My parents called tonight. They’re coming to Sundance. I choked a bit. I’ve lived in Park City since 1990 and this is a first. “Are you sure?” I queried. “Sundance is a zoo. There’s no parking, all of the restaurants are booked, it’s even more expensive around here than normal, the tickets are probably sold out….” Was there a Beginners Guide To Sundance out there anywhere?
“Your father and I want to see snow and Europe’s too far,” said Mom. “Plus, I’ve always wanted to stay at the St. Regis.” My folks are in their 80s. Back in the day, our vacations revolved around skiing but they retired the sticks decades ago. Still, you can’t help but miss the mountains in winter when you’ve spent almost your whole life playing in them.
I considered this new information. Parents who don’t ski but love film, snow and mountains. Sundance might just be the perfect vacation. When they’ve visited Park City in the past they’ve been bored. This is a town for adventure junkies. Once you’ve done the outlet mall, gotten a massage and fed on the “fine dining” there’s not much else for retired skiers around here.
I started my research. It’s one thing to have a media pass to Sundance for 20 years but clearly another to join as a general attendee. How then do I advise my parents, your average tourists, to make the most out of their time at Sundance? Looks like I was going to have to devise my own Beginners Guide To Sundance.
The Beginners Guide To Sundance Starts With Lodging
You won’t have a place to stay if you don’t have a place to stay. In other words, book your lodging early and don’t be picky. Everything in Park City is overpriced and still gets gobbled up the closer you get to those last ten days in January. My parents aren’t into crashing in a 3 bedroom place with four other people so they got a room at the St Regis with timeshare points that could have bought them a month in Hawaii. You can get a place in Salt Lake City for much less but the highway commute in January can be a nightmare if it dumps. It would suck to be stuck in a whiteout on I-80 while your movie played. BTW, the benefit of having a condo over a hotel room is the ability to cook. You can save a fortune on not dining out.
The Beginners Guide To Sundance Transpo: Call Uber
Photo by Michael R. Perry
No, Mom, you do not need a car. Split a cab, call Uber, book a shuttle. You DO NOT want a rental car in Park City during Sundance. The City shuts down Main Street to traffic, there’s zero parking available unless you want to pay $50 for lots that are normally free, and the congestion is ridiculous.
I hitched a ride from Park Avenue to the top of Main (two miles tops) last year and it took over an hour. The brightside was I got to spend that time chatting with a fascinating, charmingly abrasive, post production supervisor from New York who worked on several of my favorite films.
Park City brings in extra buses to handle the transportation. The free system runs like clockwork and rivals any you would find in a large metropolis. They run late into the night so you don’t need to worry about being stranded and the cast of characters on those buses- from local ski bums to Netflix execs- are priceless.
The Beginners Guide To Sundance Ticketing
Get a Sundance Ticket package if you can afford one. My parents will see as many movies as they can but if you don’t plan ahead individual tickets (which go on sale Jan. 17 for non-locals) sell out fast and you wind up standing in a cold waitlist line hoping someone doesn’t show.
There is a new ewaitlist system that eliminates standing in line TWICE to MAYBE get in but you’ll still have to be at the theater at least 30 minutes prior to showtime. You’ll also need to be somewhere with a strong signal. The waitlist opens one hour prior to the screening and if you get a number higher than 50 your chances of actually getting in are slim to none. You can often buy tickets off scalpers standing in front of the theater. Patrons wind up with extra tickets because friends or clients couldn’t make it in time or they decided to go to a party instead. I’ve gotten many a free ticket this way.
The Festival packages are pricey for non locals ($650) but in addition to 10 tickets ($250 value), they include Festival credentials for two peeps.
You can only plant your butt in a dark theater for so long. The pass gets you into the rocking ASCAP music café, the Cinema Café, the Filmmakers Lodge, and several other “credential-only” venues that host VIP events like cocktail receptions and filmmaker panel discussions. You also get a ticket to the opening night party but it’s not a bonus if you dislike blaring dance music and drunk 20-somethings.
The Cast of Sing Street by Bart Ryker
The Beginners Guide To Sundance Dining
“We want to go to the restaurants and experience the scene,” my Mom added. So does everyone else, Mom. If you get to Park City without reservations you will be ordering Domino’s and Davanza’s. Start booking the minute you know you’re coming. Three nights in town equals three reservations.
