By Lindsey Bahr, Film Writer
PARK CITY, Utah (AP) --Sundance Institute founder Robert Redford did not shy away from addressing the elephants in the room — Harvey Weinstein and the #MeToo — Thursday at the Sundance Film Festival, saying that the fallen executive is not "going to stop the show."
Both the lingering shadow of Weinstein, who long lorded over the indie film festival, and the Me Too movement dominated conversation at the historically tame opening day press conference in Park City, Utah.
"Harvey Weinstein was a moment in time and we're going to move past that," Redford said. "I don't think he's going to stop the show."
In recent months, Weinstein has been accused of two instances of assault at Sundance, including actress Rose McGowan's rape allegation from 1997. Representatives for Weinstein have denied all allegations of non-consensual sex.
"We were sickened to hear along with everyone else about Harvey's behavior and even more so to learn that at least a couple of those instances happened at the Sundance Film Festival," added Keri Putnam, the executive director for the Sundance Institute. "They are nothing we were aware of at the time."
Putnam said that recent revelations and conversations around sexual misconduct are creating a new awareness.
"This isn't a new conversation for us, but it's a new moment and we're not going to go backward from here," she said.
In response to assault allegations during the festival and heightened sensitivity to sexual misconduct, the festival has taken strides to ensure the safety of its guests, including instilling a public code of conduct and a 24-hour safety hotline in partnership with Utah Attorney General's office.
"It's a bit of a ground zero," said festival director John Cooper.
Redford also addressed the Me Too and Time's Up movements saying that he's, "Pretty encouraged right now."
"It's bringing forth more opportunity for women and more opportunity for women in film for their voices to be heard and have their own projects," Redford said. "The role for men right now is to listen and to let women's voices be heard and think about it."
The Sundance Film Festival runs through Jan. 28.
Carrie Coon Relishes Being Part Of An Ensemble–From “The Gilded Age” To “His Three Daughters”
It can be hard to catch Carrie Coon on her own.
She is far more likely to be found in the thick of an ensemble. That could be on TV, in "The Gilded Age," for which she was just Emmy nominated, or in the upcoming season of "The White Lotus," which she recently shot in Thailand. Or it could be in films, most relevantly, Azazel Jacobs' new drama, "His Three Daughters," in which Coon stars alongside Natasha Lyonne and Elizabeth Olsen as sisters caring for their dying father.
But on a recent, bright late-summer morning, Coon is sitting on a bench in the bucolic northeast Westchester town of Pound Ridge. A few years back, she and her husband, the playwright Tracy Letts, moved near here with their two young children, drawn by the long rows of stone walls and a particularly good BLT from a nearby cafe that Letts, after biting into, declared must be within 15 miles of where they lived.
In a few days, they would both fly to Los Angeles for the Emmys (Letts was nominated for his performance in "Winning Time" ). But Coon, 43, was then largely enmeshed in the day-to-day life of raising a family, along with their nightly movie viewings, which Letts pulls from his extensive DVD collection. The previous night's choice: "Once Around," with Holly Hunter and Richard Dreyfus.
Coon met Letts during her breakthrough performance in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolfe?" on Broadway in 2012. She played the heavy-drinking housewife Honey. It was the first role that Coon read and knew, viscerally, she had to play. Immediately after saying this, Coon sighs.
"It sounds like something some diva would say in a movie from the '50s," Coon says. "I just walked around in my apartment in my slip and I had pearls and a little brandy. I made a grocery list and I just did... Read More