nakedjen

Phew.

Sundance continues.  I was blessed to have sweet wonderful kind generous amazing friends shelter me from the crazy storm that socked Park City in piles of snow on Monday night after I helped with the British Film Commission party at High West Distillery.  That party was a huge fun noisy party, as all parties at Sundance happen to be, but I have to confess that the parties that combine Brits and distilled whiskey are especially fun. 

I don't think I've slept since before my birthday.  I'm still celebrating.  I've seen lots of really wonderful films and some films that made me cock my head sideways and wonder who on earth decided that making the film was a good idea in the first place?  But then, you know, not all of us like the same flavor of ice cream.  Which is why the aisles of the supermarket are filled with so very many choices.

Kudos to my dear friend, Ann Greenberg, for that photo.  I think it captures me, at Sundance, pretty perfectly.  It should be my calling card.  I've got boots on the ground every single day.  More soon.  Promise.

It takes a long time to grow young.

Every birthday is a privilege.  Mine is especially so because a little festival called Sundance happens to coincide with it each year and offers the perfect celebration of my journey on this planet for yet another trip around the beautiful burning sun. I never can remember how old I really am and I suppose that right there is a testament to a life lived well and out loud and in a furiously happy way. 

Here's to all of you who keep all of my candles burning so very brightly.  Your love is pure magic. Blessings to you.  Each and every single one. 

 

And So This Is Christmas

For a very many of most of you across the globe today there's a celebration today of a virgin birth.  A tale that has been told millions of times and interpreted in thousands of ways and used by lots of charismatic people to sort us into this group of believers and that group of believers and sometimes arguing over who has the most righteous Jesus.  Thing is, I think there was only one and today is his birthday.

Believers or not, I want to believe that we all have loving hearts and are all part of the larger cosmos.  That we really are all in this together.

At some point along the way, when this holiday celebration became so much about feasting around the cash registers of our great planet and less about connecting with the hearts that beat inside our chests, I just needed to retreat, to wave my own white flag, and the NakedJen Film Festival was born.

It's the non-celebration celebration.  Hugs and laughter is shared.  So are stories and real love.  And we do not have to worry about Uncle Larry drinking too much and embarrassing us by asking loudly why it is again that the ex-husband walked out?

We're in New York this year.  If you're in New York and feeling festive and in the mood to join us, come and join us.  For one film or for all of them.  We'll be so happy if you do!

We are all celebrants in our own lives, you know.  So however you choose to spend this day, I do hope you take a few moments to celebrate and love the people who matter most to you.  It's why we're all here.

Love in Full Color

I called the house at least five times that morning.  Starting at 11:00 a.m. I called every phone of every person who lives there.   It is a bit ridiculous in this day and age that there are five different phone numbers to call to reach the occupants of one dwelling.  I'm not sure this is exactly progress.  Especially when not a single one of them seems capable of actually answering the phone.

I know it sounds a bit hypocritical for me to be the one to be complaining about the non-answering of telephones, but I will admit that there's a part of me that is a bit nostalgic for those days when there was just one telephone in a house.  That rang with a bell.  A real bell muffled somewhere deep inside.  It was attached to the wall and if you were at our house it had a really long cord so that whomever was talking could wander the rooms like a big caged tiger.  My aunt was particularly good at this wandering and pacing bit. She even occasionally snarled and spent so much time on the telephone we had to toss her the occasional steak to keep her from starving.  But the thing was, the phone rang.  And rang.  And rang.  Someone eventually answered it.  Or did not.  But you, if you were the one calling from your own similar phone from some other location very far away, felt rather confident that things were working and signals were traveling on the wires criscrossing the planet and that somewhere down the line a phone with a bell was RINGING and that if it wasn't answered perhaps no one was at home.  You didn't think you were just being ignored. 

Now, you wonder all kinds of things about the phone that is supposed to be so smart, that piece of cheap overpriced plastic stuffed with data and silicon chips and the calls that you try to make with it.  I feel like I have to believe in fairies that somehow magically flutter with wings to carry my call on its way across the magic bits of air to where it is supposed to go!  When there's no answer, no voice-mail, just a pre-recorded operator voice saying the number I have reached is unavailable, I know there are a million oddities that could have caused this to happen, but because I am me, I mostly think that I'm just being ignored.  Pfft.

So with no answer, none, I went back to the task at hand.  I was making colored powder for the Holi Festival of Colors that afternoon.  They sell colors for the festival at the Krishna Temple, but you don't get nearly enough for the money that you spend and I had sorted out the way to make it using the herbs that I had on hand and corn starch procured from my ever helpful National Cash Store.  They were actually having a sale on corn starch and not that it is expensive, but it felt like kismet to find it for 3 for a $1 when it was exactly what we needed. 

My poor Cuisinart will never be the same, I fear, and my kitchen looked like a Leprechaun and a Unicorn had engaged in a massive Thunderdome event, but we had five one gallon bags of colors ready to throw.  No one, though, was willing to answer a phone, still, and the skies were threatening snow and I while I had rainbows of love inside my heart, it would have been nice to have some sort of dangled carrot of enthusiasm from the troops in Lehi.

