PARK CITY, Utah -- The quick evolution of digital filmmaking -- some are calling it a digital revolution -- will be a focus of the 1999 Sundance Film Festival, which begins here Thursday.
Just as 1915 is remembered for The Birth of a Nation, the first Hollywood epic, and 1927 for The Jazz Singer, the first talking picture, 1998 could go down in film history as a watershed for digital film.
Three digital movies reached theaters last year, including Bennett Miller's documentary The Cruise, a horror film called The Last Broadcast, and Thomas Vinterberg's The Celebration, a likely candidate for a foreign language Oscar nomination.
But unless you were reading indie publications like Res magazine, you might not have known. The New York Times and Roger Ebert, in reviews of The Cruise and The Celebration, did not use the word digital.
Thanks in part to the festival's New Media and Technology Center, though, Sundance '99 is taking stock of recent advances in digital technology.
During the 10 day festival, the New Media and Technology Center will host numerous events marking the rise of digital filmmaking. Included are demonstrations of Sony digital cameras and Avid nonlinear editing systems; panel discussions on digital cinematography, sound, and editing; a seminar exploring the changing realities of distribution in a digital world; and "The Digital Shoot-Out," a side-by-side demonstration of various formats, including Digital Beta, mini DV, Beta SP, Hi-8, and 35 mm film.
According to Ian Calderon, a founder of and senior consultant to the Sundance Institute, the New Media and Technology Center, instituted in 1996, represents but one portion of Sundance's long history of commitment to video and digital filmmaking. In 1981, the Sundance Filmmakers Lab began using video as a "sketchpad" to work out problematic scenes before committing them to film. Nearly two decades later, video, Calderon said, is considered "finished product."
"The independent-film community in 1981 considered video second class," Calderon said. "Fast forward to 1999, and digital video is becoming an accepted state-of-the-art technology for independent filmmakers. It can take a while to size up a new technology, but video and digital video are now fully engaged by the filmmaking community." Sundance '99 will feature a number of digitally created works, including The Item, the first digital feature to play in Sundance's prestigious competition section. The increasing acceptance of digital films by filmmakers, festivals, and audiences, said Jonathan Wells, director of ResFest and editor of Res, represents "a revolution."
"People who wouldn't have been able to afford to make a film suddenly have access to the necessary tools," said Wells, who will moderate the Sundance panel "Concept to Screen." "Anyone who can get their hands on a digital camera is empowered," he said.
Peter Broderick, the president of Next Wave Films and the moderator of the Sundance panel "Going Digital," described The Celebration as "The Birth of a Nation of digital movies." Sundance '99, he added, could help spotlight this important moment in digital film history.
"The timing of the New Media events is great," he said. "These programs and The Item will show some of the things that can be done with digital tools. I think it is the start of a new era for independent filmmaking."
