Sundance filmmakers weigh in on issues

updated 4:18 p.m. ET Jan. 27, 2006

PARK CITY, Utah - There’s always a bit of politics as usual at the Sundance Film Festival, whose independent-minded directors never flinch at tackling tough issues.

This year’s festival, which opened Thursday, is a veritable soapbox as filmmakers sound off on Iraq, North Korea, Tibet, the Gaza Strip, terrorism, the environment, gay rights, immigration issues, censorship, judicial injustice and disenfranchisement of black voters.

Nearly one-fourth of Sundance’s 120 features films are manifestos of varying degrees on serious, timely topics. That’s very different from the complacent late 1990s, when Sundance had a softer edge, reflecting the cushy economic times of the Internet boom.

“A number of years ago in the ’90s, we used to see a world of independent film that was more insular, a more personal world, with genres that tended to be more limited,” said Geoffrey Gilmore, Sundance festival director. “People are very much aware the world they’re living in now is much more polarized. A lot of films in this festival are dealing with moral values in very specific, detailed social and political environments.”

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“I think a lot of people in film and the arts themselves feel kind of helpless, and over the last three or four years have turned to their art form as a way to exert some influence,” said Kirby Dick, director of “This Film Is Not Yet Rated,” an examination of Hollywood’s movie-ratings system.

On immigration, the festival has “Crossing Arizona,” examining tensions along the U.S.-Mexico border; “La Tragedia de Macario,” a drama about tragedy that ensues after a poor Mexican decides to sneak into the United States; and “God Grew Tired of Us,” which follows three Sudanese refugees through the culture shock of America.

On politics and justice, there are “The Trials of Darryl Hunt,” a documentary about a black man who spent 18 years in prison for a rape and murder he did not commit; “Forgiven,” a drama about an exonerated death-row inmate and the Senate candidate who prosecuted him; and “American Blackout,” which uses the career of U.S. Rep. Cynthia McKinney of Georgia to study historical barriers that have muffled black voters.

On Iraq, Sundance offers “The Ground Truth: After the Killing Ends,” a study of the psychological toll the war takes on troops; “Iraq in Fragments,” a look at the turmoil from everyday Iraqis’ perspective; and “The Short Life of Jose Antonio Gutierrez,” the story of the Guatemalan immigrant who was the first U.S. soldier killed in Iraq in March 2003.

Kevin Smith: ’‘The party’s over’
“Cinema has always been a mirror, it kind of reflects the culture,” said Kevin Smith, whose career kicked off with the premiere of “Clerks” at Sundance in 1994 and who returns as executive producer of “small town gay bar,” a documentary on homosexuals carving out a place of their own in the South.

“Back in the ’80s, I don’t think everybody had as much on their minds as they do in a post-Sept. 11 climate. It seems like the party’s over to some degree, and I think movies are reflecting that.”

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