CCA News
Film Blog World Premiere: CCA at Sundance!
Posted on Friday, January 22, 2010, by Clay Walsh
No better time than the present to kick off CCA’s new Film blog now that the Sundance Film Festival (January 21–31), the largest independent cinema festival in the United States is up and running. And you’re invited to join us for a behind-the-scenes look at all things Sundance.
Beginning next weekend, CCA Media Arts cochair and two-time Academy Award–winning filmmaker Rob Epstein, alongside visiting artist and award-winning filmmaker Cheryl Dunye, will be accompanying 12 Media Arts students in Park City, UT, for the star-studded event.
Sundance is hosting the world-premiere screening of Howl (2009), Epstein’s new feature film made in collaboration with director and Telling Pictures partner Jeffrey Friedman. The narrative film stars James Franco as a young Allen Ginsberg and is based on the Beat poet’s famous poem, “Howl,” which led to the famous 1957 obscenity trial in San Francisco.
Howl also stars such Hollywood heavyweights as Jeff Daniels, Mary-Louise Parker, and Jon Hamm (Don Draper in Mad Men). Watch the trailer.
Following the Saturday afternoon screening, Ms. Dunye will accompany the students to New Frontier, a special Sundance presentation that highlights emerging artists and their work—work that pushes boundaries in art and cinema, giving rise to film projects that are at the intersection of new media technologies.
Can’t make it to Sundance in Park City? Try Sundance Kabuki Cinemas in San Francisco instead, where Howl will also screen as a featured premiere next Thursday, January 28. We’re thrilled to report Epstein and Friedman will introduce the film and engage in a postscreening Q&A. CCA staffers will be in attendance, so be sure to check back Friday for more reviews!
Tune in here as we share insider stories and photos from Sundance, including a student video journal that documents the “CCA Goes to Sundance” field trip. And if we’re lucky, we’ll also have a photo of CCA students posing with hunky Howl star James Franco. (Okay, I mean if I’m lucky!)
Read more about Howl in the San Francisco Chronicle.