The Latest
Puerto Rico Welcomes Film Forward with Open Arms, and Then Some
Puerto Rico was ripe for Film Forward! Sundance Institute Director of Programming Trevor Groth and I landed on Tuesday, June 21, and went straight from the airport to the opening remarks for Film Forward Puerto Rico and introduction of Last Train Home. We arrived at the beautiful Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico and literally had to fight our way through the crowds, who had gathered earlier for the opening reception, into the theatre. As we made our way upstream, I was thrilled to see so many people doing exactly what we were: fighting their way to get into a 400-seat theatre, but without any idea of just how many of us there were.
Film Forward Reaches Puerto Rican Audience
Puerto Rico has a unique cultural richness that is recognized worldwide. However, the availability of independent films and foreign films was lacking on the Island until recently. The Puerto Rico Film Society, a not-for-profit organization dedicated establishing and educating audiences, has developed a plan to extend the dialogue about films outside of the metropolitan area of Puerto Rico.
A Dose of Sundance
Daniel Edward Hyde is a 2011 Native Lab Fellow of Navajo and Belizean descent. He recently participated in the five-day Lab in Mescalero, New Mexico, with his project The Way Things Are.
Leading up to our week in Mescalero, a terrible fear began to grow inside me.
Robert Redford Tributes Michelle Satter and 30th Anniversary of Feature Film Program, Announces New
LOS ANGELES, CA — Sundance Institute today announced the Vanguard Award, honoring Michelle Satter, Founding Director of the Institute’s Feature Film Program, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. Robert Redford, Sundance Institute Founder and President, announced the new award at a benefit for Sundance Institute held at Franklin Canyon Ranch in Los Angeles.
The Vanguard Award celebrates the innovation, originality, and independent spirit that the Feature Film Program, under the leadership of Michelle Satter, has fostered in artists over its 30-year history.
Kickstart Winter in the Blood
Greetings from Montana! My twin brother Andrew and I have had a wonderful 25-year relationship with Sundance Institute. We’ve gone from being Festival volunteers and Institute interns in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s to being writing and directing Sundance Lab Fellows (in 2008), and finally, to having both our first short film, the keening, and our first feature, The Slaughter Rule, premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. We could not be more excited to have our new project, Winter in the Blood, be featured on this site!We are writing to ask you to become a vital part of our grassroots approach to making a major motion picture—a feature film adaptation of James Welch’s classic (Native) American novel Winter in the Blood.
Nina Menkes on Making ‘Dissolution’ and Bringing Her Films to a Wider Audience
I’m not sure, but I think I’m one of very few women on this planet who writes, directs, shoots, and edits her own films. They’re very personal, eccentric, dark, and beautiful features, and all on 35mm (though Dissolution was in fact shot on HD). I was also among the first women to present a feature in the dramatic competition at the Sundance Film Festival with my 1990 film Queen of Diamonds.
Yahoo! to Sponsor Short Film Program at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival
LOS ANGELES, CA — To further demonstrate the company’s commitment to the creative community, Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO), the premier digital media company, today announced it is the Official Sponsor of the Short Film Program at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, which runs January 19-29, 2012 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah.
As a sponsor, Yahoo! will premiere a select number of short films from the Festival on Yahoo! Movies, a leading online movie destination that reaches 27.5 million users per month.
From the Archives: ‘Swallow’ Director Carlo Mirabella-Davis Visits the Sundance Directors Lab
Writer/director Carlo Mirabella-Davis participated in our 2011 Directors Lab with his project The Storm King. Each fellow has the opportunity to rehearse, shoot and edit selected scenes from his or her screenplay in a workshop environment, where the focus is completely on creative exploration and discovery. Below, Carlo chronicles his experience at Sundance and discusses the magic of this storytellers community.
An Advisor’s Approach to the Labs
Filmmaker Kasi Lemmons is participating as a Creative Advisor for the first time at this year’s Directors Lab. A seasoned Advisor at other Sundance Institute Labs, she describes her experience working with the eight directing Fellows in the mountains this June.
It’s challenging to put into words an almost magical experience, but I’ll try.
From the Archives: An Interview with Longtime Sundance Labs Artistic Director Gyula Gazdag
Editor’s note: This story was originally published in the summer of 2011. It has since been updated.It’s been 30 years since Sundance Institute President and Founder Robert Redford gathered his friends and colleagues in the idyllic mountains of Utah to escape the pressures of the film industry for a natural setting that encouraged artistic growth.
Sundance Institute and Puerto Rico Film Society (La Sociedad de Cine de Puerto Rico/SCPR) to Present
SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO — Film Forward: Advancing Cultural Dialogue, an initiative of the nonprofit Sundance Institute created in partnership with U.S. federal cultural agencies, will present free screenings of 10 award-winning films at locations throughout Puerto Rico, it was announced today by Keri Putnam, Executive Director of Sundance Institute.
A Safe Place to Fail: Checking In on the Sundance Institute Directors Lab
Nate von Zumwalt, editorial coordinator at Sundance Institute, recently visited the Directors Lab at Sundance Resort for the first time to capture the unique stories of this year’s fellows and participants.As I arrived at Sundance Resort last week for the 30th edition of the Directors Lab, I hauled with me a convoy of nearly unattainable expectations. It was the product of a year’s worth of incessant praise by my colleagues for this mountain retreat that one “just had to experience” to understand.
Native Filmmaker Julia Brannum on the Story Behind Her Documentary ‘LaDonna Harris: Indian 101’
The power to create change—this single idea has been at the forefront of every great movement in American history, and my documentary, LaDonna Harris: Indian 101 showcases this power in the life and work of Native rights leader LaDonna Harris. LaDonna has paved the way for American Indian civil rights and is now passing on her wisdom to a new generation of Indigenous leaders from all over the world.After marrying her high school sweetheart, U.
Two Days in Tucson
Two and a half days is not a long time–certainly not enough time for me to get to know Tucson. What I did and who I saw, though, left a positive impression on me of Tucson as a small town with a strong and motivated arts community.
My first night in town with Film Forward kicked off with a meet-and-greet party at the Tucson Museum of Art followed by a screening of A Small Act, which I shot and produced, at The Loft.
From the Utah Mountains to the Beverly Hills: Sundance Celebrates
Sundance Institute is well-known for bringing indie film to the mountains of Utah. Last night, the Institute brought the spirit of Sundance back to its other home base in Los Angeles.On Wednesday, June 8, under the trees at Franklin Canyon Ranch in Beverly Hills, CA, Sundance Institute hosted its first-ever Los Angeles benefit.