Maybe it’s because Canadian distribs are spoiled by the bending over backwards which characterizes the Canadian festivals, but while reps from Sundance and some u.s. companies are crowing about the maturation of the Utah festival, Canadian buyers and sellers characterize last month’s Sundance as ‘disorganized,’ ‘dysfunctional’ and ‘difficult.’

‘It’s very hard to maneuver,’ says Coscient/Astral vp of distribution Dan Lyon. ‘In fact, buyers are often left feeling like outsiders when they [the festival] should be making you feel like an insider.’

‘It’s a great festival, and the premise behind it is still a great one,’ says Malofilm vp and gm Noah Segal, ‘but the market appetite is outpacing it.’

The debate over whether or not Sundance should be a market at all has become an academic one, say distribs. Clearly, it is.

‘You go to a premiere and industry people make up 75% of the audience,’ says Segal. ‘It is a market and they need to accommodate buyers better.’

High on the list of complaints are inadequate screening facilities, ticketing nightmares and few venues to host events. ‘Some of that stuff is easily fixable,’ says Lyon, ‘by moving more of the festival to Salt Lake City.’

Charlotte Mickie, Alliance Independent Films senior vp, was at the market in a position to buy and sell, and she ended up moving on worldwide rights (outside Canada and the u.s.) for Neil Labute’s first feature In The Company of Men amidst the buzz. ‘People are there to acquire on site,’ says Mickie. ‘The hot films go so fast that you can’t afford not to move on it.’

That kind of market buzz (which is said to have noticeably diminished this year over last) is apt to throw up another wall for Canadian buyers, says Malofilm’s Segal. ‘It’s becoming fatty,’ he says.

‘It starts these buying sprees, so it’s difficult for buyers, particularly Canadians, because the majors are buying films at prices above what they’d usually pay. It inflates the prices, which is great for the promotion of independent film, but it leaves less room for the people who usually buy independent films.’

Coscient/Astral’s Lyon says his main problem with the offerings was nothing new ­ he was trying to close on Canadian rights while producers were still waiting to see whether a u.s. company wanted Canada as part of the deal. ‘That’s usually how it g’es.’

Meanwhile, Lyon has to admit there’s still lots to love about Sundance: ‘It’s very informal, it’s very social, and it’s a great opportunity to meet the creative people as well as other distributors.’ As for the business part of the trip, Lyon says he’s working on securing rights for three ‘modest budget’ American films in the range of $2-$5 million.

Segal, who says it’s safe to count on Malofilm picking up at least two of the films post-festival, was generally impressed at the quality of the American and foreign offerings. ‘Personally, I feel the programming at Sundance is excellent and the quality of films per capita is excellent.’

Mickie says the Canadian films she brought to Utah ­ John Greyson’s Lilies and Peter Wellington’s J’e’s So Mean To Josephine ­ were very well received and she expects to close u.s. distribution deals for both very soon. In particular, J’e’s So Mean, since it hadn’t screened at a festival previously, ‘had the best buyer turnout of any of the films I had there,’ says Mickie.

‘It fit in with the other offerings at Sundance really well in terms of being something new and fresh from a young director.’

Mickie also noted a buzz around Lynne Stopkewich’s Kissed: ‘That’s a film I wish I had.’

Kissed coproducer Dean English says he was very happy with the film’s reception (‘Roger Ebert was at the screening’), but since it has already been sold for the most part ­ to Lakeshore Entertainment in the u.s. and Malofilm in Canada ­ the efforts were primarily promotional. Kissed opens in Canada and the u.s. on April 11.

Magnus Isacsson’s documentary Power managed to garner some theatrical interest, and producer Glen Salzman of Cineflix expects a limited theatrical release in the northeastern u.s. this fall. No deals are signed yet, but Salzman says he was impressed with the film’s reception. ‘Being a Canadian documentary at a festival devoted to American drama, for the most part, we were happy about the buzz we generated. We had a full house for the first night.’

And like everyone else, Salzman will attest to the fact that the skiing was, indeed, excellent.