Cynematik • Cyndi Greening

What an exciting evening. Our documentary, THE LAND OF REFUGE, screened at the Harkins Theater at Superstition Springs this evening. The theater was almost full. I felt sorry for the people who were stuck down front. We had to go up to the screening booth and meet with the engineer to make sure the DVD worked. They had always said they’d never had a DVD fail and they continue to be infallible. It worked like a charm and, other than the engineer allowing the DVD to start playing from the previous position (rather than at the beginning) forcing a quick restart, it was a flawless presentation.

We had a Question and Answer (Q&A) afterwards. Priscilla commented on how many of the descendants of the original pioneers performed as voiceover talent for the doc. It was nice of her to notice and comment. A fellow in the back said that he was the grandson of Price William Nelson and that we had stories and images in our documentary that he had never seen. That gave me goosebumps. People asked about how to get information on where we’d found things. It was quite exciting. I got to tell everyone about how Justin had done aerial cinematography from the plane made out of a snowmobile motor. Pamela Jo was able to talk about the ten years of research that went into the making of the documentary. It was awesome to see our poster in the case outside the theater. Thanks and kudos to Jeanette for a fantastic poster. As Alec is fond of saying, our packaging was excellent. She helped us brand the film and make it instantly recognizable. I had a lot of friends in the audience. All in all, a very satisfying and wonderful experience.

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FROM Eugene Hernandez at indieWIRE: PARK CITY ‘09 | In the Wake of Prop 8, Film Community & Fest Organizers Defend Sundance Amidst Talk of Boycott | With about a week to go before programmers internally lock the lineup for the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, organizers are carefully navigating calls for a boycott of the annual event. Talk of a boycott emerged via blogs last week, including Huffington Post and AmericaBlog, in the wake of anger and frustration over the passage of California ballot Proposition 8 halting same sex marriages in the state. Members of the indie film community immediately came to the festival’s defense today, including filmmmaker Allison Anders (“Mi Vida Loca,” “Gas, Food Lodging”), who said, “To boycott the festival which has been the home for all diverse voices to be presented on the screen is dangerously backward thinking.” Figures I would have tickets and be planning to go on the year that the boycott is called because of failed legislation on same sex marriages. It’s ironic and laughable.

What makes it even funnier? The reason they’re calling for the boycott is because Sundance is held in Mormonland (Utah). As you undoubtedly know, Salt Lake City is the world headquarters for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which counts about 62 percent of Utah residents as members. The church encouraged its members to work to pass California’s Proposition Eight by volunteering their time and money for the campaign. Thousands of Mormons worked as grassroots volunteers and gave tens of millions of dollars to the campaign. And, here in little Utah, the Church advocated that Mormons work to pass Proposition 102 (the “marriage is only one man and one woman” proposition). Since it’s already in the Arizona constitution, it was unnecessary overkill (in my opinion).

But, at the end of the day, here’s the conundrum. What is the film I’m screening in a little more than two weeks? A film about Mormons. Talk about a tiger chasing its own tail, a snake consuming itself, a personal Catch-22.

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I’m so excited. I can hardly stand myself. I’m going to Sundance. I’m going to Sundance. I’m going to Sundance. I am so excited. At the last minute, I registered for a lottery time to maybe buy a Package or Pass for Sundance 2009. With the economy doing what it is doing, I kept struggling with whether or not I was going to go. Then, I noticed that there is a fabulous change in the Packages and Passes. There is a new DISCOVERY PASS for $325. It reminds me of the old DAYTIMER package that I used to get every year. It includes 10 tickets to regular screenings and/or panel discussions except for Premieres. It also includes two Festival credentials. That was very exciting.

Then there was this credential selection, too. I had never heard of that. The credential thing is something new. I’m liking it! The OFFICIAL SFF09 CREDENTIAL is $200 which allows admission for the holder to the Sundance House, Filmmaker Lodge, New Frontier on Main, daytime admission to the Sundance Music Café, and the Salt Lake City Café. Starting this year, all Ticket Packages include 2 credentials which is also GREAT because it used to be such a bummer if I wanted to go to something at the Filmmaker Lodge and no one could come along.

So, I decided to be economical and go … in spite of the horrible economy. And I am so excited.

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It’s a phrase that appears on many early gravestones in New England. A phrase made famous by Horace, one of the great lyric poets. “Eram quod es; eris quod sum.” — “I was who you are — you will be what I am.” Last week’s episode of HEROES was entitled the last half of the quote — Eris Quod Sum — you will be what I am. One of the things that I love about comic books and television shows like LOST and HEROES is how they dip into mythology to deepen their stories. In the process of looking for the quote, I discovered a wonderful website devoted to amassing a digital collection of all classical works. You can discover some amazing things at Perseus Project at Tufts University.

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