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.

Los Angeles, CA — Sundance Institute today announced the six projects selected for the New Frontier Story Lab, October 23-28 at the Sundance Resort in Utah. Inspired by New Frontier at the Sundance Film Festival and built on the renowned Sundance Institute Lab model, the Lab specifically supports artists innovating the art and form of storytelling at the convergence of film, visual art, media, live performance, music and technology.
Activities at the weeklong, immersive Lab include individualized story sessions, conversations about key artistic, design and technology issues, and case study presentations from experts in diverse related disciplines.

I had the absolute pleasure to travel to Maine with the Film Forward program last week. The mission of Film Forward is to promote cultural dialogue, and I can definitely say that myself, Laura Nix, and our friends from the Sundance Institute (Kristin Feeley, Eva Rinaldi, and Jackie Carlson) had a boisterous dialogue with the people of Maine about our films, their stories, the issues they raise, and so much more. It was less like a dialogue and more like a constant conversation.

Stu Zicherman recalls his parents’ divorce with a nostalgia that belies all that we’re conditioned to believe about failed marriages. And even though he wavers when using terms like “levity” and “hilarious” to define his childhood experience, his candor tends to prevail. Perhaps that’s why Zicherman, who penned and directed A.

Ross Chaney is a 2013 Time Warner Native Producer Fellow. Click here to apply for the 2014 Fellowship.
Being a part of the Native Program at Sundance Institute has been an opportunity of a lifetime because it creates a diverse community of support for producing fresh independent films with Native storytellers.