Private parties book out most of the restaurants. Still, the best spots to celeb spot if you can get in are the Riverhorse Café, Chimayo, Zoom, Yuki Yama and Prime Steakhouse. I recommended St Regis’ J & G Grill to my folks for the first Saturday night of the Fest to avoid the mayhem of Main. You can also eat someplace off Main that doesn’t take reservations – like Sammy’s Bistro, El Chubasco, The Blind Dog and our newest yummy Ganesh Indian Restaurant. If you just want something to eat and you want out of town anyway, locals head to Kimball Junction where you have a ton of options from Five Guys to Ghidotti’s.
That’s it for this first leg of our journey. Stay tuned for my Mom’s next phone call!
Good things come to those who wait is the phrase that comes to mind. The powder slashes and frenzied smiles on skiers’ faces today echoed that belief. While other resorts in Utah eeked out a bunny run or two for opening day this past week, Alta held off as usual until they could promise an Opening Day like any other ski day (in Little Cottonwood, of course).
The crowd and anticipation grew. It was the kind of brutally cold morning where your smartphone craps out instantly but your hands are too cold to point and shoot anyway. It was also the kind of cold where standing around is greeted by whines and expletives. But not this morning. Alta passholders mingled with day ticketers (who would soon get their money’s worth) as the civilized line grew.
Why Wait?
Alta waited until now for opening day to make sure you weren’t just going to arrive for a few lightening laps and leave. When you buy a day ticket here you actually have a real ski day. Alta’s tickets are $88, by the way, and will climb to $96 by Christmas.
Collins, Wildcat and Sugarloaf are running but Alta itself is basically four chairs- Collins, Wildcat, Sugarloaf and Supreme. You can ski the entire 2200 acres of mountain off those. Plus, when Alta decides to open Collins and Wildcat, you’re not restricted to a couple of greens and easy blue groomed runs. No, you have the entire unrestricted frontside to play including Ballroom.
People ripped under the liftline, hiked Gunsite, skied trees. There was enough base to keep you floating and away from dangerous stumps and rocks. I’m usually wary about offpiste terrain this early in the season but no one moaned about core shots. Nearly four feet of fresh white stuff fell over the week turning what looked like a dismal November into one filled with promise. There are snow flurries expected Monday and Tuesday and our next big storm is forecast for next Friday.
The backside is still officially closed but if you make it up this weekend you just might be one of the first to track it out.
(Photo by Travis Wise)Sundance Institute has officially released who’s coming to Park City this January 19-29. Organizers promise the Sundance Film Festival lineup will be a full slate of provocative and agenda-setting indie films in categories like U.S. Competition, World Competition and NEXT, as well as a slate of environmentally focused programming under the Festival’s New Climate program.
“The films in this year’s Festival show the human sides of issues, people and places we don’t often see,” Said John Cooper, Sundance Film Festival Director. “Independent filmmakers, with their fearless, bold perspectives, are challenging us to witness our world’s whole story.”
The 113 chosen flicks chosen for the Sundance Film Festival lineup celebrate creativity and independence and the Fest itself raises money for world-wide, year-round public programs through the Sundance Institute. That’s more than $2.5 million in grants and 25 global residency Labs across theatre, film, New Frontier and episodic content.
Sundance Film Festival LineUp Takes On Climate Change
For the first time, the Festival is focusing its programming efforts to drive attention and action around a specific theme: climate change and environmental preservation. And not a year too soon. Just look at the slow, warm start to the ski season! Climate change is real.
The New Climate program builds on the Institute’s longstanding commitment to showcasing environmental films and projects. The Sundance Film Festival lineup includes Chasing Coral follows a team of divers, photographers and scientists documenting the world’s changing coral reefs; Trophy, an in-depth look at the controversial, multi-billion-dollar big-game hunting industry; Water & Power: A California Heist, an investigation of California’s convoluted water system; Plastic China, an examination of employee life at a Chinese recycling plant; and Machines, a portrait of the rhythm of life and work in a gigantic textile factory in Gujarat, India.
“My own engagement on climate change began more than 40 years ago, and the urgency I felt then has only grown stronger,” Said Robert Redford, Sundance’s founder.
For the 2017 Festival, 113 feature-length films were selected, representing 32 countries and 37 first-time filmmakers, including 20 in competition. These films were selected from a whopping 13,782 submissions including 4,068 feature-length films and 8,985 short films. When filmmakers say they are submitting to Sundance, they’re not kidding. As you can see, competition is tough.
Of the feature film submissions, 2,005 were from the U.S. and 2,063 were international. Ninety-eight feature films in the Sundance Film Festival lineup will be world premieres. In 2016, the Festival drew 46,600 attendees, generated $143.3 million in economic activity for the state of Utah and supported 1,400 local jobs.
