- Title: USA: OPENING OF THE INDEPENDENT SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL
- Date: 18th January 2001
- Summary: PARK CITY, UTAH, UNITED STATES (JANUARY 18, 2001) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) SLV, PEOPLE ENTERING EGYPTIAN THEATER, MAIN VENUE OF SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL TIGHT SHOT OF SUNDANCE BANNER HAV, TRACK, PARK CITY VILLAGE FROM SKI LIFT WIDE OF SKIERS GETTING OFF LIFT WIDE OF PEOPLE SKIING WITH SNOWMOBILE PASSING BEHIND GV, CROWDED PARK CITY SIDEWALK SMV, PEOPLE HAVING THEIR TICKETS CH
- Embargoed: 2nd February 2001 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: PARK CITY, UTAH, UNITED STATES AND VARIOUS FILM LOCATIONS
- Country: USA
- Reuters ID: LVA5YAL8CZCLDR3GFV7M5IG4J6CN
- Story Text: As the Sundance Film Festival, the leading U.S.
showcase for independent motion pictures, raised its curtain, several gender-bending films and digital movies have focused a spotlight on what may be a new wave of indie filmmaking.
Held each year in Park City, Utah, outside Salt Lake City, and backed by actor-director Robert Redford, the festival brings film fans together from around the world to watch the most recent crop of indie titles and talk about movies, plus enjoy one, big 10-day party.This picturesque village is known for its great skiing, but during the next ten days. At the peak of the season, the slopes are nearly empty and the town's few, small movie theaters are packed.
While a sighting of Redford is always a highlight for festival-goers, the fair-haired multi-talent was absent this year, busy shooting his next film.
Of the 106 feature films on display this year, however, Sundance is more than just a festival. It is a market for filmmakers, and Hollywood executives regularly show up with fat checkbooks to buy movies for the upcoming year and sew up fresh talent before their names show up in lights.
Top actors and actresses also strap on their snowshoes to promote new movies on the edge of mainstream film. This year's edition is no exception, with Christine Lahti, star of TV's former ``Chicago Hope,'' kicking off the festival's opening night with her feature directorial debut, ``My First Mister."
The film stars LeeLee Sobieski and Albert Brooks. And while some were there to see the film, most of the talk was about the uniqueness of Sundance.
"I think it's the snazziest festival in the country,"
said Lahti. "I think it's hip; I think it offers a wide variety of movies," she continued.
"So what Sundance is, it's like a laser, it focuses the exact attention you want on that," said her star, Albert Brooks."
Other premieres will include "Double Whammy," with Liz Hurley as the love interest of Dennis Leary.
Of the films in the dramatic competition, "Donnie Darko"
has received the most buzz. The film uses digital special effects to tell a story.Drew Barrymore starred in and produced this unconventional movie about an unconventional teen.
But the buzz ahead of Sundance centers on transgender films, such as a movie adaptation of the popular stage play ``Hedwig and the Angry Inch'' from John Cameron Mitchell. ` And "Wet, Hot American Summer," with Janeane Garofalo and David Hyde-Pierce is a send up of those unintentionally campy 1980's films about summer . . . camps.
And with Hollywood studio execs worried about possible actor's and writers' strikes, films at Sundance have a good chance of making it to a theater near you. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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