Serving the GW Community since 1904

The GW Hatchet

AN INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SERVING THE GW COMMUNITY SINCE 1904

The GW Hatchet

Serving the GW Community since 1904

The GW Hatchet

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Officials name senior vice president, chief of staff
By Fiona Riley, Assistant News Editor • March 26, 2024

The Sundance experience

It was as though Los Angeles had switched ZIP codes and resettled in Park City, Utah. Rather than entertainment’s elite being nestled among the hills of the West Coast, celebrities migrated east and nestled into the snowy valley of a true mountain town. Joining them this year were 11 lucky members of the GW community.

The Silver Screen Living and Learning Community, located on the third floor of Mitchell Hall, set off last Thursday afternoon for the experience of a lifetime. We were to depart for Salt Lake City, be shuttled deep into the mountains, set up base in a lodge and shamelessly immerse ourselves into the vibrant culture of the film festival that America is renowned for.

It was no easy task to organize a venture of this magnitude. LLCs are provided a budget for travel, but as with anything involving funding at GW, an entangled bureaucracy is always waiting to say “no.”

After the convoluted process of deciding where to go, proposing the idea to the Residential Arts Community, waiting, proposing a budget, waiting some more, sorting out the details and, of course, waiting some more, the Silver Screen LLC was on its way.

Once we arrived, we found ourselves in an unimaginable world. Yes, the sole purpose for daily existence was to watch movies, but it is the world in which this lavish lifestyle exists that truly embodies the impact of Sundance. No golden statues were present for this lot of films, but there was definitely no lack of glitz on that snowed-in Main Street. Furs, Uggs and the phrase “North Face” were as abundant as the silvery flakes that continuously fell on the illuminated streets. Model blondes ran as rampant as couture jeans and metrosexual sunglasses. It was even hard to identify stars such as Tim Robbins since they were all hidden by large parkas and sunglasses typically seen on campus.

But it truly was the film-going experience that made Sundance so unique for the Silver Screen LLC. In small groups, we bounced from theater to theater, taking in the artful exhibition that we were so lucky to take part in. It was unbelievably exhausting, but even after a day of cramming in as many as four movies, we found time to have jovial snowball fights at the foot of the mountains under a starry midnight sky.

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