A few days after the visit in Nottingham, I had my second adventure with Sundance. I got accepted again to volunteer during the 2013 Sundance London Film and Music Festival, and again as a Theatre Team member. Somehow, I wasn’t as excited about it as I was the first time a year ago, but still it was one great experience.
On Wednesday, there was a general volunteer training and then we were divided into teams and met our theatre managers etc. It was more official and stiff and less relaxed than in 2012, but it was heartwarming to see some familiar faces among the volunteers.
Thursday shift was pretty boring, just setting up some stuff and being at the Future Filmmakers event. In the evening I worked at the RA. On Friday I was able to watch “The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete” and the Q&A with its director George Tillman Jr. After I finished my shift, I went straight to the RA. I was a little annoyed at myself that instead of using my time at the Festival well and watching films for my free vouchers, I was ‘wasting’ my time working at the RA. But that evening, my celebrity spotting was satisfied, because Prince Harry came to the Academy to see the Print Fair unofficially.
Saturday and Sunday was a full on festival experience: crowds, famous people and great films. I watched “A.C.O.D.” and there was a Q&A with director Stu Zicherman and Adam Scott, who played the main character. When I was directing people to Screenwriters Lab, I saw Robert Redford sneaking out of the lift wearing sunglasses (inside the building) and surrounded by his entourage. After my shift, I went to British Music Experience (I wish I had more time for that), Festival Hub to see Wolf Alice and in the evening I saw “In A World…” by Lake Bell and a Q&A with her. On the next day, the first film I saw was a more romantic kind of “Stand By Me” film – Jordan Vogt-Roberts’ “The Kings of Summer”. In the afternoon was a real treat and my highlight of the festival, “Sleepwalk With Me” by Mike Birbiglia and the extended Q&A with Jimmy Carr. In the evening, my sister and her boyfriend joined me and we watched “God Loves Uganda”, a documentary by Roger Ross Williams, which gave us a lot to discuss on the way home.
I tried to take some photos and videos with my little camera, but I had to be very discreet inside the screen rooms during my shifts. Not much, but always something.
A few clips put together.
Will I still be in London for the third Sundance next year?