2012 Sundance Film Festival Coverage Begins.
Dateline: Park City, Utah
Sitting around a small table with Sundance Institute and Founder Robert Redford and his key team members of Sundance Film Festival Director John Cooper and Sundance Institute Executive Director Keri Putnam at the start of the 2012 Sundance Film Festival is a chance to hear their personal festival picks (John Cooper says to check out the U.S. Dramatic Competition title Beasts of the Southern Wild and This Must Be The Place starring Sean Penn as a Robert Smith-inspired Goth rock star) and to hear about new institute endeavors like the upcoming Sundance London event in April, workshop events in far-flung locations like India and East Africa and the Artist Services program that offers filmmakers the chance at online distribution via platforms like Hulu and iTunes.
Redford also shares his views on the state of U.S. politics and the important role Sundance plays in American cultural life.
Redford, looking fit and stylish in a ski vest and sweater, does not mince words. In his opinion, these are tough times in the U.S.A. but Sundance can help.
"It's not secret that times are dark and grim and in addition to that we're suffering from a government in paralysis and so that makes it all for pretty grim times I think the happy thing we're pretty proud of here in this week we're going to see work from artists even though their work is going to be reflective of these hard times. There's not paralysis here. In fact, they're (filmmakers) breathing life into fresh new stories that I'm happy you're going to be able to see," Redford said earlier in the afternoon, on stage at Main Street's Egyptian Theatre.
In a backroom at Main Street's Bing Bar, talking to a small handful of journalists, Redford reemphasizes his take on American politics. Simply put, he does not like what he's seeing these days.
"Congress and the government are paralyzed at the moment and it's their own fault.
"How can you not be when your congress is supposed to behave bipartisan. That's what the two parties are supposed to be; each representing a different view of American life but one side won't move and all they're interested in is getting rid of him (President Obama).
Before one walks back onto Main Street convinced that American politics is permanently broken, Redford wraps up his conversation with words of hope.
The 2012 Sundance Film Festival, from its opening day films of Hello I Must Be Going from Todd Louiso and The Queen of Versailles from Lauren Greenfield to all its movies, music and art installations, plays a role in telling truthful stories to moviegoers desperate for the truth.
"You're going to see movies that are really telling hard, very dramatic stories and very dramatic looks at the world we're living that our government is not taking and our congress is not taking," Redford adds. "You're going to see something your not going to hear from media that has corporate control and corporate interests. You're not going to hear these stories on Fox News.
"I think what you're going to find with these films; you're going to see a different truth."
The 2012 Sundance Film Festival runs January 19 through 29 in Park City, Salt Lake City and Ogden, Utah.