The Latest
Leonard Nimoy, Friend and Supporter of Sundance, Dies at 83
Leonard Nimoy, a longtime friend and supporter of Sundance Institute who is best known for his iconic role as the always pragmatic “Spock” in Star Trek, died Friday morning. He was 83.
Leonard Nimoy and his wife Susan Bay Nimoy are ardent supporters of the Institute’s Women’s Initiative, a joint effort with Women in Film/ LA and a group of allied organizations in the field of women and media aimed at fostering gender equality in American independent cinema by supporting women filmmakers.
Ignite Fellow Khidr Joseph on Facing Fears and Finding Invigoration at Sundance
Ten young people were selected for the Ignite Fellows pilot program, a curated Festival experience designed to provide meaningful opportunities for engagement, mentorship and industry exposure for emerging filmmakers 18 to 25 years of age.I have decided that the best way to describe the Sundance Film Festival is not through a bunch of meaningless adjectives but rather through the impact it has had on my life. If I were to describe Sundance I would say that it’s a unique experience, which is why I can’t truly describe it.
Awards Weekend In Review: Congrats to Sundance-Supported Winners At the Oscars and Spirit Awards
It’s a wrap on the most esteemed film awards weekend of the year, and today we’re congratulating the Sundance-supported projects and artists that took home hardware from the Spirit Awards and the Oscars. Led by Damien Chazelle’s 2014 Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize winner Whiplash, eight films supported by the Institute and the Festival were recognized over the weekend. Additionally, last night’s “Best Director” winner Alejandro González Iñárritu (Birdman) is set to be honored this with the Vanguard Award this June at the Sundance Institute Los Angeles Benefit for the originality and independent spirit of his films.
Oscars Preview: ‘Ida,’ Poland’s Nomination for Best Foreign Language Film
Something about Ida’s protracted journey just feels “right.” Pawel Pawlikowski’s chilling Polish drama premiered all the way back in 2013 at the Toronto International Film Festival and was honored by the Polish Film Academy that same year as the country’s Best Film. Months later, Ida screened out-of-competition at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival in the Spotlight category, home to a small batch of Sundance programmers’ favorite films that they cull from the festival circuit and elsewhere around the globe.
Damien Chazelle and Miles Teller on Their True-to-Life Drumming Drama ‘Whiplash’
What a difference a year can make. Few would challenge that Damien Chazelle’s nascent career was on track for eventual success, but a small albeit successful feature debut (Guy and Madeline On a Park Bench) and a Sundance Short Film Jury Prize (a proof-of-concept film for Whiplash) didn’t exactly portend Oscar bliss for the 30-year-old director. Of course, now that his 2014 Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize winner Whiplash has been nominated for four Academy Awards, we could say we saw it coming all along.
Inspired By: Sydney Freeland on C.S. Lewis, Casablanca, and ‘Drunktown’s Finest’
Director Sydney Freeland’s tenacity to make Drunktown’s Finest was born from a misguided news story. After seeing her hometown of Gallup, New Mexico, portrayed as “Drunktown, USA,” she felt compelled to offer a corrective. Enter: Drunktown’s Finest, an unwaveringly honest drama that sheds light on the southwest’s Navajo Nation through the lenses of three disparate characters—a transgender aspiring model, a man headed off to basic training, and a Christian woman.
Sundance Film Forward to Present Innovations in Social Storytelling Event in Pleasantville, NY March 8
Park City, UT — Sundance Institute and the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities will host a free public screening of We Are The Giant followed by a guided discussion with Director Greg Barker on March 8, 7:00 p.m. at the Jacob Burns Film Center in Pleasantville, NY.
David Carr, New York Times Columnist and Sundance Doc Subject, Dead at 58
David Carr, the vibrant and mercurial New York Times media columnist and a central subject of the 2011 Sundance Film Festival documentary Page One: Inside the New York Times, died Thursday at age 58.
Carr’s compelling life story of overcoming drug addiction to eventually join The New York Times in 2002 is documented in his 2008 memoir The Night of the Gun. In director Andrew Rossi’s Page One, Carr became the de facto central figure of the film as it tracked the metamorphosis of print journalism from inside the newsroom.
5 Valentine’s Day Film Picks for the Skeptical Romantic
Despite its tender origins, Valentine’s Day can haunt lovers with a cloud of expectation. Even more menacing than the prospect of eternal solitude is the feeling that things can only go wrong on such a vaunted day. So call me a cynic, but I challenge you to recall one Valentine’s Day that was so extraordinary, so blissful in straddling the line between cloying romance and exhilarating lust that you would relive, ad infinitum, that one special day with your partner.
“Be Open to the Process,” and Other Lessons From the Sundance Screenwriters Lab
The tone was set early on. Even before I set-off on my journey, Paul Federbush and Matthew Takata, the inimitable international director and manager of the Feature Film Program, respectively, emphasized that the Lab would not require any writing. “No writing?” I naively thought to myself, “Isn’t this a screenwriting workshop?”
“Be open to the process.
In Memory of Creative Advisor Stewart Stern: Going Through Splat!
On February 2nd, our beloved Creative Advisor Stewart Stern passed at 92 after a battle with brain cancer. According to his family, he was “surrounded by the next generation of filmmakers and screenwriters he had mentored and inspired, as well as friends and family who came from all parts of the country for a two-week vigil before his death.”
Stewart passed into the unknown world but his profound contribution to the Sundance Institute Labs and the art and craft of screenwriting will indeed live on forever.
Sundance Institute Announces Fifth Year of Sundance Film Forward
Park City, UT — Sundance Institute and the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities announced today the six domestic and international locations Sundance Film Forward will visit in its fifth year as well as the eight independent films that will be featured. Following 37 trips that reached 61,397 people in the first four years of the program, its fifth year will more closely target a new generation of students and artists with its efforts.
Sundance Film Forward, a partnership of Sundance Institute and four U.
2015 Sundance Film Festival Announces Feature Film Awards
Park City, UT — Sundance Institute this evening announced the feature film Jury, Audience and other special awards of the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. The awards, celebrating artistry, innovation and adventure in independent filmmaking, were presented at the Festival’s Awards Ceremony, hosted by Tig Notaro in Park City, Utah; full video of the ceremony is at youtube.com/sff.
Sundance Film Festival 2015 Photo Galleries
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Check out all the best photos of the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, including film premieres, festivities, panels, parties, filmmakers, actors, filmgoers, volunteers, staff, and more.
There are also a lot of videos to watch! Check out our YouTube playlists of Festival videos and livestreamed events!
Pre-Fest
Day One
Day Two
Day Three
Day Four
Day Five
Day Six
Day Seven
Day Eight
Day Nine
Day Ten & Eleven
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Day 9: ‘The Russian Woodpecker’ Revises the Chernobyl Disaster, ‘City of Gold’ Mines Culinary Gems in Los Angeles
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.