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PARK CITY -- The Sundance Film Festival kicked off Thursday night with the premiere of three movies. This year, festival organizers are promising a change in the focus of the entire event.
The festival is promising a more low-key feel, with a focus on more low-budget films and new directors. But the changes don't mean you won't see big stars this year.
Right off the bat, Sundance is presenting tough questions to filmgoers in "HOWL." What is obscenity? How do you define freedom of speech?
"I think it's the perfect film to open a festival like this with," said actor John Hamm, who stars in "HOWL."
The movie features Hamm, David Strathairn, Jeff Daniels and Mary Louise Parker, but the center star is James Franco. He plays Allen Ginsberg, who wrote the poem "Howl" in 1956.
"There are dozens and dozens of audio recordings of Ginsberg reading it (the poem). He read that thing for decades and decades," Franco said. "I'd listen to the various readings while I'd walk around New York."
Also premiering Thursday night, a series of short films, and then a gritty documentary. "Restrepo" chronicles the deployment of a platoon of U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan. The title comes from a medic killed in action.
Sundance film festival founder Robert Redford spoke Thursday afternoon about the importance of documentaries in an age of Internet information and blogging.
"There's a truth there. It's verifiable. I'm thinking in the future we might see the public looking to documentaries to gain a version of the truth," Redford said.
Redford and festival director John Cooper addressed a packed theater of national and international press in the traditional opening day press conference. The two said they are returning to the roots of Sundance: more focus on films, and especially filmmakers.
Redford and Cooper spoke about how celebrities and marketers, who had nothing to do with the actual films in the festival, took over Sundance and changed it from what Redford first envisioned.
"I thought we were beginning to flat line, and I thought we needed a fresh approach," Redford said. "What it did was it kind of engulfed who we were and how we did things. Now the economy tanking the way it has, those people aren't coming -- or I hope they don't come. It's opened up space for us to be seen for who we are and how we do things."
Meanwhile, there's no telling yet how many countries are represented in the festival goers. Nationally, KSL News has met people from the East to the West coasts -- some here to watch as many films as possible; some here to watch the people.
"Coming here as a non-film person, I thought it would be kind of awkward," Los Angeles resident Daanesh Chanduwdi said. "But people are just [saying], ‘Cool. I'm really glad you're here.' It's a really welcoming environment."
Indiana resident Marilyn Brothers said, "We would love to see a movie. I try to go see the Sundance films when they come to Indianapolis."
One way festival organizers are working to get the general public involved is online. People can watch interviews and read more about the film before ever stepping in the theater.
There's also new iPhone app that allows you to rate and write short reviews on the films, adding new meaning to the phrase "everyone's a critic."
E-mail: sdallof@ksl.com
