In the opening day press conference at the beginning of the 2014 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Sundance President and Founder Robert Redford made these remarks. “Change is inevitable. You either resist it—we know who those people are—or you go with it,” he said. “We want to ride with that wave.”
Celebrating its 30th year in a row, the Sundance Film Festival has definitely changed and evolved over time. In 1985, only 80 feature films were presented, whereas a total of 118 films were shown this year. A total of ten awards were given in 1985, while 27 awards were given this year. Some of the top-rated films shown in 1985 were Blood Simple, The Brother From Another Planet, and Stranger Than Paradise.
Not only has the number of films shown and awards given at the festival changed, but also the quality and depth of those films has evolved dramatically as well. This year’s film lineup was amazing. The festival ran from January 16 to January 26 in Park City.
This year, the lineup included controversial films that covered a wide range of controversial topics, such as the Sandusky trial, the infamous Pamela Smart case, and a story about a young computer genius named Aaron Swartz.
Films were shown in every language available on the planet, each covering a wide genre of topics, ranging from cult films to animation and world-class documentaries and provocative movies.
The big winner at the this year’s Sundance Film Festival was Whiplash, a film that focuses on Miles Teller, a jazz drummer who clashes with his overbearing teacher, played by J.K. Simmons. The film won the Grand Jury Prize and Audience. Over the past five years, Grand Jury prizes have been given out to Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” By Sapphire (2009), Winter’s Bone (2010), Like Crazy (2011), Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012), and Fruitvale (2013,). Fruitvale was renamed Fruitvale Station.
Over the years, the film festival has morphed into a unique event for Park City, drawing in movie stars, movie directors, movie goers, and Olympic athletes from all over the world. This year’s festival attracted over 50,000 people, as everyone flocks to Park City to see the biggest film festival in the U.S. Actors and tourists stayed all over Park City and Deer Valley and packed resorts to the top.
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