Sundance Film Festival

Ed and I just returned from the Sundance Film Festival, in Park City, Utah. The festival, in its 30th year, screened 118 feature-length films from 37 different countries and 54 first-time filmmakers (from an incredible 12,218 submissions.) We saw some terrific films, like Camp Xray, Whiplash, A Most Wanted Man, Last Days in Vietnam (a documentary), I Origins, Song One, and War Story.

There were plenty of Hollywood A-listers making the rounds on Main Steet, like Anne Hathaway, Elizabeth Moss, and Robert de Niro. We were lucky enough to chat with the incredibly talented and beautiful star of War Story, Catherine Keener (see photo), at a dinner at Chef's Dance. Kevin Iwashina, who represents War Story, invited Ed and me to the dinner given for the cast and crew. In the film, directed by Mark Jackson and written by Mark Jackson and Kristin Gore, Keener plays a war photograher, who retreats to a small town in Sicily after being held captive during the conflict in Libya. We also met Kristin Gore, one of the writers and producers of the film and Al Gore's daughter.

We also had the pleasure of meeting American singer, songwriter and composer, Alex Ebert, who won the 2014 Golden Globes for his original score for the film All Is Lost (a gripping 2013 American survival film, starring Robert Redford and written and directed by JC Chandor). Unfortunately, Alex didn't get nominated for an Oscar for his score. What do they know?!? We met Alex (see photo) while taking a break from the films to watch the playoff game between the S.F. '49ers and the Seattle Seahawks. What a close game!

Someday, the Napa Valley Film Festival will be as successful as Sundance!