This is the part of the story where my sister, NeverNakedBeth, makes an appearance as the best mother of teenagers.  NeverNakedBeth actually chose to answer her phone.  When it rang.  I told her I had been calling and calling and that I really wanted to speak to HAC (my 15 year old niece) but she was NOT ANSWERING HER PHONE.  NeverNakedBeth sighed and said, "Nakedjen, this is the thing about teenagers.  You have to have absolutely no expectations.  Then when they do something unexpected, it's like lollipops and gumdrops and rainbows all at the same time.  It's fantastic.  But the rest of the time, you've had no expectations, so you just can not be disappointed.  Best way to handle teenagers.  Now, HAC was planning to go with you.  So just go to the house, walk in the door and tell her you're there to go!" 

"Really?  Just show up.  She'll get in the car and go with me?"

"Oh sure," murmured NeverNakedBeth.  "You'll just have to drag her out of bed.  I'm sure she's still asleep.  By the way, JSC wanted to go, too, but I think he's made other plans now."

"He does?  I'll take him with us.  He should totally come!"

"Well, just go to the house and you all can figure out who wants to go where.  Remember, no expectations.  Then there are lollipops and gumdrops and rainbows!"

My sister and her family live about 30 minutes away from me.  So I got to the house at 2:30 p.m. and found HAC sound asleep in her bed. 

"Dude, it's 2:30.  I've been calling you for hours.  Why don't you ever answer your phone?  If you want to go to HOLI, you need to get up and find some clothes.  Do you want to go?"

"Um, hello?  I'm sleeping.  I don't even know where my phone is!  But, yeah, I want to go.  Can you get out of my room?!"

"HAC, I want you to know your mother understands how to raise teenagers.  She told me that the key is to have NO EXPECTATIONS and then when you actually do show up, it's all gumdrops and lollipops!"

"Yes, we've trained her well."

"I think JSC wants to go with us and I think he should totally experience this."

And in that moment, NeverNakedBeth and JSC wandered in through the door.  I asked JSC if he wanted to go with us and he decided that would be totally cool, but he needed to shower first. 

"JSC, you need to wear all white.  Put on the BAPTISM clothes!"

"Nakedjen, did you really just say that?," giggled HAC.  "Like he's so going to wear those!"

The kids disappeared and eventually reappeared wearing white and ready to go. 

We were all in the car, on our way, when JSC announced that he needed to be dropped at Wendy's to hook up with a girl. He is 17, he is a senior in high school, this behavior in the real of teenage boys is, well, expected! 

"Dude, you're ditching us!  We invited you to go with us, some girl calls, and now you're ditching us for her.  Lame!"

"I'm not ditching you. I talked to A yesterday about going, she thought she had to work.  Now she doesn't.  I want to drive down with her to keep her company!"

"JSC, let's read the writing on the wall here.  You're in the car with us, you have plans with us, girl calls and WHOOPS, BUNNY, big change in plans, you're now going with her!"

"Wow, so much anger!  Where's the love, Nakedjen?!"

I burst out laughing and have never, ever felt so absolutely proud.  Where's the love, indeed?  Words can not explain how awesome it was to have my 17 year old used to be oh so straight laced nephew say this to me. 

So we dropped JSC with A at Wendy's.  Love is young, love is extra wild and when you're 17, love is found in a car ride shared on the way to the HOLI FESTIVAL.

Meanwhile, HAC and I continued on our way and arrived at the festival with our five gallons of colored powder, ready to throw it in the air and celebrate spring, celebrate love.

  

At the gates we met a security guard who was not so happy with our zip-lock bags.  Not happy at all.  So unhappy was he with our five gallons of colored powder that he CONFISCATED all of it as contraband.  Just took it.  1-2-3-4-5.  Gone.

And this is the moment, the very moment, where I realized that my days in Utah have surely, truly, absolutely not been wasted.  Because HAC looked at me and with a real glimmer in her eye said, "You watch that dude, I'm going to get our powders back!"

It isn't that I encourage breaking the rules.  I just encourage righting the wrongs.  The fact was, and HAC assessed this all on her own, there wasn't any consistency in the way the SECURITY GUARDS were confiscating contraband colors.  Just after we had our stuff taken at least 10 (yes 10) other people waltzed right through the gates with their OWN COLORS.  If they were going to take ours because NO OUTSIDE COLORS WERE ALLOWED, they should take ALL THE OUTSIDE COLORS. 

HAC figured that out all on her own, came to her own conclusion and took it upon herself to get OUR COLORS back.  She used all the best tactics that I've taught her about making yourself invisible (she's a born FAIRY, I swear it) and marched right up to where the guard had deposited our colors, grabbed all FIVE GALLON BAGS and confiscated them right back. 

