Sundance, Day 2: Real good films

"The Linguists"

"Nerakhoon (The Betrayal)"

Well, it's late, I've seen seven feature films (all documentaries) in two days, plus four short films. I haven't seen either of the films being promoted by a picture of a pale white woman breastfeeding a black baby, but I have seen the animated short of Mitt Romney, naked except for a Mormon Temple replica he's holding around him like a fig leaf. (That should play well in Utah.)

Anyway, I've had pretty good luck — only a couple of films I think needed a more severe edit. I'll be posting videos starting this weekend.

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My first morning getting to know some of the 20 or so people I’m sharing a house with outside of town. So far I’ve met:
* Jack, a composer from New York whose music was used in a Sundance Film.

* Shirley, a theater owner in Gainesville, Fla.

Lee and Joanna, two filmmakers whose documentaries are airing at Slamdance, an alt-Sundance that’s also being held in Park City. Lee made a film called “More Shoes,” about his 5,000-mile walk from Madrid to Kiev. He and his girlfriend rented a truck to drive from L.A. to Utah with two enormous boots (on wheels) with the name of the film painted on the sides.

Two women from New York (one by way of Brazil) who are considering careers in film.
Three crew members on a film called “Good Dick,” which includes Jason Ritter and Tom Arnold in the cast. One of them, Mike, told me he had time to kill because the TV show he works on is on hiatus until the writers’ strike concludes.

* Identical twins from California who are starting up a publicity firm. Actually, I haven’t met the twins yet, but Nancy — the Portland woman whose Craigslist ad set this edition of “Real World: Sundance” in motion — swears they’re identical.

Like most of the people here, Shirley is attending her first Sundance. She left the house at 6:45 a.m. to wait in line for tickets when the box office opens. She’s trying to get into foreign films, particularly features. “I like documentaries,” Shirley says, “but my audience doesn’t.” Indeed, 2007 was a lousy year at the box office for documentaries, which will probably mean more documentaries heading straight to TV and DVD and fewer at the multiplex.

And here are two that immediately jumped out at me. “Nerakhoon (The Betrayal),” takes the well-worn story of a family that immigrates to America, then later wonders if it was worth it, and puts a visually dazzling twist on it. Filmed over 23 years, it’s an always surprising chronicle of a Laotian family that was forced to flee after the Americans withdrew. Look for my video interview with the co-directors at KansasCity.com.

And “La Corona,” an HBO production, is a stirring documentary short about a beauty contest held inside a women’s prison in Colombia.