Sundance 2023 Recap
After a whirlwind week in Park City, I’m excited to share my photos from Sundance Film Festival!
DAY 1
First, we had a training day for us to catch up with the team at the office and get our camera gear in order. The festival is sponsored by Canon, so we all had fancy new cameras and lenses to use for the festival. In the evening, I captured a special film screening held just for the volunteers.
DAY 2
My first premiere assignment was at the Prospector theater for the short film program. At a premiere, get to meet and photograph the filmmakers on the “press line” before heading into the theater to see their films on the big screen. I don’t always get to stay to watch the films, but I try to if I have time. Pictured below are the film teams for Parker and Sweatshop Girl. Yalitza Aparicio (from the Oscar-winning, Roma) stars in Sweatshop Girl, and while she was at the festival, I sadly did not see her at the premiere.
Next up was Kim’s Video, a documentary about a video store in New York whose massive archive somehow ended up in Sicily.
DAY 3
My first assignment on Friday was the documentary, Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project.
The next film I was able to watch online after the festival and I really enjoyed it! It’s called Fremont and is the story of a woman who was evacuated from Afghanistan after serving as an interpreter for the US military. She lives in Fremont, California and meets all kinds of interesting characters while working in a fortune cookie factory. In the photos, might recognized Lena Waithe in the audience taking a selfie. This film also stars Jeremy Allen White (from “The Bear”) but he was not at the premiere.
Later, I caught a few shots from the post-screening Q&A for 20 Days in Mariupol, a documentary about the war in Ukraine. I did not see the film, but the filmmakers received a standing ovation. Just after that, I ran upstairs for the press line with the director of Squaring the Circle (The Story of Hipgnosis).
DAY 4
This was a big day for me! First, I shot the premiere of an amazing documentary called Joonam. I was able to stay to watch the film and it had everyone in the theater in tears. The director was brilliant and I really enjoyed hearing her story and meeting the team.
Next was my most high-profile assignment of the festival: the premiere of Eileen starring Anne Hathaway! This press line was chaotic with so many people wanting to get an interview with and a photo of Anne.
After a short dinner break, I was back to work on the press line for Infinity Pool. This was another high-profile event, but I admittedly did not know who anyone was. I only recognized Amanda Brugel, who was in the Handmaid’s Tale. Apparently Alexander Skarsgard is a big deal! Sometimes it’s better not to be starstruck.
DAY 5
Infinity Pool is a horror movie, so it premiered at midnight. I was home around 1am and back at it the next morning for All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt. This film features Barry Jenkins as producer, who was at the premiere. His film Moonlight won Best Picture at the Oscars in 2017.
To mix it up, my next two assignments were panel discussions rather than film premieres. First was a panel on democracy featuring W Kamau Bell and other brilliant minds including Roger Ross Williams (the director of Cassandro, which I am dying to see!). The next panel was sponsored by Dolby featuring Sophie Barthes, the director of The Pod Generation, which also looks fantastic and stars Emilia Clarke (Khaleesi from Game of Thrones).
DAY 6
Another film on my still-to-be-watched list is Passages, directed by Ira Sachs. We don’t always get much interaction with the people we photograph, so it was really nice when the director introduced himself to me in the green room. I was also excited to photograph actress Adele Exarchopoulos.
Next up was another panel, this one sponsored by GLAAD discussing the representation of the transgender community in filmmaking.
I was able to stay and watch the next film I covered, called Twice Colonized. It’s a documentary that follows the story of Aaju Peter, an indigenous woman from Greenland, as she processes her own traumas and fights for the rights of her community on a global scale. It was really moving, and even more so to meet the team there and watch the film with them.
DAY 7
My final day on assignment was relatively uneventful. I had an early start for the premiere of the new Willie Nelson docuseries. I was hoping Willie Nelson would be there, but he was not! Then we headed downtown, but the festival was already winding down. After two years of a totally virtual festival, this year Sundance took place over 5 days in Park City instead of the usual 10. The rest of the festival (through January 29) had minimal in-person events and a bigger emphasis on the virtual screenings.
Overall, it’s an amazing opportunity to attend Sundance and meet and photograph so many talented artists. I hope the festival will continue to grow back to its pre-pandemic program with more events (and more free food!).