We spent the afternoon tossing colors in the air, at each other, at the throngs of revelers and trying our best to breathe.  Eventually, we found ourselves in the mosh pit.  I looked over at HAC, crushing her own body willingly against the heaving wall of humanity and the permagrin wouldn't leave my face. The both of us were each like colored kernels of corn, popping here, popping there, up for air and then under legs and feet and elbows and swirling tornadoes of love infused colored dust.

It was pure magic. We were pure love. 

Three years ago my life imploded, turned upside down, and I when I woke up, I found my heart still beating in a Salty City in Utah.

And that has made all the difference.

 

 

 

 

Family is Everything

I wanted to think for myself.  I wanted to become somebody.

One of the best documentary films that I saw last year was SONS OF PERDITION, a truly thoughtful and provocative film directed by Tyler Measom and Jenny Merten that followed the lives of three boys who were outcast from The Crick, Warren Jeff's FLDS polygamist community that is found in Colorado City, Arizona and Hildale, Utah. 

It is no secret that boys are a threat in polygamist communities, especially teenage boys, and these boys are systematically exiled from the only homes and community they have known their whole lives to a world that they are ill-equipped to live in.  Known locally as the Lost Boys, there are limited resources available for them and many turn to drugs and alcohol to cope with the separation from their families and often find themselves on the wrong side of the law. 

This is a very real problem, a human problem, and this film follows the journey of three Lost Boys for four years as they navigate life outside their community attempting to sort out the scars of their former life, their individual heartbreak and losses, their struggles with post-traumatic religious stress disorders and their true discovery of real independence.  

SONS OF PERDITION is a film I believe that absolutely everyone should see because the more we understand, the more we all know, the more compassion we all share for one another. 

 

Lucky for those of us living in Utah and Arizona, SONS OF PERDITION is now screening locally.  I want everyone to go see this film and the first five (5) of you who leave me a comment saying you can join me will get to go for FREE this FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2011, at the TOWER THEATRE in Salt Lake City, Utah.  You'll be my special guests and I'll do my very best to make certain you get a chance to meet Tyler Measom and the special guests in attendance.

* Remember that the first five commenters will get to be MY GUEST for the Friday the 18th 7:00 p.m. screening ~ this is my gift to you!

 It took lots of guts from lots of beautiful people to share this story.  I hope you'll share it with everyone you know.

ADDENDUM:  I want to personally thank all of you who joined me at the Tower Theatre in Salt Lake City to see this film.  We had a huge turn out and there were lots of thoughtful questions asked to both the director and to the boys who were there for the screening.  My sister, NeverNakedBeth attended and her one criticism of the film that I hadn't even thought about was that it did not do quite enough to establish that the FLDS church and tenets are truly separate from those of the LDS church.  She is concerned, as a practicing and faithful Mormon, that this film will confuse those beyond Utah about the Mormon Church.  I believe, honestly, that any film or media that encourages us to examine and question our own beliefs and what we think we know is always a welcome addition to the dialogue.  My hope is that those who see this film would not just assume this film holds the gospel truth.  Each of us, actually, holds our own truth, as I believe all of you know.  The common ground is where we all meet to share our truths and love one another through our differences.

There's been quite a bit of traffic here looking for specific information about the FLDS, Warren Jeffs and polygamy.  Today there was an article published on SALON that further illuminates the troubles in the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saint church.  I'm linking to it as a courtesy. 

Black as Hell, Strong as Death, Sweet as Love

THESE ARE THE PEOPLE OF MY NEIGHBORHOOD

I lived in Santa Cruz for twenty years.  I went to Lulu Carpenters for many of those twenty years, nearly every single day, every morning, before taking my dogs to the beach for a walk, to get my coffee.  In those days I drank a quad latte.  Always.  The same drink.  Every day.  Lulu's had punch cards that the folks who worked there punched and ten punches earned you a free beverage of your choice. 

I had lots of these cards, filled for free beverages, and occasionally I'd cash all of them in and buy everyone in line with me on that particular grey dreary morning (we do have them in Santa Cruz) a coffee.

In other words, I was very much a regular face, a regular patron, a woman who claimed Lulu Carpenter's as her own.

For many, many years.

I've lived in Salt Lake City for three years.  I go to the Coffee Garden nearly every single day, every morning, usually after taking my dogs for a run in Liberty Park, as the Coffee Garden sits between my house and Liberty Park and it is easier to drink my shots of espresso in twenty ounces of organic coffee after I've run than while trying to run.  Less slosh, more coffee actually getting consumed for maximum caffeine benefit.  That is why I drink it, after all.

The Coffee Garden has punch cards, too, and ten punches earns you a free beverage of your choice.  I save these cards up and occasionally on grey cold snowy mornings I cash them all in at once and buy everyone in line with me a coffee of their choice. 

The entire time I lived in Santa Cruz, all those mornings spent purchasing my quad lattes at Lulu Carpenters, never once, not once, did they ever learn my name.  Not once, never once, did the lovely people who worked there show even the faintest sign of recognition or acknowledgement that I was, perhaps, a regular customer.  Not once did anyone remember what I drank or ask me about my day. 

