Had a great flight out. Spent the whole time chatting with Jonathon from Philadelphia. He is a Chemist who was headed to the Festival and then a big outdoor recreation trade show in Salt Lake next weekend (apparently he's not required to work much.) He had just spent a week in Portland and seems much more Oregonian than East Coast. I lobbied hard for a move.
Jenn and I raced to the box office this morning to pick up all 54 of our movie tickets. We sold the tickets for a 10:00am Shorts Program and headed to Starbucks, where we had our first celebrity siting: Kevin Sorbo of Hercules fame. I've never seen it or heard of him (although he did look familiar) and had to trust Jenn on this one.
The Sundance folks are pushing a text messaging information line called "Cha Cha", so we texted them and asked if they knew if he was here. They replied that no Sorbo-sitings had been reported, but Mary Kate Olsen was seen leaving the high school performing arts center smoking a cigarette. Apparently celebrities don't have to follow the rules.
After a few quick errands, we headed to Prospector Theater for a documentary called Slingshot Hip Hop. The film is about the emerging hip hip culture of occupied Palestine. It was story about some kids needing a voice and finding it through hip hop and how that voice is giving new hope to future generations. The best part, and why I truly love Sundance, was that the rappers were there. They gave a brief live performance after the show and answered questions.
It was no small feat to get them to the United States. In fact of the three-member group from Gaza only one was able to get a VISA and it sounds like that involved a bunch
of red tape and almost didn't happen. Four of the rappers sat behind us during the film, so before it started I asked if I could take their picture ("yes" -- see right.) I also asked them if they had seen the film yet ("no") and if they were nervous ("mostly excited.") Can you imagine, not being allowed to leave Gaza (a 26 x 4-mile area) and then suddenly finding yourself in Park City, Utah?
You can check out one of the groups on their website: www.dampalestine.com. They don't have any radio or TV where they live, so they use the Internet to promote themselves and sell albums.
Jenn and I raced to the box office this morning to pick up all 54 of our movie tickets. We sold the tickets for a 10:00am Shorts Program and headed to Starbucks, where we had our first celebrity siting: Kevin Sorbo of Hercules fame. I've never seen it or heard of him (although he did look familiar) and had to trust Jenn on this one.
The Sundance folks are pushing a text messaging information line called "Cha Cha", so we texted them and asked if they knew if he was here. They replied that no Sorbo-sitings had been reported, but Mary Kate Olsen was seen leaving the high school performing arts center smoking a cigarette. Apparently celebrities don't have to follow the rules.
After a few quick errands, we headed to Prospector Theater for a documentary called Slingshot Hip Hop. The film is about the emerging hip hip culture of occupied Palestine. It was story about some kids needing a voice and finding it through hip hop and how that voice is giving new hope to future generations. The best part, and why I truly love Sundance, was that the rappers were there. They gave a brief live performance after the show and answered questions.
It was no small feat to get them to the United States. In fact of the three-member group from Gaza only one was able to get a VISA and it sounds like that involved a bunch
of red tape and almost didn't happen. Four of the rappers sat behind us during the film, so before it started I asked if I could take their picture ("yes" -- see right.) I also asked them if they had seen the film yet ("no") and if they were nervous ("mostly excited.") Can you imagine, not being allowed to leave Gaza (a 26 x 4-mile area) and then suddenly finding yourself in Park City, Utah?You can check out one of the groups on their website: www.dampalestine.com. They don't have any radio or TV where they live, so they use the Internet to promote themselves and sell albums.
We're picking up Jois at the airport late this afternoon and seeing another documentary in Salt Lake tonight. We'll get home late, so I will write about it tomorrow.
1 comment:
Many moons ago, I had a wee small crush on Kevin Sorbo.
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