Фестиваль «Сандэнс» переезжает в Боулдер: анонс вечера с участием Раяна Джонсона и Джины Редфорд

Audio By Carbonatix This past March, the folks at the Sundance Film Festival announced that the internationally renowned independent-movie celebration created by the late actor Robert Redford in 1978 would be moving from Utah to Boulder. Nearly six months later, excitement about the cinematic bash, scheduled for January 2027, is continuing to build — and to maintain the momentum, the organization’s brain-trust is staging an event sure to hit the sweet spot for any movie buff: “Mostly True Stories From the Sundance Film Festival.” The Sept. 8 gathering will bring together a fascinating group of Sundance veterans and insiders, including two with strong Colorado ties: writer/director Rian Johnson, whose credits include “Knives Out” and “Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” and director/producer Jeff Orlowski-Yang, whose flicks “Chasing Ice” and “The Social Dilemma” were both featured by the fest. Also taking part are filmmaker and Sundance Institute board member Amy Redford (yes, she’s Robert’s daughter), “Mudbound” and “Pariah” writer/director Dee Rees, “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” and “Past Lives” producer Christine Vachon, and Eugene Hernandez, Sundance’s festival director and head of programming. Hernandez is bubbling with enthusiasm about both “Mostly True Stories” and Sundance’s upcoming debut in Boulder, a community that he says has been beyond welcoming to him and his staff. “We’ve all been genuinely energized by the enthusiasm for the festival,” he notes. “Just the level of hospitality and generosity and creativity that we’ve found in Boulder is something we’re seeing every single day.” Still, Hernandez realizes that some locals may have misconceptions about Sundance, and he’s doing his best to dispel them. “The very simple message we want to convey is that everyone is invited,” he emphasizes. “It would be very easy for people to think the festival is a private industry event, or that it’s for an exclusive audience. That couldn’t be further from the truth. Certainly there will be industry folks who travel here, and our donors and patrons and sponsors have a big role to play. But the majority of the tickets and the seats to be made available are for Coloradans, or people who travel to Colorado. There will be people who might want to see one or two films, but we certainly hope they’ll see more. Because it’s open for everyone.” In his words, “the audiences that will come to the festival complete the circle. Artists bring films to Sundance to connect not just with the industry, but with audiences that can launch their film from the very beginning.” A typical film festival seeks out the hottest, buzziest movies entering the marketplace, and Sundance is certainly open to such offerings. But Hernandez points out that the festival he leads has an additional goal that’s central to its identity. “This is a festival that, for forty-plus years, has been devoted to introducing new storytellers, new filmmakers, new writers, directors and actors, and certainly any number of artists who work below the line,” he allows. “That’s not to say other festivals don’t do that. But we want to be mindful of what distinguishes Sundance, and our primary focus is showcasing the work by new, under-represented or not-yet-recognized talent.” One way Sundance enhances this approach, Hernandez divulges, “is by doing an open call” that allows any filmmaker to submit a piece for consideration. Most of the early and official deadlines have passed at this writing, but late applications are still being accepted at very reasonable rates. For example, producers have until Sept. 11 to put forward a feature film at a cost of just $125. Click to see all of the Sundance submission dates. “We don’t start our curatorial process with a preconceived outcome or agenda,” Hernandez stresses. “We watch the films that are submitted, and we react to what we see. I think what sets Sundance apart is that we really invest our process in, for lack of a better way to say it, finding those needles in a haystack.” Each year, Sundance receives an average of 16,000 submissions, of which around 11,000 are short films; the rest fall into the features or episodes categories.(The number of international applicants currently accounts for the greatest increase year over year.) And even before the window is closed, “our team is watching films to narrow down the program,” Hernandez says. The method employed for choosing panelists for “Mostly True Stories From the Sundance Film Festival” was just as rigorous, Hernandez maintains. He uses Johnson, who grew up in Denver, as an example. According to Hernandez, “Brick,” a compelling yarn starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt that broke out after Sundance spotlighted it in 2005, “was a big turning point in his career. But what’s also interesting is that Rian has also been a mentor to young and emerging filmmaking talent and actors who’ve been in a number of his films. Take Noah Segan, an actor who’s been in the credits of Rian’s films over the years and is now a director. Rian was an executive producer of the first feature that Noah directed, ‘The Only Living Pickpocket in New York,’ which premiered at Sundance earlier this year…. That sends a really important message about the community and continuity of relationships that Sundance builds.” As for Orlowski-Yang, “he’s based in Colorado and spent a lot of time in Boulder,” Hernandez reveals. “He’s been present at a lot of our events in the past year, whether it’s been attending or as a guide or advisor along the way. He’s been great about sharing connections or ideas with us, and he has his own Sundance story to tell. And that’s what we’ll get to hear at the event. It’s a program that’s meant to represent a nice cross section of experiences, backgrounds, stories, and regions of the world and the country, including Colorado.” The gathering is meant to serve as “an introduction to the Sundance Film Festival through many of our artists,” Hernandez goes on. “But it’s just the beginning of our relationship. We are investing in a long-term relationship with Colorado. We want to give the Front Range in Colorado a front-row seat to everything the festival will offer in January, but also beyond. We are building a foundation in bringing this festival to Boulder—an opportunity to experience a new generation of storytellers. This is not a one-off. This is an ongoing relationship we’re building in Colorado right now.” “Mostly True Stories From the Sundance Film Festival” gets underway at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, September 8, at the Robert and Judi Newman Center for the Performing Arts, 2344 E. Iliff Ave. on the University of Denver campus. Tickets are $29, and student and senior discounts are available. Get more information here.