Sundance Film Festival Lineup For U.S. DRAMATIC COMPETITION
Here are the 16 narrative feature films in the Dramatic Competition:
Band Aid / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Zoe Lister-Jones) — A couple who can’t stop fighting embark on a last-ditch effort to save their marriage: turning their fights into songs and starting a band. Cast: Zoe Lister-Jones, Adam Pally, Fred Armisen, Susie Essman, Hannah Simone, Ravi Patel. World Premiere
Beach Rats / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Eliza Hittman) — An aimless teenager on the outer edges of Brooklyn struggles to escape his bleak home life and navigate questions of self-identity, as he balances his time between his delinquent friends, a potential new girlfriend, and older men he meets online. Cast: Harris Dickinson, Madeline Weinstein, Kate Hodge, Neal Huff. World Premiere
Brigsby Bear/ U.S.A. (Director: Dave McCary, Screenwriters: Kevin Costello, Kyle Mooney) — Brigsby Bear Adventures is a children’s TV show produced for an audience of one: James. When the show abruptly ends, James’s life changes forever, and he sets out to finish the story himself. Cast: Kyle Mooney, Claire Danes, Mark Hamill, Greg Kinnear, Matt Walsh, Michaela Watkins. World Premiere FILMED IN UTAH!!!
Burning Sands/ U.S.A. (Director: Gerard McMurray, Screenwriters: Christine Berg, Gerard McMurray) — Deep into a fraternity’s Hell Week, a favored pledge is torn between honoring a code of silence or standing up against the intensifying violence of underground hazing. Cast: Trevor Jackson, Alfre Woodard, Steve Harris, Tosin Cole, DeRon Horton, Trevante Rhodes. World Premiere
Crown Heights/ U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Matt Ruskin) — When Colin Warner is wrongfully convicted of murder, his best friend, Carl King, devotes his life to proving Colin’s innocence. Adapted from This American Life, this is the incredible true story of their harrowing quest for justice. Cast: Keith Stanfield, Nnamdi Asomugha, Natalie Paul, Bill Camp, Nestor Carbonell, Amari Cheatom. World Premiere
Golden Exits / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Alex Ross Perry) — The arrival of a young foreign girl disrupts the lives and emotional balances of two Brooklyn families. Cast: Emily Browning, Adam Horovitz, Mary-Louise Parker, Lily Rabe, Jason Schwartzman, Chloë Sevigny. World Premiere
The Hero / U.S.A. (Director: Brett Haley, Screenwriters: Brett Haley, Marc Basch) — Lee, a former Western film icon, is living a comfortable existence lending his golden voice to advertisements and smoking weed. After receiving a lifetime achievement award and unexpected news, Lee reexamines his past, while a chance meeting with a sardonic comic has him looking to the future. Cast: Sam Elliott, Laura Prepon, Krysten Ritter, Nick Offerman, Katherine Ross. World Premiere
I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Macon Blair) — When a depressed woman is burglarized, she finds a new sense of purpose by tracking down the thieves, alongside her obnoxious neighbor. But they soon find themselves dangerously out of their depth against a pack of degenerate criminals. Cast: Melanie Lynskey, Elijah Wood, David Yow, Jane Levy, Devon Graye. World Premiere. DAY ONE
Ingrid Goes West / U.S.A. (Director: Matt Spicer, Screenwriters: Matt Spicer, David Branson Smith) — A young woman becomes obsessed with an Instagram lifestyle blogger and moves to Los Angeles to try and befriend her in real life. Cast: Aubrey Plaza, Elizabeth Olsen, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Wyatt Russell, Billy Magnussen. World Premiere
Landline / U.S.A. (Director: Gillian Robespierre, Screenwriters: Elisabeth Holm, Gillian Robespierre) — Two sisters come of age in ’90s New York when they discover their dad’s affair—and it turns out he’s not the only cheater in the family. Everyone still smokes inside, no one has a cell phone and the Jacobs finally connect through lying, cheating and hibachi. Cast: Jenny Slate, John Turturro, Edie Falco, Abby Quinn, Jay Duplass, Finn Wittrock. World Premiere
Novitiate / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Maggie Betts) — In the early 1960s, during the Vatican II era, a young woman training to become a nun struggles with issues of faith, sexuality and the changing church. Cast: Margaret Qualley, Melissa Leo, Julianne Nicholson, Dianna Agron, Morgan Saylor. World Premiere
Patti Cake$/U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Geremy Jasper) — Straight out of Jersey comes Patricia Dombrowski, a.k.a. Killa P, a.k.a. Patti Cake$, an aspiring rapper fighting through a world of strip malls and strip clubs on an unlikely quest for glory. Cast: Danielle Macdonald, Bridget Everett, Siddharth Dhananjay, Mamoudou Athie, Cathy Moriarty. World Premiere
