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AP Photo/Amy SancettaCarole Mikita reporting
It's opening night for the Sundance Film Festival, which kicked off with a welcome from festival founder Robert Redford this afternoon. Eyewitness News got a chance to talk to him as all the action started on Park City's Main Street.
This festival is celebrating its 24th year in Park City, and Redford says it continues to grow in size. The number of films that are here is also growing, along with their popularity. That means an increase in parties, star gazing and gifting, things Redford is not so crazy about.
Following the opening news conference today, we had a chance to talk to Redford one-on-one and ask him about the writers strike in Hollywood and if the filmmakers here, and their films, would benefit from that.
Joining Redford for this opening day news conference was Geoffrey Gilmore, who programs the festival. In other words, he puts the films into this festival. Martin McDonagh, the director of the film premiering this evening, was also there.
But really, it's all about Redford today because of his influence with this independent film festival, in Hollywood, and also here with the media. Thousands and thousands of people are here, hundreds from around the world--photographers and reporters--just to talk to him. One of them asked him about the international feel of this festival.
"From our standpoint, it's really the personal stories that are told. It doesn't matter what country they're told from. As long as they're personal, as long as the work is different and original, then we're happy to see films from all over the world," Redford said.
Tonight's opening film is titled "In Bruges," that's the city in Belgium. It stars Colin Farrell and Ralph Fiennes. We're on our way now to the red carpet or press line to see if we'll be able to talk to them and bring you that story coming up on Eyewitness News at 10.
