Chronicle Staff March 10, 2021Updated: March 15, 2021, 8:15 am
Sign of encouragement on Castro Theatre marquee in San Francisco on March 15, 2020. Photo: Scott Strazzante, The Chronicle
When attending the arts is a cornerstone of your life, what do you do without showtimes to schedule your weeks around?
Over the past year, Bay Area arts super fans those marathon concertgoers, cinephiles and Shakespeare stans have made major adjustments as in-person performances halted and the art world began experimenting with digital services and outdoor stopgap measures.
Now that we’re coming up on the anniversary of shelter-in-place, The Chronicle caught up with some of the art community’s biggest fans about how they’ve subsisted in the meantime. What they all had in common: hope for a safe return, nostalgia for the camaraderie of live audiences filled with friends and a longing for that thrill when the house lights go down and the show starts.
This yearâs Sundance Film Festival going virtual has no doubt been a godsend for accessibility. Countless world class films, previously confined to snowy Park City, are temporarily made available to anyone in the country, anywhere, including my cramped apartment in Ridgewood, Queens. Despite the lack of a centralized on-site venue for New Frontier, the festivalâs annual virtual reality and new media showcase, the Sundance Institute overhauled their interface in order to support a platform perfectly suited for innovative works at the intersection of moving image and burgeoning technology. One of the perks of being awarded this yearâs Press Inclusion Initiative fellowshipâaside from a standard press pass and bragging rights (of which I am eternally grateful!)âis receiving a complimentary Oculus Quest 2 VR headset. A week before the festival started, I received a brand-new Oculus in the mail like it was a tipsy late-night online shopping purchase. When the initi
Sundance s Black Stories Are More Accessible Than Ever
The selections at Sundance this year prove how diverse Black storytelling has become.
Each year, filmmakers, cinephiles, and the creme-de-la-creme of the entertainment industry make their way to Park City, Utah for the Sundance Film Festival to be the first to watch some of the most buzzed-about films of the year.
People like Ava DuVernay, Ryan Coogler, and Radha Blank have had career-defining moments at Sundance. This year, just like every other major cultural event, the largest independent film festival in the United States will look very different. Instead of gathering in theaters, coffee shops, and parties, Sundance attendees will be convening around their screens from the comfort and safety of their homes.
For the first time, the festival will let you stream its premiere movies and try the hottest VR storytelling from your living room. We figured out how to fest, so you don't have to.