Roxanne Roxanne / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Michael Larnell) — The most feared battle emcee in early-’80s NYC was a fierce teenager from the Queensbridge projects with the weight of the world on her shoulders. At age 14, hustling the streets to provide for her family, Roxanne Shanté was well on her way to becoming a hip-hop legend. Cast: Chanté Adams, Mahershala Ali, Nia Long, Elvis Nolasco, Kevin Phillips, Shenell Edmonds. World Premiere
To the Bone / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Marti Noxon) — In a last-ditch effort to battle her severe anorexia, 20-year-old Ellen enters a group recovery home. With the help of an unconventional doctor, Ellen and the other residents go on a sometimes-funny, sometimes-harrowing journey that leads to the ultimate question—is life worth living? Cast: Lily Collins, Keanu Reeves, Carrie Preston, Lili Taylor, Alex Sharp, Liana Liberato. World Premiere
Walking Out / U.S.A. (Directors and screenwriters: Alex Smith, Andrew Smith) — A father and son struggle to connect on any level until a brutal encounter with a predator in the heart of the wilderness leaves them both seriously injured. If they are to survive, the boy must carry his father to safety. Cast: Matt Bomer, Josh Wiggins, Bill Pullman, Alex Neustaedter, Lily Gladstone. World Premiere
The Yellow Birds / U.S.A. (Director: Alexandre Moors, Screenwriter: David Lowery) — Two young men enlist in the army and are deployed to fight in the Gulf War. After an unthinkable tragedy, the surviving soldier struggles to balance his promise of silence with the truth and a mourning mother’s search for peace. Cast: Tye Sheridan, Jack Huston, Alden Ehrenreich, Jason Patric, Toni Collette, Jennifer Aniston. World Premiere
U.S. DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION
The Sundance Film Festival lineup of 16 world-premiere American documentaries will illuminate the ideas, people and events that shape the present day.
Casting JonBenet / U.S.A., Australia (Director: Kitty Green) — The unsolved death of six-year-old American beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey remains the world’s most sensational child murder case. Over 15 months, responses, reflections and performances were elicited from the Ramsey’s Colorado hometown community, creating a bold work of art from the collective memories and mythologies the crime inspired. World Premiere
Chasing Coral / U.S.A. (Director: Jeff Orlowski) — Coral reefs around the world are vanishing at an unprecedented rate. A team of divers, photographers and scientists set out on a thrilling ocean adventure to discover why and to reveal the underwater mystery to the world. World Premiere. NEW CLIMATE
City of Ghosts / U.S.A. (Director: Matthew Heineman) — With unprecedented access, this documentary follows the extraordinary journey of “Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently”—a group of anonymous citizen journalists who banded together after their homeland was overtaken by ISIS—as they risk their lives to stand up against one of the greatest evils in the world today. World Premiere
Dina / U.S.A. (Directors: Dan Sickles, Antonio Santini) — An eccentric suburban woman and a Walmart door-greeter navigate their evolving relationship in this unconventional love story. World Premiere
Dolores / U.S.A. (Director: Peter Bratt) — Dolores Huerta bucks 1950s gender conventions by co-founding the country’s first farmworkers’ union. Wrestling with raising 11 children, gender bias, union defeat and victory, and nearly dying after a San Francisco Police beating, Dolores emerges with a vision that connects her newfound feminism with racial and class justice. World Premiere
The Force / U.S.A. (Director: Pete Nicks) — This cinema verité look at the long-troubled Oakland Police Department goes deep inside their struggles to confront federal demands for reform, a popular uprising following events in Ferguson and an explosive scandal. World Premiere
ICARUS / U.S.A. (Director: Bryan Fogel) — When Bryan Fogel sets out to uncover the truth about doping in sports, a chance meeting with a Russian scientist transforms his story from a personal experiment into a geopolitical thriller involving dirty urine, unexplained death and Olympic Gold—exposing the biggest scandal in sports history. World Premiere
The New Radical / U.S.A. (Director: Adam Bhala Lough) — Uncompromising millennial radicals from the United States and the United Kingdom attack the system through dangerous technological means, which evolves into a high-stakes game with world authorities in the midst of a dramatically changing political landscape. World Premiere
NOBODY SPEAK: Hulk Hogan, Gawker and Trials of a Free Press / U.S.A. (Director: Brian Knappenberger) — The trial between Hulk Hogan and Gawker Media pitted privacy rights against freedom of the press, and raised important questions about how big money can silence media. This film is an examination of the perils and duties of the free press in an age of inequality. World Premiere
