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Show OUTRAGED, OUT OF STAMPS? ON THE FRINGE OF A NEW FRONTIER, TECHNOLOGY AND ART ARE CUTTING EDGE I BUSINESS, A - 7 COLUMNS, A - l 8 BUYERS ARE FRUGAL AT OUTDOOR RETAILER The PARK CITY, UTAH | * \ SNOWBOARDERS REALIZE THEY'RE ONE TRICK AWAY FROM A BAD INJURY SEND A LETTER TO THE EDITOR VIA THE INTERNET AT: PARKRECORD.COM/WRITEALEHER SUNDANCE OR STATEHOUSE: WHICH IS MORE ENTERTAINING? Park Record. P Serving Summit County since 1880 A P R c o C O Sat/Sun/Mon/Tues, January 23-26, 2010 VOL. 129 • NO. 100 Mother Nature steals show as top celebrity In movie, punk rock meets Islam Snowstorms line up as Park City bustles By JAY HAMBURGER Of the Record staff Islam and punk rock collide in "The Taqwacores." GRAYSON WEST/PARK RECORD By PATRICK PARKINSON Of the Record staff A gritty movie about young Muslim punk rockers may cause audiences at this year's Sundance Film Festival to squirm a little in their seats. "Gender equality, homosexuality, freedom of expression, sometimes these things are sort of slipped underneath the rug when they are brought up in the AmericanMuslim community," said Eyad Zahra, director of "The Taqwacores." "People just don't know how to deal with them." "The Taqwacores" is based on the novel of the same name, which some have called "The Catcher in the Rye" for Muslims growing up in America. The film is an official selection at Sundance 2010. "I came across information about the book on its Wikipedia page," Zahra told The Park Record. "I read about it and I was blown away. Everything sort of stopped." The film depicts a group of Islamic youth in Buffalo, N.Y. '•'Taqwacores1 encourages you to express what's on your mind and talk about it, versus putting it on a shelf and dealing with it later or sweeping it under a rug," Zahra, 27, said in a telephone interview. Young American Muslims and punk rockers have more in common than they might think, he said. "The punk and the Islamic communities are always what people outside the communities want them to be perceived as," Zahra said. "But if •>u destroy all those symbols and meet these people for the first time you'll see things differently. It allows you to throw everything in the air and lets you sort of look at things from a very different perspective and hopefully from your own perspective." Growing up Muslim in Cleveland, Ohio, Zahra admits he did not often listen to punk music. "I'm more the nerd in the film, Yusef, the main character," Zahra said. "If you found me on the street you'd Please see Punk rock, A-2 f- 3 SECTIONS • 52 PAGES if [Business A-7 Classifieds C 'Columns [''Editorial •Events Calendar C-13 .9.A-18 A-19 C-6 ; [legal* C-15?j Letters to the Editor Movies Restaurant Guide A-19&j C-4 H A-1 Sports B Scene Weather The rebel Redford refocuses festival Sundance returns to founder's original vision By AUSHA SELF Of the Record staff In a year that launches a new decade, one might expect the Sundance Film Festival to take on a futuristic tone. Instead, it's going back to the ideas and principles that started it all. At the Opening Day press conference on Thursday, festival founder and president Robert Redford expressed a desire to return to the festival's roots. "I'm always aware of how we're doing," he said. "Are we staying out in front of things? Are we sliding back? Are we afraid to take a chance? I felt that we were sliding. We were flatlining and we needed to get fresh again. I felt the best thing we could do to be new and fresh was to get back to the way we were when we first started." Thus the theme of the 2010 festival was born: "renewed rebellion". That goal happened to coincide with a major shift in the upper echelon of the festival's administration. Geoffrey Gilmore, who served as festival director for 19 years, announced his decision to move on following last year's festival. John Cooper, a programmer who., had moved up through the ranks to the head of the department, was selected to take Gilmores place at the helm. "John has been doing incredible work for a long time," Redford said. "You'll see the results of that at this festival." Cooper, who has 20 years at Sundance under his belt, was quick to jump on board with the notion of getting back to Redford's original vision. '"Sundance reminded' is where we're coming from this year," he explained during the press conference. When the festival started 26 years ago, its goal was, quite simply, to create a com- munity and a forum for independent filmmakers to share their work. At the time, there was greater separation between independent film and the mainstream industry, and it wasn't about celebrities or swag or socialites, Redford said. "It was always meant to be loose and fun," he said, but, "There have been a lot of bumps and challenges and obstacles over the years." Redford alluded to ambush marketers coming in and clouding the festival's mission. "I don't like it, but there's nothing I can do about it." he said. The upside of the current