News Taffy

Sundance 2014 kicks off today in Park City, Utah. I’m very excited about taking in the festival for the 6th year in a row. As a veteran of the festival, I figured out how to snag ticket packages after seeing some really off the wall and disturbing films my first year. Not to mention some not so hot dinner reservations. My Exclusive Resorts concierge gave me the inside track on how to wrangle the festival and it’s been a trip I look forward to every year.

This is a trip that requires a lot of preplanning that starts before Halloween, when you have to sign up for the lottery to get a time slot to buy a ticket package. It’s almost as complex as trying to get your child into a New York City private school, but a heck of a lot less expensive! But it is necessary to do this! My first year, I was not prepared and ended up seeing some films that included the following scenes; a woman is decapitated by a mailbox while riding shotgun in a truck while hanging her head out of the window. Two guys who are neighbors in L.A. , one dresses as a clown, enjoys hand jobs from the other while trying deal with being a father who can’t find a job. The clown costume came into play a few times during that film. Six years later I still have no idea what that was about. I’ll never look at a clown the same way again, that’s for sure!

Over the years, I have seen some films that went on to be huge hits like Precious. My friend Jill and I saw Precious when it debuted at Sundance. I was equally mesmerized and traumatized by the film and the emotions that it brought out in me. I went into what Oprah describes as the “ugly” cry. If you’ve seen that film, you know how gut wrenching it is to watch. After most of the screenings, there is a Q and A with the actors, directors and producers. There was after Precious that day. It was really cool to have an inside look on the film, listen to Lee Daniels (The Butler) talk and introduce new comer Gabourey Sidibe to the world. The film won several Academy Awards including one for Mo’Nique who picked up the best supporting actress Oscar. She was Sidibe’s mother (biological at least) in the film.

The documentary films are where the magic happens at Sundance in my opinion. The ones I’ve seen have ranged from an inside look at Joan River’s life, with a Q and A afterwards with the queen of funny. To a head scratching look at the fracking industry before it really took off and all of the wells started popping up across Arkansas. I had a big conversation with my Father afterwards about this very matter, as he was being courted by a gas company to lease our farm in Lonoke County.

There were the heart string pulling ones like The Life of Sam. The documentary introduced me to Sam Berns who was suffering from a rare disease called Progeria, a disease that causes rapid aging in children. I saw this at last years festival and was blown away at his courage and that of his Mother who made it her life mission to find a cure and push for more research. Sadly, Sam died last Friday unexpectedly at the age of 17.

I’ve got some great films selected for next week, along with some leisure time scheduled at The Montage with my sister. As a non-skier this destination has a lot more to offer than just fresh powder and an exhilarating run down a black diamond slope! Sorry, boys, I’ll meet you at the bottom in the bar for a little Apres-ski fun! Park City has some great restaurants, shopping and a host of other snow activities that don’t involve strapping yourself into waxed skis and shimmying down a mountain!

Keep up with DJ’s adventures by following her on Twitter @mrsdjduckworth and on her Facebook page I Am DJ Duckworth. She posts some seriously amazing and even mundane photos on Instagram, too. You definitely want to follow here there as a photo is worth a thousand words. She lives in Manhattan but doesn’t call her self a Yankee!