Photo still from Don Jon’s Addiction. 2013, 90 minutes, color, U.S.A., Feature.
My Sundance 2013 experience began with Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s feature directorial debut, DON JON’S ADDICTION, a comedy about one man’s addiction to pornography, which is full of stars (Scarlett Johansson, Tony Danza, Julianne Moore, Glenne Headly and Rob Brown) including Gordon-Levitt in the lead.
Photo still from PUSSY RIOT – A PUNK PRAYER. Russian with English subtitles, 2012, 86 minutes, color, Russian Federation/United Kingdom, World Documentary.
Afterwards, I attended PUSSY RIOT – A PUNK PRAYER, a documentary which offers an incredible snapshot of the Russian radical-feminist punk band that got arrested for protesting the re-election of Vladimir Putin by donning colorful knitted masks and singing “Mother Mary, Banish Putin!” in a Moscow cathedral. It is a fascinating glimpse of a culture trying to figure out new governing and protest norms.
At screening of PUSSY RIOT – A PUNK PRAYER. Q&A with filmmakers and Katia, one of the Pussy Riot performers, Skyping in from Moscow.
The picture (right) is of the Q&A with filmmakers Mike Lerner and Maxim Pozdorovkin, along with Katia Samutsevich, one of the Pussy Riot performers, Skyping in from Moscow.
Each year at Sundance, a unique film community comes together in Park City for the span of this 11-day festival that, like Baltimore itself, reminds us that it’s a small world after all. It just so happened that coming out of the last screening, I ran in to an MFF volunteer, James from Frederick, MD, who volunteers at Sundance every year, too. “Go, Ravens!” we cheer in the midst of a puzzled group.
Stay tuned for more updates from Sundance 2013!
-Jed Dietz, MFF Director
Maryland Film Festival Blog 
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