The birth of the Park City Film Festival

PARK CITY, Utah — Katharine Wang, who has grown the Park City Film Series for years, pulled off one of the fastest event creations I have seen: the Park City Film Festival, held Oct. 23-25 with her team.

The films were curated, panel moderators were local, and many volunteers brought experience from the Sundance Film Festival and Park City Film Series. The audience was ready.

The weather cooperated, and buses, walking and Summit Bike Share made travel between venues convenient. The bike share was sponsored by the Park City Chamber.

From the outside looking in, the festival ran like a well-oiled machine. Film director Matty Wishnow called it the best festival he has attended with his film, “The Last Critic.” Opening night was packed, with locals front and center. Local artist Bridgette Meinhold even created the festival poster. Panels were held at a new venue, Distrikt F, in Prospector Square.

I attended “The Importance of Criticism to Art,” moderated by Aldy Milliken, executive director of the Kimball Art Center. Panelists included Wishnow; Tim Palmer, professor and chair of the University of Utah’s Department of Film & Media Arts; and Kasey Lindley, a Salt Lake City-based artist, writer and curator.

After the panel, I also met Britt Sady, a new filmmaker working on “Noah’s Big Adventure.” Connections like these can help strengthen and grow our local arts community.

The films and panels also sparked larger questions. Swiss director Petra Volpe’s “Frank & Louis,” for example, raises questions about whether people should be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The film portrays prisoners who have aged behind bars and, because of dementia or Alzheimer’s disease, may no longer remember their families, let alone the crimes they committed.

Not every question was so serious. When it came to art criticism, there seemed to be consensus that criticism isn’t dying but is being democratized, as individuals increasingly critique art across an ever-expanding range of social platforms.

KPCW News Director Leslie Thatcher, who recently announced her retirement, moderated the festival’s final Q&A. She interviewed Wishnow, whose film “The Last Critic” follows longtime New York music critic Robert Christgau and his decades-long career writing about music — work he plans to continue as long as he is able to write.