Quest/ U.S.A. (Director: Jonathan Olshefski) — For over a decade, this portrait of a North Philadelphia family and the creative sanctuary offered by their home music studio was filmed with vérité intimacy. The family’s 10-year journey is an illumination of race and class in America, and it’s a testament to love, healing and hope. World Premiere
STEP / U.S.A. (Director: Amanda Lipitz) — The senior year of a girls’ high school step team in inner-city Baltimore is documented, as they try to become the first in their families to attend college. The girls strive to make their dancing a success against the backdrop of social unrest in their troubled city. World Premiere
Strong Island / U.S.A., Denmark (Director: Yance Ford) — Examining the violent death of the filmmaker’s brother and the judicial system that allowed his killer to go free, this documentary interrogates murderous fear and racialized perception, and re-imagines the wreckage in catastrophe’s wake, challenging us to change. World Premiere
Trophy / U.S.A. (Director: Shaul Schwarz, Co-Director: Christina Clusiau) — This in-depth look into the powerhouse industries of big-game hunting, breeding and wildlife conservation in the U.S. and Africa unravels the complex consequences of treating animals as commodities. World Premiere. NEW CLIMATE
Unrest / U.S.A. (Director: Jennifer Brea) — When Harvard PhD student Jennifer Brea is struck down at 28 by a fever that leaves her bedridden, doctors tell her it’s “all in her head.” Determined to live, she sets out on a virtual journey to document her story—and four other families’ stories—fighting a disease medicine forgot. World Premiere
Water & Power: A California Heist / U.S.A. (Director: Marina Zenovich) — In California’s convoluted water system, notorious water barons find ways to structure a state-engineered system to their own advantage. This examination into their centers of power shows small farmers and everyday citizens facing drought and a new, debilitating groundwater crisis. World Premiere. NEW CLIMATE
Whose Streets? / U.S.A. (Director: Sabaah Folayan, Co-Director: Damon Davis) — A nonfiction account of the Ferguson uprising told by the people who lived it, this is an unflinching look at how the killing of 18-year-old Michael Brown inspired a community to fight back—and sparked a global movement. World Premiere. DAY ONE
WORLD CINEMA DRAMATIC COMPETITION
Twelve films in the Sundance Film Festival lineup are from emerging filmmaking talents around the world are part of the Sundance Film Festival lineup to offer fresh perspectives and inventive styles.
Axolotl Overkill / Germany (Director and screenwriter: Helene Hegemann) — Mifti, age 16, lives in Berlin with a cast of characters including her half-siblings; their rich, self-involved father; and her junkie friend Ophelia. As she mourns her recently deceased mother, she begins to develop an obsession with Alice, an enigmatic, and much older, white-collar criminal.
Berlin Syndrome / Australia (Director: Cate Shortland, Screenwriter: Shaun Grant) — A passionate holiday romance takes an unexpected and sinister turn when an Australian photographer wakes one morning in a Berlin apartment and is unable to leave.
Carpinteros (Woodpeckers) / Dominican Republic (Director and screenwriter: José María Cabral) — Julián finds love and a reason for living in the last place imaginable: the Dominican Republic’s Najayo Prison. His romance with fellow prisoner Yanelly must develop through sign language and without the knowledge of dozens of guards.
Don’t Swallow My Heart, Alligator Girl! / Brazil, Netherlands, France, Paraguay (Director and screenwriter: Felipe Bragança) — In this fable about love and memories, Joca is a 13-year-old Brazilian boy in love with an indigenous Paraguayan girl. To conquer her love, he must face the violent region’s war-torn past and the secrets of his elder brother, Fernando, a motorcycle cowboy.
Family Life / Chile (Directors: Alicia Scherson, Cristián Jiménez, Screenwriter: Alejandro Zambra) — While house-sitting for a distant cousin, a lonely man fabricates the existence of a vindictive ex-wife withholding his daughter, in order to gain the sympathy of the single mother he has just met.
Free and Easy / Hong Kong (Director: Jun Geng, Screenwriters: Jun Geng, Yuhua Feng, Bing Liu) — When a traveling soap salesman arrives in a desolate Chinese town, a crime occurs, and sets the strange residents against each other with tragicomic results.
God’s Own Country / United Kingdom (Director and screenwriter: Francis Lee) — Springtime in Yorkshire: isolated young sheep farmer Johnny Saxby numbs his daily frustrations with binge drinking and casual sex, until the arrival of a Romanian migrant worker, employed for the lambing season, ignites an intense relationship that sets Johnny on a new path.
