WELCOMING CHANGE AT THE 2015 SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL


By Lauren Clarke-Bennett, Nissa Alloy and Taylor Bennett

Robert Redford, the iconic Sundance Kid, kicked off the 2015 Sundance Film Festival at the Egyptian Theater in Park City, Utah. Redford’s dream of creating a film festival over 30 years ago as a place where independent filmmakers could show their movies to each other has grown into a world-wide success, where movie studio, internet channel, and television executives along with press and film lover audiences travel to purchase, review and enjoy some of the best films wrapped over the last year. The state of the industry has changed immensely over the past few years as there has been a large amount of diversity in film along with cutting edge technology and innumerable distribution outlets. “I believe that change is inevitable and I want us to… use it to our advantage.” states Redford. “Change for us is something positive – it’s going to happen, so let’s roll with it.

THE INDIE LOUNGE CELEBRATES YEAR No. 5

The Independent Filmmaker’s Lounge better known as the INDIE LOUNGE and brainchild of Daniel Thompson saw their fifth successful year at the Sundance Film Festival 2015. One of the most talked about features of Sundance aside from the movies and celebrities that grace Park City every January are the activations and gifting lounges that turn into private parties when the sun goes down. The INDIE LOUNGE, one of the most notable around town, was chock full of gifted goodies and offered a hideaway for those who wanted to take a break from viewing the myriad of stellar Sundance films. From the Lounge’s exceptional entertainment and gifting, down to their yummy treats and spirits this lounge was not to be missed. A truly memorable evening featured one of America’s iconic pop culture stars, Donnie Most former “Ralph Malph” from ‘Happy Days’, Now a superlative jazz singer, the crooner presented ‘An Evening with Don Most: A Tribute to Frank Sinatra, Bobby Darin and Dean Martin’, and he sang it with style. Celebrities of all talents perused their way through the maze of things that the ‘INDIE’ had to offer. RJ Mitte from ‘Breaking Bad’ was spotted with Millennium Magazine’s Music Editor/ Musician, Taylor Bennett and Kweku Mandela, Nelson Mandela’s grandson presented the film ‘REPRESENT’ during a party thrown in support of ‘Operation Underground Railroad’; a non-profit organization that rescues children who have been kidnapped and enslaved, worldwide.

RYDER & SARSGAARD EXAMINE ‘EXPERIMENTER’ AT SUNDANCE

Winona Ryder, Peter Sarsgaard and Director Michael Almereyda came out to talk about their premiering film ‘Experimenter’ with The Wrap in the INDIEGOGO Lounge at The Sundance Film Festival. The story centers around Professor Stanley Milgram brilliantly played by Sarsgaard, who conducted the ‘obedience experiments’ in 1961 at Yale University. The unconventional experiments tried to explain why average reasonable people would shock/torture other human beings on the directive of a person in authority. Taking risks to gain keen insight that yielded a shocking 65% compliance rate, Milgram fell under great scrutiny because of his controversial methods. “The unfortunate fact is these experiments are undyingly relevant…and we have to question authority more and try and fill the moral vacuum that is part of our current history.” said Almereyda. Through all the scrutiny Milgram continually garnered the support of his adoring wife, who was on the set for a large portion of the filming and played by the alluring Ms. Ryder who said, “They had a really beautiful and close relationship and what I liked was it wasn’t just ‘The Wife’ role.”