IT'S OUT OF THE BAG)! COOPER AND GOTH SHARE STORIES ABOUT STARS BEHAVING BADLY AT THE 'CHURCH' OF SUNDANCE ON SUNDAY

John Cooper

Ashley Elaine York @ Sundance 2011

The 'Church of Sundance' is a tradition.  Every year, Sundance Director John Cooper and Director of Programming Trevor Goth lead a discussion with a mixed audience of press and Sundance passholders to dish about the best and worst of Sundance offerings and happenings before the slate of award-winning films play for the last time on the final day of the Festival in Park City, Utah.

Indeed, this event is an annual rite of passage for many Sundancers.  "I have to go to 'Church' before I can go home, or it wasn't Sundance," the woman sitting next to me said.

Many of John and Trevor's tales are new to passholders, but the press may have been told or heard the scuttlebutt around town.  Other stories are new even to the press corps.  So, in this venue everyone gets to dish about the films they liked or hated, and the outlandish (or wonderful) things that stars or filmmakers did or said during the Festival that made them stop...and take pause!

Trevor Goth

The most savory tidbits of gossip, of course, come from insiders like Cooper and Goth who, more so than even Robert Redford today, are privy to the comings and goings of every participant in Sundance.  Goth said his personal favorite was the behind-the-scenes fallout over the Michael Rapaport's BEATS, RHYMES, & LIFE: THE TRAVELS OF A TRIBE CALLED QUEST documentary, which premiered on Saturday, January 22, 2011.

The band had told director Rapaport (a self-described mega-fan of the group) that he could shoot them at all times.  Nothing was "off-camera," so to speak.  But as the project wore on, and they saw dailies of their most private moments forever captured on film, most of the members started to panic.  How would spectators judge their boozing and outlandish behavior?  What about their infighting?  Ultimately, they worried the documentary would "reveal too much" about themselves and their real lives.  That it would cross over the line from documentary film to real life.

Three of the four band members pulled their support and didn't accompany the film to Sundance.  But, even though the remaining member, Malik "Phife" Taylor, didn't know what to expect from the screening, the spectators, or the press, he nevertheless followed through on his commitment to Rapaport and to the project and showed up to support the film.

Seeing the completed film for the very first time (a common occurrence with low budget films in post up until the final days before the premiere), Phife wasn't on the defensive after the screening, but rather genuinely touched.  So much so that he cried in front of the crowd, and told them if the rest of his band would have seen the final project and their reaction to to the story of their lives, they too would have been moved and supported the release of the film.

What neither Cooper nor Goth mentioned during the talk was that this type of portrayal is the aim of good non-fiction films.  Great docs get too personal, too messy, and too real.  So personal, in fact, that it’s often impossible for the spectators viewing the created/crafted/often scripted documentary to distinguish between the real people and real events that inspired the story, and those which they morphed into the creator's narrative.  But also such reenactments are often uncomfortable to watch for those who inspired the story.  Their depiction on screen is too close to, or different from, the real thing.  Plus, in our contemporary media-saturated world, documentary films now often 'inform' history, or even rewrite it, rather than relaying history as everyone already knows it.

Although Rapaport came up as an actor playing side characters in many Spike Lee Joint productions, or took his turn guest-starring in several primetime television series, including:  PRISON BREAK, MY NAME IS EARL,  THE WAR AT HOME, and BOSTON PUBLIC, the prolific actor has showcased his expansive talent in his portrayal of the lead character Zack in ZEBRAHEAD, an interracial love story based on the Romeo and Juliet storyline, that garnered its writer-director Anthony Drazan a Filmmaker's Trophy (Dramatic) from Sundance in 1992 and Rapaport an Independent Spirit Award Nomination for his performance the following year.

In BEATS, RHYMES & LIFE: THE TRAVELS OF A TRIBE CALLED QUEST, Rapaport's directorial debut, the man who took his turn behind the camera pays homage to a band he dearly loves and admires.  His work which is channeled through his fandom, as well as a deep understanding of how to convey empathetic characters on screen, well relates to its audience.  And, in the end, achieves what every good documentary film must:  that is to capture a kernel of truth--a slice of real life and humanity--on celluloid for all to witness, and for posterity.  Sans apology, regret, and explanation.  The way that Rapaport did by exposing the behind-the-scenes drama that led to the seminal bands tumultuous breakup.

John Cooper had some funnier stories to tell.  For example, he let the cat out of the bag on " The Lou Reed Story."  This former Andy Warhol crooner who, nearly six decades on, is still singing Rock 'n' Roll caught Sundancers by surprise when he made an 'impromptu' appearance at the Kimball Art Center on Sunday, January 23, 2011.

In route to the venue, Reed realized he had left his jacket behind in his suitcase.  He told his Sundance handlers that he simply couldn't (or rather wouldn't) perform without the jacket, so they turned the van around and headed back to his hotel.

