Sundance 2009 Day 1

It's good to be back in Park City for my annual Sundance Film Festival trip - it's clear, sunny and cold (but probably not as cold as it is for my peeps back in N.C.). They say overall attendance is down due to the economy, but it's hard to tell from the ground. The buses are still just as crowded, as is every restaurant and film venue.

The movies have been decent so far, with a few standouts: "Humpday" is a hilarious comedy about two straight guys who talk themselves into making an art-porn film together. "Reporter" is a documentary about Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times Columnist Nicholas Kristof and his efforts to draw attention to the suffering of people in Congo. I got in a question with Ben Affleck, who was there as executive producer, and I was fortunate enough to have a 15-minute one-on-one with Kristof this afternoon, which I hope to turn into a piece for one of my magazines.

Another big celeb sighting came this afternoon with the documentary "Tyson," about boxer Mike Tyson, with Tyson himself in attendance. It was an eye-opener about the guy's inner workings, what caused his intermittent spells of insanity in the 1990s and how he is torturing himself with self-awareness now. The crowd was clearly awed in his presence (and I must admit I fired off a few camera shots).

The other two movies we've seen: "Toe to Toe," a race-relations drama about high school lacrosse players, and "Amreeka," a story of Palestinian immigrants facing prejudice as they move to post-Iraq-War America.

We hope to hit the party scene tonight, so hopefully I'll have more time for blogging (and be able to post some photos) tomorrow.