If you mention the Sundance International Film Festival in 2014, it is estimated that it will cause a scream, because after more than half a century of development and two decades of gestation after "vulgarity", independent films have become the most important piece of the puzzle in the North American film market.

Every year, the Sundance Film Festival, which kicks off in January, becomes the focus of the world's attention, with audiences who love independent films, enthusiasts and more importantly, media attention and the expectations of independent producers and companies. Many producers arrive early at the Sundance Film Festival to pick up this year's indie films to kick off the new year's awards season.

But if you rewind the clock by 20 years, in 1995, the Sundance Film Festival was not so popular.

On the contrary, while "vulgar" achieved incredible brilliance at the end of last year, proving to everyone the power and potential of independent films, independent films are still synonymous with negative words such as quirky, weird, non-mainstream, boring, personality, thriller, etc., and the Sundance Film Festival is known as a gathering of a large group of freaks.

The Sundance Film Festival is not of much attention, and only a handful of media are willing to cover the annual gathering of independent films, except for the official media partners; The companies were even less concerned about the Sundance Film Festival, they were reluctant to send even the staff, and the boom of the "Grand Market" twenty years later was not at all possible.

The Sundance Film Festival, the name is transliterated according to the English language, and the literal translation should be sundance. film。 festival), an independent film festival founded in 1984 and now in its 11th year, is still struggling with low attention.

Robert Redford founded the Sundance Film Festival with the hope of creating a platform for every independent filmmaker in the world to come together with a story to tell. The process of artistic creation is lonely and arduous, and Robert hopes that this platform can become an occasion for everyone to communicate, so that more people can strengthen their confidence to continue creating, and also hope that someone can go out of the Sundance Film Festival and become a truly outstanding film practitioner.

Especially after witnessing the success of "vulgarity", people are thinking: Quentin Tarantino is just an amateur, he is an independent film lover who came out of a video rental shop, but his talent has attracted the attention of the world. There is no distinction between high and low art, and it also means that everyone has an equal opportunity - as long as you have talent, as long as you have a hobby, as long as you have a passion.

Not long after the dawn of the 1995 New Year, the 11th Sundance Film Festival kicked off on January 19 as expected, but what was surprising was suddenly attacked by outsiders!

The Sundance Film Festival has chosen Park City in the Great Salt Lake Valley of Utah, USA. City) as a fixture, the quiet city of Park City, originally an obscure ski town next to Salt Lake City, has become an inner mecca that independent filmmakers are bound to visit every year.

At this moment, the Sundance Film Festival does not have much commercial atmosphere, and most of the independent filmmakers who are willing to come still come with the mentality of communication, of course, Robert Redford will appear every year, and he will also bring a few friends, if he can connect with these top Hollywood industry people, this is naturally a golden opportunity for independent filmmakers.

Park City is a palm-sized place, only seventeen square miles in size, with a population of less than three thousand, and it is completely a small town that can be measured by footsteps, so as long as there are a few strangers in the town, the townspeople can feel it almost immediately.

It's the time of year when the Sundance Film Festival takes place, so it's not unusual for strangers to come, but the problem is that it's a little strange this year.

In the past, people who came to Park City were very happy and excited, and the cheerfulness between the eyebrows was very similar, whether it was the audience, the independent filmmakers, or the actors, there was no barrier on everyone's faces, and they were nervous, restrained, happy, and excited.

But this is not the case with the strangers who have come to Park City in the past two days, their behavior seems sneaky, they are always wandering around the streets of the town, they don't look like they have come to the film festival at all, but like criminals who have come with ulterior motives, and their faces are always a little critical, a little scrupulous, some spy, which makes people look very unpleasant.

No matter how you look at these strangers, they don't look like independent film lovers who have come to the Sundance Film Festival!

Kayla Cole also notices these intruders, which makes her vigilant.

