SUNDANCE, ‘98. DAY IX. 1/23...
Truth be told, in the five years I’ve been coming to Sundance, I’ve not been able to pick the Grand Jury Prize winner. Tonight was no exception. In fact, I didn’t even see "Slam", which won in the Dramatic Competition. Nonetheless, "At Large" snaps his fingers to the elevation of the spoken word as art form used dramatically as a means of survival in and out of the Washington, DC prison system. "Slam," directed by award-winning documentary filmmaker Marc Levin and starring Bonz Malone, Saul Williams, Sonjia Sohn and Beau Sia will be released by Trimark Pictures. The Documentary Grand Jury Prize was shared by "The Farm" (another prison story), directed by Liz Garbus and Jonathan Stack, and "Frat House", directed by Todd Phillips and Andrew Gurland. Phillips thanked fellow documentary filmmaker, Nick Broomfield, and pornographer Seymour Butts for "fucking with the documentary genre" -- more or less opening the door for him and his partner to make wild films like "Frat House."
Festival Audiences dug the documentary, "Out Of The Past" (dir.: Jeff Dupre) -- an historical look at gay rights in America framing the personal story of seventeen-year-old lesbian Kelli Peterson and her struggles with the Salt Lake City public school system and Utah State Legislature. "Smoke Signals," directed by Chris Eyre and starring Adam Beach, Evan Adams, Gary Farmer and Tantoo Cardinal took the dramatic Audience Award. This inspired piece of storytelling marks the first time a drama has been directed and written (Sherman Alexie) by Native Americans. Picked up by Miramax for distribution before the festival, "Smoke Signals" might just open up a new genre much in the way we saw our spate of Vietnam movies span a decade. For Native Americans, however, the battle never ends. More movies please.
Paul Schrader apparently brow-beat his fellow jurors into giving up the dramatic Directing Award to "Pi" director, Darren Aronofsky. Aronofsky thanked his mother and father in his acceptance speech -- both for their power of example in "kicking cancer’s ass" this past year, and for teaching him to "get shit done." Julia Loktev took the documentary Directing Award for her compelling, first-person probe of family tragedy, "Moment of Impact."
The 1998 Filmmakers Trophy is awarded by a peer group of filmmakers attending the festival. The Documentary trophy went to Steve Yeager for "Divine Trash," a "making of" movie about John Waters’ "Pink Flamingos," and Chris Eyre won for "Smoke Signals," making that film the big winner of the night.
Penelope Spheeris came out of the old school with her third "Decline Of Western Civilization" installment, and copped the Freedom Of Expression Award. Her empathetic filmic dealings with the punk sub-culture have been unparalleled over the years, and all proceeds from this film will be donated to homeless and abused children.
The Cinematography Award went to Tom Hurwitz for his camera work following Woody Allen on his European Jazz tour, and Declan Quinn won the dramatic prize for his cinematography on the modern Irish immigrant tale, "2by4."
Lisa Cholodenko won the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award for her screenplay for "High Art," which she also directed. Lesbian co-dependency and heroin addiction factor in to her original screenplay focusing on relationship matters without gratuitous moralizing.
The Special Recognition in Latin American Cinema Award went to Mexican filmmaker, Carlos Marcovich for "Who The Hell Is Juliette?"; "Snake Feed," by Debra Granik took The Special Recognition in Short Filmmaking Award, and Jay Rosenblatt’s "Human Remains" won an Honorable Mention for the same. Andrea Hart won a Special Jury Prize for Achievement by an Actor for her performance in "Miss Monday."
That’s it. A few people went home with awards, but it’s important to remember that The Sundance Film Festival is not supposed to be about prizes -- it’s about the films and filmmakers blessed with the opportunity to showcase their work. Congratulations to all.
"Click here" on February 15, when Ebner "At Large" takes you behind the scenes with a movie "production story."