When I walk into the Coffee Garden every morning, I'm greeted by the barista.  No matter whom it might be.  The people working there know that I sometimes bring my own mug.  They know that I walk the dogs and that I work at the University.  They know that I live nearby and that I am obsessive about film and about Sundance.  They ask me if I've run naked on a beach lately and if I celebrated the new moon. 

I feel loved at the Coffee Garden.  I feel like if I don't show up, for my shots of espresso, they notice.  Like they're family who truly cares and while I know that's probably complete poppycock, it's a remarkable difference about the culture in Utah, in general, and the culture I experienced and really embraced for all those years in Santa Cruz.

I love and loved Santa Cruz in mad and passionate ways.  Do not misunderstand me.  It is one very special place and the people who live there are incredibly generous and kind and lovely.

However, I have to give mad props to Salt Lake City and those who truly call it home.  The kindness here, the open hearts, the love does shine.  It's time I give a proper shout out and say thank you for loving me so well.

 

THEY LOVE ME MORE

There are days when you're particularly grateful for the house that has all hardwood floors.  Like the morning you awake to dog vomit in various amounts and viscosity redeposited like unhappy odorous gifts just waiting for you as you walk from your bedroom to the living room.  Where you find Stella, the offending gift giver, retching once again just beyond the edge of her dog bed and looking more than pitiful. 

It's a Sunday, of course, so your first thought is that your regular vet is closed and you can only hope that keeping her comfortable will allow you all to pass the hours until Monday morning when the vet's office will open. 

However, things quickly go from bad to much, much worse and scary and there's blood now, copious amounts of blood, and while you know MUCH BETTER than to play Dr. Google, you still do and determine that your listless dog, with blood spewing, must go to the ER right away. 

I realize that many of us feel that dogs are just that.  Dogs.  That rushing to ER's, that spending the equivalent of a month's rent on emergency veterinary care for an upset stomach is just ludicrous. 

I'm just not that person.  When Stella and Buddha chose me, entrusted me to share this journey on the planet, gave me their hearts and, in turn, took mine to carry gently on their 8 big black paws, we formed a pack and made a pact.  I would absolutely do everything necessary to make certain that they were always happy and healthy and lived a good long life. 

So I spent all day Sunday with Stella in the ER making absolutely certain that she was going to live.  She has done the same for me.  It's just what we do.  Dogs and the people who are lucky enough to love them. 

There's no price tag on the love of a dog.  It just can't be computed. 

 

WHO DO WE THANK?

Is anyone else as disenchanted with Hollywood and the Oscar Nominations for this year, in particular, as I am?  Do you really feel that the best of the best have been recognized for their great efforts over the past year?  We're just 15 days away from the actual awards ceremony so there's no changing anyone's mind now about whom was nominated for what, but as someone who used to look forward all year to the Oscar Ceremony, I am having trouble even getting myself excited to tune in this year and of course that has me wondering about all the rest of you, those of you who go see the small independent films that matter, the films that might not have millions of dollars wagered just to get a nomination.

I wish I AM LOVE and Tilda Swinton had received far more recognition.   It is a truly stunning film and you should see it.  I am happy to see that all five of the documentary film nominations are films I loved from SUNDANCE, but I'm thinking EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP (while I loved it) does not belong there as much as the thoughtful A SMALL ACT.  Again, I know I'm only one small movie goer who is kind of crazy passionate about film, filmmakers and the stories that they dare to share.  I just wish Hollywood would pay a little more attention to the stories that matter instead of the dollars that feed the machines. 

Tell me, you very smart and thoughtful and visionary people, what was your favorite film this year?  What wins your vote?  I really do want to know.

 

 

Born to Fest

I will tell you that I was born to festival.  Emily Gilmore will counter that I am, perhaps, just a tad OCD.  My father, if he was participating in the conversation might share that I was born a very curious child who was insistent about knowing everything about the things about which I especially knew nothing at all.  In other words, I asked a lot of questions.  All the time. 

I appreciate stories and I love the people who are brave enough to tell them to me in new and exciting ways.  The magic for me happens when my mind is taken to uncharted territory, split open and asked to reconsider everything it has thought before. 

This is why I festival.  For those magical moments of discovery of new information about my fellow human beings, about my world, about me.

My best magical moments from this year's Sundance, with no particular rhyme, reason or importance:

* Sharing my thoughts about CONNECTED with Odessa, the film-maker's young daughter, who seemed to understand way beyond her years that we all are very much connected and that love binds everyone of us at our core.

* Hugging, deeply, the journalist from Germany, who shared her own story of loss with me as tears streamed down her face and we both realized that it sometimes take a profound loss to connect you to the living world around you.

* Bonding with Brian as we navigated the very snowy streets in Park City putting up posters on kiosks for two different films. 

* Meeting Billy Carter in the lobby of the Marriott and reminiscing about UNC Basketball and then bonding over independent film. 

