Serious fun

Last night (Saturday) we went with some friends to see the premier of THANK YOU FOR SMOKING, a hilarious and sharp film by Jason Reitman (Ivan's son). A big night for stars - we saw Rob Lowe, William H. Macy, and Aaron Eckhart. Tickets have become so difficult to come by that people are now scalping them; others roam around the venues with signs and whispers for tickets. This is not something we've seen at Sundance before and seems vaguely out of character.

Our first film this am was called 5 DAYS. It's about the Gaza pullout last summer. The filmmaker took 8 camera crews and followed the Israeli general in charge, a radical settler, a political activist, and several other key personalities. Despite the fact that I followed this news story closely in both print and TV, what we saw today was eye opening and gut wrenching - and totally different from any news coverage. I can't describe how affected I was to see Jews having to expel Jews from their homes. I can't get the images out of mind all day, and it reinforces for me how powerful a medium film is, and how important it is for conveying some messages. I hope it gets distribution so more people can see it.

In keeping with tough themes for today, our second film was called KZ, about Mauthausen concentration camp. Completely different from any other Holocaust film, this one explored what it's like for the people who live in the town today, juxaposed with interviews of the staff and visitors to the camp.

On a lighter note, we have seen 10 films so far and are on track for a total of 19. We had some time to cruise Main St today but didn't see anyone famous just wandering around. Popped into the T-Mobile lounge for a mimosa and snacks; and also visited the Maui Film Festival locale for delicious macademia nut biscotti.

We bumped into Ellen Ripstein today, one of the "stars" of WORDPLAY and a former national crossword champ. Found out she was an actuary for 17 years at Equitable (Deb, did you know her?) and she then had enough of numbers and started working as a crossword editor and then worked for 5 years on "Who Wants to be a Millionaire". This is the best part of Sundance - being able to have these interactions with those involved with the films. The dirty little secret she shared with us is that they're all sharing a condo and Will Shortz is sleeping on a top bunk bed, in a condo with all the crossword puzzle nuts.