My Happy Family / Georgia (Directors: Nana & Simon, Screenwriter: Nana Ekvtimishvili) — Tbilisi, Georgia, 2016: In a patriarchal society, an ordinary Georgian family lives with three generations under one roof. All are shocked when 52-year-old Manana decides to move out from her parents’ home and live alone. Without her family and her husband, a journey into the unknown begins.
The Nile Hilton Incident / Sweden (Director and screenwriter: Tarik Saleh) — In Cairo, weeks before the 2011 revolution, Police Detective Noredin is working in the infamous Kasr el-Nil Police Station when he is handed the case of a murdered singer. He soon realizes that the investigation concerns the power elite, close to the President’s inner circle.
Pop Aye / Singapore, Thailand (Director and screenwriter: Kirsten Tan) — On a chance encounter, a disenchanted architect bumps into his long-lost elephant on the streets of Bangkok. Excited, he takes his elephant on a journey across Thailand in search of the farm where they grew up together.
Sueño en otro idioma (I Dream in Another Language) / Mexico (Director: Ernesto Contreras, Screenwriter: Carlos Contreras) — The last two speakers of a millennia-old language haven’t spoken in 50 years, when a young linguist tries to bring them together. Yet hidden in the past, in the heart of the jungle, lies a secret concerning the fate of the Zikril language.
The Wound / South Africa (Director: John Trengove, Screenwriters: John Trengove, Thando Mgqolozana, Malusi Bengu) — Xolani, a lonely factory worker, travels to the rural mountains with the men of his community to initiate a group of teenage boys into manhood. When a defiant initiate from the city discovers his best-kept secret, a forbidden love, Xolani’s entire existence begins to unravel.
WORLD CINEMA DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION
Twelve documentaries in the Sundance Film Festival lineup are by some of the most courageous and extraordinary international filmmakers working today.
The Good Postman / Finland, Bulgaria (Director: Tonislav Hristov) — In a small Bulgarian village troubled by the ongoing refugee crisis, a local postman runs for mayor—and learns that even minor deeds can outweigh good intentions. North American Premiere
In Loco Parentis / Ireland, Spain (Directors: Neasa Ní Chianáin, David Rane) — John and Amanda teach Latin, English and guitar at a fantastical, stately home-turned-school. Nearly 50-year careers are drawing to a close for the pair who have become legends with the mantra: “Reading! ‘Rithmetic! Rock ‘n’ roll!” But for pupil and teacher alike, leaving is the hardest lesson. North American Premiere
It’s Not Yet Dark / Ireland (Director: Frankie Fenton) — This is the incredible story of Simon Fitzmaurice, a young filmmaker who becomes completely paralyzed from motor neurone disease but goes on to direct an award-winning feature film through the use of his eyes. International Premiere
Joshua: Teenager vs. Superpower / U.S.A. (Director: Joe Piscatella) — When the Chinese Communist Party backtracks on its promise of autonomy to Hong Kong, teenager Joshua Wong decides to save his city. Rallying thousands of kids to skip school and occupy the streets, Joshua becomes an unlikely leader in Hong Kong and one of China’s most notorious dissidents. World Premiere
Last Men in Aleppo / Denmark (Directors: Feras Fayyad, Steen Johannessen) — After five years of war in Syria, Aleppo’s remaining residents prepare themselves for a siege. Khalid, Subhi and Mahmoud, founding members of The White Helmets, have remained in the city to help their fellow citizens—and experience daily life, death, struggle and triumph in a city under fire. World Premiere
Machines / India, Germany, Finland (Director: Rahul Jain) — This intimate, observant portrayal of the rhythm of life and work in a gigantic textile factory in Gujarat, India, moves through the corridors and bowels of the enormously disorienting structure—taking the viewer on a journey of dehumanizing physical labor and intense hardship. North American Premiere. NEW CLIMATE
Motherland / U.S.A., Philippines (Director: Ramona Diaz) — The planet’s busiest maternity hospital is located in one of its poorest and most populous countries: the Philippines. There, poor women face devastating consequences as their country struggles with reproductive health policy and the politics of conservative Catholic ideologies. World Premiere
Plastic China / China (Director: Jiu-liang Wang) — Yi-Jie, an 11-year-old girl, works alongside her parents in a recycling facility while dreaming of attending school. Kun, the facility’s ambitious foreman, dreams of a better life. Through the eyes and hands of those who handle its refuse, comes an examination of global consumption and culture. International Premiere. NEW CLIMATE
RUMBLE: The Indians Who Rocked The World / Canada (Director: Catherine Bainbridge) — This powerful documentary about the role of Native Americans in contemporary music history—featuring some of the greatest music stars of our time—exposes a critical missing chapter, revealing how indigenous musicians helped shape the soundtracks of our lives and, through their contributions, influenced popular culture. World Premiere
Tokyo Idols / United Kingdom, Canada (Director: Kyoko Miyake) — This exploration of Japan’s fascination with girl bands and their music follows an aspiring pop singer and her fans, delving into the cultural obsession with young female sexuality and the growing disconnect between men and women in hypermodern societies. World Premiere
WINNIE / France (Director: Pascale Lamche) — While her husband served a life sentence, paradoxically kept safe and morally uncontaminated, Winnie Mandela rode the raw violence of apartheid, fighting on the front line and underground. This is the untold story of the mysterious forces that combined to take her down, labeling him a saint, her, a sinner. World Premiere
The Workers Cup / United Kingdom (Director: Adam Sobel) — Inside Qatar’s labor camps, African and Asian migrant workers building the facilities of the 2022 World Cup compete in a football tournament of their own. World Premiere. DAY ONE
NEXT Pure, bold works distinguished by an innovative, forward-thinking approach to storytelling populate this program. Presented by Adobe.
