"Kurt and Courtney," pulled from festival at last minute

By Jeff Vice
Deseret News movie critic

ARK CITY — The director of a movie pulled from the 1998 Sundance Film Festival schedule says he bears no grudges toward festival officials. However, his feelings toward the person ultimately responsible for the action are another matter altogether.

Kurt Cobain

      "Kurt and Courtney," a documentary that explores the relationship between late Nirvana singer Kurt Cobain and his wife, Courtney Love, was withdrawn from the festival due to threats of legal action by Love's attorney, who says that music from her band, Hole, was used without her permission.
      In a 15-minute press conference Saturday evening, filmmaker Nick Broomfield said that Love's attempts to prevent the film from being shown mirror its themes.
      "(It's about) the continuing control on the part of Courtney Love to prevent the truth from coming out, through a story she doesn't want told," said Broomfield, who is also serving as a juror for the festival's Documentary Competition.
      Broomfield also said he has offered to re-edit the film and remove the songs, but according to Ken Brecher, executive director of the Sundance Institute, there are so many legal questions regarding the film that he and festival officials had their hands tied.
      "Nick did everything he could do, but he couldn't get all of them solved in time," Brecher said.
      Still, Sundance's highest-profile official is standing firmly behind Broomfield and his film.
      "(Love) has every right to use due process to stop us from showing it. I'm not insensitive to her feelings," Robert Redford said during a separate press conference on Saturday morning. "But isn't it ironic that someone who has benefited so much from free speech is running her own campaign to prohibit another person from expressing himself?"
      This isn't the first time a Sundance selection has run into legal trouble. In 1988, the festival showed the controversial Todd Haynes short film "Superstar," which used dolls and miniatures to dramatize the life of late musician Karen Carpenter.
      And Broomfield said he hasn't given up on showing his film in Park City this month. He confirmed that officials from the Slamdance Film Festival, a smaller-scale independent event held concurrently but not in conjunction with Sundance, have contacted him about setting up a special screening.