The Latest
Carrie Lozano Joins Sundance Institute as Director, Documentary Film Program
Award-Winning Documentary Filmmaker & Journalist to Lead Support of Nonfiction FieldLos Angeles, CA — Sundance Institute today announced that Carrie Lozano will helm its Documentary Film Program, succeeding interim Director Kristin Feeley and prior Director Tabitha Jackson.
As Documentary Film Program Director, Lozano will elevate and support nonfiction filmmakers worldwide at all stages of creating and distributing new cinematic work. She will also work to advance and elevate the health of the independent nonfiction field, ensuring that diverse forms, viewpoints, and participants continue to be central to all Institute programs, which include Labs, global and national partnerships and film funds.
Sundance-Supported Releases to Watch in September, from ‘The Mole Agent’ to ‘Kajillionaire’
September’s slate of Sundance Institute–supported releases features a strong lineup of documentaries that run the gamut from the heartwarming to the harrowing. On the human connection side of the spectrum, Maite Alberdi’s The Mole Agent follows 83-year-old Sergio, who goes undercover to investigate a nursing home but bungles the spy-gear technology and can’t seem to stay on course with the mission. An all-in-one uplifting, cutely funny but meaningful tearjerker, it’s the film we all need in 2020.
10 Inspiring Activism Documentaries to Re-energize Your Fight for Change
The Sundance Film Festival has long been a destination for inspiring documentaries that capture the indomitable spirit of those on the frontlines of world-changing movements—from Mark Kitchell’s 1991 student activism doc Berkeley in the Sixties, to 2012’s wealth inequality exposé We’re Not Broke, to 2017’s Whose Streets?, in which a Ferguson protester implores, “We have to raise a generation of activists. If there’s going to be any change, it starts with our children.” These words are proving true today as young people now lead the swelling antiracism movement across the country and the world.
‘Spree’ Director on the Link between Attention Culture and Violence
Eugene Kotlyarenko’s thriller Spree is now streaming after its premiere at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival. Equal parts horror and satire, the film plays out almost entirely through the device screens of its main character and villain, rideshare driver and wannabe influencer Kurt (Joe Keery). Desperate for the validation of strangers, Kurt turns his unsuccessful social media account into a livestream of deadly attacks on his passengers, which only gets more twisted as he amasses more followers.
Now Streaming: ‘The Mole Agent’ Will Make You Want to Call Your Parents the Moment You Leave the Theater
At the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, Maite Alberdi’s documentary The Mole Agent had its world premiere. Below, hear what the filmmaker had to say in Park City; then go watch the project, which is now available to rent on most streaming platforms. “All right.
Now Streaming: ‘Spree’ Takes on Livestreaming, Social Media, and the Gig Economy
Eugene Kotlyarenko’s thriller Spree—a selection at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival—begins streaming on Friday, August 14. Below, hear what the writer/director had to say in Park City at the film’s world premiere.“I’m going to livestream this.
Sundance Institute Announces Inaugural Cohort of Women at Sundance | Adobe Fellows
New Fellowship Offers Custom-Tailored Mentorship, Community, and Cash Grant from Sundance Institute and Adobe
11 Women Artists, Creating Bold New Work Across Diverse Disciplines, Selected for Year of Comprehensive Support
Los Angeles — Sundance Institute announced today the 11 artists selected for its first-ever Women at Sundance | Adobe Fellowship, designed to meaningfully support women artists creating bold new work in film and media, with a priority on filmmakers from historically underrepresented communities. The fellowship includes a $5,000 cash grant, skill-building workshops, and year-round mentorship from Sundance Institute staff and Adobe executives. Fellows were selected by Adobe from Sundance Institute’s community of supported artists across program disciplines.
Annual Sundance Institute Intensive for Indigenous Artists Held August 3-7, 2020
LOS ANGELES — Six Indigenous filmmakers participated in the 2020 Sundance Institute Indigenous Intensive held August 3-7, redesigned digitally on Sundance Co//ab . The Intensive focused on the advancement of storytellers’ projects under the guidance of experienced Creative Advisors and Sundance Institute’s Indigenous Program. The Intensive is presented by WarnerMedia.
