Wednesday is traditionally "Volunteer Appreciation Day" at the Sundance Film Festival the day the festival pays tribute to the thousand-plus folks who make the event run.
This year's short film dedicated to the volunteers wasn't the comedy piece as in past years but an energetic series of shots of Sundance volunteers dancing in their sky-blue ski vests at various Park City venues, to the tune of Lady Gaga's "Just Dance."
The volunteers sometimes emulate moves from dance scenes in previous festival films ("Little Miss Sunshine" and "Napoleon Dynamite" are among those shown). There are also celebrity cameos by Glenn Close, Alan Cumming, Rachel Dratch and Sam Rockwell. (See for yourself, by clicking on the YouTube image above.)
What made the short (directed by festival veterans Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg) really fun was the interactive element.
At an afternoon screening at the Redstone Cinemas (and, presumably, at other venues), volunteers rushed into the auditorium and started dancing along to Gaga's song.
Sean P. Means