My first visit to the Sundance Film Festival couldn’t have had a more cinematic opening scene.
BEGIN FLASHBACK: EXTERIOR DAY • Sundance Mountain Resort, blanketed in gleaming white snow, like reels of film spooling all over the place.
Two men walk toward a lodge from different directions. One is a journalist, possibly late for a news conference; the other unmistakably a movie icon with the radiant sunlight momentarily reflecting against his trademark aviators.
END FLASHBACK.
Yes, I had my Robert Redford sighting, and I hadn’t even attended my first Sundance event. That was nearly 30 years ago, and I’ve been going to the festival on and off ever since, even though I moved back home to Ireland in 2005. I don’t even drive. That’s how dedicated I am to the festival experience.
Like so many others, I loved seeing movies first, before they became part of pop culture history. But I’ll confess that, over time, I hated how hard it became for film fans to watch them — at least in Park City. And yet I’m genuinely shocked to hear of Sundance’s move to Boulder, starting in 2027.
That’s because I’ve had so many serendipitous moments at Sundance and fond memories of shared experiences with friends in Park City and Salt Lake City.
I moved from Ireland to the U.S. in 1993 largely because I had a fascination with its politics and pop culture ever since I was a cheeky young pup growing up in 1980s Dublin. I wanted to be in the thick of it in America. And, boy, did that happen at my inaugural Sundance in 1996.
So back to that first day.
I bought a pair of snow boots for my visit, but maybe Payless wasn’t the place to get them. I slipped on the ice that morning in Salt Lake City, but thought little of it. Later, I got to ask a question during the aforementioned news conference and right afterward we all went over to the dining area for the SFF Class of ‘96 Filmmakers Lunch.
The pain in my leg, however, kicked in during our meal, and I couldn’t walk. It got so bad that I had to be carried out by two actors, one of whom turned out to be a young Adrien Brody. So I can tell you for sure that he is one of the good guys!
That’s the beautiful thing about Sundance: You never know whom you’re going to bump into. I ended up on crutches just hours after lunch, and that night I was waiting in the lobby of Park City’s Egyptian Theatre when I saw Redford again. He said to me: “What happened to you? You were all right this morning.”
(Brian Mac Intyre) Maggie Gyllenhaal is just one of the stars the author met at Sundance.
(Brian Mac Intyre) The author said he told Joseph Gordon-Levitt backstage that he liked his career choices and asked if the money actor made from "3rd Rock From the Sun" allowed him the freedom to do independent movies. He said yes.
Days later, as I tried to make my way up a snowy Main Street on three legs, I heard a woman say: “Oh no, there’s a poor guy on crutches.” I looked up to see it was Amy Madigan, the female lead in one of my favorite movies, “Field of Dreams.”
I found that sense of community and familiarity pervaded Sundance. All the attendees gathered there because they love film, work in it or both. And soon Utahns won’t be able to enjoy all that on their doorstep.
There is also a kind of democratization of the filmgoing experience at Sundance. I once spotted actor Jon Cryer standing in line for a movie just like your average punter. Another time I was on one of the shuttle buses conversing briefly with actor James Cromwell, who was as keen as anyone else to spot the next shooting star or indie gem. Back in Salt Lake City, I even got to fleetingly commiserate with Kevin Bacon outside Trolley Square after he missed out on an Oscar nomination for his role in “The Woodsman.” His response: “Sh-- happens!”
But, as mentioned above, through the years it became harder and harder to get tickets as a regular filmgoer. That’s largely because the marketplace element grew bigger and bigger.
I found it was a lot more fun Sundancing as a film lover than reporting on it. For a few years myself, a bunch of my Salt Lake Tribune colleagues and some out-of-towners would rent a Park City condo for opening weekend and try and soak in as much of the festival as we could.
One year, we got a few walkie-talkies for logistical reasons and even gave ourselves call names. I was Snow Eagle and a visiting Irish friend was Arctic Fox.
I’ve long hoped we could all get together again for one final great opening weekend in Park City. But, just like the vast majority of major films are now shot on digital video, that Sundance dream has gone the way of 35 mm.
I wish I knew how to quit you, Sundance! You wanna have a catch one more time?
(Brian Mac Intyre) Brian Mac Intyre, a Salt Lake Tribune copy editor from 1996 to 2005, was a Sundance regular.
Brian Mac Intyre was a staffer at the Salt Lake Tribune from 1996 to 2005.
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