BAM Finds Fountain of Youth For Sundance Opener

By S.T. VanAirsdale

It occurred to me about 30 minutes into Thursday's opening-night party for the third-annual Sundance at BAM why a high-school prom theme was especially brilliant for the evening. The obvious tie-in to the Nanette Burstein's reality-skein-in-documentary-clothing opener American Teen was a convenient enough peg, but seriously: An informal poll revealed that nobody in New York film appears to have attended their own proms as teenagers. As such, the punch seemed spiked with equal parts catharsis and vodka; it was the most fun I think I'd seen 90 percent of the film community have, like, ever. So, memo to MoMA, Lincoln Center, the film institute in a neighborhood below Canal Street that shall not be named, and other local programmers: Tavern on the Green out, gym in. Trust me.

Granted, a lot of it was held over from the raucous screening hours before, packed to the rococo rafters with a hometown crowd (many of whom worked on the film) thrilling to Teen's New York premiere. Not that it was any good; with its MTV-ready drama, conveniently compartmentalized jock/princess/art-girl/geek subplots and voice-over animation interludes that couldn't have been more grating if the director had attempted asides via interpretive dance, Burstein's self-indulgence totally overwhelms her subjects. The tone-deafness is surprising considering the stylistic compatibility of those techniques with the more monolithic Robert Evans in her previous film (with Brett Morgen), The Kid Stays in the Picture, but one could argue I'm not the audience for it (and there is an intended audience, however heretical the notion), so... As one of her principals might sigh: "Whatever -- we'll always have prom."

That aside, there's lots of great stuff coming up in the series this weekend, including Saturday's screening of Anvil! The Story of Anvil (with free concert to follow) and the always-satisfying Shorts Sunday. I'll have a word here tomorrow with one of the featured short filmmakers, John Magary, whose excellent, unsettling post-Katrina drama The Second Line screens Sunday at 9:30 p.m. Cheapskates please take note that the Apple Store SoHo will also host a free screening of four shorts -- including Reeler Hall of Famer Man -- Saturday at 3:30. Check Sundance at BAM's site for additional program information for the week ahead.

Posted at May 30, 2008 10:31 AM