* Sitting next to the same woman from Italy who was here for last year's festival and sharing films with her again.  She's a joy.  I'm so glad we connected again this year.

* Dinner with Dave and Jodi and Libby and Christian and Heidie and Trent.  Wow.  Just lovely.

* Pariah

* Meeting Neil from Florida and sharing the MAGIC TRIP with him.  I'm glad he came and sat with me.

* The love.  Plain and simple.  There's a lot of it at Sundance.  You just have to poke around.

* Hugging Mickey Hart and Bob Weir with tears streaming down my face and thanking them both for my life, such that it is.  Truly grateful for that moment. 

* Watching the premiere of How to Die In Oregon with those two young Mormons from BYU who were perfect movie companions for me for that film because I do live in Utah and I wanted to understand what that film would mean for my Mormon friends and community.  They helped me sort that out. 

* Getting a ticket from Julie of the Telluride Film Festival just because I asked her about it.  She's truly lovely.  I can't wait to go to Telluride this year.

* Giving away my extra tickets.  One to Michael Rappaport.  Whom I had no idea was Michael Rappaport.  Because, hello, I never know who anyone is, especially if they're famous. 

* Of all my films, having only one film, just one, where I thought, "REALLY??  How did this get into SUNDANCE?!?" 

* Sobbing, yes sobbing, all the way through THE MUSIC NEVER STOPPED.  That film is truly personal for me.  Thank goodness for the kind Italian woman.  She was so very generous and loving to me.

* With three days left, getting just a little bit depressed that the festival was almost over.  Because, well, I was born to FEST.

* Celebrating my birthday with 10,000 other people in a snowy city in Utah in the dark watching movies. I can not think of a better way to say, Happy Birthday! to me. 

 

 

 

 

You are Invited to the Festival...

I have told anyone who asks (or who will listen) that the only reason I live in Utah is because of Sundance.  It's absolutely true.  Sundance and I are like lovers who can not get enough of one another and I am really passionate about that little independent film festival.  Those who know the underbelly of Sundance just spit out their martini, but for me Sundance will always be about the discovery of that film, that one special film, that small independent film, that I would otherwise might not have seen and the truly remarkable and extraordinary stories that are shared with me in the flickering darkness over the course of ten days in January. 

I'm a girl who loves film, but especially the truly heartfelt and sometimes untellable tales.  There's a special part of my heart reserved for the filmmakers who are willing to risk everything to tell me the story that no one else dares to tell.  I celebrate them whenever I get the chance, but I get a really grand chance every January at Sundance.

So exactly how does a person who is so enamoured with films, who wants to absolutely soak up every single opportunity offered, who is determined to see at least 40 films and attend the parties and who will talk talk talk (oh, yes, I am quite the talker) with everyone she meets at every possible moment truly going to survive? 

I'm asked a lot about the best way to festival.  Here's how I do it.  Please know, honestly, this is just how I do it.  I'm a naked girl who funds all of this all by herself.  I don't have a movie studio funding my trip.  I don't have a sponsor or a trust fund.  I'm just a girl, like you, who happens to love to celebrate her birthday in a movie theatre.  With lots of other people!

TIMBUK2 BAG

It seems crazy to begin this list with a messenger bag, but that bag is KEY to survival at Sundance.  I did just use the word survival, but the way I festival is similar to a marathon.  Preparation is key.  It really is.  A look inside my bag will reveal the following: 

A copy of the Sundance Film Catalog ~ This is really helpful, especially while standing in line, so you can quickly read about the film you're about to see and remember why you chose that ticket and what stars/producers/directors are attached.  Plus, 9 times out of 10, it turns out that the person standing in line with me NEEDS to refer to the catalog to sort out some conflict or figure out what his next film is going to be.  It's nice to be helpful and share!

A MOLESKINE:  I always have a moleskine notebook in my bag, but especially during Sundance.  I use it for writing notes about the films as I see them for blogging/recaps and also for any other notes that I might need for myself.  I can't recommend a Moleskine enough.  Really.  Mine are like bibles of my life.  I also have the printed calendars (posted previously) of my entire Sundance schedule inside the Moleskine for a quick reference should I need them. 

A Filter For Good water bottle:  Park City is at a higher altitude than even Salt Lake City and it is really important to stay hydrated.  I am a big fan of FILTER FOR GOOD and gladly carry my refillable bottle which, honestly, gets filled at least five times throughout each day. 

Fingerless gloves and a wool hat:  You never know when the weather in Park City is going to go from sunny to snowy.  I always have gloves and a wool hat in my bag.  Just.In.Case.  Always. 

CLYDE'S COOKIES, PROBARS and Tangerines:  Yes, Clyde's cookies and tangerines.  Why?  Because there are literally times when I have just 15 minutes (this is NOT advised) between screenings and there's no time to eat.  Also, because I'm a vegan, there's not always things I can EAT available easily in the many venues where the films are being screened.  While I know it is possible to eat in Park City as a vegan, the waits at a lot of the restaurants can be much too long and it is best to just have sustainable options right in my own bag.  I made the choice to make CLYDE'S COOKIES this year because I realized that Sundance is a FESTIVAL.  Perhaps I can continue my vegan outreach and share my cookies with some of my new film friends?  You never know.  At least I know I'll be able to eat.

