Going emotional about Sundance: Filmmakers share their past festival memories
In anticipation of the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, unspooling online and in person January 20–30, Sundance Institute shared stories from award-winning filmmakers Kirsten Johnson, Yance Ford, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, and Nicole Holofcener, who told us all about their adventures at the Sundance Film Festival.
Kirsten Johnson (left) with her dad Yance Ford:
“I remember the house was packed. My family was all there — all these people that I respected,” Johnson recalled when we interviewed her earlier this summer. “And I was just like, in a state of, ‘I’m going to have to deal with this if all these people are not feeling this movie.’ And then to be in the room and realize, ‘Oh, they’re feeling it,’ was just like one of the greatest reliefs of my life.”
Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi:
“I was like, ‘Wait, first of all, what’s up with the row of guys who look very unhappy in polo shirts in the back row?’ And then one of the theater managers said to me… ‘I wasn’t supposed to tell you this while she was here, but that whole row of people who stood up, that was Malia Obama’s Secret Service detail.” Malia Obama had attended the screening.
“I was walking out after the Q&A and the usher was like, ‘You know, Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin loved the film.’
Nicole Holofcener:
“Instead of sitting in the audience, we watched the audience, and I’ll never forget that experience. It’s really kind of amazing to think that I wrote this thing, it’s very personal, and I directed this thing, and all these people are looking at it. Just the fact that they were looking up at the screen, and I got to see all of their reactions, and it was incredibly gratifying, really gratifying.
“It’s surreal to think that you dream of doing this for a living and there you are. And I haven’t had that experience since, but I don’t need it again. It was great.”
