The spirit of Sundance
Park City Utah is a snow globe kind of place. It sparkles and glitters like a fairy tale, especially at this time of year, when the silver screens of Sundance come to this silver mining town, and young filmmakers start thinking of the moment they might see some glitter of their own.
Sian Heder's film "CODA" premiered at Sundance in 2021. It went on to win three Oscars the following year, including best picture. It doesn't always happen that way, but the Sundance Film Festival does have a pretty good track record of catapulting independent filmmakers into a career.
Its alumni include the likes of Steven Soderbergh ("Sex, Lies, and Videotape"), Quentin Tarantino ("Reservoir Dogs"), Christopher Nolan ("Memento"), and Lulu Wang ("The Farewell"). They were all introduced not only to audiences, but to powerful film distribution companies, at the annual festival held high in the Wasatch Mountains of Utah.
"I think that was the big breakthrough with Sundance, is that finally these new voices, these exciting new filmmakers had a place where they could actually show what they had done and potentially sell them," said eight-time Oscar nominee Glenn Close.
She first heard about Sundance from its famous founder, Robert Redford, on the set of "The Natural." His idea – then in its infancy - was in some ways just as pure as baseball itself.
As Redford told us in 2018, "I said, wait a minute, there are other stories out there. There are other voices to be heard that are not being given a chance. What if we created something, an opportunity, for those people to get their films made and have them distributed? … The smaller stories. The more offbeat stories. The more controversial."
Which is why he wanted his non-profit Sundance Institute to be held as far away from profit-focused Hollywood as possible. So, he set it up amid the pines and aspens of Utah's Provo Canyon, on land he bought after the success of "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid."
Close said, "You are surrounded by nature in a way that, if you're from a city, it's undeniable," she said. "It's a spiritual thing. And I think that was very important for Bob."
Redford said he didn't think the idea he started would last beyond two or three years. But the Sundance Institute has lasted 44 years and counting. It's become for film what Michelin Stars are to fine dining.
You don't choose Sundance; Sundance chooses you.
Michelle Satter, the Institute's founding senior director, has been by Redford's side since 1981. "We'll get 3,000 scripts; we'll select 12," she said. "That's a tiny number. But there are a lot of people globally who want to tell stories, and we believe in the power of storytelling."
I asked, "How do you know when you've found a unique story or a unique talent?"
"It speaks to me," Satter replied. "If they don't have a voice that is unique, we're not interested."
"And what does that mean to you, voice'?"
"There's something about the way they tell the story that does not feel generic, like anybody could tell the story," said Satter. "But they're bringing something from their own experience, from their own connection to storytelling that uplifts it."
According to Satter, "A film is not complete until it reaches an audience and engages with an audience."
Last Spring, Satter allowed us into Sundance's storied Directors and Screenwriters Lab, this time held in Estes Park, Colorado. One of the lab's advisors was four-time Oscar nominated actor-director Ed Harris.
"It's not about ego," Harris said. "It's not about anything other than learning, making mistakes. I love the work. It's all about the work, and I learn as much as I probably help anybody."
All the Sundance "Fellows," as they're called, bring projects already in the works, like Hannah Gray Organschi, polishing up her upcoming feature film. "There's tough feedback, like, feedback that's good," she said. "And to have that at the phase where you can really be deepening and honing the characters and story is, it feels lucky."
Casey Modderno was fine tuning her rom-com: "The questions I think that you're normally asked as a filmmaker are, like, about budget, about accessibility, about market response. And so, to be asked questions about the feeling of the film and the aesthetics of the film and the texture, and just go deep in craft, it's, like, super-special."
And then there's Sean Wang. "This experience has just, like, changed my DNA as a filmmaker," he said.
What got him accepted to Sundance was his screenplay for his first feature film, "Didi." He had been toiling away on the film pretty much by himself with his crew for six years. "I was just obsessed with, 'Who won Sundance this year? Who won the Audience Award? Who won the Jury Prize? What's the next filmmaker that is coming out of Sundance?'" he said.
Turns out he was one of those Sundance filmmakers. Last year, "Didi" not only won two of the Sundance Film Festival's top prizes; it got him a distribution deal.
Wang notes that Sundance doesn't finance films. "They have no financial stake in your movie," he said. "When we sell the movie, they're not like, 'Great. Where's our 10%?' It's a very giving environment. Obviously they want your films to succeed."
This year the California wildfires cast a long shadow over the festival. Michelle Satter's home, where we did our interview, is now gone, as are so many others.
None of those victims were forgotten in Utah this past week. As Satter told the audience, "We lost our village, but at the end of the day, we are the village."
As for Robert Redford, the visionary who started it all is now 88. He hasn't been here in person for the last three years, but his spirit remains. Independent film has forever been changed – a legacy that he and others have taken to the box office bank.
Glenn Close said, "He put his money where his mouth is. And you know, I'm in awe of that. And I salute him for it."
For more info:
- The Sundance Film Festival runs through February 2 in-person at Park City and Salt Lake City, Utah; select films and events will also be available to stream online January 29-Feb. 2.
- Sundance Institute
- Sundance: Supporting Our Los Angeles Community Impacted by the Fires
Story produced by Jon Carras. Editor: Carol Ross.
