The Latest

Perspectives: Miciana Alise and Daniel Hyde on Creating Black and Indigenous Narratives

Since its founding, the Sundance Institute has supported and advocated Indigenous artists and voices. Today, nearly 40 years later, in a continuation of our commitment to Indigenous artists, we are proud to publish a new series, Perspectives, from the Sundance Institute’s Indigenous Program, featuring Indigenous artists who have been supported by the Institute’s Indigenous Program and whose work continues to broaden and champion all Indigenous experiences. As we prepare to close out Black History Month, we present the first in the series, in which we talk with artists Miciana Alise (Tlingit) and Daniel Hyde (Navajo).

Black Visionaries: A Chat with Jason Fitzroy Jeffers of Third Horizon

At the Sundance Institute, we firmly believe that Black artists and Black stories should be celebrated and uplifted year-round. During February, aka Black History Month, we’re continuing that work with a series we’re calling Black Visionaries, in which we’ll be spotlighting our friends at Black-run arts organizations around the country. So far, we’ve talked with leaders of the Harlem-based nonprofit Firelight Media; Iyabo Boyd, founder of Brown Girls Doc Mafia; and Brickson Diamond, a founding board member and chair of the Blackhouse Foundation.

Black Visionaries: A Chat with Brickson Diamond of the Blackhouse Foundation

At the Sundance Institute, we firmly believe that Black artists and Black stories should be celebrated and uplifted year-round. During February, aka Black History Month, we’re continuing that work with a series we’re calling Black Visionaries, in which we’ll be spotlighting our friends at Black-run arts organizations around the country. So far, we’ve talked with leaders of the Harlem-based nonprofit Firelight Media as well as Iyabo Boyd, founder of Brown Girls Doc Mafia.

Black Visionaries: A Chat with Iyabo Boyd of Brown Girls Doc Mafia

At the Sundance Institute, we firmly believe that Black artists and Black stories should be celebrated and uplifted year-round. During February, aka Black History Month, we’re continuing that work with a series we’re calling Black Visionaries, in which we’ll be spotlighting our friends at Black-run arts organizations around the country. Last week, we talked with Brooklyn-based nonprofit Firelight Media, and this week we’re chatting with filmmaker Iyabo Boyd, founder of Brown Girls Doc Mafia.

12 Sundance Institute–Supported Projects from the 2021 Sundance Film Festival

Back in 2015, writer-director Christopher Makoto Yogi was one of eight filmmakers who spent several weeks of their summer at the Sundance Resort for the Sundance Institute’s annual Directors Lab. Under the guidance of creative advisors like Joshua Marston, Miguel Arteta, Kasi Lemmons, and the late Lynn Shelton, Makoto Yogi was there to work on I Was a Simple Man, a ghost story set in the pastoral countryside of the north shore of Oahu, Hawai’i.
Nearly six years later, at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, Makoto Yogi’s film had its world premiere, along with 11 other projects that were directly supported by the nonprofit Institute’s various labs, grants, and programs.

Black Visionaries: Turning a Spotlight on Firelight Media

At the Sundance Institute, we firmly believe that Black artists and Black stories should be celebrated and uplifted year-round. During February, aka Black History Month, we’re continuing that work with a series we’re calling Black Visionaries, in which we’ll be spotlighting our friends at Black-run arts organizations around the country. First up, we checked in with Harlem-based nonprofit Firelight Media, which produces documentary films by and about communities of color, supports emerging filmmakers of color, and cultivates audiences for their work.

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2021 Sundance Film Festival Announces Audience Attendance

Park City, UT —The nonprofit Sundance Institute announced attendance information for the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, which took place both online and in-person in 20 cities across the country from January 28 through February 3. The seven day Festival reached a total audience 2.7 times larger than at the typical 11-day Utah edition, despite the shorter duration and with fewer feature films (73) than the festival’s typical 120 features.

Sundance-Supported New Releases for February, from “Land” to “Judas and the Black Messiah”

Just days after its world premiere at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, Shaka King’s second feature, Judas and the Black Messiah, has already racked up two Golden Globe nominations (for Daniel Kaluuya’s supporting turn as Fred Hampton and for its original song, “Fight for You”). Luckily for you, if you missed it during our online screenings, you won’t have to wait long to catch the drama, which also features Festival alum LaKeith Stanfield. The project begins streaming on HBO Max next Friday, February 12; it will also have a limited theatrical run.

“Promising Young Woman,” “The Father” Lead Sundance-Supported Golden Globe Nominees

This morning, the nominees for the 2021 Golden Globe Awards were announced by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, and we want to congratulate all of the projects with ties to the Sundance Institute and the Sundance Film Festival for being recognized.

Promising Young Woman and The Father led the Sundance-supported nominees with four apiece. Promising Young Woman received nods for Best Motion Picture, Drama; Best Screenplay; for Carey Mulligan’s lead performance; and for Emerald Fennell’s direction on her debut feature.

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2021 Sundance Film Festival Awards Announced

Park City, UT — After six days and 73 feature films, the 2021 Sundance Film Festival’s Awards Ceremony took place tonight, hosted by actor and comedian Patton Oswalt, with jurors presenting 24 prizes for feature filmmaking and seven for short films. Honorees, named in total below, represent new achievements in global independent storytelling. Bold, intimate, and humanizing stories prevailed across categories, with Grand Jury Prizes awarded to CODA (U.

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Sundance Institute Announces Marja Bål Nango as 2021 Merata Mita Fellow

PARK CITY, Utah, Jan. 29, 2021 — Sundance Institute today announced Marja Bål Nango (Sámi) as the 2021 recipient of the Merata Mita Fellowship, an annual fellowship named in honor of the late Māori filmmaker Merata Mita (1942-2010). The announcement was delivered today at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival’s Native Forum Celebration by N.