Aaaaaaaaand we're back! I am travelling once again, so the travel blog, once again, is on! As I write this, I am relaxing in my condominium on Empire street in Park City, Utah, discussing with my friends the films we've seen so far at the Sundance Film Festival. I just arrived this afternoon so I haven't seen much but I'll report anyway.

The condo is quite pretty (pictures to follow when I'm less sleepy), with lots of exposed wood, a firelplace, and a hot tub. We're quite close to main street, the downtown area, many of the film veues, and the Park City ski area. It's a great spot.

So far we have watched Shorts Program 6 and Puccini for Beginners. The shorts program, unusually in my experience, was all good! Each of the six or seven films was enjoyable, and a couple of them were really excellent. You Came Back and Held My Hand was one such, a moving and insightful investigation of the difference between sexual intimacy and emotional closeness. With beautiful lighting and camera work, the film incongruously presents the images of a sexual liasion at the same time as the sound of the day after telephone conversation. Another film shows the unexpected relationship between a young man in London, his hip-hop friends, and his emphysemic father.

The first full-length film I saw was a real winner, and will almost certainly make it to theaters eventually. Puccini for Beginners is a romantic comedy of errors. A young lesbian woman is dumped by her girlfriend, and starts simultaneously dating a man and a woman - who, it turns out, have just broken up themselves! Well, hilarity ensues as you might expect. The film is very well edited, the characters are likeable, and the comedy just clicks. It's the kind of film that makes you want to live in New York.
- posted by Joachim @ 3:54 AM