Sundance 2011 Day 3 - Party Time

Finally found some time to sort my photos and writings. Here's the last installment of my Sundance trip:

Day 3. The last and final full day at Sundance.

Today I was so glad to sleep more hours than I can count with one hand.

The morning was slow to start but eventually we all got our lazy asses out of bed for some breakfast (cereal, muffins, juice) and then a stop over to our friend's hotel, which was a lot fancier than ours:

That's Mike S. taking a photo of me taking a photo of him taking a photo of me

I was getting a bit antsy to get to Park City, so I jumped into the driver's seat and waited for the others to finish up. As soon as everyone got in, we drove off through the mountains. The drive from SLC to Park City was beautiful:

I miss my sunnies. When I got back to Cali, they were missing =(.

Also, we had a chance to visit the Olympic Park where we got some good shots like this one:

After spending a good 1/2 hour looking for parking, we finally gave in and paid $20 for parking and we were able to make it in time for the San Francisco Film Society Party at the Gateway Center:

The party was really fun. We met some nice people and there were some awesome hors d'oeurves (too bad we arrived having eaten). The life of the party, of course, was James' chain:

Here's me drunk against the 2011 Sundance logo:

Here's the other James, not drunk at all, posing with a cop car:

After the party, we went back to SLC to watch a Mexican film called "The Cinema Hold Up". This film has potential but it ultimately didn't pull through. The film starts off with a very LONG exposition of Mexican urban youth culture (graffitiing, freestyling, drinking, taking drugs, hitting on older ladies...not that much different from urban youths in other countries). It eventually leads up to a very well planned hold up of a cinema. The film feels lopsided, the lead up and the fallout of the climax show too much and doesn't do much to accentuate the climax thus making the film unfocused and wandering.

That was the last film we watched at Sundance. Now it's time to party! We grabbed a quick dinner at McD's and then back to Park City where I got this essential shot:

As well as this other essential shot at the Playboy bar:

Right now it was just James, Mike S. and I. We found an empty red room inside the club and couldn't help but indulge in some photo taking. Here's the best photo that came out:

The party at the club was losing life so we decided to step out and walk around Park City:
Park Bear:

We got into the Filmmaker's lounge later that night and got to talk to some other filmmakers and actors which was awesome. When that party ended, it was really late and we decided that we would have to call it a night.

After a whole weekend with no snow, we were greeted with this the next morning:

Mike S., the most experience snow driver out of the three of all of us, took the wheel and we made it safely to the airport.

Reflection: Prior to going to Sundance, I had all these weird conceptions of what it would be like. I thought that it would be in a gated city where you'd have to have a special invitation, a password, and know film history to get in. But no, it's not like that at all. Sundance is open to everyone that loves film. There are some venues that need a pass, but the overall "Sundance Experience" is open to anyone whose willing to rent a room, a car, and buy some movie tickets. Now that I've been, I feel as if I've learned something very important. It's like going to a foreign country and learning how different that country is compared to the one you imagined in your head or read in the books.

It's been fun. Hope to go back some time in the future.