Eclectic and Diverse Short Film Program Rounds Out 2006 Film Festival
On the heels of last week’s announcements of the 120 feature films selected for the 2006 Sundance Film Festival, today’s announcement of 73 short films made public the complete program for the 2006 Festival. Encompassing dramatic, documentary, animated, and experimental work from the U.S. and around the world, the Festival’s short film line up introduces audiences to some of the most compelling new voices and original stories in filmmaking.

In addition to playing for audiences in Park City, Utah, during the Festival from January 19-29, the shorts programs and Festival highlights will be available globally and for free at the Sundance Film Festival Online at www.sundance.org starting January 19.

“These short films embody the creativity, spirit, and freedom of expression that have become synonymous with the Sundance Film Festival,” says Trevor Groth, Senior Programmer for the Festival. “Increasingly, short filmmakers are embracing the form for its intrinsic value, not as a calling card or jumping off point for features, which is an exciting development. From harrowing documentaries and poetic narratives on artists and their work, to novel use of animation, there are some powerful surprised in these films.”

Selected from 4,327 submissions, short s will screen at the Festival before feature-length films and together as part of six short film programs, a special program of animated shorts and in the Festival’s Frontier category. The line up of shorts includes 42 American and 31 international films representing 17 countries. The Festival has a long tradition of screening short films, and officially launched its Short Film Program in 1991. Feature film directors whose early short films were shown at the Festival include Todd Haynes, Spike Jones, Paul Thomas Anderson, Wes Anderson, David O. Russell, Lisa Kruger, Peter Sollett, Patricia Cardoso, Tamara Jenkins, Trey Parker and Matt Stone.

Preparations for the Sundance Film Festival are now underway in Park City, Utah. The Festival will screen 120 features and 73 shorts for audiences exceeding 40,000.

Sundance Film Festival Online
As the Festival approaches, www.sundance.org is your first source for the best information on Festival films, tickets, and tips for planning your trip. Starting December 15, you can download the 2006 Film Guide and when the Festival opens on January 19, the premieres begin of the same short films audiences are enjoying in Park City, along with Live @ Sundance daily video highlights.

Visitor donations and support from Adobe help keep the Sundance Shorts free to anyone, anywhere in the world. And continuing through May, 2006, visitors to www.sundance.org can register to win a monthly drawing for a full Adobe Video Collection Pro software suite. Click here to enter the Adobe drawing and to visit www.sundance.org.

Theatre Lab at White Oak Now Developing New Musical and Ensemble Pieces
At the Institute’s fourth annual Theatre Lab at White Oak, the creative team of Michael Korie and Scott Frankel and the New York-based theatre company The Civilians will develop their new work in musical theatre. During the program which runs December 5-17 at the White Oak Plantation in Yulee, Florida, Korie and Frankel will develop DOLL, and The Civilians will work on their ensemble piece Nobody’s Lunch. To support the development of innovative musical theatre and company-created work, the Lab at White Oak offers theatre artists the time and creative resources to rehearse, rewrite, and develop their new work over a two-week period. Full story.

Institute Celebrates 25h Anniversary with “Sundance Film Festival DVD Collection”
In celebration of Sundance Institute’s 25th anniversary in 2006, a special 11-disc DVD box set featuring ten of the most groundbreaking independent films supported by the Institute’s Filmmakers Labs or shown at the Sundance Film Festival over the years will be released to retail outlets on December 6, 2005. Films in the Collection are sex, lies, and videotape, Clerks, The Usual Suspects, Smoke Signals, American Movie, Boys Don’t Cry, In the Bedroom, Real Women Have Curves, Capturing the Friedmans, and American Splendor. A special features DVD presents interviews and behind-the-scenes coverage of the Labs and the Film Festival. Proceeds from the collection benefit the Institute’s work towards the discovery and development of independent artists and audiences. The collection is available at outlets such as amazon.com, Borders, and Barnes and Noble. Full story.

Institute’s Utah Headquarters to Relocate to Park City, Utah in Fall 2006
In a move scheduled for early fall, 2006, Sundance Institute will relocate its Utah headquarters from Salt Lake City to Park City, Utah. The move is part of a new agreement between the Institute and the Park City Municipal Cooperation that also ensures that the Festival remains in Park City through 2018.

“We have enjoyed being part of the Park City community for more than 20 years through the Film Festival and this agreement formalizes our relationship on a year-round basis and for a long time to come.”
Full story.

Sundance Institute staff toured their new offices offices at Park City’s new Silver Star development.

Sundance Institute Doc Film Series Presents a "Sneak Peak" from the 2006 Film Festival on January 5
On January 5, the Sundance Doc Film Series presents a “Sneak Peak” screening of a documentary film selected for the 2006 Sundance Film Festival, which will take place January 19-29 in and around Park City, Utah. All screenings take place the first Thursday of the month and are held in the Jim Santy Auditorium of the Park City Library at 7:00 p.m. Q&A sessions with special guests follow each screening. Full schedule.