Finding Meaning in Park City's Last Dance
Photo Credit: Gabriella Badalamenti, Strike LA
The atmosphere in Park City, Utah, is thick with excitement, frustration, and sadness as it hosts its last Sundance Film Festival. After 40 years the festival is moving to Boulder, CO, due to rising complaints from locals. During the festival, you can expect a bus ride that would typically take 9 minutes, to be upwards of 40 caught in festival traffic.
Photo Credit: Gabriella Badalamenti, Strike LA.
While walking Main Street festival goers stop for photo-ops and queue in long lines for events sponsored by big names like Cannon, Dropbox, Adobe, Chase Sapphire, etc. Film screenings are entirely sold out, with minimal waitlist spots available as people try to soak up every last minute of the festival. Restaurants are packed to capacity trying to accommodate the tens of thousands of hungry tourists.
Tucked away in the mountain The Impact Lounge is a cozy place where people discuss and reflect on their festival experiences.
Photo Credit: Gabriella Badalamenti, Strike LA.
Heather Mason, founder of The Impact Lounge, describes it on the organization’s About us page as a space,
“ …where entertainment meets purpose—sparking conversation which inspires action, and encouraging individuals to make a difference.”
The Impact lounge pops up every year alongside major entertainment and cultural happenings like: The Cannes Film Festival, The Tribeca Film Festival, The United Nations, and more. Inside, films and stories that are otherwise overshadowed by more well-known films, take center stage. One of these projects is The Lake, directed by Abby Ellis. The documentary focuses on the ticking-time bomb of The Great Salt Lake drying up. It's an issue often overlooked by non-natives of the state, which is why it’s so important for the film to have a space to educate people through conversation. According to Smithsonian science correspondent Margaret Osborne (2023) As the lake rapidly loses water, ‘millions of people are at risk of being exposed to arsenic laced dust within the lake bed and suffering major economic loss’.
Photo Credit: Gabriella Badalamenti, Strike LA.
The room where the panel took place also housed a phone booth promoting the Great Salt Lake Hopeline. Made from recycled phonebooths, when you pick up the phone you'll hear the sound of the lake's water rippling, and stories from people who deeply cherish the lake.
Another amazing film highlighted at The Impact Lounge was, Iinniiwa: The Blackfeet Buffalo Story. This documentary created by Indigenous Led and The Blackfeet Buffalo program sheds light on the indigenous Blackfeet Nation buffalo that had been erased from their sacred land for the past 150 years, and how they were rewilded in 2023 to finally return home. The film features Yo-Yo Ma playing cello in a field surrounded by buffalo, which is the cover image of the film. Indigenous stories rarely become blockbuster films, yet are of the utmost importance.
Both films were created with the intention of educating others, and improving the earth we share. By creating a dialogue on issues that go unnoticed, people develop a richer perspective of the world and a better understanding of diverse experiences.
Photo Credit: Gabriella Badalamenti, Strike LA
As the festival drew to a close, attendees went home with heavy hearts walking away from the last ever Sundance Film Festival in Utah. The festival may look entirely different next year, but what will remain the same is that The Impact Lounge will be there, a place of contemplation and familiarity among the unknown.
Strike out,
Writer: Gabriella Badalamenti
Editor: Miranda Cardenas
Los Angeles