COFFEE COZY:  Yes, I'm that girl who has her own coffee cozy.  I am also that girl who does drink a LOT of coffee.  Espresso, actually.  Java Cow & Bakery in Park City has organic coffee on tap and is a convenient stop right on Main Street in between screenings.  The win here is that while I'm waiting in line, I can eat one of my cookies from my stash. Fed and caffeinated for the midnight screenings and I'm good to go!

Herbal Tincture:  This is my own herbal concoction much like EMERGEN-C.  I just like mine much better.  I will probably take a "shot" of this every single day even if I'm not feeling I need it just to boost my immune system.  Sundance is legendary for folks getting SICK during the festival.  I'm staying healthy.

Hand Sanitizer:  For exactly the same reasons I have the Herbal Tincture, I have the hand sanitizer.  No germs.

Biz Cards: These are important! You never know who you might end up sitting next to or who you might meet while you're talk, talk, talking in the wait list line for all those films.  Or at the parties.  Or just wandering up Main Street. 

Sunblock, lip balm, and Altoids:  I never go outside in Utah without sun block.  Ever.  End of story.  Lip balm is key in the winter.  Altoids are helpful when you're drinking gazillion gallons of coffee. Just saying.

Aspirin:  Yes. Sometimes even the most mighty of festival veterans get a headache.  Aspirin helps. 

Glitter: I'm Nakedjen. Do I really need to explain?  Own your glitter.

Finally, my BLACKBERRY.  Of course we all know that my little Blackberry will be lost or forgotten or left on the bus probably, oh, tomorrow.  But let's just pretend that I have it.  That I'll be tweeting some fun updates about the festival @nakedjen, okay?!

Now with all that in my TIMBUK2 bag, I also have my Film Festival credential and all my tickets, as well.  The Festival Pass though is around my neck.  Pretty much always because it gives me access into everything festival related.  Like the music performances, the talks and the parties!

If you do not have a pass, it is still absolutely possible to have a fabulous festival experience.  In fact, if you do not have a single ticket to a single film at this very moment, it is still completely possible to have a fabulous festival experience. 

Here's how.

Day of Ticket Sales

Every single morning the Festival releases a limited number of tickets to many of the screenings happening that day at all the screening locations.  If you are paying attention, this can be a really great way to get a ticket to a film you really want to see.  I've managed to see some ABSOLUTELY SOLD OUT films at Sundance this way, but again, you have to really be paying attention and it is a first come, first served basis and tickets are only sold at the box offices when they open beginning at 8 a.m.  Some folks get there and line up as early as 3:00 a.m. but it is a whole other opportunity for meeting and chatting with people (and we know I love to meet and chat with people) so I just consider it part of the festival experience.

Wait List

In addition to the tickets released each morning, the wait list can be a great way to see a film that is otherwise SOLD OUT.  In fact, I can share a nearly 100% success rate with my WAIT LIST ticket attempts at Sundance.  You need to arrive at the theatre screening your film at least two hours before the actual screening.  At that time you'll receive a WAIT LIST number guaranteeing you a place in line (not necessarily a ticket) and will be told when to come back to get in line.  This is great because you don't have to just hang out for two hours "waiting".  However, what I've found that at least hanging out for a bit can be beneficial.  Again, I love to chat to everyone and there have been many times where I've ended up chatting to the director or producer of the film I'm hoping to see and have been given tickets.  For free!  Definitely worth it. 

If that doesn't happen, when you come back and get in line according to your wait-list number, you will then be allowed into the theatre, just before screening time, based upon seat availability.  Sundance does not like to screen a film to anything but a FULL HOUSE, so if there's an empty seat, you'll be sold a ticket.  Wait list tickets are $15 and are cash only!

New Frontier

Where art, film, performance and technology all intersect, the New Frontier offers all kinds of fantastic ways to experience emerging artists (and established ones) in really exciting ways.  I love the New Frontier and find myself revisiting it often through out the festival.  This year it has a new location in the Miners Hospital which is very close to the Library Theatre.  One of the films that I'm seeing, !Women Art Revolution has an installation here, as well.  RAW/WAR is a live, user-generated, community-curated video archive that documents the achievements of women artists.  It is an ongoing collaborative project where participants enter an interactive environment to upload new material and use Wii-powered virtual flashlights to illuminate invisible histories. 

That's just one of the many installations.  James Franco returns this year with his own installation called Three's Company ~ The Drama.  The good news is that this year the New Frontier can be experienced both in Park City and in Salt Lake City.  Our Art Center is also hosting many of the installations through out the festival.

