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Photo By Steve Ramos
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John Cameron Mitchell holds his two sundance prizes:
an audience award and a directing award for
Hedgwig and the Angry Inch.
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PARK CITY, UTAH -- Through frigid temperatures, frequent snowfall and bleak attitudes, the Sundance Film Festival and its array of 112 films hit Park City with its own unique brand of pulp entertainment. It's a film happening that goes back some 20 years. While the 10-day Sundance mediathon leaves most Park City locals weary, it's safe to say they love all the festival excitement as much as they hate the inconveniences.
Sundance is about the films more than anything. So it's important to note that some of the festival's best films will be making their way to theaters throughout the year. Director Stacy Peralta's lively, skateboard documentary Dogtown and Z-Boys won the Documentary Audience Award and the Documentary Directing Award for Peralta.
Hedwig and the Angry Inch, John Cameron Mitchell's off-Broadway hit about an East Berlin Punk Rocker, wowed audiences with its Glam soundtrack and over-sexed comedy. The most commercial of the Sundance dramas, Hedwig and the Angry Inch won the Dramatic Audience Award and a Dramatic Directing Award for Mitchell.
Jury Prizes were given to Southern Comfort, a documentary about a female-to-male transsexual living in rural Georgia, and The Believer, about a Jewish boy who grows up to become the leader of a neo-fascist cult. Both films embrace the Sundance tradition of edgy subject matter.
Over the festival's 10 days, CityBeat spoke with various directors and actors. Below, we've selected the people and places that we consider to be the Sundance Class of 2001. It's a playful snapshot of America's most significant film festival. It's also a sneak peek at some of Hollywood's future movers-and-shakers.
The Crowds
The paparazzi gather outside Park City's high-school auditorium. It's here that most of the Sundance premieres take place. More importantly, it's also the place where Sundance celebrities make their red-carpet entrances. The indie films that constitute the festival attract a more adventurous type of actor. Still, the shivering camera crews and photographers will happily swarm around anyone remotely famous.
Brit actor Gary Oldman stops to talk to the paparazzi mob. Starlet LeeLee Sobieski flashes her best smile. It's all part of the Hollywood pizzazz that has given Sundance its hip reputation.
With all the crowds -- in the theaters, on the streets, outside festival parties -- it's inevitable that people will behave badly.
Aging rocker Mick Jagger keeps the audience for his film Enigma waiting some 30 minutes. His delay is for reasons only a Rock star can understand.
Courtney Love, in town to support her film Julie Johnson, holds court during a party at the Hugo Boss house. Stretched across a beanbag chair, clutching a bottle of Belvedere vodka, Love promises a photographer that he can take her picture when she's ready. An hour later, the Belvedere bottle is empty and the photographer is still waiting.
The Buzz
The headline of the Jan. 25 New York Post says it all: "Rape, Lies and Videotape -- Victim relives horror caught live on frat house tape." That one newspaper story confirmed Raw Deal: A Question of Consent, a documentary about an accused rape at the University of Florida, as the official "buzz" film of Sundance 2001.
Raw Deal director Billy Corben and producer Alfred Spellman were the target of TV news shows desperate for interviews. Fevered negotiations resulted in a distribution deal with Artisan, the same company that made a phenomenon out of The Blair Witch Project.
"They (New York Post) devoted a cover story, but we devoted a year of our lives," says Corben, speaking frantically. "But I have to admit it's all a little overwhelming. People are looking at us on the streets now. It's really weird."
Of all the Sundance films, it's Raw Deal that enjoyed the biggest launch. Basically, Corben is the belle of the Sundance ball. Now, the catch is for Corben to convert the buzz over Raw Deal into commercial success. Maybe the New York Post is interested in a follow-up story?
The Hipster
John Cameron Mitchell came to Sundance with his downtown reputation already intact. As the star of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, his off-Broadway Rock comedy, Mitchell claims a loyal cult following.
The film concerns a botched sex change operation which leaves young Hansel (Mitchell) with an "angry inch" and the tenacity to form a Rock band. Hansel's Kansas trailer park is a long way from his East Berlin home. Still, with a Farrah Fawcett wig and glittery make-up, Hansel aka Hedwig hits the road.
Mitchell put on his Hedwig gear for a special late-night concert during the festival. As expected, the crowd went wild.
But Mitchell's greatest accomplishment was the whimsical way he dealt with the festival press. Every conversation ended with a good-natured joke. For Mitchell, coming to Sundance to help promote one's film is too fun to take too seriously.
