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Sundance has become known for propelling little-known films and filmmakers into the spotlight. \u201cThe Blair Witch Project\u201d (1999), \u201cAmerican Psycho\u201d (2000), \u201cNapoleon Dynamite\u201d (2004) and \u201cCODA\u201d (2021) all emerged from Park City.<\/p>\n
Jodie Foster remembered the festival in the 1980s. \u201cI was on the jury for the year of \u2018Sex, Lies, and Videotape,\u2019 which was a big year,\u201d she said, referring to Steven Soderbergh\u2019s 1989 film.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne year, I produced a movie, and everyone was younger than me, and they all went out all night, and then at 5:30 a.m. I woke up and had breakfast with them,\u201d Ms. Foster said, adding, \u201cWe had pancakes and that was the most fun thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
(Ms. Foster\u2019s partner, Alexandra Hedison, who was standing beside her, was at Sundance for the first time this year showing her film \u201cAlok.\u201d)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Jennifer Grey, who plays a character named Marcia in the film \u201cA Real Pain,\u201d said the actor John Slattery connected the actress to her ex-husband at the festival in the 1990s.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe went to this restaurant for breakfast, a place everybody used to go to,\u201d Ms. Grey said, \u201cand I said, \u2018Who is that?\u2019 John then introduced us.\u201d (Ms. Grey and her partner announced their split in 2020.)<\/p>\n
Kristen Stewart, who was honored at the gala and wearing a black-and-white look by Chanel, started attending Sundance in the 2000s.<\/p>\n
\u201cBack then I was, like, wearing no-show socks and my Hollister jeans,\u201d Ms. Stewart said, \u201cand I was like, \u2018I just want to hang out with all the best actors.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
She felt at home. \u201cIf you make an independent film in America it\u2019s because you\u2019re crazy,\u201d she said. \u201cYou\u2019re trying to do something impossible and stupid, but you do it because you could actually touch someone. Coming here makes you feel less ridiculous because we are all doing this. It\u2019s the most affirming thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jesse Eisenberg, who directed Ms. Grey in \u201cA Real Pain,\u201d noted that he was about the same age as Sundance. \u201cI wonder if the festival also has back problems?\u201d he joked.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n