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Film Editor Alex O’Flinn on What He Took Away from the Sundance Labs
Alex O’Flinn was the recipient of the 2014 Sally Menke Memorial Editing Fellowship. He most recently edited The Rider, which premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. As part of his fellowship year, he worked with editor mentors Dylan Tichenor (Zero Dark Thirty), Stephen Mirrione (The Hunger Games), and Douglas Crise (Spring Breakers).
2015 Sundance Film Festival Kicks Off for Utah Residents
Park City, UT — Sundance Institute will once again offer exclusive events and priority pass and ticket availability for the approximately 15,000 Utahns who attend the Sundance Film Festival® each year. Additionally, the Institute announced today the Grand Theatre at Salt Lake Community College’s Center for Arts & Media as its newest Salt Lake City screening venue and that it will offer a new Grand Pass for Utah residents. With the addition of the Grand Theatre, Salt Lake City will see an increase of 20,000 seats over the course of the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, January 22 through February 1.
Sundance Institute Selects 10 Writers for Inaugural Episodic Story Lab
Park City, UT — Sundance Institute today announced the 10 writers selected for its inaugural Episodic Story Lab, taking place at the Sundance Resort in Utah from September 27 through October 2. The Episodic Story Lab, established with founding support from Lyn and Norman Lear, is the Institute’s first program for emerging writers creating series for television and online platforms, adding to its existing support programs for film, theatre, music, and New Frontier artists.
Every applicant for the program was required to submit a spec pilot and series overview as the basis of their creative work at the Lab.
Kickstart The Genius of Caring, an Alzheimer’s Web Project Rooted in Compassion
A world bereft of compassion is an unnecessarily cruel one. For sufferers of Alzheimer’s, their families, and their caregivers, such a world is far too often the reality. When Banker White’s mother Pam began experiencing the initial symptoms of Alzheimer’s, rather than withdrawing, he committed to opening the doors to the merciless disease by documenting her struggle in what would become The Genius of Marian, an elegiac documentary that depicted Pam and her family’s new existence (and an extension of Pam’s unfinished book about her own mother Marian Wlliams Steele, who passed from Alzheimer’s years prior).
#Twinning: Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig Play Estranged Siblings in ‘The Skeleton Twins’
Prior to its premiere at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, The Skeleton Twins had been billed as a non-comedy starring Saturday Night Live vets Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig as estranged siblings. As it turns out, this description isn’t quite accurate. While the film is at times a very affecting and penetrating drama, it also contains as many genuine laughs as any “drama” in recent memory.
Human Rights Activist and Sundance Maryam al-Khawaja Detained In Bahrain
Maryam al-Khawaja, the notable Bahraini human rights defender and subject of We Are the Giant (2014 SFF), was arrested August 30 upon her arrival in Manama, Bahrain, on charges of assaulting a police officer – which she refutes – and other alleged crimes related to her work in human rights. Maryam was returning to see her ailing father and longtime activist Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, who is currently on a hunger strike while serving a lifetime sentence for charges stemming from human rights demonstrations in 2011.
Zainab and Maryam al-Khawaja are sisters and subjects of the film We Are the Giant.
September Now Playing: Memphis, The Skeleton Twins, and more
As we collectively lament the closing days of summer, a handful of new releases help usher in a promising fall season for indie film. The ever-enigmatic singer-songwriter Willis Earl Beal offers a captivating portrayal of a musician caught in the trap of creative inertia in Memphis, and Belle & Sebastian front man Stuart Murdoch officially makes his foray into filmmaking with the pensive musical drama God Help The Girl. Bringing some levity to the month’s releases – though still sharp and thoughtful – is Craig Johnson’s The Skeleton Twins, which tracks the reunion of estranged twins expertly played by Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig.
Happy Labor Day: 6 Sundance Films That Prove Your Job Isn’t So Bad
Something about the notion of Labor Day has always seemed archaic to me. Then again, the guy who questions a day off is no better than the seventh grader who reminds the teacher that homework hasn’t been collected—exactly 10 seconds before the bell rings. Thank you, young comrade.
Film Forward Travels To Michigan September 2014
Park City, UT — Sundance Institute and the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities announced today that Film Forward: Advancing Cultural Dialogue will host free screenings of eight films with moderated discussions, panels and artist roundtables in Detroit, Ann Arbor and Dearborn, Michigan September 22-25. For a full schedule of events and venues in Michigan visit sundance.org/filmforward.
Study Up for Shorts Lab L.A. with These 3 Documentary Shorts
Among the niche genres of filmmaking, documentary shorts’ unheralded treasure trove of filmmaking is as well stocked as any. It’s also fertile terrain for this year’s edition of Shorts Lab L.A.
In Memoriam: James Foley 1973-2014
We are profoundly shocked and saddened by the news about the death of freelance photojournalist James Foley who was killed on August 19 by the group known as ISIS. Foley’s work as one of three cinematographers on the film E-TEAM (directed by Ross Kauffman and Katy Chevigny) was recognized at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival with the Documentary Cinematography Award for its courageous handheld footage.
This moment reminds us to acknowledge and appreciate the filmmakers, documentarians, and journalists who take a stand for what matters to them by pursuing stories in dangerous situations often at great personal risk.
Sundance Institute and The Metroplex Announce Films for Sundance Film Festival: Hong Kong Selects
(August 21, 2014) Sundance Institute and The Metroplex announced today the eight new independent films that will premiere as part of the Sundance Film Festival – Hong Kong Selects screening series, September 19 to 28, 2014, at the newly opened state-of-the-art cineplex in Kowloon Bay in Hong Kong. Drawing on the Sundance Film Festival’s 30-year history of discovery and innovation and The Metroplex’s commitment to supporting film culture, Sundance Film Festival – Hong Kong Selects will offer the Hong Kong premieres of eight new films direct from the 2014 Festival in Park City, Utah, U.S.
Sundance Institute Expands Support for New Frontier Artists
Los Angeles, CA — Sundance Institute today announced that the organization is deepening its commitment to its New Frontier program for artists innovating the art and form of storytelling, including the appointment of Shari Frilot and Kamal Sinclair as Co-Directors of the program.
New Frontier at Sundance Institute is a cross-programmatic initiative created to identify and foster independent artists working at the convergence of film, art, media, live performance, music and technology. Since 2007, the New Frontier exhibition at the Sundance Film Festival has provided the highest level of curation in the field, incorporating fiction, non-fiction and hybrid storytelling to showcase multi-media installations, performances and films.
Q&A: George Takei Finds His Greatest Role as an Activist in the Doc ‘To Be Takei’
This interview was originally published following the world premiere of the film at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival.George Takei is on a mission. With boundless energy, relentless good cheer and a hearty chuckle, he’s been omnipresent in Park City while promoting To Be Takei, Jennifer Kroot’s vibrant portrait of the energetic 76-year-old actor, worshipped around the globe as Star Trek’s helmsman, Sulu.
Sundance Institute and Skywalker Sound Select Independent Filmmakers and Film Composers for Septembe
Los Angeles, CA — Sundance Institute and Skywalker Sound today announced the independent directors and composers selected for the second of two Sundance Institute Music and Sound Design Labs at Skywalker Sound. This will be the second year the Music and Sound Design Labs take place at the Skywalker Ranch in northern California. This is one of 15 residential Labs Sundance Institute will host this year, collectively representing 20 weeks of residency support and mentorship for the most promising new independent film and theatre projects and artists from the United States and around the world.