The Latest
Sundance-Supported ‘Brooklyn’ Leads the Way with Three Oscar Nominations
Nominations for the 88th Academy Awards were announced this morning and John Crowley’s Brooklyn, which premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, led all Sundance-supported films with three nominees, including Best Picture. Saoirse Ronan garnered a Best Actress nomination for her role in the film as Eilis, a young woman forced to choose between the allure of love in New York City and her abandoned roots back home in Ireland. On the nonfiction side, Matthew Heinemen’s perilous – and increasingly pertinent – journey into the world of Mexican drug cartels received a Best Documentary nod along with fellow 2015 Sundance docs The Look of Silence and What Happened, Miss Simone?
See below for the full list of Sundance-supported projects and artists receving Oscar nods.
Greenlight Your Audience: GoWatchIt Strengthens the Nexus Between Filmmakers and Fans
In Hollywood, when a studio committee greenlights a film, there has been an economic analysis that takes into account elements such as genre, attached talent, appeal to international markets, etc. They also often slot it into some release date years out, mindful of other announced films and national holidays. It’s a game of checkers played by elephants.
Sundance Institute Announces Jury Members For 2016 Sundance Film Festival
Park City, UT — Sundance Institute has summoned 23 film, theatre, culture and science experts for jury duty to award 27 prizes at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival, January 21-31 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah.
(L-R) Sundance Film Festival, Credit: Fred Hayes; Taika Waititi, Credit: Sundance Film Festival; Director Crystal Moselle, Credit:Jemal Countess.
Also announced today, filmmaker and Institute alum Taika Waititi will host the feature film Awards Ceremony on Saturday, January 30 at 7:00 p.
6 Indigenous Filmmakers Set to Premiere Their Films at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival
Ed. note: Want to see the full list of films by Indigenous directors that made their premiere at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival? Click here.
Sundance Institute’s commitment to supporting Native artists is woven throughout the organization’s history, as the Indigenous Program has built and sustained an Indigenous film circle throughout the 22 years of its formal existence within the Institute.
Sundance Institute Selects 12 Projects for 2016 January Screenwriters Lab
Los Angeles, CA — Sundance Institute announced today the 12 projects selected for the 2016 January Screenwriters Lab, an immersive, five-day writers’ workshop at the Sundance Resort in Utah, January 15-20. The Lab is one of 25 residency Labs the Institute hosts each year for independent artists in theatre, film, new media and episodic content. Under the leadership of Michelle Satter, Founding Director of the Sundance Institute Feature Film Program, with Ilyse McKimmie, Labs Director, Feature Film Program, participating independent screenwriters will have the opportunity to develop their feature film scripts with the support of accomplished writers in an environment that encourages creative risk-taking and original storytelling.
Here’s How to Follow the Sundance Film Festival from Home
The Sundance Film Festival thrives on retaining its raison d’être: to serve as a home for and an inclusive celebration of independent film (see: $20 individual tickets and an abundance of Utah Locals privileges). Still, there exists a specious notion that unless you’re a filmmaker, journalist, actor, or studio exec, the Festival is an ethereal dreamscape. If you’ve naively capitulated to said perceptions of exclusivity — seriously, my own Mom could Waitlist her way into at least a few screenings — and plan on being far from the chilly epicenter of Sundance this year, all is not lost.
2016 Sundance Film Festival to Feature Conversations with Special Guests; Festival’s ‘Art of Film Weekend’ Returns
Park City, UT — Adding to the excitement of the 2016 Sundance Film Festival’s onscreen films and episodic programming, Sundance Institute announced today the lineup for its offscreen panels, which will feature renowned artists and experts in conversation. This year’s panels will address topics including the relationship between media technology and storytelling, film aesthetics and the use of celluloid, music design, casting, and environmentalism. The Festival will again host the Art of Film Weekend, celebrating the craft of filmmaking January 28-30.
‘Christmas, Again’ Takes Its Small-Town Release Strategy to Big Cities
Well that was fast! The holidays have come and gone and Christmas, Again has essentially “expired” (until next year at least). Had it not been a “Christmas movie,” the film would be 5 weeks into its release, slowly building word-of-mouth as it makes its way around the country in and out of theaters and living rooms. Instead, we had a very compressed window (3 weeks!) and hit it with everything we had.
