Searching for the next sleeper at Sundance

Did you see The House of Yes? Probably not. But chances are you've at least heard of In the Company of Men, Chasing Amy, Shine, Clerks and Reservoir Dogs. Don't forget the little movie that could – The Full Monty.

Over the past few years, each of these films premiered to audience and critical acclaim at Robert Redford's Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. The movie showcase has become integral to the art and aura of Hollywood deal-making while its name currently creates an image of stars, schmoozing and rags-to-riches success for a fortunate few. This year's festival marked 20 years of film viewing at the snow-covered, heavenly ski haven.

Redford created Sundance to introduce audiences to films that might be normally ignored, give a voice to experimenting directors and open the cinematic industry to a willing and curious viewership. But now, due to the recent explosion of independent film, the marketplace has intervened. The festival is now geared towards possible buyers and interested film companies, not to mention those who enjoy 10 days of great skiing.

At every film viewing, two or three rows of seats are roped off for buyers from Miramax, Gramercy Pictures and other film studios searching desperately for the next Full Monty. As Redford notes, "The spotlight has intensified," an understatement to say the least.

In 1978, the Utah Film Commission hoped to attract both movie dealers and moviegoers away from sunny Cal for a little fun on the slopes. In 1981, the Festival moved to Park City because of its increasing popularity. It became focused upon American independent cinema instead of less accessible fare. As the festival evolved, it required more financial support, so Redford's Sundance Institute sponsored the event.

After Steven Soderbergh's Sex, Lies and Videotape premiered in 1989, Park City has not been the same. The film cost a little more than a million dollars to produce but eventually earned over $25 million nationwide. This was an amazing feat for any independent studio and illustrated that through good word of mouth, critical support and healthy publicity, a small film could triumph over the odds.

Before Soderbergh's arrival, Sundance "had this low-key Redford aura and was more manageable. After that it became a zoo." The glamour and decadence is evident in the ubiquitous Ford Expeditions, the vibrating cell phones and North Face powder suits along with the popping up of such stars as Parker Posey, Jared Leto, Gwyneth Paltrow and Kevin Bacon.

Still, most of this frenzied atmosphere has been inadvertently spawned by the average Joe's increased interest in filmmaking. The American public has become shrewder and pickier in regards to the choices in entertainment it makes. The spectacle in Utah is a direct result of this attitude.

The film festival runs each year in mid to late January. Selected films from thousands of entries are shown in one of the 12 available theaters, four of which are outside Park City.

Each film is introduced by its director and after each showing the production team will answer questions and receive constructive criticism about the work. Because of this communication, the audience truly plays an essential role in the process of producing what has the potential to be released.

Kip Koenig's first feature How to Make the Cruelest Month centers on a young woman who realizes in December that she has not fulfilled her New Year's resolutions. Tired of neglecting her promises, she decides to carry them out; she must quit smoking and fall in love in 30 days time.

Koenig asked what he could change to improve the film. We pointed out parts when the plot seemed rushed and confusing. After our brief conversation, he thanked us for our input and said that we were molding movies ourselves. Not only is movie history made at Sundance, but the lucky moviegoer can become a sort of mini-mogul, shaping the direction of current cinema. After all, these movies are still in a metamorphic state.

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It is very easy to overreact to this sense of power in Sundance's strange environment. Waiting in line with Brad Pitt or Mary Stuart Masterson can be fairly exciting, but after a while you really get the sense that Hollywood actors and producers are normal people even though they do not lead normal lives.

Of the 12 movies I saw (ranging from documentaries to shorts and feature length dramas) the two most interesting were certainly Todd Phillips' and Andrew Gurland's Frat House and Dan Rosen's Dead Man's Curve.

Frat House won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary and exposes the dark side of the Greek system – hazing. Scenes including prostitutes, mass quantities of alcohol, drugs, psychological manipulation and violence are surprisingly graphic but not as shocking as one would expect after recent news stories and tales of T.I. Bicker.

Frat boys pour Everclear into huge barrels, force pledges to drink Tabasco shots and make them do keg stands. Audience members gasped in horror as such events unfolded, but those in the know only shrugged. These are scenes familiar to any college student. Perhaps the filmmakers want to shock some and induce others to recognize the disgusting fraternity rush process.

More disturbing, inhumane segments involve biting off the heads of rats and getting locked in dog cages. In order to finish their documentary, the directors had to undergo "Hell Week." It was the only way they could get more footage. One of the the two was hospitalized half way through the week. The other finished the process their film diligently exposes.

Phillips' and Gurland's experiences and commentary give both the movie and its contributors more depth and soul and certainly heighten the unsettling ideas surrounding fraternities.

Another fascinating Sundance film, Dead Man's Curve is a darkly comic thriller of double cross and intrigue inspired by an incident at John's Hopkins University. With snappy pacing and witty writing, the film examines the rumored policy that a student whose roommate commits suicide receives an automatic 4.0 GPA.

Two friends hoping to make the grade plot to kill their third roommate. They will pose the murder as a suicide to ensure their acceptance into Harvard grad school.

Director/Screenwriter Dan Rosen (who wrote the funny/horrific The Last Supper) blends the black comedy of Heathers with the self-referential and slasher anxiety of Scream to create intense suspense juxtaposed with a light mood of pop culture references. One character explains, "Starbucks. The answer to everything. Star – the universe. Bucks – the economy. The economy rules the universe."

The scene at Sundance is exciting, unforgettable and surreal. Towards the end of intersession, we would come off the slopes, watch a movie and usually strike up casual conversations with many participants involved in movie-making. The films there reach us in a way that mass culture has forgotten through risk taking and experimentation. "The American Independent film community is special because of the role it plays in fostering personal vision in an age of uniformity," notes the festival's vice-president Nicole Guillemet.

The festival has become so popular that Redford has helped create a Sundance cable channel that showcases many independent films normally not found in video stores or on HBO and Showtime. In the coming years, Sundance cinemas will be popping up all over the country and will help to foster the appreciation of small studio movies by the American public.

If anything, the wide publicity surrounding Red-ford's annual celluloid bonanza incites many aspiring writers and directors to plow ahead with their dreams and transport their vision from page to screen. Sundance is pretty much about luck and talent, with perhaps an emphasis on the former. If you want to succeed in Hollywood as a filmmaker, this is the place to do it. But just as it can mean a career explosion (think of those stripping men), have you heard of The House of Yes yet?