When Rebecca Hartman (sophomore-marketing) trekked across the country to Park City, Utah, over the holiday weekend, she was planning on visiting friends and hitting the ski slopes. And, because her trip coincided with the annual Sundance Film Festival, she was also headed out west to see some independent films.

Unfortunately, the final goal of her trip was not accomplished.

"I tried to see some films but you have to get tickets like months in advance," she said.

Hartman said she believes this was because the festival has changed in recent years.

"It used to be really low-key, but now it's more for people to just go see celebrities," she said. "If you wanted to see the films, you would really have to plan in advance."

Barbara Bird, associate professor of film and director of international programs, agreed with Harman's sentiments.

"[The festival] is now considered very big. It used to be for people who otherwise wouldn't have a venue to show their films, but it has become a media circus," she said.

Hartman said there was so much commotion in Park City last year for the festival that residents of the city complained.

"They got mad about how crowded it got with normal people just trying to see celebrities, so the city asked [the celebrities] not to walk around," she said, "so there really weren't that many to see."

Hartman did manage to spot a few famous faces, however.

"I saw Mary-Kate Olsen and Ian Ziering who was Steve from Beverly Hills, 90210, but that was really it," she said. "A lot of celebrities go to Deer Valley to ski. It's a really nice resort and I know people that saw some there."

Overall, Hartman had mixed feelings about her trip.

"I primarily went out there to ski and see some friends, but I wanted to get a feel for how Sundance was, so yeah, I was a little disappointed," she said. "I thought it would be different. A lot of the stores were closed at like 6 or 7 at night for private parties and stuff. You would really have to know someone to get in."

Bird said she thinks the Sundance cannot be considered truly independent anymore.

"Once something is co-opted by the industry, it is no longer independent," Bird said, adding that while Sundance is an open festival and the fees for submission aren't high, entrants are competing against studios, which are not independent.

"It's not a level playing field," she said. "It's just a marketplace for the next big blockbuster."

Some films that were screened at Sundance this year, according to Firstshowing.net:

Where is the world is Osama Bin Laden? is a Morgan Spurlock documentary in which he follows a U.S. military unit in Afghanistan and interviews Middle Eastern citizens about their thoughts on current events. It's set to hit theaters in April.

Choke, an adaptation of the Chuck Palahniuk novel, was bought for a reported $5 million. The film is about a theme park employee who chokes himself at restaurants to make friends with total strangers. It is set to be released this year.

Hell Ride, a Quentin Tarantino-produced film about biker gangs in the 1970s received rave reviews. It has no set release date but will arrive in theaters sometime in 2008.

Baghead, a Duplass Brothers' pseudo-documentary about four wannabe-actor friends, was one of the most popular independent films of the festival. It has no set release date as of now.

In Bruges, starring Colin Farrell, is a film about two hitmen hiding out in Bruges, Belgium. It is set to be released in early February.