‘Sex, Lies, and Videotape’ at 35: Steven Soderbergh Remembers Helping Put Sundance on the Map Ahead of His New Horror Film ‘Presence’

variety.com:

Brent Lang Executive Editor On a January day in 1989, Steven Soderbergh, a novice filmmaker whose previous gigs included holding cue cards on variety shows and directing a concert film for the rock group Yes, made his way to the front of a makeshift theater in Park City, Utah.

He was at Sundance — or the U.S. Film Festival, as it was then known — to introduce “Sex, Lies, and Videotape,” a piercing look at relationships that he shot for just over $1 million. “It wasn’t a normal theater — it was like a cafeteria or something, and they’d brought out folding chairs,” remembers Peter Gallagher, one of the film’s stars. “And Steven is describing the film, and he ends his spiel by saying, ‘If anyone wants to talk to me about distribution, I’ll be around after the screening.’ And people thought, ‘Oh, isn’t that sweet.’” By the time the credits rolled on “Sex, Lies, and Videotape,” though, nobody was dismissing the film or the man behind it as “sweet.” How could they?

At that point, the movie had seduced the audience with its eroticism, humor and wounded heart. The 26-year-old filmmaker, who just wanted someone to buy his movie (and who was volunteering as a driver between screenings), was clearly a blazing talent. “My expectations were low,” Soderbergh admits. “I assumed nobody would want to release it in theaters and it would show up on video some day and be a glorified résumé piece.

But as the week went on, the screenings went from being half empty to the point where we were turning people away. It was my miniature version of ‘Ten Days That Shook the World.’” “Sex, Lies, and Videotape” would go on to win the Palme d’Or at Cannes, earn Soderbergh an Oscar nomination for its screenplay, and put Sundance on the map after the.