What to Watch In January
Nestled among awards season bedlam is our own little Festival set for later this month. But before we introduce audiences to a fresh roster of filmmakers and films, make the rounds on these Sundance indies coming to Netflix, DVD, and other digital platforms this January, as well as a slate of Sundance Institute Theatre Program productions coming to the stage.
Coming to NetflixFriday, January 1
How to Change the World
Friday, January 15
The Overnight
Monday, January 25
Turbo Kid
iTunes via #ArtistServicesTuesday, January 12Blind Bob and the Trees Chisholm ’72Good Morning Karachi Stray DogIvy DVD, Blu-Ray, and DigitalTuesday, January 5
Infinitely Polar Bear
Experimenter
Sleeping With Other People
Tuesday, January 12
The Stanford Prison Experiment
The Look of Silence
Tuesday, January 19
The Diary of a Teenage GirlOn the StageGrey Gardens, Southwark Playhouse, Jan.
Sundance Institute Announces Jared Hendler as Director of Marketing and Communications
Los Angeles, CA — Sundance Institute today announced the appointment of Jared Hendler as Director of Marketing and Communications, responsible for overseeing all external communications for the Institute, including supervision of marketing, social media and media relations. He begins today and is based in the Institute’s Los Angeles office.
In his new role as part of the Senior Leadership group, Hendler will supervise brand strategy and messaging, develop methods to grow constituencies, and launch new collaborations to tell the story of Institute artists, programs and activities.
Women In Film Los Angeles and Sundance Institute Convene ‘Systemic Change Project: Moving the Needle for Women In Hollywood’
Sundance Institute and Women In Film Los Angeles convened an unprecedented day meeting, organized and conducted in private, of entertainment industry decision-makers and top talent in mid-October to determine tangible steps for solving the gender parity issue that plagues Hollywood. Agents and industry executives who are normally accustomed to competing with each other, came together in a rare collaboration, the goal being to effect deep and lasting change.Participating were 44 senior industry leaders — both men and women — from studios, networks, distributors, guilds and agencies, along with high-profile writers, directors and producers, to drill into the systemic causes of gender bias in the industry and craft solutions.
Women at Sundance In the News
As 2015 comes to a close, and the inevitable top ten, twenty, one hundred, lists and award nominations are announced, women working behind the camera are all over the news.
Keri Putnam was named one of The Hollywood Reporter’s Women in Entertainment Power 100. (Link)
Jennifer Phang’s Advantageous was nominated for the Indie Spirit John Cassavetes Award, given to the writer, director and producer of a feature made for under $500,000.
Feminist Films at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival
A curated list of films at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival by and about women.
PremieresAnges Dei / France, PolandIt’s December 1945, and the Second World War is finally over. Mathilde, a young French Red Cross doctor, finds herself in Warsaw treating the last of the French soldiers returning from the front.
Sundance Institute Adds Seven Films And Events For 2016 Sundance Film Festival
Park City, UT — Squeezing in even more independent awesomeness, Sundance Institute has added two new feature films, two special events and three archive films to the 2016 Sundance Film Festival, January 21-31 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah.
With these additions, the 2016 Festival will present 123 feature-length films, representing 37 countries and 49 first-time filmmakers, including 30 in competition. These films were selected from 12,793 submissions, including 4,081 feature-length films and 8,712 short films.
Sundance Returns to Havana: A Brief History of the Institute’s Work in Cuba
As I arrived at the Hotel Nacional, 16 years since I was last in Cuba, I was immediately swept up by the majesty of an historic hotel that has been such an important destination for travelers to Havana over many decades. My colleague Paul Federbush, who has been leading the Institute’s work in Cuba, was there to greet us, and we were off and running.
We would spend the week presenting a suite of programs in screenwriting, producing, film music and documentary editing, in a new partnership with the International Festival of New Latin American Cinema and La Escuela Internacional De Cine Y TV.