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Show THURSDAY: i. i ii h very Sundance Film Festival starts off with lots of silly predictions of what the festival will be about. 2002 is to be the Return to Business Festival. After tragedy struck at the Toronto Film Festival in September, festival attendance has been low ! and distributors haven't acquired many pictures due to the lagging economy and all the extra projects approved during the fear of the actors' and screenwriters' guilds striking. Sundance Institute founder Robert Redford didn't shy away from recent troubles when he made a . surprise visit to the Abravanel Hall on Thursday, Jan. 10, to kick off his Institute's annual celebration of independent film, but he also didn't linger on V them. Pointing to the new millennium's troubles, mentioned the presidential election, the recession and the Sept. 11 attacks. Independent film, he said, can take the risks and chances that the studios can't. Ranging from comedy to high drama, these films can tackle important social topics and act as a "social barometer." Sundance's opening night premiere, "The Laramie Project," certainly attempts to do so. Moises Kaufman's film, based on his Tectonic Theater Troop's play, is the ultimate example of the Sundance Institute's work. It started in the Institute's theater workshop, and Kaufman later returned to put his piece through the directing workshop. It deals with the brutal murder of homosexual Matthew Shepard in Laramie, Wyo., and refuses to accept simple generalizations to explain the violence. The film will eventually appear as part of HBO Films, which helped fund the project. Premium cable has become a home for films that don't have what the big distributors consider e muscle. HBO hopes people will eventually associate innovative and creative original films with the channel when they subscribe. Last year's "Wit," featuring Emma Thomson in one of her best roles as a cancer patient, and excellently directed by Mike Nichols, was only released on HBO in the U.S. The positive part of this-- People get to see these films. The downside: Film buffs can't see them in theaters and performances like Thomson's don't receive award consideration, "The Laramie Project" is another interesting addition to HBO Films. Written from transcripts of conversations between Kaufman's Tectonic Theatre Troop and the Laramie residents, the film features excellent dialogue (probably because it's taken from real people talking) about people in a small city trying to deal with the tragedy that Red-for- d Joe Morton plays an alien who looks like a black man in John Sayles'The Brother From Another Planet," which was recently restored by the UCLA film archives and played at Sundance. ters in the story who interview the people of Laramie portrayed by a talented ensemble of actors and search for insight into the tragedy. A real documentary would better suit the fiim version, but this is more successful than most fake documentaries about serious subjects. The cast of townspeople features great actors including Laura linney, Steve Buschemi, Janeane Garofalo, Amy Madigan, Christina Ricci, Jeremy Davies, Peter Fonda and Terry Kinney. For the rest of the festival, people will be watching films that are, at least, more ambitious than the flood of multi-plefilms that push them to the x side. FRIDAY: box-offic- . changed their town. As with the play, the Troop members are charac- - R8 JANUARY" 17, 2002 I t 1 U' 'ndustry types, critics and film lovers gather in Park City for the first day of films. It's said they do it with a slight case of depression, since many good films will show and only a few of them will reach a large audience. A Fox Searchlight leader speaks with a n critic about the odds of Richard Linklater's "Waking Life," which opened at last year's festival and is No. 2 on my top 10 films of 2001 list receiving a Best Animated Feature Oscar nomination in the first year of the award. Just the nomination, the industry man says, would readly widen the film's audience. Other award contenders that started off a year ago at Sundance include "In the Bedroom," The Deep well-know- the festival films be appreciated at the end of this year? End" and "Sexy Beast" Will I hope so, but we won't have the slightest idea for at least a few more days. I've already seen "Honey for Oshun," an interesting Cuban film by the legendary Humberto Solas ("Lucia"). It's about an emigrant who returns to his motherland to see his roots, 32 years after leaving with his father. He. his romantically drawn cousin Pilar and a sleazy cab dxi- ver search for his mother The film is basically a road movie. but is thought- ful and sincere and one of many World Cinema selec- tions that will not receive distribution in America, The Premiere selections are more likely to be seen, although not aii of them are guaranteed. The open- ing night in Park City pick is "The Dancer Upstairs" John Malkovich's directcri- al debut (in film, at least he's directed more than 50 P fa. $q jrf, , ullcnuCCi who (JOthcr City , ,JOTpgrfc thejirSt $Qy offilfflS Q ft wftfj Q Slight CQSe OJf dsprCSSlOn, since many J 00 d ft IFYIS VjJ . shOW r and CTlly QJe); Qf J them Will fCSCh Q IdfCjS nCC' GU Eased on terrorist actions throughout Latin America, the film takes place in an unnamed city haunted by a zealot terrorist leader. The film is an assured debut that broadens the range of Malkovich's talent but will people see it? Best not to think about it The films so far suggest that the festival is off to a great start RED MAGAZINE POOR |