Now Streaming: ‘Boys State’ Offers Up Political Hope in the Form of a Texas-Sized Youth Election
Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss’s film Boys State begins streaming on Apple TV+ today. The project won the U.S.
Streaming in August: ‘The Go-Go’s,’ ‘Spree,’ and More
At the top of the list of Sundance Institute–supported films coming to streaming platforms this month is Alison Ellwood’s doc The Go-Go’s, the heart-and-drama-fueled saga of the eponymous 1980s punk-turned-pop band who paved the way for women in the music industry. Though the film does delve into the more salacious parts of the group’s history, it also shows the human side of the band caught between conflicting images as both “America’s sweethearts” and “drug-crazed demons.”
For an inspiring documentary about the dogged Filipina reporter leading the charge for a free press despite pervasive threats from the authoritarian government, watch Ramona S.
Sundance Institute’s Short Film Intensive: Detroit Fellows Announced
Detroit, MI — Sundance Institute announced the cohort of Fellows for the Short Film Intensive: Detroit, which took place July 23-24, 2020 digitally on Co//ab, the Institute’s online community platform. Select filmmakers with short film projects in production met with advisors and Sundance film programmers and staff to discuss their projects and how to navigate the film festival world and career development.
The Intensive is part of the Knight Fellows Project, an initiative supported by the John S.
Sundance Institute Announces 2020 Creative Producing Labs Fellows
Los Angeles — Sundance Institute today announced Fellows and Advisors for the five-day 2020 Creative Producing Labs, redesigned digitally to take place for the first time ever on Sundance Co//ab. The Labs begin July 27, and is a flagship convening for the Institute’s Creative Producing Program, which champions and develops current and rising generations of independent producers across fiction and nonfiction film.
Under the leadership of Creative Producing and Artist Support Director Shira Rockowitz and Documentary Film Program Interim Director Kristin Feeley, the program features year-round industry mentorship, granting, and opportunities to connect with potential financiers in addition to the annual Labs, to develop emerging producers’ holistic creative and strategic skillset for an evolving industry.
In Memoriam: Jonathan Oppenheim, 1952–2020
Tabitha Jackson
Jonathan Oppenheim who died on July 16th was an editor, a beloved member of the documentary community and a longtime Lab advisor at the Sundance Edit and Story Lab. Some of his 24 credits included Paris is Burning (dir: Jennie Livingston), the Oscar nominated films Streetwise (dir: Martin Bell) and Children Underground (dir: Edet Belzberg), Arguing the World (dir: Joseph Dorman), The Oath (dir: Laura Poitras), William and the Windmill (dir: Ben Nabors), Andre Gregory: Before and After Dinner (dir: Cindy Kleine) and Blowin’ Up (dir: Stephanie Wang-Breal). He was an artist, a philosopher, a meaning-maker and an implacable champion of documentary as an artform.
2020 Film Music and Sound Design Lab
Los Angeles and Marin, CA — Sundance Institute and Skywalker Sound today announced the composers and directors selected for the Film Music and Sound Design Lab in collaboration with Skywalker Sound, reimagined and expressed digitally this year on Sundance Co//ab. The Lab provides Fellows with firsthand experience of the collaborative process with the goal of nurturing the development of music in film.
During the Lab, composers, directors and sound designers will experiment and explore new approaches to music and sound for fiction and nonfiction film projects.
Michelle Satter on Reimagining Sundance Institute’s Summer Labs
Michelle Satter is the director of Sundance Institute’s Feature Film Program, a post she has held since the Institute was founded in 1981. In the letter below, she offers insights into how the Institute’s signature Labs have been carefully adapted and reimagined to go digital on Sundance Co//ab.
For the thousands who gather in Park City each winter, the Sundance Film Festival is the most visible part of Sundance Institute.