“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.

	Ken Brecher Executive Director, Sundance Institute

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.

BORN INTO BROTHELS (U.S.)
Directors: Ross Kauffman and Zana Briski
Sundance Connection: Supported in its development by the Sundance Documentary Fund; Premiered at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival where it received the Audience Award for Documentary.
Sundance Afterlife: Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature; Directv/IFC Truer Than Fiction Award at the Independent Spirit Awards

GARDEN STATE (U.S.)
Writer/director: Zach Braff
Sundance Connection: Premiered at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival
Sundance Afterlife: Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature

MARIA FULL OF GRACE (U.S.)
Writer/director: Joshua Marston
Sundance Connection: Developed by Marston at the Feature Film Program’s 2003 Screenwriters Lab; Premiered at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival, where it received the Audience Award.
Life After Sundance: Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay; Independent Spirit Award to Catalina Sandino Moreno for Best Female Lead

METALLICA: SOME KIND OF MONSTER (U.S.)
Directors: Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky
Sundance Connection: Screened at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival
Life After Sundance: Independent Spirit Award for Best Documentary

MEAN CREEK (U.S.)
Writer/director: Jacob Aaron Estes
Sundance Connection: Screened at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival
Life After Sundance: Independent Spirit Award of special distinction to the ensemble cast: Rory Culkin, Ryan Kelley, Scott Mechlowicz, Trevor Morgan, Josh Peck, and Carly Schroeder

THE MOTORCYCLE DIARIES (U.S.)
Director: Walter Salles
Screenwriter: Jose Rivera
Sundance Connection: Screened at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival
Life After Sundance: Academy Award for Best Original Song to “Al Otro Lado Del Rio” with music and lyrics by Jorge Drexler; Independent Spirit Award to Rodrigo de la Serna for Best Debut Performance; Independent Spirit Award to Eric Gautier for Best Cinematography; 2004 Cannes Film Festival Award to Eric Gautier for Cinematography; Goya Award to Jose Rivera for Best Adapted Screenplay (The Goya is Spanish cinema’s highest honor and equivalent to an Academy Award.)

PARADISE NOW
Writer/director: Hany Abu Assad (Palestinian)
Sundance Connection: Developed by Assad at the Screenwriters and Filmmakers Labs in 2003
Life After Sundance: 2005 Berlin International Film Festival Blue Angel Award for European Film, Amnesty International Film Prize, and Berline Morgenpost Readers Prize

RYAN (Canada)
Director: Chris Landreth
Sundance Connection: Premiered at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival
Life After Sundance: Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film

WASP (UK)
Director: Andrea Arnold
Sundance Connection: Premiered at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival; Arnold attended the 2005 January Screenwriters Lab
Life After Sundance: Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film

WHISKY
Directors: Juan Pablo Rebella and Pablo Stoll
Sundance Connection: Received the Sundance/NHK Filmmakers Award in 2003
Life After Sundance: 2004 Cannes Film Festival Fipresci Award and Prix du Regard Original Award; Goya for Best Foreign Spanish-Language Film. (The Goya is Spanish cinema’s highest honor and equivalent to an Academy Award.)

	Andrea Arnold’s short film WASP premiered at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival.
	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, a fictionalized account of these events, brought this tragedy to the attention of Park City audiences when it screened at the 2005 Festival, where it also received an Honorable Mention from the Shorts Jury. The film continues to be available to audiences worldwide via the Sundance Online Film Festival at www.sundance.org.

“I didn’t intend this film to be a showcase for my work as a filmmaker,” said Fukunaga recently in a phone conversation. “I just wanted more people to know about this story and to think about the larger issue of immigration.”

2005 was the first year Fukunaga attended the Festival as a filmmaker. “It really is a celebration of the craft of filmmaking,” he said. “Everyone there knows how hard it is to make a film. It just consumes you in every way. And then you get to Sundance and you finally come out of your shell, you get to experience your life again. You’re surrounded by people who are exactly where they want to be at that time, and there’s a kind of euphoria.”

Fukunaga said that having the short be a part of the Sundance Online Film Festival is one way to expand the audience for the film. “The Online Festival allows anyone anywhere in the world to watch this film at any time they want,” he said. “And as a young filmmaker, it’s a great opportunity to get work shown to a wider audience. I’ve seen message boards where people say that watching (the film) online did affect them so I know it’s getting out there. That makes me feel that what I’m doing is worthwhile.”

The truck’s driver, a Jamaican immigrant, was recently found guilty in U.S. District Court on multiple counts of smuggling immigrants across the border. When asked about the trial, Fukunaga said, “I can’t pass judgment on this. I don’t have access to all the facts, and I didn’t want to make an archetypal villain in this film. I’m interested in how people treat one another every day and this case exemplifies the commodification of people. It deals with that very fragile line between what is civilized and what isn’t.”

To watch this film and a selection of other shorts from the Festival for free, visit www.sundance.org, click on the SOFF logo, and go to the Sundance Shorts section of the site. In addition to short films, SOFF brings filmmaker interviews, video highlights, experimental digital arts, and more to any desktop in the world through June 30, 2005.

Cary Fukunaga is pursuing an MFA in Film at New York University. Victoria Para Chino recently received awards at the Tiburon, Milano, and Guadalajara Film Festivals. Fukunaga, is now involved in a variety of feature and short film projects.

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.

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.

In a career spanning four decades, Robert Altman has come to embody the independent spirit by working primarily outside of the confines of the traditional Hollywood system. He is widely recognized as a pivotal figure in contemporary cinema, and a true maverick responsible for many of the defining motion pictures of the past 30 years. Mr. Altman’s connection with Sundance Institute goes back to 1985 when his film Secret Honor premiered at the U.S. Film Festival, which was the first year that the Festival was part of the Institute’s programs. Since then, the Festival has screened Beyond Therapy (1987), Vincent & Theo (1991), and Cookie’s Fortune (Opening Night – 1999) and in 1991 presented a retrospective of Altman films.

Tony Kushner intends his work to be part of a greater political movement. His work is concerned with moral responsibility during politically repressive times. In his 20-year career he has written and edited numerous plays, musicals, books, and screenplays. He first experienced Sundance in 1990, when he workshopped his award-winning seven-hour, two-part, play Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes at the Institute’s annual Theatre Lab. Angels in America went on to receive a Pulitzer Prize, two Tony Awards, two Drama Desk Awards, the Evening Standard Award, two Olivier Award Nominations, the New York Critics Circle Award, the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award, and the LAMBDA Literary Award for Drama. Mr. Kushner’s award will be presented by George C. Wolfe, former Director of the Public Theater, and director of the film Lackawanna Blues, which premiered at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival.

Starbucks Chairman and Chief Global Strategist Howard Schultz is the driving force behind one of the world’s leading corporate citizens. Throughout his career, Mr. Schultz has been distinguished by his combination of corporate and community leadership, and has helped to redefine the role of international business by making choices that are inclusive of artists, music and technology. As a sustaining sponsor of the Sundance Film Festival, Starbucks directly supports programs that encourage and support emerging filmmakers and artists. Mr. Schultz’s award will be presented by Sundance Institute Board member and President of Ariel Capital Management, Inc., Mellody Hobson.

Hosted by actor and filmmaker Stanley Tucci, the event will take place at Gotham Hall, 1356 Broadway at 36th Street in New York City. More information is available by calling 310.360.1981 or by visiting the Sundance Institute Website at www.sundance.org.

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.