eugene hernandez

Arriving Cannes.

Frederick Wiseman, one of cinema’s greatest, died today. His works, full of breathtaking, observational drama, have fascinated me for decades. 
 Wiseman’s films, he avoided calling them documentaries, were set in familiar places: a hospital, high school, restaurant, prison, department store, military base, ballet company, gym, or even a town meeting. As I wrote for Indiewire in 2009, they offered enticing windows into micro worlds and he developed a filmmaking process built with long takes observing rather than interrupting a moment. He pursued, as he explained, “the dramatic aspects of ordinary experience.” Asked what sort of research he would do for his films, Wiseman, pictured at an IDFA masterclass in 2009, said, “The shooting of the film is the research.” By spending hours focusing his subjective gaze on people and their environments, he constructed rich works that revealed dramatic human experiences. By letting his camera run, he captured incredible moments and then shaped them to make a point about the people and places he’s witnessed. “I don’t like to intervene, I never intervene,” Wiseman said at IDFA, adding, “Editing is an intervention.” Frederick Wiseman’s self-described “insatiable curiosity” drove him to explore places. “The overall goal is to make as many movies about contemporary life as I can,” Wiseman said, “My interest is in making a movie that has a dramatic structure, that is dramatic, funny, sad and all those cliches that a movie is supposed to be. And I also resist explanation and didacticism. But, that’s my choice and other people make wonderful work using opposite techniques.” I marveled at his mastery and have cherished the many times I’ve been able to watch (or present) Wiseman’s films on a big screen and then listen to or talk with him at Festivals like NYFF where he was a regular. At that Amsterdam masterclass in 2009, Frederick Wiseman was asked what made him happy. “Having fun. Making movies,” he responded quickly, then paused briefly, “Because it’s a passionate way of life. It’s really interesting. I get to travel. I get to try and think about different subjects. You now, it beats working for a living.”

Listening to Frederick Wiseman in 2009

500 days of Sundance! Well, sort of. This festival has evolved a few times in its life nearly 50 year life. It began as the Utah/U.S. Film Festival in Salt Lake City in 1978, with Robert Redford as board chair. In 1981, the fest moved to Park City and was renamed the U.S. Film and Video Festival. Mr. Redford founded Sundance Institute that year, the Institute took over the event in 1984, and it became the Sundance Film Festival in 1991. That’s nearly 500 festival days here in Utah. There’s just more day today in Park City and Salt Lake City before the Sundance Film Festival moves to Boulder, CO in 2027. More info on all that in the coming weeks and months. 
Right now… thank you Salt Lake City, Park City, and Utah. Kudos to the entire Sundance Institute staff, all of the seasonal workers, and every single volunteer who makes this Festival happen!

“The Moment” at Sundance 2026. Aidan, Charli, Kim, me.

2016. At Sundance: Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Marcus Hu, John Cooper, Kevin Smith, Lesli Klainberg, B Ruby Rich, Lucy Walker, Morgan Spurlock, Matt Dentler, Sandi Dubowski, Stephen Kijak, Diane Becker, Rachel Grady, Heidi Ewing, Bob Hawk, David Wilson, and me.

Director of the #SundanceFilmFestival, Eugene Hernandez (@eugonline ), on what queer cinema means to him and the festival. "The Sundance Film Festival defines my relationship to queer cinema." ❤️ He joined Here & Queer host @peterknegt to the discuss the past, present and future of Sundance. 🌈Watch Eugene's full Here & Queer interview on our @cbcarts YouTube channel. 🔗Link in bio.

Here we go! #sundancefilmfestival Will you be in Utah? What are your festival dates? What are you looking forward to? Hope to see you soon!!

When I think about Tammie Rosen of course I have to mention her professional tenacity. So many people today called her a ‘force’, and that’s fitting. Tammie Rosen, who passed away this morning at age 49, always set such a high bar professionally, and she expected others to approach the level she set for herself. I started working with Tammie in the early 2000s in my Indiewire days and found her a formidable head of comms for the Tribeca Festival. But these past 3 years at Sundance I’ve witnessed her work through a new lens. And learned so much. We were together in countless Zooms most days but it was our late night convos, often as I was packing for a flight the next morning, that Tammie and I would have long talks that started with work and drifted to other parts of our lives. When I think about Tammie Rosen, sure I think about her in work mode, but I also realized that her devotion to other parts of her life surpassed Tammie’s professional passion: her family, her home at the beach in New Jersey, Bruce Springsteen, the Philadelphia Eagles. Tammie & I traveled together a lot, on press tours in Salt Lake City, or trips to Boulder, Cincinnati or other cities. If it was football season, Tammie would be in front of a TV at the hotel bar, screaming at the screen so loudly it would startle unaware guests. She’d always apologize and explain that she was watching The Eagles and her reactions were to be expected. I also spent a lot of time with Tammie in cars. She preferred the drivers seat but that could be terrifying. Tammie’s maniacal laugh when she showed me what the “New Jersey Slide” was, is still burned into my memory. Somehow Tammie was able to drive a car, take a phone call, balance her laptop on a knee at stoplights, all while also talking with whoever she was in the car with. It was miraculous. Back in September I was at the Telluride fest sitting near the front at the premiere screening of the Springsteen movie — I wanted to get photos of The Boss to send back to her, hoping to brighten her day. “Can I be a Make a Wish kid and have me wish to have dinner with him,” Tammie wondered in a text to me that night, “Or one song.” 
 💔❤️