Columbus / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Kogonada) — Casey lives with her mother in a little-known Midwestern town haunted by the promise of modernism. Jin, a visitor from the other side of the world, attends to his dying father. Burdened by the future, they find respite in one another and the architecture that surrounds them. Cast: John Cho, Haley Lu Richardson, Parker Posey, Rory Culkin, Michelle Forbes. World Premiere
Dayveon/ U.S.A. (Director: Amman Abbasi, Screenwriters: Amman Abbasi, Steven Reneau) — In the wake of his older brother’s death, 13-year-old Dayveon spends the sweltering summer days roaming his rural Arkansas town. When he falls in with a local gang, he becomes drawn to the camaraderie and violence of their world. Cast: Devin Blackmon, Kordell “KD” Johnson, Dontrell Bright, Chasity Moore, Lachion Buckingham, Marquell Manning. World Premiere. DAY ONE
Deidra & Laney Rob a Train / U.S.A. (Director: Sydney Freeland, Screenwriter: Shelby Farrell) — Two teenage sisters start robbing trains to make ends meet after their single mother’s emotional meltdown in an electronics store lands her in jail. Cast: Ashleigh Murray, Rachel Crow, Tim Blake Nelson, David Sullivan, Danielle Nicolet, Sasheer Zamata. World Premiere
A Ghost Story/ U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: David Lowery) — This is the story of a ghost and the house he haunts. Cast: Casey Affleck, Rooney Mara, Will Oldham, Sonia Acevedo, Rob Zabrecky, Liz Franke. World Premiere
Gook / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Justin Chon) — Eli and Daniel, two Korean American brothers who own a struggling women’s shoe store, have an unlikely friendship with 11-year-old Kamilla. On the first day of the 1992 L.A. riots, the trio must defend their store—and contemplate the meaning of family, their personal dreams and the future. Cast: Justin Chon, Simone Baker, David So, Curtiss Cook Jr., Sang Chon, Ben Munoz. World Premiere
L.A. Times/ U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Michelle Morgan) — In this classically styled comedy of manners set in Los Angeles, sophisticated thirtysomethings try to determine whether ideal happiness exists in coupledom or if the perfectly suited couple is actually just an urban myth. Cast: Michelle Morgan, Dree Hemingway, Jorma Taccone, Kentucker Audley, Margarita Levieva, Adam Shapiro. World Premiere
Lemon / U.S.A. (Director: Janicza Bravo, Screenwriters: Janicza Bravo, Brett Gelman) — A man watches his life unravel after he is left by his blind girlfriend. Cast: Brett Gelman, Judy Greer, Michael Cera, Nia Long, Shiri Appleby, Fred Melamed. World Premiere
Menashe / U.S.A. (Director: Joshua Z Weinstein, Screenwriters: Joshua Z Weinstein, Alex Lipschultz, Musa Syeed) — Within Brooklyn’s ultra-orthodox Jewish community, a widower battles for custody of his son. A tender drama performed entirely in Yiddish, the film intimately explores the nature of faith and the price of parenthood. Cast: Menashe Lustig. World Premiere
Person to Person/ U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Dustin Guy Defa) — A record collector hustles for a big score while his heartbroken roommate tries to erase a terrible mistake, a teenager bears witness to her best friend’s new relationship and a rookie reporter, alongside her demanding supervisor, chases the clues of a murder case involving a life-weary clock shop owner. Cast: Abbi Jacobson, Michael Cera, Tavi Gevinson, Philip Baker Hall, Bene Coopersmith, George Sample III. World Premiere
Thoroughbred / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Cory Finley) — Two teenage girls in suburban Connecticut rekindle their unlikely friendship after years of growing apart. In the process, they learn that neither is what she seems to be—and that a murder might solve both of their problems. Cast: Olivia Cooke, Anya Taylor-Joy, Anton Yelchin, Paul Sparks, Francie Swift, Kaili Vernoff. World Premiere
It’s a good thing I live in the mountains. Fashion stunts me. The whole what to wear, how to accessorize, do these shoes match sort of thing can be overwhelming. I blame private school uniforms throughout my formative years for my lack of style. It wasn’t until moving to the Rocky Mountains that I found my comfort zone. Things like heels and cleavage just aren’t practical when you’re hiking and rock climbing. Dressing for the outdoors is function over form but that never meant we girls should look like dumpy men in baggy Carharts and pilled fleece. I played in the land of athleisure before it became an Urban Dictionary term; and I was wearing PrAna Activewear before most wore leggings on date night.
