“Does it get more Sundance than this?” Eugene Hernandez, the festival’s new director, said at the opening night premiere of Twinless.
But a reel promoting the festival’s nonprofit suffered sound problems. The moment was unfortunate as the audio malfunctioned, during a clip introducing festival founder Robert Redford.
The house lights came up while sound was tested. The film was restarted, but the problem persisted. Luckily, it didn’t derail the enthusiastically received film or the dual performance.
Technical glitches aside, the Twinless team was overwhelmed by the response. James Sweeney, the film’s writer, director and star said. “The best way I could describe it was ‘Ingrid Goes West’ meets ‘The Cakemaker.’” Sweeney sweetly stumbled and admitted to being overwhelmed.
The opening day was filled with more than a dozen premieres. The flurry of activity seemed to be designed to show that the celebration of indie film is still going strong after nearly half-a-century, and there were plenty of the kind of memorable moments that have made Sundance so iconic.
There was a sold-out screening of “Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore.”
John Lithgow and Olivia Colman played a father and daughter in “Jimpa,” a touching drama about a family that seemed to defy the current MAGA moment with its sensitive portrait of LGBTQ+ life.
Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, who had unveiled the Oscar-winning “Summer of Soul” during Sundance’s COVID era digital edition, finally got his Eccles premiere with “Sly Lives!,” a boisterous examination of the enduring legacy of Sly and the Family Stone.
Technical glitches aside, the Roots bandleader-turned-documentarian delivered a sophomore feature that garnered a standing ovation.
“It really sucks when there’s technical problems, but it gives you excuse to watch it on Hulu on Feb. 13,” quipped producer Joseph Patel in the post-screening Q&A.
Thompson got candid about how he related to Stone’s struggles with his outsized success. Thompson’s life transformed post-Oscars and making this documentary sparked some self-reflection. “There would be times I’d come home like, ‘I wonder if my bandmates feel that way about me? Like, am I good communicator?’ The answer was a resounding no, so I had a lot of work to do on myself,” he admitted. “[This film] changed me as a human being, and I think that’ll change me as a creator and a collaborator.”
Sundance still favors the bold and doesn’t shy away from controversial films.
The premiere of the opening Sundance Midnight movie The Ugly Stepsister, Emilie Blichfeldt’s body horror film includes several difficult-to-watch scenes of crude cosmetic surgery, including its protagonist eating tapeworm, sewing in eyelashes and enduring a barbaric rhinoplasty.
The evening premiere was showing episodes of Pee-wee as Himself, Matt Wolf’s documentary about Paul Reubens, which included excerpts from 40 hours of interviews done before Reubens’ 2023 death.
The intimate look at the private creative genius drew fans, some wearing the Pee-wee-style bow ties distributed in the ticket line. The pre-show focused on the 205-minute runtime and revelry as old friends met in the theater.
During the premiere of “Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore,” a revealing look at the Oscar winner’s life and career, Matlin seemed to feed off the energy off the clapping and signing of applause. Among those in the crowd were her husband, Kevin Grandalski, kids, Sarah, Brandon, Tyler and Isabelle, and “CODA” co-star Troy Kotsur.
“I felt it was time to tell my story and I knew she would tell it 200% in an authentic way,” Matlin said, gesturing toward director Shoshannah Stern as they took the stage after the screening. Matlin added that she specifically requested a deaf person to direct the documentary and knew Stern was the person for the job.
