Sundance Film Festival
P A R K C I T Y, Utah, Jan. 21 -- Locals call them "PIBs," meaning people in black. Every year, PIBs descend on this picturesque ski town for Sundance, a 10-day independent film festival, which runs from Jan. 15-25 this year.
They come here to market their movies, smoke cigarettes, drink coffee, and talk on their cell phones. And yes, a lot of them are dressed in black. It's become so much of a cliché that a local marketing agency ran the following ad; "Sundance Film Festival. Welcome to Park City: 65,874 gallons of coffee, 84,038 cell phones, 9,387 black turtlenecks and plenty of wives for everyone." PIBs and a polygamist reference all in one ad.
Actor/director Robert Redford started the Sundance Film Festival in 1981 to provide a stage for the talents of emerging screenwriters and directors. Redford lives just around the corner in Provo Canyon at his Sundance resort and is seen by locals virtually every winter. The once-fledgling film festival has grown over the years, and this January hosts more than 40,000 film goers, exhibitors, directors, publicists, and actors.
Actors spotted along Main Street this year include Ben Affleck, Billy Bob Thornton, Hank Azaria, Demi Moore and boyfriend, Ashton Kucher, Danny DeVito, Courtney Cox-Arquette of Friends, her husband David Arquette, and of course Redford to name a few.
Emerging Films, Bustling Bars
Of the 137 full-length films — 91 features and 46 documentaries — three or four seem to be emerging as standouts. There is Supersize Me, a documentary about a perfectly healthy filmmaker who eats three meals a day at McDonald's and puts on more than 30 pounds in a month; Garden State, a film set in, yes, New Jersey; Maria Full of Grace, and Redford's first independent film debut at Sundance, The Clearing.
The annual festival also attracts lots of traffic, parties, and overbooked restaurants. Although Park City has more than 100 bars and restaurants, it can be difficult getting into the good ones such as Grappa, Riverhorse Cafe, 350 Main, Easy Street Brasserie, and Zoom (another Redford venture).
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