THIS MORNING I stood in the snow on Main Street with Joy (my sister), Adam Shapiro and Katie, watching the broadcast of the inauguration. We laughed and cried and hugged and screamed as our new President took his oath and gave a speech of realistic hope. When the broadcast was over, Sundance played “Beautiful Day” by U2 and we all danced in the streets like hippies. It was a moment I will cherish for a long time.
THIS AFTERNOON I sat in a theater with 1,000 other people to watch the premiere of Push. It was so real and honest and raw and definitely the best film I’ve seen here so far. I think I cried about five times throughout the film. And if that wasn’t enough…
THIS EVENING Short Term 12 won the Best Short Film Award at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival!
We gathered at the awards banquet, which was complete with free drinks, pizza, and a Rock Band video game set-up. When it was time to announce the winners, we all pushed our way to the stage. Trevor, the head of programming, began to list off the names of the honorable mentions, then the international winner, and lastly, the Best Short Film. They called our name and I thought I was hallucinating. Joy, Michelle, Jared, Brad, and Brett all started screaming but their voices sounded like little chickens to me, and their lips were moving in extra slow motion. I only had about two hours of sleep the night before (I was playing Rock Band with Topanga from Boy Meets World), so I was feeling pretty weird already, and then the extra stimuli just sent my head spinning. But I managed to stumble through some kind of thank you speech and get off the stage without fainting.
We all took some pictures, gave each other hugs, and spent the night hanging out with some of the most wonderful people on this planet. By the way, did I mention how incredibly friendly and accepting everyone at Sundance is? I have never been in an environment so packed with beautiful and creative humans who don’t feel the need to compete. I feel so lucky to be here and to be considered a part of this festival. It is unlike anything I have ever experienced in my entire life. What a day.