The Sundance Film Festival Experience Begins

I've been attending the Sundance Film Festival for many years now and it is always a unique experience.

The festival experience actually begins long before arriving at the theater. After registering for a time to purchase tickets, you then have to decide which films you want to watch. This can be a tricky process. There are all kinds of factors you have to take into account such as where the film is showing (Park City, Salt Lake, Ogden), when the film is showing (any time from 8:00 am - 12:00 midnight), if you can actually get tickets to the films you want to watch, but the best part of this process is reading the film summaries. They are awesomely crafted works of genius in themselves. Here are some examples (I have replaced any names with "this film", or "the director", etc.)

It's shocking how much can be said about a film without ever describing the plot.

"The director cinematically renders the film to complement its philosophy by uniting the everyday and the transcendent. Rich, rewarding, and profoundly moving, this film affirms peace and happiness within and posits "once a punk rocker, always a punk rocker."

"The subtly heightened imagery and sound, crafted with unsettling intensity, illustrate a frightening crisis of social conscience. Tinged with mordant surrealism, the director demonstrates that rare ability to transcend genre and a remarkable storytelling vigor, anchored within a haunting and arresting visual motif."

"A minimalist film that nevertheless feels visually and emotionally full, without forced sentimentality or manufactured drama, this film questions the nature of love and happiness and the sacrifices we may make to achieve either. In this film directed and written with precision and economy, the director allows us to know these characters in a single line of dialogue, and feel their conflict within the power of a glance."

"This film plumbs the shades of gray to find humanity in every perspective and offers a rich understanding of what it means to survive unimaginable terror, and the astounding resilience of the human spirit to find ways to heal and forgive."

"A playful satire, this film feels like the collision of a moral tale and a fairy tale. The director strikes a clever tone, mixing drab realism with sardonic humor, splashes of vibrant color, and fabulist flourishes. While the film plays with the idea of miracles in our image-obsessed material world, it is grounded emotionally in the relationship between mother and daughter."

"The director poetically fuses the harsh realities of violence, healing, and family."

"Marked by restrained writing, which leaves significant details open to interpretation, this film depicts the rich texture of modern Israeli society."

"An astonishingly assured first feature, this film elegantly applies restraint and precision to mount subtle, quotidian moments into an emotionally crushing story."

"With a genuine affection for its lost-souled protagonists and tapping into the raw frustration endured during this period of history, this film captures the drive toward hope in the face of utter despair, even when it leads to an unsettling and twisted place."

"Breathtaking, lyrical camera movement and unconventional framing capture beautifully macabre images while the evocative music and sound design complete the sensory tour de force. The terrific ensemble cast stretches out of its comfort zone and syncs up perfectly with the director’s dark vision, which explores the essence of existence and what drives some to end it."

"As they cope with the excruciating and evolving pain of loss, time helps them refashion the scaffolding of their lives. This exquisitely moving documentary helps us process what is unimaginable."

"The director’s atmospheric, contemplative aesthetic encourages us to examine the personal relationship we all form to both physical space and story space. Because of his work (called ground-truthing), one character comes to view the land as a source of faulty data, while the other sees it as a way to redefine her relationship with home. As the film suggests, "truth is conjecture."

Here's one for all you alliteration fans

"Splendidly constructed and saturated with a sumptuous sense of style and sensuality."

I can't decide whether I want to see the one with "fabulist flourishes" or the one with "quotidian moments."