Slouching towards Park City, 1/14.

By David Hudson on 01/14/2009

The Sundance link of the day is surely "Filmmaker @ Park City," a collection of features and responses from filmmakers when queried as to "how their films' specific stories were shaped by the social, technological and economic forces affecting cinema today" - so far: Davis Guggenheim ("It Might Get Loud"), Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire ("Johnny Mad Dog") and Adam Elliot ("Mary and Max").

"Overall, the sense of a across the board scaling back is palpable," reports Alicia Van Couvering. "Almost no one will talk about their own company's downsizing publicly, for fear of appearing financially unstable, but it's no secret that the economic catastrophes have hit everyone's travel and promotional budgets."

The Sundance Collection, a collaborative program with the UCLA Film and Television Archive, "is the first archive to be devoted exclusively to the preservation of independent cinema," writes Scott Macaulay. "This year, the Sundance Collection is dipping into the Archive's vaults to screen two seminal festival award-winning films - Steven Soderbergh's 'sex, lies and videotape' and Wendell B Harris's 'Chameleon Street' - in a program that will both revisit these great films but will also call attention to the Collection's mission of preserving cinema in general." Scott's also "jotted down a few thoughts on some films I want to see and a couple that we know a little bit more about." That's more than a few, I'd say.

Max Friend has "has compiled [an] exhaustive post listing not only all the shorts but also hyperlinks taking you to info on the films, the filmmakers and sometimes the films themselves."

"If the passage of California's Proposition 8 initiative - which denied same-sex couples the previously granted right to marry in the state - could stir hundreds of newly politicized members of the gay community to join together and fight back, will that same activist energy jolt America's gay and lesbian filmmakers to do the same?" asks Anthony Kaufman.

Spout is sponsoring "Connecting with the Audience: Distribution and Marketing in an Online World," a Slamdance event happening on Monday. Also: Karina Longworth interviews Jay DiPietro ("Peter and Vandy"); a news roundup; and Christopher Campbell lists the "10 Worst Sundance Sensations."

For Tribeca, Kristin McCracken talks with Cherien Dabis about "Amreeka."

The latest round of interviews at indieWIRE: Pamela Yates ("The Reckoning"), Shana Fest ("The Greatest"), Lynn Shelton ("Humpday"), Emily Abt ("Toe to Toe"), Cruz Angeles ("Don't Let Me Drown") and Louis Psihoyos ("The Cove").

Cinematical's Erik Davis: "Our 12 Most Anticipated Films."

The Playlist: "15+ Films You Should See If You're Going To Sundance 2009." Plus "10 Music Related Films."

At Screengrab: "Ten Must-See Narrative Features."

Tags: Sundance 2009