"I know that this is an R rated film, but I hope high school kids get a chance to see this film," Mitchell says, laughing. "I know that high school can be a tough time for kids. This film says it's OK to be different."
By the festival's end, Mitchell and his Hedwig persona discovered new life on the big-screen. After non-stop meetings and interviews, Mitchell also discovered a new life as a filmmaker.
The Auteur
In a scramble to discover new faces, Sundance seldom takes the time to honor veteran film artists. The 2001 fest wisely made an exception for documentary filmmaker Errol Morris. At a packed auditorium, Morris moderated his own retrospective, discussing past films like Mr. Death; Fast, Cheap & Out of Control; and A Brief History of Time.
The audience embraced Morris wildly, listening to every word of his storytelling and lifelong obsessions.
"I don't plan on making any more feature documentaries," Morris says, speaking later at Park City hotel. "I want to try different things. I'm interested in this TV show. I want to move on."
Like all Sundance filmmakers, Morris met with various producers to discuss his planned TV series and potential film projects. Later in the festival, Morris unveiled his latest interviewing machine, a multi-camera gadget called The Megatron. Sitting behind a black curtain, Morris takes the position frequently held by his film subjects and allows himself to be interviewed by The Megatron. For long-time fans of Morris' films, it was a cherished moment.
The Girlfriends
A pair of beautiful women (Susan Lynch and Rachel Weisz) are the unexpected heroines of the British caper film Beautiful Creatures. Of course, femme fatales are a standard accessory for film noirs. The point, says Lynch and Weisz, is that their characters aren't the conventional femme fatales.
"This is not one of those films you're supposed to analyze and think about," Lynch says, laughing. "I think it's a comedy. When I read the script, I found it to be really funny."
"I know a lot of the press have been talking about the violence and the fact that it's two women leads in the film," Weisz says. "I don't see the problem with that. It's like what's the opposite of misogynistic? That's the word for the film. We need to come up with a new word."
Lynch and Weisz never met before making Beautiful Creatures. Now, they admit, they're the best of friends. Jet lag from London was made more tolerable with some playtime in the snow. They laugh and finish each other's sentences. Poking at each other on a hotel sofa, Lynch and Weisz come off like some giggling schoolgirls. They can't help but be silly when they're together, which makes them all the more attractive.
The Up-and-Comer
If Sundance requires one must-see film, that honor belongs to actor-turned-filmmaker Todd Field and his humanistic drama In the Bedroom. Like all independent filmmakers, Field struggled to find financing for his tale about an upper-class New England family facing emotional loss. Better known as an actor, Field requested that no mention of his acting be listed in the film's press notes. Acting is something he does to pay the bills. Directing is what he considers to be his artistic passion.
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Photo By Steve Ramos
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The "buzz" boy of Sundance: Raw Deal
director Billy Corben
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"People don't have a lot of respect for actors who become directors," Field says, speaking hours before the Awards Ceremony. "That's not something I want to be. I just want to direct."
Festival reviews have referred to In the Bedroom as transcendent and spiritual in tone. Already, Sissy Spacek's searing performance as an over-protective mother is being promoted as Oscar-worthy. In the Bedroom is a beautiful film to watch. But Field's fast-rising status as a filmmaker has little to do with his technical skills. Field's filmmaking future is sealed because of his ability to tell a compelling story.
The Glory
Inside a racquet club gymnasium converted into an awards hall, the tired filmmakers, press and assorted industry types fill the folding chairs for the Jan. 27 Sundance 2001 Awards Ceremony.
The Awards platform looks more polished this year. The ceremony itself starts on time. Broadcast for the first time over the Sundance Channel, the 2001 Awards Ceremony needs to make a good impression.
Mitchell turns out to be the night's big winner. Hedwig and the Angry Inch was expected to win The Dramatic Audience Award. Mitchell's big surprise came when he heard his name called for The Dramatic Directing Award. For Mitchell, who had doubts about stepping behind the camera, it made the evening all the more momentous.
"We could have used one of those cranes on the movie," Mitchell says, pointing at a camera. "We could have used those speakers too."
For every winner, there is a loser sulking in the shadows. In the Bedroom didn't earn any major awards for Field. The Sundance jury recognized the family drama with only a Special Jury Prize for Tom Wilkinson and Sissy Spacek for their In the Bedroom performances. The evening was a huge disappointment for Field.
Of course, the ultimate prize for any Sundance film is finding commercial life outside Park City. After buying the film earlier in the week, Miramax Films plans to release In the Bedroom sometime in late 2001, just in time for a major Oscar campaign. Long after Sundance 2001 becomes a distant memory, it's Field who might enjoy the last laugh.
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