Music Cafe

From Friday, January 21 until Friday January 28 every day has a full line-up of free music performances courtesy of Sundance and ASCAP.  I'm especially excited to see the Secret Sisters and Danko Jones this year.  Also, A TRIBE CALLED QUEST will be having their own party in celebration of their film (and performing) and Lou Reed will be performing at the Sundance House.  There's also the BMI Snowball happening on Wednesday night featuring Robert Rudolph and the Family Band.

Parties

There's no shortage of parties at Sundance.  There are all the official parties and then there are all the parties associated with all the films (and their premieres) and then there are all the OTHER parties that happen just because certain studios and brands are in Park City specifically for the festival and want to woo the right people.  You can party like a real movie star if you know when to show up.  The thing about the parties is this:  It isn't difficult to get in or to go, but there are a lot of them that once you're inside you really find yourself thinking, "Really, this is it?!" Part of that is because most every party at Sundance is about the sale.  There are deals being worked every single minute.  This is part of the reason people are here, after all.  It isn't just to have passionate film festival folks see their films.  It is about having everyone in the world see their films.  Distribution has to happen.  For that, you need a sale.  And so, shop talk.  At the parties.  All night long.

Chow Truck

I need to give a shout out and mention of the Chow Truck.  Sue, who owns the Chow Truck, is a gift to all of us who live in Salt Lake City and the Chow Truck will be parked at Miners Hospital for the duration of the festival.  Her food is so delicious and fresh and fast!  This is not your standard chow truck fare.  It's akin to asian street food with a real upscale gourmet twist.  I'm excited that she'll be there.  The Chow Truck is a truly viable option when you've got a short time in between films. 

SLEEP and YOGA

Yes, sleep.  And yoga.  If you're sleeping through all those magical films then did you really SEE them?  No.  So making sure you get at least a few hours sleep each night is important.  Say no to the invite to a late night drink in the Film-maker's Lodge and GO TO BED.  You're also going to be sitting.  A lot.  So start your day with 15 minutes of sun salutations.  Your lower back will thank me.  Promise.

Now, everyone?  Go and have one fabulous and special festival.  And share with me your best moments and your favorite films.  I definitely want to know. 

 

 

 

 

40 Films. 10 Days. One Nakedjen.

I promised that I would come back and update my film schedule once it was at least a bit more finalized.  I just stopped by the Sundance Box Office (oh the joys of living in Utah!) and picked up my pass and some of my tickets.  I also asked about more tickets and sorted out that, well, I am hitting this festival like a programmer and may have forgotten all about the word SLEEP. 

Ah, well, I'll sleep when I'm dead.  This is MY BIRTHDAY FESTIVAL.  It is well worth celebrating it in the best way that I know how.

I'm going to be the first to admit that I'm a bit of a nerd about all of this and am now going to make sure all of you really understand that by sharing my calendar.  That I made.  To show me where to be when.  I also put all of this in my phone but since every single one of you who knows me better than I know myself also knows that the phone will be lost within seventeen minutes of the first moments of when I arrive in Park City on Friday morning, it is best to have a back-up.  And perhaps a back-up to the back-up which is why, dear sweet Internet, I am publishing the calendars right here.  Because I know, oh yes I do, exactly where to access the trust old Internet for free while I'm at the Festival and so, worst case, well, at least I will be able to pull up my own blog and remind myself that not only do I exist (yes, sometimes I need to remind myself) but also where and when I should show up next.

You all think I'm joking.  But I also know that at least Gail is nodding her head and thinking, "Good planning, Nakedjen!"  Gail is also thinking that I should perhaps email a copy of all of this to her.  The only problem with that is that if I've lost my phone, I've lost a way to text Gail and actually say, "HELP!"  I'm the first to admit that there's a special spidey sense where in Gail might actually know without my use of phone or Internet that I need to know, but I'm still not exactly certain how she'll work out getting me the information. 

Plus, Gail is attending to far more important matters these days in the form of a brand new beautiful human being.  So, I am truly thinking all contingencies need to be completely my own. Thus the calendars.  Posted here. 

 

My list with links to the actual films:

ATTENBERG

CONNECTED

If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front

The Future

We Were Here

The Music Never Stopped

HERE

My Idiot Brother

How to Die in Oregon

Happy, Happy

A Celebration of Music in Film

Terri

The Devil's Double

!Women Art Revolution

Troubadours

Margin Call

Little Birds

Homework

Bobby Fischer Against the World

Another Happy Day

In a Better World

Page One: A Year Inside the -i-New York Times-/i-

Shorts Program IV

Pariah

Power of Story: The Big Idea

KNUCKLE

The Lie

The Green Wave

TBA

Magic Trip

In a Better World

The Oregonian

Shorts Program III

I Melt with You

 

If you happen to have found your way here to Utah and you also happen to be coming to Sundance and you'd like to meet up with me for any of these films or just because or find yourself thinking it might be fun to FESTIVAL for the very first time, feel free to contact me either via Twitter @nakedjen or through this website. 

