The Latest
The Sundance Institute’s Safety and Belonging Survey
In June, the Sundance Institute publicly acknowledged that our Festival and Labs have not always been safe spaces for our BIPOC community members. We reaffirmed our commitment to the principles central to our mission: equity, inclusivity, and accessibility, and our commitment to reimagine the Sundance experience at our Festival and beyond. A critical part of this process is to engage more deeply with our community of artists, audiences, and staff to identify and understand past experiences so that we can use the information to shape safer and more inclusive spaces, especially in time for the 2021 Festival.
6 Compelling Documentaries That Shed Light on Our Election Process
For most of us, 2020 has been a difficult year—one that has reminded us over and over again just how important it is that we stay actively engaged in our communities and in our political system at large. And, of course, while there’s more than one way to do your civic duty wherever you live, with Election Day less than a week away here in the United States, we hope voting is top of mind for you right now. It’s time to let your voice be heard.
Please Vote: A Letter from Sundance Institute Executive Director Keri Putnam
Last January, many of us were together in Park City, preparing ourselves for what we thought was already shaping up to be a tumultuous year. (Little did we know!)
As we kicked off the Festival, we reflected on the fact that, especially in volatile times, democracy and storytelling aren’t separate — they’re inextricably linked. And having a multiplicity of diverse voices telling independent, authentic stories is as critical to art and media as it is to politics and government.
Sundance Institute Announces Seven New Members of Board of Trustees
The Institute Continues to Shape Board Leadership for Future
Los Angeles — The nonprofit Sundance Institute today announced the newly appointed and recent additions to the Institute’s Board of Trustees. Kimberlé Crenshaw, Ann Lewnes, Wonya Lucas join the board alongside Uzodinma Iweala, Amanda Kelso, William Plapinger, and Junaid Sarieddeen who joined over the last year. Together they add to the business, cultural, and philanthropic leaders who guide and steer the entire organization and also act in an advisory capacity.
Off the Mountain: A Peek Inside the Sundance Institute’s Digital Summer Labs
Dogfight, A Dry White Season, The 40-Year-Old Version, El Norte, Reservoir Dogs, The Wood, Pretty Woman—these are just a few of the memorable independent films that have gone through the Sundance Institute’s summer labs over the past four decades. Bringing together established mentors and exciting talent from a wide range of artistic disciplines, the labs have been a core part of the nonprofit Institute’s mission since the very beginning.
From 1981 up until this year, most of these gatherings have taken place high in the mountains of Utah at the Sundance Resort, an idyllic backdrop that allows participants from all over the world—among them directors, screenwriters, XR artists, actors, playwrights, composers, and editors—to shut out the demands and pressures of the outside world and really focus on their craft.
‘Through the Night’ Director Loira Limbal on Bringing Visibility to the Radical Act of Caregiving
Loira Limbal’s documentary Through the Night is currently streaming at various festivals and online events nationwide; it will open in theaters on December 11. In the meantime, you can watch the trailer here.
Loira Limbal’s Through the Night is set at a 24-hour daycare center in Westchester, New York.
‘Possessor’ Director Brandon Cronenberg on the Battle Between Civilized Society and Our Interior Ape Selves
Back in January — before we all started stocking up on hand sanitizer, customizing reusable face masks, and becoming intimately acquainted with the many intricacies of Zoom — Brandon Cronenberg arrived in Park City for his first-ever Sundance Film Festival, where he was set to premiere his second-ever feature, Possessor.
Featuring a trio of deeply unsettling performances by Andrea Riseborough, Christopher Abbott, and Jennifer Jason Leigh, the film, retitled Possessor Uncut for its limited theatrical U.S.
‘Time’ Director Garrett Bradley on the Importance of Creative Community and Confronting the Idea of the Auteur
Garrett Bradley’s documentary Time premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, where Bradley took home the Directing Award in the U.S. Documentary Competition.
Leya Hale on the Legacy of the Late Māori Filmmaker Merata Mita
In January during the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, director and producer Leya Hale (Dakota/Diné) was announced as the recipient of this year’s Merata Mita Fellowship. Named in honor of the late Māori filmmaker and longtime artistic director of the Institute’s Native Lab, the fellowship cultivates a stage for Indigenous women worldwide to tell their stories and offers a year-long continuum of support, mentorship, and a trip to the 2020 Sundance Film Festival. Applications for the 2021 Merata Mita Fellowship are now open; submit your materials by October 26.
