...Long thought of as a community builder as well as a premiere festival, the Sundance support and networking system is well in evidence as the screening schedule boasts several directors, actors and writers who are premiering new projects made on the heels of previous Sundance selection or showcasing work made possible by their association with the festival.

Stanley Tucci, whose film Big Night was a huge hit at Sundance, returns with the premiere of Joe Gould's Secret. Mary Heron's long awaited American Psycho premiere is her first film back at the festival since I Shot Andy Warhol. Sophia Coppola's The Virgin Suicides, although rumored to have been long finished and struggling through a series of re-edits, also emerges at the festival. Michael Winterbottom's Wonderland, which was such a success at Cannes this year, will also be at the festival; his first since Go Now in 1996.

Other directors returning with projects include Jim McKay with Our Song (debut-Girls Town), Lisa Krueger with Commited (debut-Manny and Lo), Miguel Arteta with Chuck & Buck (debut-Star Maps), Shane Meadows with A Room For Romeo Brass (debut-twentyfourseven), and Auturo Ripstein with No One Writes To The Colonel. Ripstein's brilliant Deep Crimson was critically received at Sundance 1997, but never found the American audience it deserved.

The line-up of favorite indie actors returning to the Sundance screens is also long: Ian Hart and Ned Beatty (Spring Forward), William H. Macy (Panic), Campbell Scott (Lush, Other Voices), Jared Harris (Lush, Shadow Magic), Laura Linney (You Can Count On Me, Lush), Norman Reedus (Beat), Luke Wilson (Commited) and the perennial favorite, James Le Gros (Drop Back Ten), are among the list.

Early sell-out films included Commited, A Room For Romeo Brass, Wonderland, Panic (director Henry Bromell) and New Waterford Girl (director Allan Moyle), although the festival is quick to maintain their policy of retaining some same day seats for most shows.

This year, festival films will also share the spotlight with a number of special events and programs including the Fifth Annual New Media Tech Center, Theater at the Festival (with live performances of Eve Ensler's "The Vagina Monologues", and Charlayne Woodard's work-in-progress, "In Real Life"), Panel Discussions, and Special Screenings (seven short animated films from Faith Hubley, Anna Deavere Smith's one-woman show, Twilight: Los Angeles, and Via Dolorosa, the film version of David Hare's hit play), in addition to the traditional Archival, Frontier, Native Vision, World Cinema, American Spectrum, Documentary, Dramatic Competition, and Premiere showcases.

The festival, which attracts 13,000 attendees who see an average of ten films each, is nearly as famous for the deal making as it is the film breaking, as Hollywood insiders flock to the site each year to out-bid rival companies for the hottest in independent filmmaking. Split into separate screening sections, or two, five-day 'packages', the festival has become a Mecca for distributors and acquisition players who are just as driven to take advantage of the environment as any filmmaker.

Several of the large studios and distributors already have contracts in place for various films. Miramax has Committed, About Adam, Hamlet, Butterfly Tongue and Human Traffic at Sundance; Lions Gate has Big Kahuna and American Psycho; Fine Line has The Cup, The Filth and Flury, and But I'm A Cheerleader, and USA Films has Waking the Dead and Bloody Angels. However, Sundance continues to be a vital lynchpin as acquisition executives scrutinize each screening for new talent.

Digital filmmaking received a boost when Sundance announced last fall they would make digital projection available to their filmmakers who preferred to screen digitally. The first major film festival to effectively sanction the digital video format with such a strong commitment, the announcement came on the heels of a substantial increase in digital submission (unlike the concurrent Slamdance Film Festival which showed barely a 3% increase in digital submissions).

"Certainly, there were more digital submissions," agreed Yeldham, "89 dramatic features, 109 documentary features, 19 world submissions and 179 shorts were shot on digital video. Some directors approached digital video as if it were a "cinematic" medium, achieving strong production values and an impressive and original visual aesthetic.

"On the whole, though, it seems as though filmmakers are still in the very early stages of maximizing the potential of the digital medium as a tool of creative expression. Though some films were shot on DV, the filmmakers have opted to project the films on film. Conversely, some filmmakers (mostly documentarians) who did not shoot in DV have elected to take advantage of our DV projection capabilities at the festival."

The new media opportunities for a broader distribution bandwidth also attract a large number of new technology companies to Sundance who are searching for content for the Net, on-line services, cable and non-traditional venues.

"Sundance is where we have the largest presence throughout the year," remarked Jannat Gargi, Director of Acquisitions and Film Development at AtomFilms. "Short films are now the true essence of indie filmmaking since they are the only film form not yet co-opted by the studios. Interestingly, a year ago no one was paying attention to short films, and now this year companies are fighting over being a short film program sponsor. Suddenly, everyone is paying attention to shorts and nearly every short program is sold out. Short filmmakers are being valued as good content creators, good filmmakers. These films aren't just calling cards or stepping stones any longer; they are true entertainment. There's a lot of great talent out there."

AtomFilms intends to maximize their exposure at 2000 Sundance by creating, among other events, the Atom Short Bus: a bus loaded with short films from filmmakers (some of whom are not in either Sundance or Slamdance festivals) which will roam the streets of Park City for festival attendees to hop on for quick viewing or informal filmmaker interviews.

With record low snow levels instead of the traditional high winds and heavy blizzard conditions, 2000 Sundance Film Festival is poised to usher in a remarkably sunny start to the second century of filmmaking.

FilmFestivals.com reporter
Kathleen McInnis

Sundance