We left Tunis on December 14 after presenting six films (12 screenings) over an intense four-day period that also included press appearances, meetings, and a terrific film school visit.
Just a few days later a young Tunisian man dreaming of a better life and seeking to just make ends meet, was hassled by the police for selling fruit without a license.  Apparently seeing no future for himself, in an act of desperate defiance, he lit himself on fire.

The Native Program recently brought together five producers whose films have premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and continued on to the global marketplace. The convening focused on a discussion about the producers’ experiences and we brainstormed as a group about how the Native Program could offer further support to films as they endeavor to be made and seen. The producers in attendance were Billy Luther (Miss Navajo; GRAB); Chad Burris (Four Sheets to the Wind; Barking Water); Peter and Benjamin Bratt (La Mission); and Cliff Curtis (Eagle Vs.

Los Angeles, CA – Sundance Institute today announced the twenty two Documentary Film Program grant recipients for Fall 2010. Selected feature-length documentary films, chosen from nearly 450 projects from 80 countries, will receive $550,000 in support. Two of the 22 projects listed below are to receive a grant from the Sundance | Cinereach Project at Sundance Institute, part of a $1.

Over the next few months we’ll be chronicling memorable moments in Festival history as we reveal the mystery behind the 2011 snowflake icon. This week’s icon, the VHS cassette, takes us back to the 1989 Festival.
Steven Soderbergh’s sex, lies and videotape shocked the 1989 Sundance Film Festival and defied the notion that “indie film” meant artistic gains with little monetary rewards.

PARK CITY, UTAH – Sundance Institute today announced the films from the 2011 Sundance Film Festival scheduled to screen in theaters in nine different cities, including the newly added Seattle, Washington Egyptian Theatre, on the evening of Thursday, January 27, 2011. The screenings are part of Sundance Film Festival USA, designed to introduce the Festival experience to film-loving audiences nationwide. The 2011 Sundance Film Festival opens January 20 and runs through January 30 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah.

Park City, UT – Sundance Institute announced today the program of short films selected to screen at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. This year the Festival’s Short Film Program comprises 81 short films from U.S.

PARK CITY, UT – Sundance Institute announced today the lineup of films selected to screen in the out-of-competition Premieres and new Documentary Premieres sections of the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. The Festival runs January 20-30 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah. The complete list of films is available at www.

PARK CITY, UT – Sundance Institute announced today the lineup of films selected to screen in the 2011 Sundance Film Festival out-of-competition sections NEXT (<=>), Spotlight, New Frontier, Park City at Midnight, as well as a new Native Showcase. The 2011 Sundance Film Festival runs January 20-30 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah. The complete list of films is available at www.

LOS ANGELES, CA – Following up on last month’s announcement of the Film Forward: Advancing Cultural Dialogue initiative, Sundance Institute announced today the ten films selected to participate in the inaugural year of this cultural exchange program. The first Film Forward slate includes five American and five international films which will be presented in collaboration with public and private partners. These films and their filmmakers will kick off the ambitious project in New York and Tunisia in December.

PARK CITY, UT – Sundance Institute announced today the lineup of films selected to screen in the U.S. and World Cinema Dramatic and Documentary Competitions for the 2011 Sundance Film Festival.

While the release of Burmese freedom fighter Aung San Suu Kyi is celebrated all over the world, the struggle in Myanmar, Burma, continues. Despite the country’s first democratic elections in 20 years, the ruling military party continues to restrict press access within Burma. Burma Soldier tells the story of Myo Mint, a former soldier turned peace activist, and will premiere this week at IDFA in Amsterdam.

This week the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation convened world leaders in Seattle for the first-ever Global Savings Forum. The two-day event focused on building global partnerships to enable the delivery of viable approaches to financial services for the world’s poor. Melinda Gates also announced $40 million in grants as part of an unprecedented $500 million pledge over five years.

Based in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia, Faiza Saleh Ambah is a Saudi filmmaker with a background in journalism. She left her job as Gulf Correspondent for The Washington Post in 2009 to focus on filmmaking and recently completed a summer program at the USC School of Cinematic Arts. Faiza documented her experience at Sundance Institute’s RAWI Screenwriters Lab in Jordan this fall where, along with other Middle Eastern screenwriters, she honed her storytelling skills under the guidance of Creative Advisors.

PARK CITY, UT – Sundance Institute today announced the line-up at Salt Lake Art Center, which has been selected as an official venue of the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, hosting artists and their works as part of the Festival’s innovative New Frontier program. Curated by Shari Frilot, Sundance Film Festival Senior Programmer, New Frontier can be experienced at Salt Lake Art Center, located at 20 South West Temple, in the heart of downtown Salt Lake City, and at Historic Miners Hospital, 1354 Park Avenue across from the Library Theatre in Park City. Both locations will be open free to the public Friday, January 21 through Saturday, January 29, 2011.