The Latest
Film Forward: Advancing Cultural Dialogue to be Presented in Kenya July 15-25
NAIROBI, KENYA (July 6, 2011) — Film Forward: Advancing Cultural Dialogue, a Sundance Institute initiative created in partnership with U.S. federal cultural agencies, will be presented in Kenya July 15-25, in conjunction with FilmAid and supported in part by the Embassy of the United States, Nairobi, Kenya, it was announced today by Keri Putnam, Executive Director of Sundance Institute.
Renegade Support: How I Realized We’re All Producers
I’ve just returned from my first Sundance Institute Creative Producing Summit. It was an intense weekend at the Sundance Resort where producers and independent film executives gathered to discuss the state of the industry and, more importantly, meet the brilliant filmmakers who just participated in Sundance Institute’s signature labs. At the Creative Producing Summit, I discovered a way to translate what I do as director of external affairs into film industry terms.
July Now Playing
Check out these Sundance Institute and Sundance Film Festival supported films hitting theatres across the country this month.
Opening Friday, July 1:
Crime After Crime, directed by Yoav PotashTerri, directed by Azazel Jacobs
Opening Wednesday, July 6:
Septien, directed by Michael Tully
Opening Friday, July 8:
Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest, directed by Michael RapaportThe Ledge, Matthew ChapmanProject Nim, directed by James Marsh
Opening Friday, July 15:
Salvation Boulevard, directed by George Ratliff
Opening Friday, July 22:
Another Earth, directed by Mike Cahill
Opening Sunday, July 24:
Life in a Day, directed by Kevin Macdonald
Opening Friday, July 29:
The Future, directed by Miranda JulyThe Guard, directed by John Michael McDonaghThe Interrupters, directed by Steve James
Now Playing In Theatres:
If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front, directed by Marshall Curry
Submarine, directed by Richard Ayoade
Buck, directed by Cindy Meehl
Hot Coffee, directed by Susan Saladoff
DVD Releases:
Hobo with a Shotgun, directed by Jason Eisener.
Filmmaker Carlo Mirabella-Davis on Searching for Story at the Sundance Directors Lab
Writer/director Carlo Mirabella-Davis participated at the Directors Lab with his project The Storm King. Each fellow had the opportunity to rehearse, shoot, and edit selected scenes from his or her screenplay in a workshop environment, where the focus was completely on creative exploration and discovery. Below, Carlo chronicles his experience at Sundance and discusses the magic of this storytellers community.
What I Remember
Writer/director Keith Davis was recently at the Sundance Resort in Utah, developing his screenplay The American People as one of eight fellows at this year’s Directors Lab. 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. We’ve asked Keith to share a glimpse into his process at the Lab in a couple of blog pieces, the second of which is below.
Sundance Institute Announces Documentary Films to Receive $575,000 in Grants
Los Angeles, CA — Sundance Institute today announced the 29 feature-length documentary films selected to receive a total of $575,000 in Documentary Film Program (DFP) grants for the Spring 2011 round. The DFP received applications for grants from 650 filmmakers in 80 countries, and submissions were judged on their approach to storytelling, artistic treatment and innovation, subject relevance and potential for social engagement.
Filmmakers selected are working in 9 countries and represent a broad range of experience, including Academy Award-winning documentarians Roger Ross Williams and Frieda Lee Mock as well as first-time feature documentary filmmakers.
The Ogre’s Stomach, Still Growling
Michael Almereyda is a filmmaker and Sundance Institute alum who has participated as a director, screenwriter, and Creative Advisor at various Sundance Labs. He is using Kickstarter to fund his most recent project, The Ogre’s Feathers. Click here to learn more or help fund this film.
Sundance Institute Announces 18 Documentary Film Fellows
Los Angeles, CA — Sundance Institute today announced the selection of 18 Documentary Film Fellows representing nine film projects to participate in the eighth Documentary Edit and Story Lab (June 24 – July 2) and ninth Composers + Documentary Lab (July 6-12) at Sundance Resort in Sundance, Utah. The Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program (DFP) provides a global resource for contemporary independent documentary film, including the Sundance Documentary Fund, Labs/Workshops and other support opportunities. The DFP advances innovative nonfiction storytelling about a broad range of contemporary social issues, and promotes the exhibition of documentary films to audiences.
Kasi Lemmons on Her Post-Sundance Glow
Filmmaker Kasi Lemmons participated 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.I’ve been back in Manhattan for a few days, but my head is still on the mountain.
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.
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.
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.