’Storytelling Is Sacred Medicine’: Native Filmmakers on the Importance Indigenous Peoples’ Day
In a year marked by a devastating global pandemic that has disproportionately affected Black, Indigenous, and communities of color, as well as societal unrest spurred by systemic racism and violence, Indigenous artists across the country have found strength in the ways of their ancestors. From the shores of Hawai’i to the heart of the Seneca-Cayuga Nation, they have reconnected with their families and their land, lent their assistance to those in need in their communities, stood with #BlackLivesMatter in the fight against white supremacy, and helped topple monuments venerating genocide and colonialism.
As we prepare to celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day on Monday, October 12, we asked three Native filmmakers — all alumni of Sundance Institute’s Indigenous Program — to reflect upon the holiday’s significance amidst this challenging but transformative year.
Sundance Institute Names 12 Fellows for Reimagined Episodic Lab: Pilot to Series
Los Angeles — Sundance Institute announced today the 12 fellows chosen to participate in its first-ever Episodic: Pilot to Series Lab, designed as an immersive two-part experience hosted on Sundance Collab, where selected emerging TV writers will workshop an original pilot and develop a series overview.
Beginning with the Lab, Fellows will benefit from a full year of customized, ongoing support from Feature Film Program staff, Creative Advisors and Industry Mentors, led by Founding Director of the Sundance Institute Feature Film Program, Michelle Satter and Director of the Episodic Program, Jennifer Goyne Blake. Working with accomplished showrunners, the Fellows will participate in one-on-one story meetings, craft workshops, and Writers’ Rooms, which together provide creative and strategic tools for success.
Now Streaming: Starring in ‘Charm City Kings’ Has Already Changed the Lives of Real-Life Baltimore Dirt-Bikers
Angel Manuel Soto’s Charm City Kings made its debut at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival and recently began streaming on HBO Max. Hear what the project’s director and cast had to say at the film’s world premiere.Based on the documentary 12 O’Clock Boys, about a young boy who dreams of joining the same notorious group of Baltimore dirt-bike riders his late brother used to ride with, Charm City Kings is a jolt of adrenaline to the coming-of-age genre, with a star-making performance by Jahi Di’Allo Winston as 13-year-old Mouse.
12 Sundance-Supported Stories to Watch During Latinx Heritage Month
Shari Frilot, Ana Souza, and Dilcia Barrera are programmers at the Sundance Film Festival.
Latinx Heritage Month has arrived in the United States in time for us to shine a light on our Latinx community, which has always shown itself to be unapologetically diverse, creative, and resilient, with a richness of stories that traverse cultural, generational, and language barriers. Never has it felt more urgent or pressing for us to understand the Latinx experience and celebrate it than now, in a year of tumultuous change and unprecedented dangers to the community.
Sundance-Supported Releases to Watch in October, for the Horror Fan and Otherwise
If you can use some levity in your Halloween movie nights this year, check out three picks from the 2020 Sundance Film Festival that infuse a bit of comedy into the traditional horror genre. In Justin Simien’s satirical, ’80s-set Bad Hair, a weave takes on a mind of its own as an ambitious young woman tries everything to succeed in the image-obsessed world of music television.
For more laughs than scares, watch Josh Ruben’s cabin-fire storytelling romp Scare Me, or catch Alex Huston Fischer and Eleanor Wilson’s Save Yourselves!, an apocalyptic satire in which a decidedly nonsurvivalist millennial couple face an invasion from an otherworldly force.
Gina Duncan Joins Sundance Institute as Producing Director, Sundance Film Festival
LOS ANGELES — The Sundance Institute today announced that Gina Duncan will join the Sundance Film Festival team in the newly created role of Producing Director, reporting to Festival Director Tabitha Jackson and working closely with Programming Director Kim Yutani.
As Producing Director, Duncan will integrate the artistic vision of the Festival with its practical, audience-facing elements. She’ll work with the programming team as they curate works for exhibition, and serve as a leader for creating strategic vision and decision-making on both the Sundance Film Festival and year-round public programs.