“There is no innovation that can occur without risk.”
—Robert Redford, President and Founder, Sundance Institute
Risk has always been central to the work of Sundance Institute, from making the leap to encourage a Lab Fellow who has never before made a movie, to nurturing artists as they take the creative risks that will alter the direction of the art forms in which they work. Each spring the Sundance Institute community gathers in New York City to celebrate the work of individuals whose art is marked by risk-taking. This year we are proud to honor Tony Kushner and Robert Altman, two artists who are distinguished by the stories they have chosen to tell and by the clarity of their own voices and singular visions, as well as Howard Schultz of Starbucks whose coffee houses have most surely served as office space for many independent filmmakers – whether cranking out their first drafts or working with a collaborator to refine their second act.
In recent months, several of the emerging artists supported by Sundance programs have gone on to reach broader audiences and some have received critical and popular acclaim. And just as we celebrate Kushner and Altman’s contributions to theatre and film, we delight in the emergence of new work that we know will continue to surprise us with its originality and content.
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| Ken Brecher Executive Director, Sundance Institute |
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A Tip of the Hat
This year, film awards season brought recognition to several members of
the Sundance Institute family. Films supported by the Institute’s
Feature Film Program, Documentary Film Program and showcased at the Sundance
Film Festival went on to find broad audiences and wide critical acclaim.
Congratulations to the following filmmakers. Read
more.
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Andrea Arnold’s short film
WASP premiered at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival. |
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Zana Briski and Ross Kaufman’s Born into Brothels was funded in part by the Sundance Documentary Fund and screed at the Festival in 2004. |
Cary Fukunaga’s 13-minute film Victoria Para Chino is one of the short films featured by the Sundance Online Film Festival at www.sundance.org. Access to the site is free, and it runs through June 30, 2005. When Victoria Para Chino screened at the Sundance Film Festival this year, Park City audiences were made aware of a tragic, botched attempt to smuggle more than 75 Mexican and Central American immigrants across the U.S. border without documentation in an unventilated truck trailer that quickly became a heat trap. Enduring a four-hour ride, passengers suffered from severe dehydration, heat exhaustion, and oxygen deprivation, and 19 passengers died. With a fictionalized account of these events, Victoria Para Chino gives its viewers a sense of what these immigrants experienced after they boarded the trailer in Mexico, and illustrates the larger, complex issue of immigration. Read More.
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The Sundance Online Film Festival offers short films such as Victoria Para Chino for free at www.sundance.org. |
Sundance Shorts Go East
April 22-29, 2005
Short films from the Sundance Film Festival will be featured in the most recent presentation in an ongoing collaboration between the Institute and the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Free from the constraints of run time, subplots, and other feature-length expectations, some of the most creative and challenging films from around the world are shorts. Running from April 22-29 at MoMA's new building in midtown Manhattan, four distinct programs highlight the wide range of shorts - from documentary, to narrative, to animation. Stay tuned: the complete line up and schedule will be announced in the April edition of the Insider and at www.moma.org.
Making Connections with The Source
In 2005 the Sundance Film Festival introduced The Source,
a new online service to help connect Festival filmmakers with industry
contacts by providing contact info and profiles for member filmmakers,
distributors, and other industry types. Launched in December of 2004,
The Source is available throughout the year at www.sundance.org.
To get the most from the service, members are encouraged to make sure
that their info is kept up-to-date throughout the year. Not a member?
Visit the site and log on as a guest to get an idea of what the service
offers.
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Writer/director Laurie Collyer
with actress Ryan Simpkins on the set of Shall Not Want,
which was developed at the 2001 Filmmakers and Screenwriters Labs.
The film is currently in post-production. Photo credit: Macall Polay |
Annual Risk-Takers Gala Benefit to Honor
Filmmaker Robert Altman, Playwright Tony Kushner, and Corporate Leader
Howard Schultz in New York City
Thursday, April 21, 2005
Gotham Hall, New York City
Maverick filmmaker Robert Altman, acclaimed playwright Tony Kushner, and the visionary Chairman and Chief Global Strategist for Starbucks Howard Schultz were recently announced as recipients of the Sundance Institute Risk-Takers Award. Awards will be presented in New York City on Thursday, April 21, 2005 at the Institute’s annual Risk-Takers Benefit Gala which celebrates risk-taking, innovation, and creativity in the arts. Approximately 500 guests will attend and proceeds from the event go to support the Institute’s programs which include laboratories and workshops for narrative and documentary filmmakers, screenwriters, film composers, and theatre artists. Read More.
Documentary Series Presents Word
Wars on April 7 in Park City
On April 7 in Park City, the Institute's
Documentary Film Series presents Word Wars,
a documentary about the National Scrabble Tournament directed by Eric
Chaikin and Julian Petrillo. 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: Feature Film Program
Application Deadline: May 1, 2005
Applications for the January 2006 Screenwriters Lab are now being accepted
through May 1, 2005.
