Film festival schedule, reviews on E9.When it comes to the Sundance Film Festival, bigger isn't necessarily better, according to Robert Redford.
Though the overwhelming success of the festival has made the streets of Park City seem more dense than ever, with screenings more difficult to get into and press conferences and parties packed with S.R.O. crowds, Redford says there are no plans to expand."That's based on my strong belief - and my staff supports me on this - that when you change something you risk losing the quality," Redford said during a Saturday morning press conference at his Sundance Resort. "I don't think there's much to be gained by expanding."
The press conference itself was a prime example of how packed the festival is, with every chair filled, the walls lined with people and Redford's table completely obscured by television cameras. Not to mention long boom microphones hanging overhead.
Though he's afraid the intimacy of the festival would be lost if it got much bigger, Redford said he wouldn't mind seeing similar institutes and film festivals crop up, if they were equally as devoted to independent filmmaking. "Sundance is not the end-all. It seems to be the only game in town - because it is. But I'd like to see more institutes, more festivals, replicants of what we're doing, happen elsewhere - in the Pacific Basin or Latin America or Japan."
Though there are many more Hollywood professionals roaming the streets of Park City each year during the festival - or as one reporter phrased it, "agents walking around on Main Street with portable telephones" - the real reason festival attendance has grown so tremendously is due to audiences who want to see the movies; audiences comprising filmmakers, industry insiders, journalists and the general public.
Redford emphasized that getting the general public into theaters to view these low-budget, independently produced pictures is an important part of the Sundance Institute's overall filmmaking program. But he said the festival is really for the mavericks who make their movies outside the Hollywood mainstream.
"There's a sense of community that you get by involving the audience. It helps to create that. But (the festival) is specifically for the filmmakers."
In terms of quality, one of the most important things offered by independent films is simply an alternative to what Hollywood generally churns out. "Diversity is what independent film really represents. We're at the end of a drought right now."
Pointing to the commercial success of such films as "sex, lies and videotape" and "Reservoir Dogs," which got their start at the Sundance Film Festival, he said, "I think more will come out of this year's festival."
He also said the independent films shown at the festival each year have better represented women and minorities than the films that come out of Hollywood. "Women make up 50 percent of the directors in the documentaries this year. And there's an increase in minorities, Afro-Americans, Asian-Americans, the gay community is well-represented this year.
"Women are well-represented here - better than in Congress."