Kayla has always been a lover of independent films, and she has always insisted that these independent films reflect the real thoughts of the director, not to mention the quality of the work, but independent films can retain the director's most original ideas, even if these ideas are not accepted by mainstream society, let alone create a good performance in mainstream cinemas, but Kayla believes that this is part of society. Only by understanding the mainstream ideas and understanding these unique ideas can we piece together the whole society.

That's why Kayla loves the Sundance Film Festival, it's like a paradise for her, a place where she can relax and show herself, and she's been in love with Sundance since she first came to Park City in 1991. Even her best friend, Melelelyn Dixon, Kayla doesn't share the secret, not only because she knows that Melelelyn has no interest in independent films, but also because it's her space to herself.

Thinking about it this way, when Melerin told Kayla that she liked Hugo Lancaster very much, Kayla was not interested at all at first, and there is no trace of it. Kayla has always preferred independent films to commercial films, so the huge success of "vulgar" has also made Kayla "crazy for Hugo" in the true sense.

At this point, Kayla looked at the strange man walking in front of her with a wary face, but in two days, she had seen this man snooping around on the street at least four times, and she didn't want someone to break into Park City and ruin this independent film carnival.

"Excuse me, what do you think of the Sundance Film Festival?" The man in front of him asked.

Kayla stood up like a hedgehog, "Excellent, very good, it's the most important and greatest film festival in my mind, but ...... So what, do you want to satirize our ignorance and minority? If so, we don't need your inform, we know exactly what this festival means: it means being out of place with mainstream society, but at the same time it means that time will prove its greatness! ”

Many artists were not taken seriously by society in their early years because their ideas were too advanced and often considered out of touch with contemporary society. It is not until they are old or even after they die that the wheel of the times will return their innocence and make people realize the greatness of these artists.

In Kayla's opinion, the same is true for independent films.

The man looked at Kayla's clenched fists, and the attack state was on guard, which made him take a step back, indicating that he was not aggressive, and then a helpless smile appeared on his face, "I'm not here to criticize independent films, on the contrary, I'm here to enjoy independent films." If I can, I'm also going to cover the Sundance Film Festival. As he spoke, the man pointed to the camera he hung on his chest.

Kayla is still not convinced, it is true that there are admirers who come here every year, so it is not a strange thing to see strange faces in Park City, but the problem is that the whereabouts of the man in front of her are too weird, or rather, there are too many strange people in Park City in the past two days.

"Journalist, I'm a journalist." Seeing Kayla's full of vigilance, the man could only say helplessly, "My name is Nicholas McLene, and I'm a reporter for the Los Angeles Times." This time, I'm here to cover the Sundance Film Festival. As he spoke, he pulled out his business card and handed it to Kayla.

Kayla hesitantly took the business card and scrutinized it before looking up, "So, you're really a reporter?" ”

Nicholas felt very depressed, how he felt that he was being treated like a thief! But he nodded.

"Uh...... So, in the past two days, so many people in Park City who are spying around with cameras on their backs are all journalists? Kayla was only eighteen years old after all, and her head was very flexible, and in the blink of an eye, she made contact, and sure enough, she received an affirmative answer from Nicholas, which made Kayla cover her mouth in an instant, "But...... Why, why did you all show up all of a sudden! ”

Although Kayla has always regarded Park City as her own place, she also knows that the Sundance Film Festival needs attention, more attention, only in this way can the excellence and excellence of independent films be seen by more people, and there will be more and more miracles like "vulgar". So, when she heard that the reporter appeared, Kayla was instantly overwhelmed with joy.

Nicholas saw Kayla's surprise and excitement, but instead became surprised, "Don't you know? Hugo Lancaster's film 'Before Sunrise', which was written by Hugo Lancaster and starred as the leading actor, will be coming to the Sundance Film Festival, so there are already ......"

Nicholas was interrupted by Kayla's screams before he could finish his sentence, and he could only look at the girl in front of him in fright.

Hugo, indeed Hugo, is actually Hugo, but only Hugo has such a powerful charm, attracting more than forty media reporters from all over the country to gather towards this remote and cold Park City, focusing all eyes on the cold and unfamiliar Sundance Film Festival.