Velvet Eclipses the Crowd

The line that snakes from the parking lot to the front of The Egyptian is a royal flush in traffic, but once the velvet rope lifts the gate, the crowd is a carousel of step‑and‑repeat red. Twenty‑four short‑film programmes, wrapped by Ketel One Vodka, unfurl in Park City and Salt Lake City from Jan. 22‑Feb. 1, and the Park City Legacy shorts, curated by pilots from the Sundance Institute, spill backstage at the Park City Museum. Yet the most glamorous irony is that the same people who line up for a screening of Tim Heidecker’s “Prime” at The Eccles are the very same who sigh on the curb when the buses crash through the exchange. The rigor of entrance—verifiable RSVP through the festival’s app—turns strangers into silhouettes ready to applaud. Silicon Valley trophy‑dogs intermingle with art‑collectors for one extra moment of daze, before the next Hallown. Verdict: Send a check but stay home.