Sundance - Day 4

I spent the morning packing. The first thing I did when I got to Park City was attend the press and filmmaker luncheon. I got to meet a few very nice and interesting people.

The first was Wendell B. Harris Jr. He wrote, directed, and starred in Chameleon Street which won the Grand Jury prize at the 1990 Sundance Film Festival. I have never seen the film, but I promised I would. I have just put the movie on my netflix queue, and will post a review after I watch it.

I also met Marie-Helene Cousineau, one of the directors of Before Tomorrow. Its the final chapter in the trilogy that started with The Fast Runner. I enjoyed The Fast Runner, and I'm hoping to catch Before Tomorrow before the festival is over.

Last, I got to meet one of the stars of the short film Countertransference about a woman who's therapist may be more disturbed than she is. I thought the movie was weird and quirky.

I only managed to see one movie today: Over the Hills and Far Away. Its a documentary about a boy with autism and his parents take him to Mongolia hoping that a shaman can cure him. It was a very interesting story and the young boy broke my heart, but overall the movie didn't work for me. There is a stretch of about a half hour towards the end of the movie where nothing much happens. We are just watching them ride horses in Mongolia. The movie opens and closes with some talking heads trying to explain autism, and I was surprised to learn that the experts don't even agree about what exactly autism is.

I tried to see a second movie, El General, but I only made it a half hour into it. Its about Mexico's president from 1924 - 1928. I'm interested in Mexican history, but this documentary felt like watching paint dry. My first walkout of the festival. And I rarely ever walk out of movies.

I will be moving on Tuesday, so I am not sure how much I will be able to post for the next couple of days.