New York, NY — Sundance Institute today announced the seven artists selected for its 2014 Playwrights Retreat at Ucross Foundation. The 15th annual writing colony at the 20,000-acre working cattle ranch outside of Sheridan, WY takes place February 3-21. Under the supervision of Artistic Director Philip Himberg and Producing Director Christopher Hibma, the Playwrights Retreat is made possible through the generosity of Ucross Foundation.

Back at last year’s Sundance Film Festival, director Michael Polish and actress Kate Bosworth—who also happens to be Polish’s wife—seized control of the @sundancefest Twitter account for the day of their Big Sur premiere. In the same vein, Mariel Hemingway, the subject of Barbara Kopple’s urgent and challenging doc on mental illness, did the same on the day of the premiere of Running From Crazy. As both films make their theatrical releases, we take a look back at their respective opening nights at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival.

Los Angeles, CA — Screenwriting fellows for the ninth edition of the Rawi Screenwriters Lab (November 1-5) were announced today by The Royal Film Commission-Jordan and Sundance Institute. The Lab is an example of Sundance Institute’s longstanding work to support emerging filmmakers around the world. Former Rawi Fellows include Cherien Dabis (Amreeka), Mohammed Al Daradji (Son of Babylon), Sally El Hosaini (My Brother The Devil) and Haifaa Al Mansour (Wadjda).

Park City, UT — Sundance Institute and the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities announced today the program details for the fourth year of FILM FORWARD: Advancing Cultural Dialogue.
FILM FORWARD, a partnership of Sundance Institute and four U.S.

New York, NY — Sundance Institute today announced the three projects and two artists-in-residence that will participate in its two-week (December 1-15) Theatre Lab for musical theatre and ensemble-generated projects, taking place for the third time at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA). Under the supervision of Artistic Director Philip Himberg and Producing Director Christopher Hibma, the Lab is one of the Theatre Program’s five annual development opportunities for theatre artists around the world.
The projects and artists selected are:
First Daughter Suite Words and music by Michael John LaChiusa Directed by Kirsten Sanderson First Daughter Suite is a part of a cycle of musical plays that are a fantasia based on historical characters and real events.

Of the innumerable and ever-proliferating genres of cinema, no category thrives on viewer polarity more than horror flicks. From the superfluous gore of bloodbath films like Dead/Alive, to the taut suspense of iniquitous thrillers such as American Psycho, films of this category are often met with categorical opinions. 
Whatever your preference, it’s hard to escape the presence of horror in the month of October, which is why we offer up our annual list of Sundance-supported films for Halloween.

Filmmakers frequently treat the prospect of standing in front of a camera, as opposed to behind it, as a dubious assignment. So what happens when a director not only turns the lens on himself, but does so to capture his most vulnerable moments? That’s the daunting task that director Jason DaSilva chose to dispense upon himself after being diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis at age 25. The result of his laborious efforts is When I Walk, an unflinching portrait of DaSilva’s physical deterioration suffused with his contagious fortitude and resilient spirit.

Free Admission; Reservations Suggested
Los Angeles, CA (October 15, 2013) — The Autry National Center of the American West, Sundance Institute, and University of California, Los Angeles American Indian Studies Center proudly present a sneak peek of a work-in-progress by filmmaker and Sundance Institute lab alum Sydney Freeland (Navajo). On Saturday, November 9, Freeland will show clips from her feature film debut, Drunktown’s Finest and discuss her creative journey and process in a conversation with N. Bird Runningwater, Director of the Sundance Institute Native American and Indigenous Program.

Submissions Accepted through October 31
Los Angeles, CA — Sundance Institute and Indiewire are accepting entries through October 31 for the  Indiewire | Sundance Institute Fellowship for Film Criticism. Six fellows will receive a grant for expenses and other support to attend and cover the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, January 16-26 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah. This is the first year of the initiative at the Sundance Film Festival.

The last trip I went on with FILM FORWARD was showing The Light In Her Eyes all around Jordan. The audiences there were predominantly Muslim, and many Syrians came out to see our film. They were deeply engaged and passionate about the content of our doc, and the Q&A’s were always feisty.