Each person who attends the Sundance Film Festival, whether for a weekend or for the full ten days, takes with them key moments that define the experience. For one filmgoer, it was finding herself at the premiere of Shake Hands with the Devil, the documentary that chronicles the experiences of General Roméo Dallaire who, as head of the United Nations’ 1994 peacekeeping mission in Rwanda, attempted to prevent the genocide there. She told me that she would never forget Robert Redford’s remarks about the importance of documentary film in our society, and that his comments resonated still more when she realized that General Dallaire was present in the theatre. Where else can one at once encounter a film, its director, and even its subject, and openly engage with them in a Q&A?

Each January at the Festival, filmmakers take part in that rite of passage that is sharing their film with an audience for the first time. And just as the work of these artists comes to fruition in Festival venues, the work is just beginning for another group of filmmakers – those in residence at Sundance Village for our January Screenwriters Lab. At the Lab, emerging writers focus on script development, one of the earliest stages in a long process that will end only when their films find their audience – be it at a festival or their local theatre.

At Sundance, we embrace the process itself as much as we do the completed films. And we value the fact that when led by an individual artist through his or her own creative process, we have an opportunity to wrestle with some of the most prescient issues of our times.

	Ken Brecher Executive Director, Sundance Institute

General Romeo Dallaire, the subject of the documentary film Shake Hands with the Devil, with Institute President and Founder Robert Redford at the Festival this year.

Don’t despair! The Festival lives on at www.sundance.org, where the Sundance Online Film Festival (SOFF), brings short films, filmmaker interviews, video highlights, experimental digital arts and more to any desktop in the world – all for FREE.

For filmmaker profiles, the stories behind the films, features on everything from the first World Cinema competition to how this year’s Frontier films pushed the edges of filmmaking, and even a little humor, check out each of the ten daily issues of the 2005 Sundance Film Festival Daily Insider at www.sundanceonlinefilmfestival.org.

Click here to visit the Sundance Online Film Festival now, and relive the best of this year's Festival, or experience it all for the very first time.

	Director Ellen Perry answers questions following the premiere of The Fall of Fujimori.
	Shops, restaurants, movie theatres and other Festival venues line Park City's Main Street, a center of Festival activity.
	5th World director Blackhorse Lowe and Trudell director Heather Rae at the Filmmaker Lodge panel Writing the Land.
	Director Jun Ickikawa at the Q&A following a screening of Tony Takitani.

Herzog’s Grizzly Man Wins Third Annual Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize
German filmmaker Werner Herzog's Grizzly Man was awarded the third annual Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize at the Sundance Film Festival in January.
Full story by Andy Bailey

Fund Announces Support for Fourteen Films
Fourteen documentaries recently joined the growing list of films supported by the Sundance Documentary Fund. The films focus on global issues of human rights, freedom of expression, social justice, and civil liberties. Full article

Sundance Playwrights Retreat at UCROSS Foundation Wraps Up
Playwrights Douglas Carter Beane, Noah Haidle, Adam Rapp, Betty Shamieh, and Edwin Sanchez, and composer/lyricist Kirsten Childs are now in residence at the UCROSS Foundation’s Wyoming ranch for the Sundance Playwrights Retreat. During the three-week program, these artists have time to focus exclusively on their writing and are able to explore creative approaches to specific works. Plays that began their development at UCROSS include Doug Wright’s Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning I Am My Own Wife, and Craig Lucas’ The Light in the Piazza which opens at the Lincoln Center Theatre in April. Full article

First Person: From the Screenwriters Lab
At the Screenwriters Lab in January, Dante Harper and 14 of his fellow screenwriters convened at Sundance Village to develop their work. Here, Harper shares an account of his time at the Lab. Full article

Sundance/NHK Award Winners Announced
Catalin Mitulescu of Romania, Rodrigo Moreno of Argentina, Richard Press of the United States, and Mipo Oh of Japan, were announced as the recipients of the 2005 Sundance/NHK International Filmmakers Awards on January 27, 2005, in Park City, Utah. Full article by Ann Lewinson

Award winners, Richard Press, Catalin Mitulescu, Mipo Oh, and Rodrigo Moreno at the NHK/Sundance Award Reception at the Festival.

Mark Silverman Independent Producers Fellowship Presented
The Mark Silverman Fellowship for New Producers was presented to Ted Kroeber, during the fifth annual Producers Brunch at the Festival this year. Full article by Andrea Meyer.

Feature Film Program Director Michelle Satter with Silverman Fellowship Recipient Ted Kroeber.

Life After the Labs
Since being developed at the Screenwriters and Filmmakers Labs, ten projects recently supported by the Institute's Feature Film Program have been completed and seven others have significantly advanced into various stages of production. Full article

Patron Circle Members Meet Filmmakers at ’05 Festival
At the Festival this year, Patron Circle members enjoyed a range of special events and screenings. On Sunday, January 23, members joined Festival filmmakers and Institute trustees at the restaurant Zoom on Park City’s Main Street for the Patron Circle Celebrates the 2005 Sundance Festival Filmmakers Reception. At the event, Rodrigo Garcia, director of the ’05 Festival film Nine Lives, and Institute Trustee Glenn Close who stars in Nine Lives, spoke about the importance of supporting independent artists and thanked the Patron Circle for their financial commitment to Sundance.

 

Patron Circle member Anne Padgett meets Hank Rogerson, director of the documentary Shakespeare Behind Bars, at a private reception at the Sundance House.

The Sundance Institute Patron Circle donor group shares the Institute’s commitment to the development of artists and projects of independent vision. Members of the Patron Circle receive year-round benefits including invitations to special events that offer opportunities to meet Sundance film and theatre artists and get a first look at their works-in-progress. For more information, please contact individualgiving@sundance.org.

Benefit Gala to Honor Risk-Takers in the Arts
Thursday, April 21, 2005
Gotham Hall, New York City

The Sundance community will gather in New York City to celebrate the spirit of risk-taking by recognizing individuals whose own work embodies independence, boldness, and creativity. Sundance President Robert Redford serves as Honorary Chair.

Proceeds from the event help to fund the Institute’s activities in support of emerging artists. To purchase tickets and for more information, contact the Benefit Office at 310.360.1981, extension 140, or visit www.sundance.org.

Documentary Series Presents American Hollow on
March 3 in Park City
On March 3 in Park City, the Institute's Documentary Film Series presents American Hollow, the first film from director Rory Kennedy. The free monthly screenings are followed by open forum discussions with filmmakers, critics, and subjects of the films. Screenings begin at 7 p.m. in the Jim Santy Auditorium at the Park City Library, 1255 Park Avenue. Tickets or reservations are not required. The series is part of the Institute's Arts & Audiences Utah Initiative and is generously supported by the Summit County Recreation, Arts, and Parks Program.

Deadline: Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Program Fellowship
Application Deadline: February 25, 2005
The Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship is awarded to a project that explores science and technology, or depicts scientists in engaging and innovative ways. As a participant in the Sundance Feature Film Program, the Sloan Fellow receives year-round support for his or her project – from script development to the pre-production stage. Sloan submissions for the June 2005 Filmmakers Lab are now being accepted through February 25, 2005.
Apply

Deadline: Feature Film Program
Application Deadline: May 1, 2004
Applications for the January 2006 Screenwriters Lab are now being accepted through May 1, 2005.
Apply