WIP Talk: Sundance’s Creative Energy

Tonight, while walking down Main Street back to my hotel, I felt particularly inspired by the creative energy of the festival. There is something truly remarkable about seeing great art in a space with hundreds of other people whose reactions only enhance your experience. I love the sound of a crowd roaring with genuine laughter, or a collective uneasiness as everyone holds their breath fearing what will happen next. Seeing a movie with an engaged audience is an experience that cannot be mimicked watching a DVD at home alone, trust me.

• Director Josh Fox in Gasland. Photo courtesy of the Sundance Film Festival. •

Today began with a 9 a.m. screening of Gasland. The documentary just grabbed me. Maybe it was the unsettling footage of contaminated water or director Josh Fox’s soothing narration, but something onscreen just resonated with me. The film’s compelling footage made me so riled up I had to hold myself back from calling everyone I know post-screening and saying, “How can people not have drinkable water? Natural Gas is not the answer.”

But I restrained myself and saw another documentary instead.

I have been looking forward to Diego Luna’s directing debut Abel for weeks. In his endearing opening remarks, Diego Luna admitted to being extremely nervous for his film’s first screening with an audience. Since the Eccles theater seats over 1,200 people, and the place was packed, it was quite a coming out party.

• The cast and crew of Abel at tonight’s premiere. Photo by Jessica Mosby. •

Post-screening, everyone – and I mean everyone, including the entire cast and crew in attendance – took the stage with contagious pride for their film. And with good reason, Abel is absolutely mesmerizing! Hours after I left the theater, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. In the tradition of my favorite director Pedro Almodovar, Abel challenges the audience to reconsider their most fundamental ideas about life. The performances by the two real life brothers, Christopher Ruíz-Esparza and Gerardo Ruíz-Esparza, who play brothers Abel and Paul in the film are so authentic that at times I became so lost in the story I forgot I was watching a movie. Both boys were in attendance at tonight's premiere clad in adorable suits!