The Latest
Programme Announced For 2017 Sundance Film Festival: London
Picturehouse Central, 25 April 2017 — Sundance Institute and Picturehouse announced today the programme of feature films, short films and panel discussions for the 2017 Sundance Film Festival: London, taking place 1-4 June at Picturehouse Central. Festival passes are on sale now, find out more at picturehouses.com/sundance.
Playwrights Residency German Syrian Theatremakers
Focused Support & Mentorship Program Culminates in Public Performances at Maxim Gorki Theater
يُختتم البرنامج الذي يركز على الدعم والتوجيه بقراءات مفتوحة للجمهور في مسرح ماكسيم غوركي
Berlin and Neuklostersee, Germany Six Europe-based Syrian playwrights will create new work in Arabic
as part of Sundance Institutes Playwrights Residency in Berlin and Neuklostersee, continuing the Theatre Programs
mission-driven tradition of nurturing and amplifying emerging and established playwrights at the cutting edge of
their craft, and furthers their support of work from the Middle East and North Africa.
Table reads for the selected projects will take place May 3-4 at Berlin’s HAU
Studio
; casts will be drawn from the Berlin theatre community. Operations then move to Neuklostersee for six days of workshops and development-focused conversations with an international cohort of mentors and professionals.
Beatriz At Dinner To Open Sundance Film Festival: London
Salma Hayek as ‘Beatriz’ / Photographer credit: Lacey Terrell- click to watch the U.S. trailer for Beatriz at Dinner –
Picturehouse Central, 18 April 2017 — Sundance Institute and Picturehouse announced today that the 2017 Sundance Film Festival: London will open with the European premiere of Beatriz at Dinner.
‘Bending the Arc’ Screens at the Skoll World Forum
Bending the Arc, a Stories of Change supported film that revisits a group of health advocates’ unprecedented mission to make quality healthcare available to everyone, screened in Oxford to an audience of 500 as part of the Skoll World Forum. Tabitha Jackson led a post-film discussion with subjects Jim Yong Kim, Dr. Paul Farmer, Professor Agnes Binagwaho, Cori Shepherd Stern and Melquiades Huauya Oré.
Ask Yourself These Questions When Developing Your Documentary Film
Kevin Sharpley recently attended the Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program’s Story Development Workshop supported by the Knight Foundation, which offers intensive story development sessions for a group of select nonfiction filmmakers from the Miami area. Below, he shares his learnings: the questions you should ask when developing your documentary film.When I walked into the room at the Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program’s Story Development Workshop in Miami, it felt electric.
‘All These Sleepless Nights’: The Party Never Stops in Poland
All These Sleepless Nights opens Friday, April 7, at the Nuart Theatre in Los Angeles before expanding throughout the country. The following interview was originally published during the film’s premiere at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival. The music pounds, young people flirt and dance and mope and opine, and the camera swings all around them, doing more than just watch.
‘Selah and the Spades’ Director Tayarisha Poe: “Something Was Wrong with My Script”
When I applied to the Sundance Institute Screenwriters Lab, I knew there was something wrong with my script. When I interviewed for the lab, I once again shared that feeling. And then when I got the call from Michelle Satter and Ilyse McKimmie welcoming me and my story (Selah and the Spades) into the fold, I felt a quiet relief—like finally getting an appointment to see a doctor after months of a very sore throat.
‘Indecent’: The Story of a 1920s Yiddish Play and its Obscenity Charges Comes to Broadway
Broadway previews for “Indecent” begin April 4. Click here for discounted tickets by using the code INSUN224.
The year was 1923.
‘Women Who Kill’ Director on the (Almost) Impossible Task of Getting a Second Feature Film Made
Ingrid Jungermann was nominated for the Independent Spirit Someone to Watch Award for her debut feature, Women Who Kill, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. She recently attended Sundance Institute’s two-day intensive as part of the FilmTwo Initiative, which provides support to a diverse group of independent filmmakers in response to the specific challenges they face in developing and completing their second feature film.
Making your first feature film shouldn’t happen.
Craig Johnson on Woody Harrelson’s “Likability” and the Misanthropic ‘Wilson’
Ed. note: This interview was originally published following the premiere of “Wilson” at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival.
For his third feature film, director Craig Johnson opted to do something he’d never done before — direct a screenplay he didn’t write.
“We Make the World Go Round”: 14 Women on Why We Need Women’s Voices
The film industry’s gender paradox remains a perplexing one. Its challenges have been expounded through research, combatted with resources, and at least partially rectified through more films made by women—largely presented at independent film festivals throughout the country. But we continue to overlook the voices of women in film at a rate that perpetuates cinema’s homogeneity, particularly when it comes to the box office.
‘Nine Days’ Filmmaker Edson Oda Exploring the Power of Vulnerability in Screenwriting
Edson Oda is a Los Angeles–based, Brazilian writer/director of Japanese descent and a recipient of the Asian American Feature Film Program Fellowship, supported by the A3 Foundation. Oda’s fellowship included participation at the January Screenwriters Lab with his project “Nine Days,” which he writes about below.
Since I moved to the U.
Are You a Native Artist Looking to Get Your Film Made? Apply Now for the 2017 Fellowship
Razelle Benally is of Oglala Lakota and Navajo blood and an alumna of the 2012 and 2015 Native Filmmaker Labs with her short film project “I Am Thy Weapon.” Click here for more information on how to apply to the Native Filmmaker Lab available to Native American, Native Hawaiian, and Alaskan Native film artists working in the U.S.
A Ukrainian Refugee’s Ode to Cuba Comes to the Stage in Havana
Librettist Elise Thoron and composer Frank London’s new opera “Hatuey: Memory of Fire” premieres in Havana this March. Below they retrace their journey at the Sundance Institute Theatre Program’s residency at Ucross, their recent rehearsals, and the cultural significance of opening their play in Cuba.
Sitting having a daiquiri at the Nacional Hotel, gazing at the vast sea, down the Malecon with palm trees golden in afternoon sun, words from our new Cuban nightclub opera Hatuey Memoria del Fuego float in our head: “S’z himl un vaser un shtilkayt in bloy…” (Sky and water and stillness in blue…) Our hero Oscar was a young poet who came to Havana from the frozen steppe of the Ukraine.
Sundance Institute Announces Lynne Diane Gugenheim as Chief Advancement Officer
Los Angeles, CA — Sundance Institute announced today the appointment of Lynne Diane Gugenheim as Chief Advancement Officer, overseeing all development activities for the Institute’s year-round programs for independent artists.
In her new role as part of the Institute’s Leadership team, Gugenheim will participate in shaping the Institute’s strategy, lead the organization’s work sourcing, structuring and stewarding of contributed revenue from foundations, corporations and individuals, as well as all development events, including its annual benefit. She reports to Executive Director Keri Putnam and will work closely with the Board of Trustees including Chair Pat Mitchell and Jacki Zehner, chair of the Development Committee.