Park City picks

And the winners are...

From Slamdance, taking both the Jury and Audience awards:
Best Documentary: Song Sung Blue
"Sweet Caroline! Greg Kohs’ “emotional rollercoaster,” as one festival programmer calls it, follows the joys and tragedies of married singing duo Lightning & Thunder, a Neil Diamond tribute act that’s been Coming to America for two decades."

The winners from Sundance were announced on Saturday. Worth noting from the list is the winner of both the Audience and Jury awards for World Cinema Documentary: MAN ON WIRE, directed by James Marsh.
Here's a discussion with Marsh and Phillippe Petit from Sundance:


Other doc highlights:

The Grand Jury Prize: Documentary was presented to TROUBLE THE WATER, directed by Tia Lessin and Carl Deal. An aspiring rap artist and her streetwise husband, armed with a video camera, show what survival means when they are trapped in New Orleans by deadly floodwaters, and seize a chance for a new beginning.

The Audience Award: Documentary was presented to FIELDS OF FUEL, directed by Josh Tickell. A look at America 's addiction to oil, Tickell is a man with a plan and a Veggie Van, who is taking on big oil, big government, and big soy to find solutions in places few people have looked.

It will be interesting to see if we get to see any of these films next month in BoCoMo.

T/F in the News

There's a nice piece in the Columbia Business Times about T/F 2008.

Worth noting is a bit of misinformation on the Box Office front. The article says that tickets will be available at the Box Office starting Feb. 27. My sources and the T/F website note otherwise - there will be no individual tickets for sale until 12 p.m., Feb. 28. Passes are on sale now, and will remain available until 5 p.m, Feb. 19. Passholders are the only folks who can reserve tickets prior to the start of the fest. And it looks like the coveted Silver Circle passes are no longer available.

Take my word for it - passes are the only way to go if you want to get the most out of the fest. Especially with the growth in attendance each year. Rumor has it they've already sold more passes for 2008 than they did last year and the fest is still a month away!!! How great is that?

Reporting for Jury Duty

During his time in Park City, David Wilson will not only be locking films for T/F 2008. In addition to the rigors of securing films for a fest that goes live in less than 5 weeks, Wilson will do his civic doc duty by serving on the Slamdance's 2008 Jury for Narrative and Doc competitions. The jury is comprised of:

• Skizz Cyzyk, founder of MicroCine Fest
  
• Amy Dotson, IFP managing director
  
• Erik Jambor, Sidewalk Moving Pictures Festival co-founder
  
• Laurie Koh, Film Arts associate editor
  
• Leah Meyerhoff, filmmaker
  
• Sara Pollack, YouTube manager of film and animation
  
• Todd Rohal, "The Guatemalan Handshake" director
  
• Michael Skolnik, "Without the King" director
  
• David Wilson, T/F Film Fest co-founder

Here's a list of the films in the competitions.

For some insight into the doc front at Sundance this year, check out AJ Schnack's report from the scene. Joel Heller's documenting his own Sundance '08 experience on Docs that Inspire.

Festing in Utah

I heard David Wilson on KFRU this morning getting the word out about T/F 2008. He said that he and Paul Sturtz were leaving for Sundance/Slamdance on Saturday. They'll be there for a week. A final, critical stage for locking films for T/F. I trust they'll turn on the necessary charm to land some gems for us. No pressure!

Sundance kicks off it's 10-day run today (jesus, can you imagine? 3-1/2 days of T/F kicks my ass!). Check out the 2008 Film Guide. I wonder what will emerge as this year's Sundance darling? You can keep up with live coverage from the fest online - if you're into that sort of thing.

I'm a little behind with the updates, but I trust you've noticed there was finally an redesign to the T/F webpage. I'm curious to see the posters, as I hear this is what the design was based around. (The Year of Spear, anyone?) What do you think of it?

Do you have your pass yet? With the Missouri Theatre out of commission this year, those pre-fest ticket reservations are going to be even more essential!

T/F 2008 TV Spot

Have you seen it yet? Check it out:


I think it started airing this weekend - I caught it a couple times on KOMU. Nice work.

Pass time

Sounds like the cogs are in motion...passes for T/F 2008 go on sale Monday morning (Jan. 10) at 9 a.m. Looks like this year they're only available for sale online.

It's hard to believe we get to do this fest thing all over again in less than 2 months.