An Evening at Sundance

On Friday I had the opportunity to attend a Sundance gala and film courtesy of work (I was the RSVP contact for a Sundance business event and so I got free tickets to the film and the reception).

I had never been to a gala before, but I figured it was, like most galas I've read about, just an excuse to drink alcohol (and I probably would have enjoyed it more if I had), eat tiny food off of toothpicks that caterers in black bring you, and scan the crowd, looking for interesting/important people that would probably not give you the time of day unless you're also interesting or important (I am neither).

Yep. That's pretty much how the gala was, only we arrived on time and so there was hardly anyone there (definitely no one interesting or important) and it was held at O.C. Tanner, where we could look at incredibly expensive jewelry that was certainly not meant to target people like me who were there because they'd scored a free ticket from work.

I don't care if I ever go to another gala again.

Getting to the film proved to be more exciting than the gala, but not necessarily in a good way. When we got to the Rose Wagner Theatre where the film was being shown, we had to wait to enter the auditorium even though throngs of people were passing us to go into the auditorium. This wouldn't have been such a big deal (because I am not naive and I understand that, like boarding an airplane, some people get to go first) except that these people who were going in did not have a different ticket than I did. Their Gap jeans weren't very different from my Gap jeans and I didn't see anything that suggested they were VIP. But they shuffled in while we waited. And every time I moved to try and find out what was going on, I got yelled at by a grey-haired Sundance volunteer who looked like maybe she needed a Valium. Or I needed one.

Whatever. After we learned we'd gone in the wrong door and that was why we had to wait, they finally let us through. Luckily there were still seats available (they give out more tickets than they have room for) and so we settled in.

The film, Get Low, was just was I needed to destress. Starring Robert Duvall, Bill Murray and Sissy Spacek, the film was original, funny, charming, moving, and thought-provoking. Definitely worthwhile and I was reminded of why I love the indie film scene so much. We all thoroughly enjoyed it and I decided that, even though I think Utah is a boring state to live in 98% of the time (unless you are into the outdoorsy stuff), Sundance redeemed it a little for me.

I was hoping to see Bill Murray, but alas, he was probably busy eating tiny food and buying a diamond-encrusted Rolex at the gala.