2016 Sundance Film Festival

Can one first date be interesting enough to fill 80 minutes? Yes, when the couple in question happens to be Michelle Robinson and Barack Obama. Their often-mentioned first rendezvous is the subject of Southside With You (the title referring to Chicago’s Southside where they both lived).

Mere days before the political primaries begin, which will eventually lead to selecting his successor, Barack Obama is all the buzz in Park City after the festival screening of Southside with You, screenwriter/director Richard Tanne’s debut film which recounts a very special day in the lives of the people we now refer to as the First Couple. Tanne’s film details the Obamas’ first date – although Michelle (Tika Sumpter) may (and does) have something to say about that characterization in the film! On that summer day in 1989 Chicago Harvard law student Barack Obama (Parker Sawyers) in his late twenties is spending the summer back in Chicago interning at a prestigious law firm where his advisor is fellow Harvard alumna Michelle Robinson.

He co-wrote movies such as The Ice Storm and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, produced Brokeback Mountain, founded and ran Focus Features (2002-2013), where he oversaw the production and distribution of Lost in Translation, Milk, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and The Kids Are All Right, but this year, at the age of 57, James Schamus arrived at Sundance Film Festival with his directorial debut Indignation, which he adapted from Philip Roth’s novel of the same name. “I never really had any particular envy or urge over the years to direct,” he explained at an HFPA-hosted dinner in Park City.

Only Cannes has more events than Sundance. A serious party hopper could easily start around 3pm every day and not get home until a good 12 hours later.

As the 2016 Sundance Film Festival comes to a close we look back at ten days of exciting films. HFPA members in attendance crossed paths with Park City veterans such as Todd Solondz (Wiener Dog) as well as first time directors like “The Daniels” (Swiss Army Man) and Richard Tanne (Southside With You).

Climate change, gun control (or lack thereof), ISIS, women’s rights, gender issues, a privileged socialite’s life, poetry, and music – these were the most timely themes of the documentaries that premiered at the Sundance festival over the past ten days. There was no shocking doc that had people lining up around five blocks (and not getting in) like last year’s Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief.

Indignation. Directed by James Schamus.

It’s hard to dress up for ice and slush, snowstorms and slippery streets in below zero temperatures. While festival dress codes are clearly defined for such places as Cannes (full on black tie) and Venice, Berlin and Toronto (cocktail attire), it’s a different story for Sundance, a festival that takes place in a ski resort, Park City, Utah.

Looking good while bundled for winter weather is a challenge and an art. The stars of Sundance 2016 rocked all kinds of styles in an effort to beat the cold and look sharp.

Once upon a time the Sundance Film Festival was a simple, down to earth, almost rustic event in the quaint winter resort of Park City, high up on Utah's mountains. Not anymore.