Sundance the Night Away

Last Week, I attended the Sundance Film Festival screenings at the historic Michigan Theater along with Liz Parker of of Yes/ No Films. Headquartered in Park City Utah, the Sundance Institute (founded by Robert Redford) has notoriously nurtured and showcased quality independent films since 1981. Little Miss Sunshine and An Inconvenient Truth are two prominent films that premiered at past Sundance Film Festivals. Ann Arbor is one of nine US 'Sundance cities' this year to host screenings and is the only such locale to show not one, but two films. 

I viewed the presentation of Win Win on Thursday, January 27th. Producer and U of M alum Mary Jane Skalski hosted a 'Q & A' session at the work's conclusion.  Win Win chronicles a middle aged,, somewhat burnt out, lawyer who moonlights as a high school wrestling coach. The coach stumbles upon a troubled yet talented high school aged wrestler through his practice, then adds him to the team. An interesting tidbit is that all the high school actors are real life wrestlers. "We thought it would be easier to teach wrestlers to act than to teach actors to wrestle," said Skalski. While I'm not authorized to reveal a ton about the actual plot (due to the flick being officially released in March,) I'll divulge it was much more dramatic and theme-laden than I first imagined. Watching the performance of Amy Ryan, who I best know as 'Holly' on The Office, in a lead role  in Win Win undoubtedly proved to be a fun kick to my viewing experience.

Below are some of my favorite photos from the evening (some of which are not included on FORMzine.) Check out more of my photos on the Sundance FORMzine Album below Liz Parker's enticing article.

Win Win Producer Mary Jane Skalski at Press Q & A