Two weeks ago I met Pope Leo during a rather remarkable and inspiring weekend: Papal events at The Vatican and screenings at a super cool Rome cinema. “Cinema is much more than just a screen; it is an intersection of desires, memories and questions,” the Pope said in the grand Sala Clementina, were we met. “Cultural facilities, such as cinemas and theaters, are the beating hearts of our communities because they contribute to making them more human. If a city is alive, it is thanks in part to its cultural spaces. We must inhabit these spaces and build relationships within them, day after day,” he continued, “Nonetheless, cinemas are experiencing a troubling decline, with many being removed from cities and neighborhoods. More than a few people are saying that the art of cinema and the cinematic experience are in danger. I urge institutions not to give up, but to cooperate in affirming the social and cultural value of this activity.” Elevated in May, the Chicago-born Pope, also a Peruvian citizen, spoke with about 150+ filmmakers, actors, and a few of us who run film festivals. Afterward, I thanked him for his timely support of cinemas, mentioned my California Catholic school upbringing, and appreciated his inclusion of Sundance founder Robert Redford in his recent Papal fav films list. “The logic of algorithms tends to repeat what ‘works’, but art opens up what is possible. Not everything has to be immediate or predictable,” the Pope advocated, “Defend slowness when it serves a purpose, silence when it speaks and difference when evocative. Beauty is not just a means of escape; it is above all an invocation. When cinema is authentic, it does not merely console, but challenges. It articulates the questions that dwell within us, and sometimes, even provokes tears that we did not know we needed to express.” Portuguese Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça, head of The Vatican’s Dicastery for Culture and Education, was central to the weekend’s events, as was Valerio Carocci, head of Rome’s 24-hour Cinema Troisi, where the Cardinal introduced a Sunday showing of Ettore Scola’s “Una Giornata Particolare” (A Special Day). Sharing some photos & Pope Leo’s full speech

A few days after arriving in Utah for my first Festival in 1993, I rode a bus to the Sundance Resort, the place in the mountains north of Provo, where Mr. Redford first bought land in the ’60s. Over the years he purchased and protected more land there, it was his home, and it’s also where he later founded the Sundance Institute’s labs for artists and storytellers. The legacy of what Mr. Redford created and sustained throughout his life, at the Institute and beyond, is monumental. He’s never wavered in nurturing, championing, and supporting distinct, independent stories and artists. That feeling guides me every day. As we started to plan the upcoming Festival, Mr. Redford shared a sentiment that inspires our work: “Everyone has a story.” We carry on that legacy and champion Mr. Redford’s vision daily. * * * I was in New York City years ago, meeting with Mr. Redford at his office near Penn Station. We’d crossed paths before but now I was being considered for a leadership role at the Institute. One of Mr. Redford’s guiding principles is, “Sundance is downtown, not uptown” so he opened our chat, in a slightly perplexed tone, saying, “Lincoln Center, huh…” (referring to where I worked at the time). Born in Santa Monica, Mr. Redford began telling me about growing up in Southern California and asked about my childhood. When I said I was from Indio, in the desert near Palm Springs, his eyes widened and he opened up. “I know, Indio,” he enthused. As I listened to his thoughts about the Sundance Institute and independent film, and the role of the Festival in all of it, I felt the weight of the opportunity, but was also at ease knowing that the job, like the Institute’s mission, is clear. Follow the artist. At the end of that meeting years ago, after we’d been talking awhile, Mr. Redford needed to get to another appointment and he stood up to shake my hand. As he reached out his palm, he paused and I saw a gleam in those piercing, memorable eyes. “Indio, California!” he exclaimed as he paused a beat, shared that equally iconic smile, and turned and walked away.
 Thank you, Mr. Redford. [photo © 1996 Ken Regan for Sundance Institute]

Shortly after bumping into EIFF leadership trio Paul Ridd, Emma Boa, and Andrew Macdonald at the Cameo last night, I immediately encountered filmmaker’s of the moment Eva Victor (right) and Adele Romanski (left), here to unveil “Sorry, Baby” on opening night. They are in the spotlight because their film was chosen to open this year’s EIFF, underscoring fest director Paul Ridd’s emphasis on discovery. 

Introducing the opening screening, Ridd noted that Eva was a breakthrough from this year’s Sundance Film Festival, where he saw the film, knowing right away that he wanted it to open the Edinburgh fest. 

“Sorry, Baby” won the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, for a feature film debut that she also wrote and stars in. Adele, with Barry Jenkins and their company, Pastel, produced “Sorry, Baby” as well as Charlotte Wells’s 2022 film, “Aftersun,” a movie that Victor name-checked during her opening remarks.
 Off to a good start, glad to be here to show support for their launch moment. “Sorry, Baby” opens in UK cinemas one week from today! Cheers!