Retro IONCINEMA.com

Sundance Journal: Day 1

Published on January 20, 2006

Opening Comments

There is an air of excitement to the opening of any film festival, especially the smaller, more compact types. This couldn’t be more true when you are sitting a couple of rows away from Mr. Redford – it certainly is a “pinch me – I can’t believe I’m here” predicament. My first impressions – how can they hold a film festival in what is indeed a small little village in Park City? Well they be doing some for some time now (25 years to be exact). Lesson number one. Bring a better camera if you are hoping for a couple of photo ops for an online journal.

Geoff Gilmore, Robert Redford and opening night director Nicole Holofcener (Friends with Money).

Nicole Holofcener’s Friends with Money
Read review here.

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Eric Lavallée

Eric Lavallée is the founder, CEO, editor-in-chief, film journalist and critic at IONCINEMA.com (founded in 2000). Eric is a regular at Sundance, Cannes and TIFF. He has a BFA in Film Studies at the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema. In 2013 he served as a Narrative Competition Jury Member at the SXSW Film Festival. He was an associate producer on Mark Jackson's This Teacher (2018 LA Film Festival, 2018 BFI London). In 2022 he served as a New Flesh Comp for Best First Feature at the 2022 Fantasia Intl. Film Festival. Current top films for 2022 include Tár (Todd Field), All That Breathes (Shaunak Sen), Aftersun (Charlotte Wells).