#30for30festivals January Festivals

And we’re off! Off to a pretty good start…I went to 3 festivals in January including a film festival which has been on my bucket list/must attend list for years: Sundance!

SF Sketchfest

My first festival of the year was SF Sketchfest — The San Francisco Comedy Festival. Usually held in February, Sketchfest was moved to January this year because of the Super Bowl. I’ve been attending for the past few years and every year I’m amazed at the lineup they bring. This year was no different and I couldn’t stop myself from attending multiple shows.

The first thing that caught my eye was the Pete & Pete show. I went to the 20th anniversary show 3 years ago, but this year the actress who played Ellen on the show, Alison Fanelli, was going to attend! If you can’t tell by this whole #30for30festivals thing, I’m a completist. Sadly, this message popped up: “Due to a change in her schedule, Alison Fanelli will no longer be appearing.” and I guess I’ll have to complete this another time.

The first show of the festival I attended was Spontaneanation with Paul F. Tompkins, Craig Cackowski, Matt Gourley, Eban Schletter, Janet Varney and special guest Jon Hamm. It was a great live taping of the improv podcast which, according to Paul F. Tompkins, should be hitting the interwebs sometime in May. So set your alarm clocks.

The next day I attended Spotlight on ‘Drunk History’ with Derek Waters and Friends, with Steve Berg, Eric Edelstein, Cameron Esposito, Ron Funches and Kyle Kinane, moderated by Henri Mazza. Watching drunk people on stage is almost as funny as watching them recite history lessons on TV. However, without the editing, and by the time you got to the 4th or 5th drunk person…you couldn’t follow the conversation. Well, really, the guys on stage couldn’t follow the conversation.

I finished Sketchfest with 2 Dope Queens with Jessica Williams & Phoebe Robinson and guests Greg Behrendt, Janeane Garofalo, Julian McCullough, Kyle Mizono and Aparna Nancherla. This was another live taping of a podcast and I could just listen to Jessica Williams & Phoebe Robinson go on and on all night. However, the show was bombarded with guests…I’d say 2 too many. It was a treat to finally see Janeane Garofalo live though!

Berlin & Beyond Film Festival

Sketchfest is a long festival…it ran for 3 weeks this year! And in between that festival, I actually went to another festival…San Francisco’s Berlin & Beyond Film Festival. This was their 20th year but my first time attending. I went to the opening night film, “Who Am I — No System Is Safe” at the beautiful Castro Theatre and “Above and Below” at the Goethe-Institut.

Who Am I was right up my alley — a hacker film with an electronic soundtrack from the likes of Boys Noise and Fukkk Offf. It was followed by a Q&A with the charming star, Tom Schilling. Above and Below was a grounding and empathetic documentary about somewhat discarded souls in Las Vegas. This film also had a spectacular score…some of which was performed by one of the documentary’s subjects. After was a Q&A with the film’s director, Nicolas Steiner.

Sundance

Sundance reaffirmed why I’m doing #30for30festivals. One of my motto’s for this year is, “If Not Now, When?” I’ve been wanting to go to Sundance for forever but always thought it was out of reach and too hard to get to. But actually, it’s pretty accessible and a great festival for the public to attend.

Highlighting American Cinema, Sundance exposes audiences to up-and-coming filmmakers and ideas. There isn’t a year that goes by that a Sundance film is not on my must see list for the year. One problem with film festivals, and Sundance in particular, is that many of the films are brand new and no one’s really seen them to evaluate them. So, you’re not too sure which films to see and which ones can wait. For me, this isn’t really a problem since I love going into films completely dark — not knowing anything about the movie.

I ended up seeing 9 films over 3 days: Miles Ahead, The Intervention, Yoga Hosers, Life, Animated, Spa Night, Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You, Frank & Lola, The Hollars, and The Fundamentals of Caring.

My best of fest was definitely Life, Animated — a touching documentary about a boy who is diagnosed with autism and uses animated Disney movies to communicate with his family. It is beautifully crafted and will make you cry, laugh, and appreciate life.

I ended up going to Sundance for the 2nd weekend but would go for the first half of the festival if and when I do it again. By the time the 2nd weekend comes along, most of the stars and many of the filmmakers have already left and the audiences are left without a Q&A (which is one of my favorite parts of going to a film festival). Many of the events in Park City are no more and most of the sponsors are already packing up. In the end, it’s always about the movies — which were wonderful, but for a festival, the magic was already leaving the mountains and you could tell.