People may be going home and some may have already filed their festival recaps, but Sundance isn’t over yet. I’ve pretty much run out of real trailers to look at, though. There are technically some out there that I haven’t reviewed, but they’re for movies I really haven’t felt that inclined to highlight. So, on my last day of writing about the (disappointing) marketing of Sundance films, I’m taking a look at two of Sundance Channel’s “Meet the Filmmaker” videos, which kind of serve as unofficial trailers to the two films I’ve become most excited about.

The first (above) is for Ballast, which Karina has reviewed. I don’t know if it is her favorite dramatic film of the fest, but she and others have written favorably enough about it that I’m hoping to somehow see it in the “real world”. The little bit of footage doesn’t give us much and director Lance Hammer’s description is also not the best sell, but it hardly matters. This is one film that has garnered my attention through its reception, and so it’s best to leave it to the buzz to get us to see it. Unfortunately, the last scheduled Sundance screening for Ballast was this morning, but if it finds any awards success, it will receive more showtimes this weekend. Otherwise, we non-festival attendees will have to hope for at least some minor theatrical distributor to pick it up. For more of Spout’s coverage of this film, check out our interview with Hammer and the cast.

The second “Meet the Filmmaker” video (below) is for Nanette Burstein’s documentary American Teen. Because the film was bought by Sony Classics, it will one day be in theaters and will certainly have an official trailer. But for now, I think this video is sufficient in giving us all we need to know. In fact, it’s the best of these Sundance Channel videos as far as marketing the movies is concerned. Still, the appeal for me is also primarily due to the great reception the film has received from critics. Without the good reviews, it would be hard to tell from these clips that American Teen stands out in the era of high school reality series. I’m not expecting the doc to be as good as either Frederick Wiseman’s High School or Steve James’ Hoop Dreams, but after what I’ve read and seen I am definitely looking forward to this when it hits theaters (probably in a year or so from now, right?). American Teen has one more scheduled screening this afternoon at 1:00 PM at Holiday Village Cinema.