Sundance Film Fest, Monday (1/26), Post 1

This year I have the pleasure of again teaching a 1-unit class here at Sundance. Three students and I could not have had a better film to kick-off to the week than seeing Last Days in the Desert (Garcia, 2015) which premiered last night and was then presented again Monday morning. The film depicts a holy man who is trying to communicate with an absent father. I highly recommend this film which is both beautifully shot (by Emmanuel Lubezki) and scored, and stars Ewan McGregor who plays both Christ and the demon who tests him.

Afterwards, we attended a special hour long Q and A, at the Windrider Forum, with writer and director of Last Days, Rodrigo Garcia.

In the afternoon we watched a series of animation shorts entitled "Animation Spotlight" at Yarrow Theater. Since 60 short films were selected this year out of 8000 submissions, its impossible to watch a shorts program and not be blown away. Beach Flags by Sarah Saidan, which depicts an Iranian lifeguard who learns about herself by helping another, and the kinetic Palm Rot by Ryan Gillis stood out to me.

Last Days in the Desert post-screening QandA with Rodrigo Garcia, Ewan McGregor & Tye Sheridan