Festivals

For all its well-earned reputation as a showcase for edgy indie fare, Sundance has been known to screen some great comedies through the years. This year The Big Sick filled that bill and then some.

As John  Cooper and Robert Redford confirmed on opening day, diversity remains a founding principle here at Sundance. The festival is committed to showcasing the widest possible variety of voices.

In recent years Sundance has always opened with a documentary. This year was no different.

An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power opened the 33rd  Sundance Festival which , as detailed at the opening conference by Robert Redford and Artistic Director John Cooper, will devote special attention to the environment. That focus is expressed by the first New Climate section featuring 14 films and “VR experiences” dedicated to global warming.

PARK CITY - - The forecast in Park City calls for snow – that's for five straight days, making this edition of the Sundance Film Festival possibly one of the whitest on record. Meantime the forecast was also less than sunny inside the Egyptian theater as the traditional Day One press conference got things under way with a discussion which inevitably repeatedly evoked the figure of Donald Trump and a political climate which will surely turn inclement towards the arts.

The yearly cycle of festivals begins today in Park City, Utah, with the 2017 edition of Sundance. As usual, we can expect bidding wars, breakout stars and lots of parties and commotion at premiere screenings.