Park City (United States) (AFP)

Between screams of fans and grunts of journalists, the American independent film festival of Sundance started in a rush on Thursday evening, with the presentation of "Miss Americana", a Netflix documentary on the planetary pop star Taylor Swift, who came to defy the cold of Utah for its admirers and a handful of photographers.

Presented in world preview, "Miss Americana", directed by Lana Wilson, traces the career of the singer of 30 years, from her beginnings in country music to her rise to world fame, as much for her catchy hits as for her political choices or his mastery of social networks.

The Sundance Festival, which takes place until February 2 in the mountains of Utah, in the western United States, has chosen for several years to open the festivities with several films, drawn from each of its sections , to open the festivities. But the screening of "Miss Americana" was nevertheless an event of the evening.

As proof, the long line of ticketless fans queuing for hours in the cold, hoping to get a precious last minute sesame or, at the very least, to see their idol.

Hailey, 19, came from Phoenix, 1,000 kilometers away, with three girlfriends for the occasion. "I try to follow her as much as I can. She's the only one, there's no one like her," she said, looking at her cell phone frantically, looking for the latest information on the star.

- Fans in tears -

Soon, one of the teenage girls pressed against the guardrails roared "Swift spotting !!" (Swift spotted!). A hubbub roams the ranks, fingers tapping on cell phones in unison, and overwhelming joy: Taylor Swift was photographed on the main street in Park City, and she is on her way to the Eccles Theater, where stands projection.

The temperature is also going up a notch among journalists, photographers and cameramen. Because Netflix, after announcing that there would be no interviews on the red carpet, finally decides to lock the access, allowing only a handful of photographers to enter, and leaving the cameras at the door.

When Taylor Swift finally arrives and gets out of a white 4x4, five minutes before the screening, the screams redouble and the fans mingle with the journalists in the general crowd, to snatch, arms outstretched, a picture, a video, a shot . Festival volunteers, usually placid and caring, must raise their voices when security barriers threaten to collapse.

Taylor Swift, in a checkered jumpsuit and matching trench coat, couldn't care less and signed autographs along the barriers, smiled, shakes hands, before walking past the photographers and rushing into the room.

Behind her, the blonde tornado leaves clusters of frozen fans, some even wiping away a few tears, still upset by the singer's passage.

In the other rooms of the festival, the atmosphere was more relaxed, but the emotion no less present, in particular at the presentation of another Netflix documentary, "Crip Camp", produced by Barack and Michelle Obama.

The presidential couple had not made the trip, but the founder of the festival, Robert Redford, who announced last year his decision to withdraw from the demonstration, went on stage to show his "great love" for festival director John Cooper, who leaves Sundance after 11 years at the helm.

Sundance, the largest annual meeting of American independent cinema, presents this year nearly 120 feature films from 27 countries. A pioneer in the representation of women and minorities, the festival said that of the 65 directors competing in the four competitive sections, 46% were women, 38% of people of color and 12% of members of the LGBT community.

© 2020 AFP