It's 5,423 miles between Park City, Utah, and Warsaw, the capital of Poland where I'm currently crashing on my dear friend's couch (before I find an affordable place to stay). There was no way I could travel to Sundance this year (even though I enjoyed covering it for this site in 2013), but I nevertheless felt like I was there on the night of 19 January, when Steve James' "Life Itself" premiered at the festival. As a contributor to the Indiegogo campaign supporting the film, I was one of more than a thousand backers granted an access to an exclusive live-stream, which allowed me to watch the movie simultaneously with the opening night audience. It proved to be an unforgettable experience.
Because of the time difference, I needed to stay up till the middle of the night in order to access the stream. Not that I minded. I made myself some tea, wrapped myself in a blanket, curled up on my couch and placed my laptop on a night table. I didn't want to wake up my hostess, so I moved away from the door leading to her room and hooked up my headphones to the computer. After an initial glitch while logging in, the film started and I found myself entranced. There it was: Roger's life unspooling (as it were) on the very same device I used to keep my correspondence with him. No wires were attached and memories started brewing.
