Nominations for the 89th Academy Awards were announced this morning and Kenneth Lonergan’s Manchester by the Sea, which premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival, led all Sundance-supported films with six nominees, including Best Picture and Best Director honors. Casey Affleck earned a Best Actor nomination for his masterful portrayal of Lee, a man whose life of solitude is somehow reignited by tragedy, while newcomer Lucas Hedges received a Best Supporting Actor for his role as Lee’s nephew, Patrick. On the documentary side, three premieres from the 2016 Festival round out the Best Documentary Feature category.

Park City, UT — Amie Batalibasi (Australian Solomon Islander, Feralimae/Kosi) from Melbourne, Australia, is the 2017 recipient of the Sundance Institute 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 2017 Sundance Film Festival.For the second consecutive year, Sundance Institute has identified a Native or Indigenous filmmaker from a global pool of nominees to award a cash grant and provide a year-long continuum of support with activities including a trip to the Sundance Film Festival, access to strategic and creative services offered by Sundance Institute artist programs, and mentorship opportunities.

Sundance.org is dispatching its writers to daily screenings and events to capture the 10 days of festivities during the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. Check back each morning for roundups from the previous day’s events.

Park City, UT — Sundance Institute and The Will & Jada Smith Family Foundation will collaborate to support diverse independent artists, they announced today at a reception at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival. As part of a two-year commitment, the Foundation will support the Institute’s Screenwriters Intensive and year-round work with diverse independent filmmakers and artists.The Screenwriters Intensive, part of the Institute’s Feature Film Program, provides the opportunity for 10 emerging screenwriters from underrepresented communities to hone their craft in a two-day workshop focused deeply on the creative process.

While millions of people gathered throughout the U.S. and around the world on Saturday for the Women’s March, an estimated 8,000 turned out in Park City—a total exceeding the town’s year-round population.

Sundance.org is dispatching its writers to daily screenings and events to capture the 10 days of festivities during the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. Check back each morning for roundups from the previous day’s events.

Sundance.org is dispatching its writers to daily screenings and events to capture the 10 days of festivities during the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. Check back each morning for roundups from the previous day’s events.

Sundance.org is dispatching its writers to daily screenings and events to capture the 10 days of festivities during the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. Check back each morning for roundups from the previous day’s events.

New York, NY — Six theatre artists will be the focus of the 18th annual Sundance Institute Retreat at Ucross Foundation in Wyoming, taking place January 23 – February 10. Designed to support theatrical writing in its earliest stages, the residency is dedicated to uninhibited creativity, peer mentorship and professional growth.
This year’s group of artists includes experienced composers, playwrights, a performer, and multihyphenate combinations; the residency comprises focused writing and creative time punctuated with organic, sporadic, collaborative time to reflect on process and the world at large.

Park City, UT — The excitement of the 2017 Sundance Film Festival happens both on-screen and off, with a robust slate of panels and music performances, many of which are free and live streamed so independent film and music fans can tune in from anywhere.
John Cooper, Director of the Sundance Film Festival, said, “The conversations that start at the Festival and spread well beyond the mountain can now do so in realtime. Thanks to our live streams, fans of independent film and the latest in storytelling can connect with creative minds, get stories from behind the screen, and add context to the work we showcase.

We hope to see you in the flesh at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival, but if it’s not in the cards, Sundance.org is presenting tons of live video and editorial coverage of film premieres, panels, and music, as well as around-the-clock updates on Twitter, Instagram, and other social media. If you can’t be in Park City for the festivities this year, we’ve got your back.

The role—or perhaps we should say the perception—of the creative film producer is one often muddled by notions of financial brokering and budget consciousness. It may be the film credit most often dislodged from its raison d’etre, which is inherently creative. There’s a reason that producing teams appear on-stage to accept Best Picture honors during award seasons, and it has everything to do with their intimacy with a project from conception to completion.

Like us, we expect you’re excited to see the incredible new work that will premiere at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival. Even a quick glance at our program reveals many standout, can’t-miss experiences. Whiplash, Reservoir Dogs, and Cartel Land are just a few of the gems launched at the Festival over the years, and as the days count down we’re buzzing with excitement for the discoveries yet to be made.

PARK CITY, UTAH — Sundance Institute will convene 24 experts in film, art, culture and science to award feature-length work shown at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival with 28 prizes, announced at a ceremony January 28 that will be livestreamed at sundance.org, and on YouTube and Facebook. Short Film Awards will be announced at a separate ceremony on January 24 and will also be live streamed.

Onstage: Ava DuVernay, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Ira Glass, Joan Jett, Octavia Spencer and Taika Waititi, Among Many Others

Los Angeles, CA — Sundance Institute will convene dozens of offscreen events, including diverse and intersectional conversations
on representation and bias in media, behind-the-scenes panels on the art of filmmaking and musical performances that range
from intimate to raucous at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival taking place in Park City, Utah, January 18 – 28, 2018.
The first 2018 installment of the longstanding Power of Story series, Power of Story: Culture Shift, will convene Ava DuVernay
(A Wrinkle in Time), Patrick Gaspard (president of the Open Society Foundations), Issa Rae (Insecure), Megan Smith (3rd
U.S.