Yesterday started with a sit-down interview with Stockard Channing and Julia Stiles, the stars of “The Business of Strangers,” which I’d seen the day before. We met in a suite on the fourth floor of the Shadow Ridge, the headquarters of the festival. Before I’d even turned on my recorder, Channing asked, “Did you see the movie?” They’d been meeting with press all morning, and perhaps one or two members of the media hadn’t gone to the screening, which, from my standpoint, is entirely understandable. You start off everyday overbooked and at some point, have to throw some screenings overboard.
Next came a screening of “Raw Deal: A Question of Consent,” one of the most controversial movies in the fest. On Feb. 26, 1999, the University of Florida’s Delta Chi fraternity held a party at which a stripper named Lisa Gier King performed. In the morning, King told police she’d been raped, but two days later, she herself was arrested for filing a false report. A graphic videotape of the night’s events, taken by fraternity brothers, was eventually made public by the Florida State Attorney. Directed by Billy Corben, the film consists of interviews with almost all parties involved–including King–and includes much graphic footage from the amateur video. It’s a compelling piece of journalism that asks viewers to make up their own own minds about the incendiary case.
It hasn’t been all screenings and no play for me. I met a few friends for drinks in the early evening. Before we could order a round, however, we had to pay $5 for a membership for the group. (It’s a Utah thing.) We then went for dinner on Main Street at Zoom, the restaurant owned by Sundance founder Robert Redford. The group traded notes on the movies we’d seen so far, which is what you do with every single person you meet here. Some had loved “The Beaver Trilogy,” others were mixed. Two people were let down by “The Low Down.” Drew Barrymore’s “Donnie Darko” tried to do too much, another friend asserted. “Memento” is said to be one of the best films here. All made for good buzz to spread at my next function.
After dinner, I hopped the shuttle to a screening of “Trembling Before G-d,” a documentary about Orthodox Jews who come out as gay men and lesbians and have to reconcile their religious backgrounds with their sexuality. Directed over a five-year period by Sandi Simcha DuBowski, the film interviews many in this situation–more than half of them anonymously–and paints an honest, warm, layered picture of their highly conflicted lives. DuBowski and two of the film’s subjects answered questions after the movie for 45 minutes, the longest post-screening Q&A I’ve witnessed so far.
Although I had planned to try to crash the Donovan Leitch party at the Hugo Boss House–or if that didn’t work out, the Piper-Heidsieck celebration for Julianne Moore–I ended up going out for late-night pizza with DuBowski, one of his subjects and his friends. That’s Sundance for you. Breakfast with Rizzo. Dinner with a documentarian. And jumping out of bed the next day before your alarm even goes off.
