TOP: PHOTOGRAPH BY ERIC LIN / ABOVE: PHOTOGRAPH BY MANOLO PAVÓN / ALL IMAGES COURTESY OF SUNDANCE INSTITUTE48 WINTER 2019 MOVIEMAKER.COM
PARADISE HILLS
(NEXT)
Who: Alice Waddington, director
Logline: Paradise Hills is an eccentric
institution where well-off families from all
over the world send their daughters to be
reformed.The greatest flash of inspiration or
brilliance we had making this film was:
realizing that many of us were doing it for
our younger selves. We want our audience to
accept themselves as they are—to learn that
together they can conquer monsters. For me,
the film is dedicated to my teenage self, who
would lock herself up in the school bathroom
stalls during recess to read The Hobbit.THE SOUND OF SILENCE
(U.S. Dramatic Competition)
Who: Michael Tyburski, director and
co-writer
Logline: A successful “house tuner” in
New York City, who calibrates the sounds in
people’s homes in order to adjust their moods,
meets a client with a problem he can’t solve.
My favorite scene (or shot) in the film is:
everything we shot in Central Park. I officially
feel like I made a proper New York movie
now that I’ve staged scenes there. Everyone
knows Central Park when it’s lush in the
summer, but I really wanted to shoot our
scenes pre-spring bloom. The branches on the
tress all look like massive black veins against
the sky. It’s quite beautiful that time of year.
An audience watching my film probably
won’t know that: the main character’s
soundproof home and workspace was
actually one of our noisiest locations.
The most expensive thing in our budget
was: professionally having to remove (and
then rebalance) a pool table from a location
that shouldn’t have had a pool table.
The biggest lesson I learned making this
J AW L I N E
(U.S. Documentary Competition)
Who: Liza Mandelup, director
Logline: Sixteen-year-old Austyn Tester,
a rising star in the live-broadcast ecosys-
tem who built his following on wide-eyed
optimism and teen girl lust, tries to escape
a dead-end life in rural Tennessee.
Something that was an influence
on this film was: Charlie White’s
American Minor photo book.
A darling I had to kill along the way
was: characters. We filmed with more
characters than made it into the film, and
that was heartbreaking because I wanted
them all to fit!
The biggest lesson I learned making
this movie was: it’s great to make a docu-
mentary about a world you don’t mind
hanging out in for a while. Documentaries
are extremely personal, even when they
seem to be about someone else. The con-
nection between moviemaker and crew
is what you see on camera—that bond is
what makes the film.
movie was: moviemaking is a marathon
and not a sprint. It really takes an entire year
to make one of these things, and there will
(eventually) be time to get it all right.
A darling I had to kill along
the way was: shooting in the
Metropolitan Opera House. Years ago,
I fell in love with the score desks at
The Met—a section of seats that afford no
view of the stage, but have a small desk
and reading light where music enthusiasts
can follow along. It’s the perfect secret
space in New York City that our main
character would know about. Co-producer
Kristie Lutz and I tried hard to pull some
favors and find a backdoor in, but we
kept on hitting red tape. I finally settled
on building a mini version of our own at
one of our other locations. Fortunately,
our incredible art department was able to
recreate it better than the original.When I heard we got into Sundance I:
briefly lost feeling in my legs. I was definitely
standing on both feet at the beginning of the
call, but was on the floor by the end of it.
I would love to meet a distributor
in Park City.A darling I had to kill along the way was:
a few sets that needed to be merged into
each other in order to sharpen the focus
of our complex third act. The sets were
gorgeous, but had to go.
My favorite film festival moment in
my life so far is: winning Best Director
and Silver Feature Project of the Market
at Fantastic Fest 2015, which opened
the door for my producers and me to
meet Guillermo del Toro that night.
Watching Crimson Peak for the first
time at Fantastic Fest, and the
Belladonna of Sadness restoration the
next morning, was unforgettable.I’m most excited about seeing: any of
the 26 glorious debut features directed by
women in competition during this historic
Sundance year. I’m always cheering for films
directed by, and starring, female people of
color, such as Hala by Minhal Baig, or
Selah and The Spades by Tayarisha Poe.
I would love to meet them in Park City.
When I heard we got into Sundance I:
sobbed on the phone for about 15 minutes
to Dilcia Barrera, the incredible festival
programmer who called me. Then, I
proceeded to call my mama and cry again
for a slightly longer period of time. MMThe 35th Sundance Film Festival runs
January 24-February 3, 2019 in Park City,
Utah. For more Sundance surveys, visit
moviemaker.com.STAR PETER SARSGAARD LENDS HIS EAR AS A NEW YORK CITY “HOUSE TUNER” IN CO-WRITER/DIRECTOR
MICHAEL TYBURSKI’S THE SOUND OF SILENCESTARS MILLA JOVOVICH (L) AND EMMA ROBERTS
(R) NAVIGATE THE SMOKE AND MIRRORS OF AN ELITE
BOARDING SCHOOL IN DIRECTOR ALICE WADDINGTON’S
PARADISE HILLS