You encounter the darnedest scuttlebutt cruising Sundance.

Like overhearing programmer John Vanco of Manhattan‘s IFC Center (formerly The Waverly in Greenwich Village) remarking to producer Scott Macaulay while waiting in a standby line that he‘d solved the problem of presenting Lars von Trier live to an American audience. Von Trier, the maverick Danish director known for Dogme 95, is famously fearful of airplanes and trains. He‘s never been to the U.S. and travels to Cannes only in a Winnebago, something he can stop and get out of. Vanco‘s solution to interviewing von Trier live at IFC Center this weekend (Saturday Jan. 28 and Sunday Jan. 29) after each noontime screening of his latest minimalist tract on American history, “Manderlay,” is ingenious: Apple‘s iChat projected on a big screen, with von Trier safely ensconced in front of his Mac back in Denmark.

Or how about IM‘s (instant messages) as the new fan mail? After a screening of Jeanne Jordan‘s and Steven Ascher‘s “So Far So Fast” — a deeply moving Documentary Competition entry about the remarkably defiant spirit of a Newton, Massachusetts family met with the horrible news that their handsome, outgoing 29-year old eldest son has developed Lou Gehrig‘s Disease (ALS) — Ascher told me that audience members had gleaned ALS-victim Stephen Heywood‘s IM (instant message) address off the big screen and were in fact IM‘ing him. Heywood, who‘s lost all motor control and was flown to Sundance strapped to a portable artificial lung, can no longer speak and must communicate by tapping messages into a computer by knocking his head against a special switch á la Stephen Hawking. IM‘ing gives Heywood, who can‘t use a telephone, the means to communicate long distance in real time. His replies are painstakingly brief but witty, says Ascher, who notes that the Internet is a vital lifeline for Heywood in his immobile state. Ascher however doesn‘t sanction contacting Heywood in this intrusive way. more

While so much of the technology buzz (such as it is) at Sundance centers on camera formats, the Film Center is also a great place to understand modern desktop post production. Just as digital video formats expand options (and reduce costs) for cinematography, there are new options for desktop post production too.

As cameras become–effectively–computers, computers become data processing tools for image data. Much of this processing–which used to take place in labs and in post production facilities can now be simplified into powerful desktop operations, accessible to almost anyone. That‘s not a “democratization” hype thing, it‘s just a fair assessment of the lay of the land. This does not mean that you can buy a workstation and some software and never need anything ever again. Mastering, DI, film out (or file out) and other processes, especially those related to large format deliverables often still require a trip to the post house. But for the modern filmmaker, it is possible to put together a desktop infrastructure that supports the bulk of your daily work.

Here‘s what‘s going in post production at the Sundance Film Center, from the ground up. more

Press Release: 2006 Sundance Film Festival Attracts Record Online Audiences at Sundance.org

APPROACHING ONE MILLION DOWNLOADS OF SHORT FILMS, FILMMAKER INTERVIEWS AND BEHIND THE SCENES FOOTAGE

Sundance Institute announced today a record number of people have experienced the 2006 Sundance Film Festival at www.sundance.org. Online visitors have downloaded a range of free Festival programming including fifty short films from the Festival, daily video highlights, exclusive filmmaker interviews and behind the scenes footage from the event which runs January 19-29 in Park City, UT. During the first seven days of the Festival, an estimated 700,000 viewers watched Festival videos on the Internet, nearly twice the rate of the 2005 Festival during the same time period. Sundance Film Festival is the only major film festival to premiere short films online in conjunction with their premieres in Park City, UT.

“The Web provides Sundance short filmmakers with a platform to reach the broadest audience with their content. We are delighted by the response this year and we expect to grow exponentially,” says Sundance Institute Director of Digital Initiatives Ian Calderon. more

We’ve noted the demo of Blackmagic Multibridge Extreme and DeckLink HD Pro with Adobe’s OpenHD turnkey HP xw8200 system running the new Adobe Production Studio (see Jan. 24th).

This is not just a budget system capable of handling HD resolutions. Since the xw8200 incorporates a PCI Express bus (capable of 10 Gbps throughput), used with the Multibridge’s DVI-D dual link connection, you can easily run Apple’s 30 inch Cinema display — or the new Dell 3007WFP 30-inch display, which prices around $2200, or a $200 cheaper list price than Apple’s recently discounted screen. (Dell also has a revolving discount policy; keep checking their site and you’ll probably find their 30-inch on sale with another $200 or so knocked off.)

All this by way of pointing out that the Multibridge with PCI Express supports 2K even for QXGA monitors (which are 2048 x 1536 @ 75Hz). The two 30-inch monitors can display this, since they offer 2560 x 1600 display res. It’s pretty striking that 2K can now be displayed on systems that price way below top end products from Autodesk and Quantel.

Press Release: Sundance Institute Announces Winners of the 2006 Sundance/NHK International Filmmakers Award

Sundance Institute and NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) today announced at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival the winners of the 2006 Sundance/NHK International Filmmakers Awards. Marking the 10th anniversary of the Award, this year‘s winners represent the best in independent voices from around the globe. This annual award supports new artists in international cinema and is presented to emerging film directors from four global regions to support them in realizing their next project. One winner from Europe, Latin America, the United States, and Japan is selected by members of an International Jury. The four winners are presented with the award at the Festival Awards Ceremony.

The winning directors from each region will receive a $10,000 director‘s award and a guarantee from NHK to purchase the Japanese television broadcast rights upon completion of their project. NHK is Japan‘s largest broadcaster with five 24-hour TV and three radio channels. In addition, Sundance Institute will work closely with the award recipients throughout the year, providing ongoing support and assistance in seeking out opportunities to finance and distribute their projects.

The winning filmmakers and projects are: Patrice Toye, THE SPRING RITUAL from Europe; Fernando Eimbcke, LAKE TAHOE, from Latin America; Cruz Angeles, DON‘T LET ME DROWN from the United States; and Kanji Nakajima, THE CLONE RETURNS TO THE HOMELAND from Japan. more