economic climate, Redford said, is that it has kept away some of the people who try make the festival about their own products and parties. "1 hope they don't come," he said. And with the absence of some of the glitz and glamour. Please see Sundance, A-2 Please see Snow, A-2 Graffiti as art: is Banksy the one responsible? Handiwork showing up around Park City looks like his images By JAY HAMBURGER Of the Record staff At least three pieces of graffiti appeared in Park City just before the start of the Sundance Film Festival, artwork that closely resembles the handiwork of a famous graffiti artist who is debuting a film during the festival. The possibility that the graffiti artist, who goes by the name Banksy, was in Park City and is responsible for the works caused a stir the day before the opening of Sundance. City Hall officials and the Park City Police Department were made aware of the pieces, and people passing by a highly visible one on Main Street were stopping and taking pictures with the graffiti. The Police Department said it received three complaints about graffiti just before the festival. One of the pieces is on the Java Cow building at 402 Main St., on a well-traveled section of the street. The piece on the Java Cow building shows an image of a crouching videographer filming a pink flower. The other two pieces were discovered on a utility box on Heber Avenue close to the Gateway Center, which is the building where the film festival's main box office is located, and on a white shed on the S.R. 224 entryway across the state highway from the McPolin Farm, according to the police. A Public Works Department crew Please see Artsy, A-2 GRAYSON WEST/PARK RECORD Some passers-by on Tuesday did not seem to notice the graffiti on the wall at Java Cow on Main Street. There are suspicions that a famous graffiti artist known as Banksy put the piece there. -1 C-1 .....B-2 * Sundance Film Festival director John Cooper, left, sat down with founder Robert Redford at the Opening Day press conference at the Egyptian Theatre Thursday to share their thoughts about this year's festival, the first with Cooper at the helm. The biggest celebrity making an appearance at the Sundance Film Festival this year could end up being Mother Nature. She arrived with her snowstorms with the first wave of festival-goers and forecasters expect that she will stick around for a few days. The snow started falling early in the week and has continued through the end of the week, putting down some of the most significant accumulation of the winter so far and hampering the traffic and the big crowds in Park City for Sundance. Brian Mclnerney, a National Weather Service hydrologist who closely tracks snowfall and its water content, said up to five cold fronts have moved through the region since last Sunday. The latest was between Thursday evening and Friday morning, and Mclnerney said one foot of snow was measured in Park City. By Sunday, he said, between one and three feet of snow is expected in the Park City area, with the most falling at the higher elevations. Mclnerney, calling the storms a "constant stream of moisture and cold air." said perhaps another foot of snow could fall in Old Town by then. The snow should taper off on Sunday, he said. "Thev dress for fashion as opposed to the weather . . . at least that's my impression," Mclnerney said as he talked about the Sundance visitors. Meanwhile, the Park City Police Department reports there has been a series of accidents. Rick Ryan, a police captain, said the accidents had been minor through Friday morning. The number of accidents was not immediately available. Ryan said they have been reported citywide, with intersections being problems. He also said traffic has been clogged on Main Street, the focus of much of the festivalrelated partying and celebrity gawking. "For the most part, people are doing really good," Ryan said. City Hall's fleet of snowplows and sidewalk plows were seen working throughout Park City at the end of the week as the crews attempted to keep up with the snowfall. Phyllis Robinson. City Hall's spokeswoman, said they have been busy. "Crews are basically working around the clock at this point," Robinson said. City officials, though, through Friday morning had not declared a snow emergency and said one was not under consideration. Under a snow emergency. City Hall would have vehicles blocking snowplows towed. There were no parking restrictions related to the snow as of Friday. The crews were scheduled to haul snow from key Old Town streets starting early Saturday morning. Officials said heavy machinery would be sent to Empire Avenue, Deer Valley Take a break from the theaters 8 9493700001 7 USSA hosts its Intermountain Freestyle Tour on Saturday and Sundance at Deer Valley Resort. Mogul and dual mogul competitions will be held on Champion ski run both days from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. For more information, visit usfrcestyle.blogspot.com or call 800-500-9R75. 1-A |