But the situation got even more complicated when Reed knocked a glass of water over when reaching into his luggage, leaving his bag and his jacket drenched.  He nevertheless remained adamant about wearing his jacket when he performed later on stage; so the Sundance PA had to run up and down Main Street, and in and out of shops, looking for someone to lend out their hairdryer.

Finally, the young PA found a taker, but only because the star himself held sway with the proprietor. "You know Lou Reed?" the woman asked the PA?  "Of couse," he said.  In fact Lou Reed REALLY needs that hairdryer to dry his jacket so he can get ready to go onstage and perform at the Kimball Art Center.  Hint, hint!

Well, if she could meet Lou Reed, then she said she would be happy to loan out her hairdryer.  Her wish was granted; however, the PA spent the better part of the next hour hand drying the finicky rocker's jacket until, finally satisfied, Reed threw it on, went onstage, and gave the crowd the "spontaneous" performance they expected from a "surprise" guest.

'Church' Audience

The Festival director and programmer also threw in some stories about the true power of film before their 'Church' discussion ended; and, specifically, how it influences (and is influenced by) real events on the ground.

Fest Director Connor, for example, shared his point of view that, ten years ago, when filmmakers wanted to expand the representation of non-Whites on screen, they used the character of the next-door neighbor to do it.  First, that neighbor was Black.  Then he was gay.  Now, he's a religious person, illustrating a socio-temporal theme that runs through a large crop of the films at Sundance 2011, including three films I'll review over the next 10 days:  George Ratliff's SALVATION BOULEVARD, Vera Farmiga's HIGHER GROUND, and Maryam Keshavarz' CIRCUMSTANCE, about young Iranian women who are of two minds when it comes to falling in line with the traditional tenets of their Muslim faith.  'Next-door' characters are positioned in the narrative to push beyond the historical boundaries of those traditionally represented on screen, so as to seep into the spectators' "consciousness," to use Connor's word, and thus have the potential to change how people feel, how they see others, and how they make meaning of zeitgeist topics, such as religion, that are affecting (and changing) the world as we know it today.

And speaking of the lighting-rod topic of religion at Sundance 2011, Kevin Smith (director of CLERKS), encountered Pastor Fred Phelps (the inspiration for his new horror film RED STATE) and 8 of his right-wing Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) parishioners when he arrived at Eccles Theatre in Park City before his screening.  Phelps' anti-gay rhetoric and protests at funerals of American military personnel are currently front and center in a First-Amendment lawsuit before the US Supreme Court.  The infamous Reverend and his disciples began protesting three hours before the start of the Sunday, January 23, 2011 world premiere, carrying the quintessential signs that broadcast the three-word slogan they're famous for, like: "God hates fags," which is also the name of the group's main website.

But Smith had some people fighting on his side of 'right', as well.  About 250 local Park City high school students (who outnumbered the WBC by some 30-1) carried signs with their own quirky slogans, like: "I eat with a spoon;"  "I love my mother;" and, "Hell is fabulous;" while belting out Katy Perry's fun take on female homosexuality, "I KISSED A GIRL."

"Smith is a master of social media," remarked Director Cooper to the 'Church' crowd.  Thus he wasn't surprised at Smith's behavior in his post-premiere Q&A.  Although, in the weeks leading up to Sundance, the director had suggested that he would hawk his film from the stage; but, instead of taking questions from the spectators, he lambasted Hollywood for 30 minutes, and announced that he had already bought the rights to his own film for a token $20, and had plans to take his film on the road through its' scheduled Oct. 19th theater release, in order to recoup as much of the film's $4M budget as he could.

"What we need to prove is that anyone can release a movie," Smith said.  "Indie film isn't dead.  It just grew up.  It is just Indie Film 2.0 now.  [And] in Indie Film 2.0, we don't let them sell our movie; we sell out movie ourselves."

Cooper reacted to Smith's remarks in this way:  "Well, we'll know if Kevin succeeded by next year.  We'll talk about it at Sundance 2012, whether or not his strategy worked."

That seems to be what Sundance is all about; giving independent cinephiles the opportunity to try on myriad different films (and flmmakers) for size.  Not liking everyone they meet or everything they see, but having access to movies and characters and ideas that aren't valued (or marketable) in Hollywood today.

Robert Redford

Sundance Founder Robert Redford hit upon the importance of having just such an independent film outlet during his opening day remarks, when he said:  “Some films are not going to be liked at all, and some films will be very much liked. That’s okay,” he said. “The point is to show what’s out there. And create opportunities for the filmmakers, and for audiences to find that work.  Wherever it goes [after that] is really some other people’s business.”

Over the course of the next four weeks, I'll take a look at many of the most talked about films at this year's Sundance and Slamdance, and discuss the making of these features with the writers, directors, producers, and cast members who shed further light on their importance, as well as the trends taking place in independent film today.