Honoring the Sundance Film Festival one Egyptian Cotton Tunic at a time!

It’s that time of year again when the Hollywood elite pretend to go “independent” out in the wilds of Park City, Utah. Yes, it’s time for the Sundance Film Festival to offer festival goers, or rather, film industry insiders and hangers-on, a glimpse of what they consider to be the latest in a long line of pseudo-independent film making talent.
Honestly, about the only truly independent filmmaking comes from the minority filmmakers who manage to get into the Sundance Institute’s minority friendly programs.

To prove this point I present you the cover of their latest “lifestyle” catalogue complete with a collage of images from festivals past, and you know, stylized shots of white chicks that are presumably filmmakers/women who dig independent film. You get two minority groups represented in one colorful sweep: women and Indians of both the dot head and feathered variety! On the other hand, that could be a Pakistani kid sitting next to the white chick in the movie theatre, but for our purposes, let’s just go with Eastern Indian.

So, how did I come across this catalogue (you are most likely not wondering)? Well, I did attend Sundance 2007 as a correspondent for NAICA online. My charge was to cover the Native Forum, which is no longer called the Native Forum, but something similar to that. So it stands to reason they’d put me on the catalogue list, no? As providence would have it, the answer is No, this catalogue was not addressed to myself, but rather, my Gay White Male American (Thanks Obama!) roommate! How freakin’ awesome is it that!

We were pretty shocked to see this catalog addressed to him, as he is the unlikeliest of Gays to give two shits about the “Sundance Independent” lifestylings found within it’s pages. The number one reason being that the shit for sale is specifically marketed to White women of means and/or White women with husbands (White or otherwise) of means. The second reason is that, ahem, not all highly educated New York City dwelling Homos are into barn tables and Murano glass chandeliers.  No, it would have made sense to send me this catalog if only because I am a woman, and I attended Sundance previously, not to mention, I get every other “lifestyle” catalog ever produced. We speculated as to how he might have come to be on their list, and the only thing we could come up with is that he is on a marketing list of educated Gays living in NYC who might have discretionary income to burn, and/or Ikea sold him out when he purchased a bed from them. Damn those Swedish furniture makers!

I’ll give the catalog producers a few props:
1. For the semi-gauzy photo effect that makes the slender limbed pale skinned ninnies look that much more pale, awash as they are in diaphanous light, and
2. For the quasi-Indian looking Native American chick that also manages to look like she is actually Native American, and more than likely she is, albeit in the preferred Pocahontas vein.
But, I’d like to point out that what is on offer in this catalog is not remotely related to independent cinema. That is an obvious point I know, but ole Redford would like us to believe otherwise. Come now, Robbie, do you really believe the poor souls who toil away producing works that may or may not be purchased for distribution by Miramax can afford a $320.00 pair of distressed leather work boots and a $185.00 broomstick pleated dress?

Pishaw, I say to you sir, Pishaw!