Apply
Deadline: Composers Lab
Application Deadline: April1, 2005
Applications are now being accepted from film composers for this two-week
program that, in conjunction with the Sundance Filmmakers Lab, pairs emerging
composers with independent filmmakers to foster collaboration on film
scores.
Institute Moves to New LA Office
Sundance Institute’s Los Angeles office has moved to our
new location. Please make a note of our new address, and stop by to say
hello if you’re in the neighborhood.
The new address is:
Sundance Institute
8530 W. Wilshire Blvd., 3rd floor
Beverly Hills, CA 90211
The phone number (310.360.1981) and fax number (310.360.1969) have remained the same.
Sundance
Film Festival:
Victoria Para Chino Featured
by Sundance Online Film Festival
Sundance Shorts Go East
Making Connections with The
Source
Events and Announcements:
Documentary Series Presents
Word Wars on April
7 in Park
City
Deadline: Feature Film Program
Institute Moves to New LA Office
Talk Back
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THESE MOVIES
A total of 18 films supported by the Sundance Institute, through the Sundance
Film Festival, the Sundance Documentary Fund, and the Feature Film Program,
appear on theatre and television screens throughout the U.S. in the coming
weeks.
The seven films listed below have recently opened or will open in the next four weeks. Click on underlined titles to link directly to films’ Web sites. Films are listed in order of release dates.
For a complete listing of the additional 11 Sundance Institute-supported films that are now playing, click here.
D.E.B.S.
Writer/director Angela Robinson’s first feature film was shown at
the Festival in 2004, and is based on her short film of the same name
which screened at the Festival in 2003. The film’s theatrical run
began on March 25.
The
Ballad of Jack and Rose
Writer/director Rebecca Miller’s latest work was shown at the Festival
this year as part of the Premieres section. It opened in theatres on March
25.
Nina’s
Tragedies
Writer/director Savi Gabizon’s film screened in the World Cinema
section of the Festival last year. The Israeli film opened in U.S. theatres
on March 25.
Old
Boy
This Korean film from director Park Chan-wook was shown as part of the
’05 Festival’s Park City at Midnight section. The screenplay
was written by Park in collaboration with Hwang Jo-yun and Lim Joon-hyung,
and based on a story by Garon Tsuchiva. It opened in the U.S. on March
25.
Chrystal
The feature film debut of writer/director Ray McKinnon screened at the
Festival’s Dramatic Competition in ’04. It opens in theatres
on April 8.
Kung
Fu Hustle
Director Stephen Chow’s newest film was shown at the Festival this
year. Chow collaborated with Tsang Kan Cheong, Lola Huo, and Chan Man
Keung to write the script for the Hong Kong production which opens in
U.S. theatres on April 8.
Enron:
The Smartest Guys in the Room
Writer/director Alex Gibney’s latest documentary screened
in the U.S. Documentary Competition at the Festival this year. It begins
its domestic theatrical run on April 22.
SEE THESE PLAYS
In the coming weeks, four plays developed during various Sundance Theatre Labs are being staged in St. Louis, Ft. Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Sacramento, Washington, DC, and New York City. Be sure to catch the following productions:
Crowns
Regina Taylor’s Crowns continues its one-month run at the Repertory
Theatre of St. Louis through April 15. Adapted from the book by Michael
Cunningham and Craig Marberry, Crowns was a project of the Theatre Lab
in 2002.
Love and Taxes
Written and performed by Josh Kornbluth in collaboration with director
David Dower, Love and Taxes opens in three theatres this spring. A run
at the
Broward Center for Performing Arts in Ft. Lauderdale, FL goes from
March 24-26, and productions at the Kravis
Center for the Performing Arts in West Palm Beach, FL will be staged
on April 1 and 2. It begins a full run at the B Street Theater in Sacramento
on April 23. The project was developed at the 2002 Theatre Lab.
I Am My Own Wife
Written by Doug Wright, directed by Moises Kaufman, and starring Jefferson
Mays, I Am My Own Wife travels to Washington, DC's
National Theater for a two-week run beginning March 29. The play was
developed during the 2000 Theatre Lab and has received numerous awards,
including the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony Award for Best
Play.
The Light in the Piazza
Playwright/director Craig Lucas and composer/lyricist Adam Guettel developed
The Light in the Piazza at the 2002 Sundance Theatre Lab. The play opens
on April 18 at Lincoln Center’s Vivian
Beaumont Theater.
Sundance
Institute Programs
To learn more about all of the Sundance Institute’s activities,
follow the links below to the Institute’s Web site.
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