Sundance Film Festival 2006

Look, you don't really have to cough up those $1.75...nobody's forcing your hand...well, unless an inspector decides to roll through, I guess. Personally, I signed up just two days before the end... pretty sure I spent less than $6.75, even though I was there the whole week...never saw a single official checking anyone. Oh, right...besides that, you've got those eco-toilets available (honestly, skip them) and cold showers

I was there about two years ago.
There’s this campsite where you pitch a tent... I paid the fee $6.75 or whatever it was, but the inspectors never bothered me (even though I heard they were checking people out).
My advice? Show up a day early and set up your tent. Even though there was enough room for everyone,
if you get there first, you actually get to pick your spot. Some people ended up right next to the toilets.
The town is gorgeous, but prepare for a brutal climb. It kicked my ass because I'm out of shape. Just catch a bus instead—not sure what the fare is since I didn't take one.
Public restrooms are available... some friends who were at the reggae festival said the bathrooms in Motovun were pure hell.
There are four or five shower stalls. No hot water, but you'll get used to it.
Besides, the sun beats down on you all day long. There wasn't a single cloud in the sky, so you'll be dreaming about that cold water.
If you're planning to shower around 5 PM, leave your spot at 3 PM. The wait is brutal.
The lines can get insane, especially with people acting like they're the only ones in camp and hogging the showers for thirty minutes. (By the way, if you find a Casio watch in a shower stall, let me know... mine's 😁 )
There's a convenience store and a restaurant nearby.

Thanks.
I spent some time browsing through their forum and stuff, and honestly, it all seems pretty reasonable to me.
What kind of things can you actually look for regarding $1.75?
Also, what else do you need beyond those basic essentials that—from what I can gather—usually aren't even part of the conversation?
Wait, hold on, that’s just something you have to deal with everywhere, isn't it?
But then again, I suppose that's half the charm of these kinds of events—testing your own endurance.🙂

You really can't go looking for those $1.75 🙂

That $1.75 per day feels almost like a tourist tax, something you're just obligated to pay to the government, doesn't it?
You could easily charge up a phone or a camera right at the campsite or near the entrance.

The only thing they truly lack is 🙂

Does anyone happen to know when applications for volunteering at the Sundance Film Festival will open up?😕

...just hang tight until about a month before the Film festival starts—that's when they'll actually release the competition details 🙂

Anonymous said:Does anyone happen to know when applications for volunteering at the Sundance Film Festival will open up?😕

Masochistic... ☕ But they don't know that yet. They're about to find out. 🙂

...seriously, Monty? 😉 Did he actually volunteer for this? 🙂

ae. 🙂
Not worth commenting on. I have zero interest in analyzing impressions or whatever else.
The Sundance Film Festival is decent, but volunteering is what actually gives you the full picture of how the whole thing works... and so on. 🙂

..things are always different "behind the scenes" than how they look from the outside—but hey, you've gotta try everything at least once 🙂 unfortunately, landing a volunteer spot at the Sundance Film Festival is incredibly tough, so I can only wish Vesna the best of luck 🙂

One little trick I know is that there really aren't any "behind the scenes" perks 😁
It’s hilarious how much people think things are different "out there." It’s basically the same thing "in here"
But that's just how it is at the Sundance Film Festival. I wasn't expecting anything astronomical 😁 but some people actually do, and they end up disappointed because they think they're going to get exactly what they imagined.
Volunteering itself is... fine. If you're looking for the benefits. 😁
Anyone thinking they're going to see something special, learn something, or whatever else... forget it, kid. 😁

...from my own personal experience, I’ve come to the conclusion that being a cinephile who volunteers at a film festival is easily one of the most bizarre things you can do—because you’re either working or you're socializing, and in the end, you actually see fewer movies than if you had just planned your schedule and bought a ticket 🙂 and thought you’d somehow manage to catch everything 🙂
...honestly, last year at the Sundance Film Festival, I wanted to go for some not quite cinematic 😳 reasons, but it didn't work out in the end...

Larry Martin11 said:...from my own personal experience, I’ve come to the conclusion that being a cinephile who volunteers at a film festival is easily one of the most bizarre things you can do—because you’re either working or you're socializing, and in the end, you actually see fewer movies than if you had just planned your schedule and bought a ticket 🙂 and thought you’d somehow manage to catch everything 🙂
...honestly, last year at the Sundance Film Festival, I wanted to go for some not quite cinematic 😳 reasons, but it didn't work out in the end...

Exactly. The best strategy is to watch very few movies—maybe five—and besides, Sundance is the kind of festival that insists on its specific lineup. That's their whole identity: the films have to be "demanding for the audience." Whatever that means, which usually just means they're bad. Or they're ultra-depressing and boring, so half the seats are empty by rule. These aren't independent art films; they're just bad films. (At least they were this year when I was there.)
And those "screening rooms" aren't exactly great spaces for watching movies...
Volunteers can't even sit down until everyone who intends to show up has filled the seats. And frankly, volunteers usually don't care about the films anyway.😬
It's bizarre for sure. On top of having to "work," you watch two good movies and three nonsensical ones... and that's about it, if you exclude the alcohol and the crowd.
And of course, there are heaps of socialites and posers everywhere.

There, I've finally shared my impressions, though it isn't all that terrible. For a small-time thing—not bad at all. 😁

...I had no idea the turnout for screenings at the Sundance Film Festival was this low...🙂 Maybe that's because the movies are—as you put it—a bit too "intellectual" for the average crowd (though now I'm curious, how old were you back then? Just so I can check which films were actually in the competition 😬), but honestly, that seems to be the case at most serious festivals. At the ZFF (is that even considered a serious one? 🤔 😬), the theater—the one at the SC; the one over in Europe is a totally different story—is always packed. To me, it feels more like it's about the vibe Sundance has going on. It’s basically one big multi-day party where the films are just background noise. People care more about showing up, being seen, and partying than actually sitting through a movie... correct me if I'm wrong, but that's always been my impression...🙂

You're right, though it really varies from movie to movie.
If it's a big-name director and people have expectations, the screenings are packed. It depends.
As far as I know, isn't the crew behind ZFF basically the same group that runs Sundance? That's what I gathered from a few things...
Yeah, Sundance is a party where you go to be seen. The volunteers get all hyped up too, acting a bit high and mighty... because they feel like they're part of something incredibly cool. 😉
I was there in 2005, and honestly, that year had one of the weaker lineups. 😬

😳 I was digging through the 2005 lineup just to see what actually made the cut:
my summer of love
dag och natt (day and night)
tarnation
batalla en el cielo 😍

plus some solid shorts in between—including Vigalondo. I'm pretty happy with it🙂 honestly, there wasn't much junk to wade through at all

Susan Edwards3 said:😳 I was digging through the 2005 lineup just to see what actually made the cut:
my summer of love
dag och natt (day and night)
tarnation
batalla en el cielo 😍

plus some solid shorts in between—including Vigalondo. I'm pretty happy with it🙂 honestly, there wasn't much junk to wade through at all

Yeah, yeah... My Summer of Love by that Pawlikowski guy or whatever—if I remember right, I missed it because I was stuck on shift. 😬
Wenders had Land of Plenty, which turned out to be a massive load of crap. 👎
I watched Trier's Manderlay and a few others... honestly, I've already forgotten half of them. Need to refresh my memory on that whole lineup.
But yeah, if there were catastrophic movies—there definitely were.
There was also the death of Mr. Lazarescu... something foreign... and despite all the cinephile sentimentality, I have to say—no thanks! 😁