This week, the second installment of our ongoing “The Road to Oscar” series appears, and these first two previews share an inspiring common ground that’s a departure from the red carpet, glitz and glamour norm typically associated with the Academy Awards. Consider the feedback from directors Chris Weitz in last month’s (10/21) SHOOT feature and Lucy Walker in this issue–both their projects contain a greater sense of purpose, sharing human stories that offer insights into related issues.
Weitz directed A Better Life, which has generated Oscar buzz for lead actor Demian Bichir who portrays undocumented immigrant and hard working single dad Carlos Galindo. The movie centers on Galindo and his efforts to make a better life for himself and his teenage son. It’s also a story about a father desperately trying to reconnect with his son in order to keep him from getting pulled into the local gang life.
Although A Better Life had a limited life in release, it’s taken on other lives, transitioning Weitz from the filmmaking phase to the advocacy phase. “People in the political community started seeing this film,” he said, “and became interested–the National Council of La Raza got interested, as did the National Hispanic Caucus. We had a screening at the congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute’s annual meeting. The film connected with those advocating for immigration reform…It’s not a political film per se. But people from think tanks have told me, ‘You can pause this film at about 20 points–one relates to the Secure Communities Act, another to The Dream Act, another to the position of immigrant workers in our society.’
“The story, though, is a human one,” continued Weitz. “No one comes out and states a political position. The characters are just doing their jobs. There’s no villain per se. The heroism is often quite quiet.”
Weitz related that in its own way, A Better Life “addresses what is going to be the biggest social issue of our time which is the question of immigration and how to treat those [undocumented workers] already in this country.”
Weitz cited Bichir’s “understated performance as opening the door for audiences to meet him half way in understanding the character. He plays a man who’s spent the majority of his life not trying to be noticed….For me, there’s so much more at stake in this film due to what it’s about. It means a great deal to me that Demian be nominated.”
From Weitz’s long-form feature, we move onto a short film, The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom, directed by Walker, and which is one of eight entries to make the Oscar Documentary Short Subject shortlist.
The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom plays like a poem showing how the people of Japan are coping with the devastating earthquake which hit the country on March 11, resulting in a horrific tsunami and nuclear radiation crisis. For many, the inspiration to persevere and come out the other side hopeful and renewed comes from the ancient Japanese cherry blossom which grows in the spring, signaling a new beginning.
Though the disaster in Japan was recent, Walker observed, “It’s already being forgotten. My hope is that the documentary will keep what happened front and center.”
Utah Leaders and Locals Rally To Keep Sundance Film Festival In The State
With the 2025 Sundance Film Festival underway, Utah leaders, locals and longtime attendees are making a final push — one that could include paying millions of dollars — to keep the world-renowned film festival as its directors consider uprooting.
Thousands of festivalgoers affixed bright yellow stickers to their winter coats that read "Keep Sundance in Utah" in a last-ditch effort to convince festival leadership and state officials to keep it in Park City, its home of 41 years.
Gov. Spencer Cox said previously that Utah would not throw as much money at the festival as other states hoping to lure it away. Now his office is urging the Legislature to carve out $3 million for Sundance in the state budget, weeks before the independent film festival is expected to pick a home for the next decade.
It could retain a small presence in picturesque Park City and center itself in nearby Salt Lake City, or move to another finalist — Cincinnati, Ohio, or Boulder, Colorado — beginning in 2027.
"Sundance is Utah, and Utah is Sundance. You can't really separate those two," Cox said. "This is your home, and we desperately hope it will be your home forever."
Last year's festival generated about $132 million for the state of Utah, according to Sundance's 2024 economic impact report.
Festival Director Eugene Hernandez told reporters last week that they had not made a final decision. An announcement is expected this year by early spring.
Colorado is trying to further sweeten its offer. The state is considering legislation giving up to $34 million in tax incentives to film festivals like Sundance through 2036 — on top of the $1.5 million in funds already approved to lure the Utah festival to its neighboring... Read More