Last year, Watermark Media was the only LGBT News Source credentialed by the Sundance Institute. This is a tremendous honor and we are pleased to bring the 2013 Sundance Film Festival to you from the LGBT perspective. We are also happy to report that 7 of the films and/or actors we reported on last year from Sundance are now nominated for Oscars.
For the second year in a row, we are once again honored to be the only LGBT news source credentialed by Sundance because of our unique, on-the-scene reporting and photography. We’re in Park City now and we’ll be there thru the awards ceremony on Jan. 26. Bookmark this page for daily updates!.
Once again there are several gay themed films that we will be reviewing, “Interior Leather Bar,” “God Loves Uganda” which is already receiving critical acclaim, “Manhunt” and “Pit Stop.” We’ll also be discussing Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s directoral debut and starring role in “Don Jon’s Addiction”, and closing night film “jOBS” starring Ashton Kutcher. Finally, we’ll cover several Filmmaker Lodge Panels.
Enjoy!
Film Review: Interior. Leather Bar.
Film Review: God Loves Uganda
Film Review: Running From Crazy
Music in Film Panel
One of the best panels in this year’s edition, the panel was composed by brilliant and successful Academy Award and Grammy Award musicians that have brought many classic musical scores to favorite movies like Finding Neverland, Red Tails, Crash, and Eve’s Bayou.
This year’s panelists included a 5-time Grammy Award winner Terence Blanchard, Academy Award winner Mark Isham and Academy Award winner Jan Kaczmarek.
Exposing the intimate relationship between the story and the musical score, the panel in a masterful way exemplified this relationship by showing clips of their most inspirational music scores and those scores that they are most proud of.
In an exercise of showing the same film scene with two different musical scores, they show movingly how the mood, message and transcendence of the scene were so affected by the music.
When I met with the Five-time Grammy winner Terence Blanchard and introduced myself being from Watermark Media, he delighted in telling me that he is presently composing an opera about the gay prizefighter Emile Griffith, who was outted by one of his opponents in the 1960’s, that will premier later this year at the St. Louis Opera.
Questioned further about how difficult it must be to write for a film, he laughed saying “indeed, when you want to write from your heart, you have to check your ego and bring yourself back to the scene to which you are writing.”
Award Ceremony
Finally, the Sundance Film Festival comes to an end to award the festival’s most outstanding films and filmmakers.
Actor and director, Joseph Gordon-Levitt hosted the Award Ceremony. Joe moved through the presentation with great skill, charm and knowledge. He made the filmmakers stand for themselves often validating how the film touched him in a very special way. “There are no winners and losers here tonight, you are all winners by being at Sundance.” Among the presenters were Academy Award Nominee Mariel Hemingway and Ed Burns, Actor and Producer (The Wire, Generation Kill).
The big winner of the Grand Jury prize and Audience Award was a beautifully directed film: Fruitvale. This film was inspired by the San Francisco BART incident when Oscar Grant was shot in cold blood by police officers at the Fruitvale train station in New Year’s Day 2009.
Other winners include:
US Grand Jury Prize for Documentary- Blood Brothers
A beautiful film about a young man named “Rocky” who leaves for India to dedicate his life in an orphanage of children with HIV/AIDS. Having grown up without a close knit family, Rocky finds a new family in India. We met up with Rocky after this Award and he is a warming and energetic young man that continues his mission in the Tamil region of India while he even supports in small ways other organizations.
World Grand Jury Prize- A River Changes Course – a film about the consequences of humans neglect of the environment.
Special Jury Prizes went for Inequality for All, Pussy Riot- A Punk Prayer, Upstream Color and An Afghan Love Story– Director Barmak Akram upon receiving his award commented, “Afghan people love American films. Now Americans can begin to love Afghan films.”
Our sincere gratitude to the organizers of Sundance Film Festival 13, Kerri Putnam- Executive Director of Sundance Institute, John Copper-Director of Sundance Film Festival, Trevor Groth-Director of Programming and the managers at the Press Office with special thanks to Elizabeth Latenser- your dedication, support and vision was vital to our coverage. To all, thank you for this opportunity and congratulations on another successful festival.