Why PrAna Clothing
The word PrAna comes from the Sanskirt word for energy or life force that surrounds us (think the Force in Star Wars). PrAna Activewear has that earthy feel you would imagine might be related to this principle. It is the ultimate sport to street wear. You throw on a light top like the organic cotton Stacia Sweater over your morning workout clothes and you’re good for coffee with friends or a day running errands.
I’ll admit that unless you work at Backcountry or other similarly chill environment you won’t be heading off to work without a change but a soft flowy dress like the Mariette should get you a couple of drinks at the No Name Saloon.
If you haven’t heard of this boutique brand out of southern California it’s probably because you don’t climb or bend (as in Yoga). Their styles were born of the notion that clothes that hug should be durable, comfortable and uplifting- in body and spirit. Eventually, they branched into lifestyle pieces but everything they make can be played in. The Kara Jean for example has just the right amount of stretch to feel like leggings rather than jeans. The stretch denim is so soft you could sleep in them but so sexy you’ll dance in them instead. Believe it or not, these are my go-to fall climbing pants.
It’s all done with a mindful nod
PrAna’s manufacturing supports fair trade and sustainable practices as they strive to give back more than they take from the world. You can feel great about the things you wear and the gifts you give. Not only that, but prAna prioritizes giving back to communities all over the world by partnering with charities throughout the year and donating during the holidays to Outdoor Outreach– a non-profit that connects underserved youth with the outdoors.
Get A Deal On PrAna Activewear
Try PrAna on; find the perfect fit and see for yourself how these clothes don’t just reflect a lifestyle but a way of life. Many of their fall styles are on sale right now for 30% off and you can use promo code BLOGF16JLAD for 15% off anything else to help you transition into the land of athleisure or find the perfect Xmas gift. The code is good till December 19, 2016.
FYI- The sizing can be a bit off so if you are ordering online make sure you read through all of the comments in the reviews to get an idea of fit. I’m 5’6″, 115 and normally wear a medium top and small dresses but took a Stacia in Small and the Mariette in XS. My Kara’s are a 2 and fit like a glove.
Disclaimer: PrAna sent me clothes in exchange for this review but I’ve been a HUGE fan of the brand long before this post. The words and opinion are expressly my own and will always be!
Catch-22, you get a resort job and no place to live. It’s getting harder and harder to find seasonal Park City housing. Everyone wants a year lease and at least $1k+ a month. It’s even more if you want to live alone.
Deer Valley and Park City offer employee housing but it’s scarce and dormlike. Plus, if you aren’t an ski instructor, liftee, etc. you’re not welcome to it. So now, you might be pulling your hair out trying to find a place; especially if you aren’t local.
Where do you start to look?
Well, you should have started looking in August. What the hell were you waiting for? Come December, it’s slim pickings. I personally have an apartment for rent because my lease starts Dec. 1. As a landlord, I know I can get my place rented fast at that time. I’m not on a busline, and it’s a one-year lease. Leave me a comment and I can share the info with you.
Here are my tips and places to help you find something for this winter:
Almost Forgot This For Park City Housing
One other thing I forgot to mention was to contact the HR departments at Deer Valley and Park City. They often will keep a folder of available rentals.
If all else fails, save your money for a reliable, rent in Salt Lake City and commute. If you have a job that starts early in the morning they have a special bus for you. 😉
