Eleven days of movie premieres, glitzy parties, wall-to-wall celebrities and general weirdness came to a close on Sunday with the end of the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. Although nothing really affected us as much as last year–Denis Villneuve’s Incendies and Mike Cahill’s Another Earth—this year seemed to be much better for movies coming to look for buyers; twenty-four movies were picked up for distribution during the festival proper. It was truly a rollercoaster ride for director Benh Zeitlin in particular, whose Beasts of the Southern Wild, an enchanting fable about life in a small community deep in post-Katrina Louisiana, picked up the Grand Jury Prize in the U.S. Dramatic competition. As Hushpuppy, 8-year-old Quvenzhane Wallis gives the most remarkable juvenile performance since Keisha Castle-Hughes rode Whale Rider to an Oscar nod nearly a decade ago. Fox Searchlight Pictures is set to distribute Beasts.
But movies aside, Sundance is a singular experience that’s unique for everyone. There were simply too many memorable moments to count—catching up with Jake Johnson at the Stella Artois Cutting Room, a photo session with Chris Messina on Main Street, running into Jon Heder at the craft service table, making snow angels with Gina Rodriguez, hitting the slopes with Lil Jon, getting piss drunk at the Keep the Lights On afterparty and awkwardly stalking Ira Glass around the Bing Lounge—but we’ve somehow managed to isolate some special moments in the form of this beautiful video directed by one of Anthem‘s travel companions, Ryan Hooks. Until next year…
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