Jameson Coleman, Staff Writer
TULSA — Experiencing movies in the theater may be hard to come by in today’s climate. Whether you’re an avid movie buff or just someone with a free Friday night, the Covid-19 virus has affected your movie-watching experience in some way. It’s an understatement to say that movie fans are disappointed with the news of several theaters closing down all around the country. While this news is hard to swallow, it may have ironically opened up a new movie-watching experience for Oklahomans.
The largest independent film festival in the United States moved from its regular festival grounds in Utah and was shown at satellite screenings all across the United States from Thursday, Jan. 28-Tuesday Feb. 2, 2021. The Sundance Film Institute hosted its annual festival at several screens across the country, including the Circle Cinema in Tulsa, Oklahoma. This is an experience that many film lovers who couldn’t normally attend the festival in Utah were able to take advantage of. Along with showings at the Circle Cinema, there were also tickets available for the Admiral Twin drive-in, located in Tulsa as well. I was lucky enough to attend the festival this year, something that has been on my bucket list for years.
I took a trip to Tulsa with a good friend and I can now say I’ve attended the largest independent film festival in the United States. We watched the film “Prime Time”, a Polish thriller about a man who holds a TV station hostage. I wish I could sit here and say my experience was life-changing or that the festival was everything I always thought it would be, however that wasn’t completely the case.
I’ve felt the feeling of walking into a theater and smelling the popcorn what seems like hundreds of times. Purchasing my ticket for this movie felt no different than any other movie, and somehow I still felt that this moment was special. Not through some magical presence that surrounded the festival, but because something as common as watching a movie in theaters has very recently become uncommon. I went into this festival with high expectations. Expectations of finally being able to take part in something I’ve wanted to attend for a good long while. I left the festival not with a new sense of what it was like to experience sundance but with a reminder of what it’s like experiencing movies.
My time at the Circle Cinema may not have amounted to anything more than just bragging rights, but it seemed to respark my passion for theater participation. One day I hope to be lucky enough to attend the festival at the grounds in Utah, until then I’ll stay a strong advocate for spending too much money on popcorn and watching movies on the big screen. Thank you, Sundance for helping me remember that.
