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Eight Projects Selected for 2012 RAWI Screenwriters Lab in Jordan

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

Living in the Past: A Look Back at the Last Decade of the Sundance Film Festival

Fall foliage, crisp wintry air, Thanksgiving turkey—autumn hardly begets a period of intense film contemplation. Nevertheless, we’re roughly two months out from the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, and there’s a feverish, borderline manic temperament that pervades the Sundance Institute offices. Staffers have shed the fleeting tranquilities of summer and are standing face-to-face with next year’s Festival—except, “next year” is deviously misleading.

Seven Artists Selected for 2013 Sundance Institute Playwrights Retreat at Ucross Foundation

New York, NY — Sundance Institute today announced the seven artists selected for its 2013 Playwrights Retreat at Ucross Foundation, February 4-22, 2013. The annual writing colony at the 20,000-acre working cattle ranch outside of Sheridan, Wyo. provides a supportive environment for artists to create new work and receive guidance and reactions to it at an early stage.

From the Archives: A Roundup of Politically Charged Sundance Films

As America hovers in election limbo over the next 48 hours, we offer you a brief respite from the conjecture with a slate of politically charged films from the annals of the Sundance Film Festival. Give your bit-chomping, hand-wringing ways a rest and check out these titles.8: The Mormon Proposition Directors: Reed Cowan and Steven GreenstreetCowan and Greenstreet not only make for a potent-sounding law firm, but also a socially and politically biting documentary.

Haunted Collection: 5 Sundance Halloween Flicks

On the eve of the year’s most devious day, and in deference to the spirits, creatures, and other nocturnal dwellers of our world, we’ve nominated five Sundance-supported films for your Halloween viewing pleasure. And if that’s not enough, check out Gowatchit.com’s curated channel featuring the best films culled from the Sundance Film Festival’s Park City at Midnight category.

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Razelle Benally: “Feel the Transition, and Let the Transition Fuel You”

Below, filmmaker Razelle Benally—known for shorts like I Am Thy Weapon, Raven, and Te Kaitiaki—recounts her experiences at Sundance Institute’s NativeLab. Driving to the airport the morning before my departure, I stared aimlessly at passing cars, my thoughts focused on the forthcoming workshop intensive. It was no surprise how anxious and almost diffident I had become because of my selection into the NativeLab.

Not Quite Rocket Science: Nick Fortugno Talks Game Design at the New Frontier Story Lab

Anyone who starts their presentation, full-suited, gingham shirt, and purple-checkered tie, by renaming it Aesthetics #FTW, has my full attention. A game designer, teacher, artist, and second-time New Frontier Story Lab Advisor, Nick Fortugno’s pretty much a perfect human. With a passion for creating emotion through experiences, his work designing video games for interactivity is perfectly suited for a #transmedia Lab such as this one.

David Oyelowo Enters The Ring, Spike Lee’s Art House Remake, and Other Sundance Alumni Updates

The post-Summer torpor at the box office is well underway, a seasonal trend that has hit studios and filmmakers with increased force in recent years. But our Sundance alumni remain undeterred in their efforts, continuing to invest their talents in several noteworthy projects for the upcoming year—some seemingly more prolific than others, but all warranting attention. Check out what director Spike Lee, actor David Oyelowo, and other alumni have planned for the next year in this edition of Sundance Alumni Updates.

New Frontier Story Lab: Lance Weiler Solicits 100 Wishes for the Future

The 2012 New Frontier Story Lab takes place at the Sundance Resort in Utah, where six creative teams and projects undergo an intensive residential retreat focused on creative support, which includes individualized story sessions, conversations about key artistic, design and technology issues, and case study presentations. Below is a recap of creative advisor Lance Weiler’s presentation of his latest work, “Wish For the Future.”“I like to disrupt.

Sundance London Returns To The O2 In 2013 And 2014

The O2, London, 22 October 2012 — Robert Redford, Sundance Institute and AEG Europe announced today that following the success of the first-ever Sundance London film and music festival in April 2012, the event will return to the world famous London venue, The O2, for a further two years, in 2013 and 2014. Passes and ticket packages for the 2013 event will go on general sale on 9 November online.

Sundance Institute Announces New Tennessee Williams Award For Emerging Playwrights

New York, NY — Sundance Institute today announced that it has established a first-of-its-kind Tennessee Williams Award to honor emerging playwrights who have participated in its Theatre Program Labs. Permission was given by The University of the South, the beneficiary of the Williams’ estate.
The first Tennessee Williams Award will be presented at a benefit for the Institute’s Theatre Program, April 8, 2013 in New York.

We Are the Authors of Our Own Destiny

A reflection on my experience with the film Grbavica during the Film Forward visit to Puerto Rico:Fortunately I was assigned to go see the screening of Grbavica by one of my professors. This movie was in a foreign language and a foreign country I am not familiar with. However I was able to empathize and understand all the universal aspects of the film.

Michael Cain on His Dallas Documentary ‘The Starck Project’

Michael Cain is a documentary filmmaker and the director of the 2006 Sundance Film Festival Special Jury Prize Winner TV Junkie. Cain is seeking funding through Kickstarter to acquire music licensing for his new documentary, The Starck Project.“Scientists have proven music evokes memory.