Ice-T (left) chats with rapper/producer Dr. Dre in the film "Something From Nothing: The Art of Rap." (Photo by Gunner Fox.)

The annual Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, has been historically known for launching the careers of filmmakers like Steven Soderbergh and Kevin Smith. But at this year’s fest, running through this weekend, some of the biggest headlines have come from acclaimed director Spike Lee and longtime rapper/actor Ice-T.

Ice-T — born Tracy Marrow — makes his directorial debut with the premiere of “Something From Nothing: The Art of Rap,” a documentary about the creative process behind the art form that launched his career and led him to acting gigs including his role on “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.”

He conducted 54 on-camera interviews with hip-hop luminaries including Chuck D, Afrika Bambaataa, Grandmaster Flash, Eminem, Run-DMC, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube and Snoop Dogg. The hardest part, he said during a conversation before the premiere, was editing down enough material for a season-long television series into a 106-minute cut.

He decided to make the movie, he said, because he was growing disheartened by the pop direction much of current hip-hop music is taking.

“Rap, when we started it, we didn’t have pop ambitions — it was part of the counterculture,” he said. “So I decided I wanted to do something about the passion, and how it all started. It’s about the craft — how do we do it. The art form. We went to some of the masters, and talked to them about the process.”

Choosing which rappers to interview, he added, amounted to raiding his own address book. “This isn’t about getting to see your favorite rappers — it’s about MY favorite rappers, Ice’s friends,” he said with a laugh. “That’s how I operate. I deal with my friends, people I know. That’s been a mantra.”

The contributions of women to the field are limited to two short clips with Salt of Salt-n-Pepa and MC Lyte, and some superstars such as Jay Z and 50 Cent are MIA. But critics generally liked the film, and its chances of being picked up for theatrical distribution are good.

There’s no archival footage, though there are plenty of classics on the soundtrack, and many of the subjects rap freestyle on camera.

When pressed to name a favorite interview, Ice suggested viewers might be most impressed by Eminem, who got emotional discussing how much rap means to him and how it helped him survive his battles with drugs.

But when asked whose music inspires him currently, Ice had a hard time answering. “I don’t know. That’s probably why I made the movie. I’m not really being inspired by music right now. I’m listening, I’m bouncing to the beat, but as far as being motivated, no.”

“Red Hook Summer” takes on religion

Spike Lee on the set of his new film "Red Hook Summer." (Phto by David Lee.)

Spike Lee, who has been known for breaking new ground on film since his cinematic debut (the movie “She’s Gotta Have It”), brought his new project — “Red Hook Summer” — to the festival. Like “Something From Nothing,” it’s still seeking a distribution deal.

“It’s about a young boy’s sojourn, a journey, from middle-class Atlanta to the projects (of Brooklyn) and the meeting between a grandson and grandfather who have never met before,” Lee said on the red carpet before the screening.

He added that the story has relevance for neighborhoods beyond its Red Hook setting, to cities such as Washington D.C. and beyond that are undergoing gentrification and displacing their longtime populations.

As much as for the film, which received middling-to-good reviews from critics, Lee made news for a rant during a Q&A after the premiere in which he said he made the film independently because didn’t want to take notes from a white studio head about the life of a 13-year-old black boy and girl in Red Hook.

In a conversation before the premiere, Lee’s co-writer and co-producer, James McBride, said the story has roots relevant to Southern Bible-belt audiences. McBride’s parents are from High Point, N.C., and he has a brother still living in the area. His parents moved to Red Hook in the 1950s to start the Baptist church where much of the movie’s action takes place.

“This is a summer love story, but the deeper story deals with the issues of the church and its ability to address the needs of young black people. This is a real hot-button issue for a lot of communities, and not just black America,” McBride said. “I grew up in the church, so a lot of the church stuff is based on my background. I grew up in the Baptist church, and I’m a believer. New York is full of Southern Baptists.”

McBride said his personal faith is stronger than ever, though he questions his church’s stance on homosexuality. “I’m not a believer to the point where I think the church should exclude people based on their sexual preference. I think the black church’s stand on homosexuality is a disgrace and an embarrassment.”

But he intends for organized religion to be a target of this film, he said. “I think this movie will raise provocative questions about the role of the church, and the black church, in the life of young people today. And I think this movie will raise a lot of questions about the differences between middle-class blacks and lower-class blacks. Questions that really need to be aired.

“You can’t always say it’s the white man’s fault. In some cases it’s no one’s fault, it’s just the world we live in,” said McBride. “And I think we’ve reached the point now where we have to discuss these questions because we have to move forward as a nation collectively. Some of these questions about religion are necessary to discuss and that’s our role as artists to discuss them.”

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