Alex Gibney, Gonzo: The Life and Work of Hunter S. Thompson

"Like Hunter, I think I'm motivated as somebody who always wants to see the underdog have his or her day."

Dan Beers, FCU: Fact Checkers Unit

"Bill Murray looked at the script and said: 'Eight pages. It took three guys to write eight pages? That's impressive.' "

Dee Rees, Pariah

"I really liked the feel of the outer boroughs and just wanted to tell a story that we don't particularly see."

Carlos Brooks, Quid Pro Quo

"The best detective stories are the ones where the detective ultimately realizes he's been investigating himself."

Tanaz Eshaghian, Be Like Others

"Everyone else takes it as common sense, but not fitting in shows what common sense is."

Brett Wagner, Chief

"I'm drawn to all of those sort of grungy urban scenes that inspire all of us in New York. That's all been transplanted to Hawaii."

read all of sundance's new york stories