Documentary Dreams and Delicate Futures

One attends Sundance, one simply must, even as the traffic snarls along Deer Valley Drive and the Eccles becomes a pressure cooker of Patagonia and perfectly distressed denim. This year’s offering, or rather, the initial hour of Mark Cousins’ ambitious “The Story of Documentary Film,” screened at The Yarrow, ostensibly about the origins of non-fiction cinema. It seems a curiously self-conscious title, given the Park City Institute’s well-documented preoccupation with 'beginnings' of all varieties. Mr. Cousins, alas, was absent, opting for a virtual Q&A rather than braving the step-and-repeat red. One wonders if he simply foresaw the inevitable crush. The point, a rather academic exploration of early filmmakers – a German Ella Bergman Michel versus the more… celebrated Leni Riefenstahl – felt lost amidst the relentless pursuit of canapés and connections. There was a murmured acknowledgment of Ateyyat El Abnoudy, a fascinating Egyptian filmmaker, but the discussion seemed to evaporate before fully taking hold. A long-form documentary, sixteen hours, really? It feels… excessive. The entire affair, while undeniably important for the Kimball Art Center set, lacked a certain… polish. A little more gala black, a little less earnestness, perhaps.