The Sundance Film Festival, one of the most prominent independent film festivals, takes place mere minutes from where we live. Because we have a unique opportunity as locals to attend this event, Jason and I try to go to at least one screening every year. Locals can purchase tickets earlier than the general public by registering on the Sundance website between September and December. However, Jason and I usually forget to do this on time and end up scrambling to get tickets when they go on sale to the public. Sometimes our scrambling is successful, sometimes it is not.
This year we managed to get tickets to two shows: a documentary about prominent African Americans called The Black List and a Swedish film called The King of Ping Pong. The tricky and interesting thing about Sundance is that you have to choose which films you want to see based off a little paragraph description about them. You don’t have a trailer to rely on or critic reviews to fall back on. Though this does turn choosing a film into more of a guessing game than anything else, it also gives you a chance to experience these films with no expectations or preconceived notions, to be surprised.
The Black List turned out to be well made and thought provoking. We were told by the director and producer, who were present at the screening, that it had recently been bought by HBO. So if you ever get a chance to see it, it’s worth watching.
The King of Ping Pong was a decent film and it had some truly funny moments. However, it moved at a glacial pace so we didn’t enjoy it as much as the other show. But overall the experience was still a good one.
So all you Utah film enthusiasts, next time Sundance is in town give it a try. People come from all over the world to attend and all you have to do is drive a few minutes. It’s worth it!