I will happily grab your hand in mine and be your personal fabulous festival fairy guide.  In fact, stay tuned because I have some more great ideas about exactly how to survive ten days and 40 films and truly embrace and experience and squeeze every last drop that Sundance has to offer.  I promise you don't need drugs.  Well, nothing terribly illegal.  If you get here, we'll make it happen. 

Be There.

I talk a lot about how if you're going to festival successfully, you need to either have a festival fairy guide (me) or you have to be someone who is truly rather OCD and anal about things and can plan and execute.  If not one or the other of those two things, I absolutely know that you can still festival successfully if you happen to fall into that category of person who is so positively laid back and easy going that no matter what happens it is the absolute most fabulous happening in the entire universe simply because it happened. 

Those people do exist.  I know them, even.  In fact, well, I used to fall pretty much right in that category of person.  The person who just arrived at any place and decided that what ever happened would be perfect because it was what was supposed to happen and I would absolutely cherish every single moment.  Thing is, I've been on the other side of some of these festivals.  I've been the lucky girl with the back stage pass, so to speak, the one who didn't have to wish upon far away stars for the magic ticket to get the front row seat with the Wizard and now that I've been that very lucky girl, I like to plan as well as I can so that I can continue to be in the right spots at the right time to get my chance at the glittery red shoes.

I know. I know.  The magic can absolutely happen anyway and I know that it does.  In fact, I will be the very first to tell you that some of my most memorable and special moments at any given festival are the very most random and accidental ones.  The ones that happened just because I happened to be standing there, right there, and I actually opened my mouth and said, "Hello."  I also know that I absolutely own my glittery red shoes already and that the magic is all mine to make. 

Which brings me back to my mention about the Festival Fairy Guide.  This is me.  Join me for the festivals that I adore and that I call home and I'll gladly share all my glitter, all my magic, all my goodness with you.  I will do my best to make it your best festival ever.  Because there is nothing more fun for me than to share my favorite festivals with others.  Permagrins all the way around.

This year, I've purchased a festival pass for Sundance for myself.  The pass came with 12 tickets that I was allowed to specify and choose today.  Now, this doesn't mean I get to just say, "Oh, I'll take that and that and one of those, too!" as if I was walking into the ticket vault and anything could be mine.   Sundance is so popular that even if you purchase a pass, with all that cold hard cash, you're still in a LOTTERY SYSTEM for your spot to choose your tickets that go with the pass.  You've got 30 minutes to choose, when your spot is granted, and even then, it is quite possible that you're so far down the list, so far at the end of the line, that every film you hoped with your little fairy festival heart to see is positively SOLD OUT and even though you have a pass, there's not a ticket for a seat to be had.  Not for all the gold and giltter and cute smiles in the world.  Not even for that.

This was my day.  Late afternoon time slot.  It is also the new moon today and a day of a partial eclipse and since I happen to just be that fairy festival kind of girl, I sent up all kinds of little incantations today and positive energy and just said, "IT WILL BE" a whole bunch of times because, well, again, it is about the knowing, the making it happen.  It just is.

And it just was.

I was truly shocked, honestly, that when I finally logged on for my little old time slot this afternoon I got all my twelve tickets exactly as I wanted them to be.  Now, that's just twelve tickets.  I need, oh, 25 more!  But I will take care of that this weekend when there's yet another round of ticket sales to the public.  Did I mention that this is a commitment?  Did I remind you, before, that you have to be a bit OCD and organized and have a plan.  It helps to do yoga, drink lots of kombucha and be just slightly crazy.  I'm not kidding about the crazy part.  It really does help.  I think this is why Emily Gilmore finds the entire process just plain impossible and takes joy in blaming me for the insanity of it every year!

There are many who have asked for my film list for the festival this year.  I promised I would share.  Since I just have the twelve tickets so far, I'm sharing the eleven films and one talk that I'm attending with my pass and after this weekend, I'll update with the rest of the tickets that I manage to acquire. 

If you, yes you, you who are reading or stopped by or landed here because you were looking for the naked photos of Jennifer Aniston (sorry!) would like to join me for Sundance this year and have me be your festival fairy guide, I'd be so very glad to have you.  More than glad. I'd be overjoyed.   Tickets can be a challenge, as I've just shared, but there's always that laid back, go with the flow, whatever is meant to be, attitude that can truly make any festival grand.  And I can share that every screening always has a waitlist and that they release tickets every morning.  Of course that's an entire other experience and way to festival, but I have done it, I will probably do it even for this one, and I will be more than happy to help you. 

There's something so special at Sundance when the lights go down, the audience goes silence and you hear the film start to roll.  It gives me goosebumps and makes me teary every single time. 

 

NAKEDJEN SUNDANCE 2011 FILM SCHEDULE

Connected: An Autoblogography about Love, Death and Technology

If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front

The Future

We Were Here

The Music Never Stopped

HERE

My Idiot Brother

How to Die in Oregon

Happy, Happy

Power of Story: The Big Idea

Magic Trip

It's only going to get more delicious.  I want you to be there.  I just really do.