It takes a lot to get Sundance Film Festival attendees to think about something larger than movies and dealmaking. It takes a historic presidential inauguration.

This morning, more than 100 people stood out in the cold on Park City's Lower Main Street (pictured above), where big-screen TVs were set to CNN for all to watch Barack Obama take the oath of office as the 44th president of the United States.



In lounges, restaurants and bars up and down Main Street, people gathered to watch the moment.

Jeff Dowd - a k a The Dude, the garrulous indie-film guru and unabashed liberal - hosted an inaugural brunch at the Spur Bar, drawing about 100 invited guests, an eclectic mix of producers, journalists and old friends. (The brunch was also a promo for a documentary in competition at Sundance, "Dirt! The Movie.")

They cheered when Obama first appeared on the platform. They were respectfully silent (mostly) when Rick Warren gave the invocation. They applauded when Aretha Franklin sang "America."

They really applauded when Joe Biden took the vice-presidential oath of office, if only because it meant Dick Cheney was finally out. (The movie buffs in the crowd couldn't help but notice that Cheney, temporarily in a wheelchair after pulling a back muscle, looked more like Mr. Potter from "It's a Wonderful Life!" than ever before.)

And they whooped and hollered at that moment - six minutes behind schedule - when Barack Hussein Obama (yes, he used his full name) took the oath of office. Dowd led the standing ovation.

They listened to Obama's inauguration speech with rapt attention, cheering occasionally - and cheering the loudest when he talked about protecting the environment, finding alternative energy and championing civil rights. When he was finished, the people in the Spur Bar stood and applauded, some with tears in their eyes.

After the ceremony, Dowd noted that this crowd can sway people's opinions and spark them to action through film.

"We're very, very powerful people," Dowd said. "We're the networkers, the builders, the creators. Don't underestimate our power."

And Dowd urged the audience to use that power to further Obama's goals for the nation.

"The challenge for films these days is to see what's possible," Dowd said. "There isn't a single problem in this world where you can't see tens or hundreds or thousands of solutions."