Sundance opens with a little less glitter

While recent festivals have been star-studded and celebrity-laden affairs, on the opening day of 2009 there were few, if any, familiar faces to be seen anywhere in or near Park City.

The exception, of course, was Sundance's head honcho, Robert Redford, who held a news conference Thursday afternoon to talk about the premier showcase for independent film and world cinema in the United States. The festival is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.

Rather than looking back at Sundance's two-decades-plus, Redford instead looked forward to what his "festival of discovery" can do in the next few years, and he praised it for its "diversity" and "independence."

"I've always been high on independence, you know," he chuckled.

Festival director Geoff Gilmore, who joined him at the podium in Park City's Egyptian Theatre, echoed those sentiments, and said that early reactions to this year's festival have been very positive. Gilmore deferred to his more well-known boss for the most part, though.

The outspoken actor, filmmaker and activist took questions about his continuing involvement in movies and in politics. When asked whether he would be heading to Washington, D.C., for Tuesday's presidential inauguration, Redford said he would be "remaining right where I belong," meaning at the festival, where he has promised to be more of a regular presence this year.

But he said he hoped the Obama administration would place more of a priority on the arts, despite the continuing national economic crisis. "I can't say how the current economic climate will affect independent film. But the arts always survive. They always find a way."

He also couldn't resist the opportunity to take a jab at the outgoing Bush administration, which he referred to as "the gang that couldn't shoot straight."

"The sooner they're gone, the better," he said.

One other recognizable face was in the audience for the news conference. Filmmaker Spike Lee was in town to promote his movie version of the musical, "Passing Strange." He seemed distracted for much of the hour-long conference and was seen sending out several text messages.

As for Redford, he was also on hand to introduce the premiere of the clay-animated feature "Mary and Max" at Park City's Eccles Center. Joining him were Gilmore, the film's writer/director Adam Elliot and producer Melanie Coombs.

Publicists noted that the film's voice actors, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Toni Collette, were working on movie and television projects and would be unable to attend much of the festival, if any of it.

Coombs and Elliot have been to Sundance previously, with the Academy Award-winning, 2004 short film "Harvie Krumpet." The Australian filmmaking duo said they were anxious to see how their "little friendship story" would be received by the Sundance crowds. In typical Sundance fashion, the Thursday premiere was followed by a warm round of applause.

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