Good grief! How did the Sundance Film Festival sneak up on us so quickly this year?
The '97 fest is starting a bit earlier than it has in the past - though, as usual, it will finish up on Super Bowl Sunday. And the opening night kickoff is Thursday.Yes, this coming Thursday - Jan. 16!
Then, the next day, it moves up to Park City. Mostly.
Though Park City remains the festival's base of operations - Sundance Central, if you will - with more screenings and venues than ever before, there are also more Salt Lake screenings than we've had in years past.
It's a sort of outreach program for locals, an apparent effort by Sundance to eschew its perceived elitism - to show that it's not just for commuters anymore.
In addition to the usual screenings at the Tower Theatre in the Ninth and Ninth district, Cineplex Odeon's Trolley Square Cinemas will also devote an auditorium to a week of festival films, and the Utah Film & Video Center (in the Salt Lake Art Center downtown) will participate as well.
No fewer than 27 features will show up at the Tower, another 10 are scheduled for Trolley Square and the Film & Video Center will offer a different program of shorts on each of the festival's two Fridays.
The screenings are a disparate mix, demonstrating the eclectic variety of cinema available at the festival, ranging from American independent films in the documentary and dramatic competitions to World Cinema's international flavor to various Premiere films, and even a few "Park City at Midnight" entries . . . or, "Salt Lake City at Midnight" in this case.
Examples: "Kolya," the warm and humorous portrait of a middle-age confirmed bachelor in Prague as Communist rule came to an end in the late 1980s, who finds himself reluctantly caring for a sweet 5-year-old Russian boy; the edgy "Fear and Learning at Hoover Elementary," a documentary about children of illegal immigrants trying to survive in a rough area of Los Angeles; "Black & White & Red All Over," an exploration of black-on-black violence set in the near future, as seen through the eyes of six young men whose circle of family and friends is growing conspicuously smaller; a drama about what happens when a rehabilitated ex-con meets the pen pal he fell in love with while in prison, called "Eye of God"; and the 25th anniversary showing of John Waters' notorious, self-described "exercise in bad taste," "Pink Flamingos."
Among the shorts at the Film & Video Center are "The Fifteen Minute Hamlet," a sort of cinematic Cliff's Notes romp; "Thank You for Not Smoking," about a very long night in an apartment; and "Anita Liberty," the story of a less-than-accomplished performance artist.
If that's not enough, there are also screenings in Ogden for the first time, in the newly restored Peery's Egyptian Theater (including Denis Leary's dark and suspenseful comedy-drama "Love Walked In" and a repeat of the Opening Night Premiere, the British film "Brassed Off").
Needless to say, the drive to Park City is no excuse for skipping the Sundance Film Festival this year.
For festival information, phone 328-FILM (3456), and to purchase tickets by phone, 645-7280. Tickets may also be purchased in person at Crossroads Plaza in downtown Salt Lake City.