In a genre of film so swamped with tales of injustice and corruption, the documenting of yet another enduring soul could feel almost stale-but it doesn’t. This refusal to perceive stories of discrimination as commonplace is what reiterates the undying need for documentary filmmakers. When director/producer Michael Collins first heard about Paco Larrañaga’s wrongful death penalty conviction from producer Marty Syjuco who has a family connection to Paco, the story felt anything but ordinary.

LOS ANGELES, CA — Sundance Institute, the global nonprofit arts organization, today announced it has been selected to represent the private sector in a unique program entitled Film Forward: Advancing Cultural Dialogue. This program continues the exceptional public/private cultural exchange effort by the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities (PCAH) in cooperation with its federal cultural partners, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), to foster cross-cultural understanding through cinematic storytelling.
The nonprofit Sundance Institute was founded by Robert Redford with an initial grant from the National Endowment for the Arts in 1981.

Sally Menke was a close personal friend and inspired mentor to Sundance Institute filmmakers. A talented and lauded film editor, in 2001 and 2005, she came to the Directors Lab as one of our Creative Advisors. It was a family affair.

Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program congratulates Rebecca Cammisa and the documentary film Which Way Home for winning Outstanding Informational Programming-Long Form at the News and Documentary Emmy® Awards, announced on September 27 at Frederick P. Rose Hall, Home of Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York. Six years in the making, Which Way Home shows the personal side of immigration through the eyes of children who face harrowing dangers with enormous courage and resourcefulness as they endeavor to make it to the United States.

Back in May of 2009 at the Native Filmmakers Lab, Sydney began to workshop her feature script, Drunktown’s Finest. Since then, she has gone onto attend the Feature Film Program’s January Screenwriters Lab, Directors Lab, Composers Lab, and Producers Summit. We checked in with Sydney and asked her to share her experience at the recent Composers Lab and Producers Summit.

An Inconvenient Truth was a documentary film’s perfect storm: bringing awareness of global climate change to the masses, energizing the mission of a Vice President, nabbing an Academy Award, and solidifying the vitality of documentary filmmaking in a world of changing media. Set to release this Friday, Davis Guggenheim’s new documentary, Waiting for “Superman,” which premiered at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival and won the Audience Award is already brewing with a similar intensity. Waiting for “Superman” explores America’s buckling public school system and Sundance Institute Executive Director Keri Putnam caught up with Guggenheim to discuss his new film, how social activism informs his art, and what we as citizens can do to help our schools.

What is registration for passes and ticket packages?
In order to purchase Festival passes or ticket packages, festival-goers must first register online between September 21 and October 13, 2010 to receive a timeslot to purchase. Registration is not first-come, first-served; timeslots to make the purchases in late October are assigned randomly. Any remaining passes/packages that are not purchased through this process will be available for sale in November – registration will not be required at that time.

Sean Durkin, a 2010 Directors and Screenwriters Lab Fellow, abandons his comfort zone during a week of lab preparation with creative advisor Joan Darling and artistic director Gyula Gazdag. Durkin discusses the growing pains involved with workshopping his feature directorial debut, Martha Marcy May Marlene, and the inspiring environment created by his fellow filmmakers as they collectively get ready for the intensive lab experience.Day One: Fear of ActingI am terrified of acting.

The Feature Film Program is wrapping up quite a busy summer! It all started with the June Directors and Screenwriters Labs, held at the Sundance Resort from June 1 – 25. Eight Directors Lab Fellows (six of which were at the 2010 January Screenwriters Lab) joined us on the mountain to shoot 3-5 scenes from their developing screenplays, with the help of Creative Advisors, professional actors and professional film crew members. The Fellows this year were: Lance Edmands (BLUEBIRD), Sean Durkin (MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE), Myna Joseph (MY FAVORITE NIGHTMARE), Dash Shaw (THE RUINED CAST), Kasem Kharsa (SHELTER), Ondi Timoner (THE PERFECT MOMENT), Saodat Ismailova (40 DAYS OF SILENCE) and Sydney Freeland (DRUNKTOWN’S FINEST).

Wednesday, October 6, 2010 at 7 PM
Panel Discussion Hosted by Academy Award-Nominated Actor Edward James Olmos
Los Angeles, CA -Sundance Institute today announced it will present a Work-In-Progress Screening of Cesar’s Last Fast on October 6 at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles. The documentary film by Richard Ray Perez and Molly O’Brien is about the spiritual sacrifice behind Cesar E. Chavez’s struggle for the humane treatment of farm workers, and the impact his inspirational legacy has had on a new generation of activists, organizers and community leaders, and is supported with funding and resources by the Institute’s Documentary Film Program.

Personal Stories from Bangladesh, Congo (DRC), Haiti, India, Lesotho and United States Illustrate Progress Toward Improving Health, Reducing Poverty, and Ensuring Access to Education
 
Films Centered on United Nations’ Millennium Goals for Improving Conditions in Worlds’ Poorest Countries to Premiere September 20 in Conjunction with TEDxChange Convened by Melinda French Gates
 
LOS ANGELES, CA — Sundance Institute today announced a special collaborative project with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation designed to harness the power of film to create communities and inspire action on issues related to global health, poverty and education. Six short documentary films commissioned by the Institute’s Documentary Film Program from award-winning filmmakers Glenn Baker, Teboho Edkins, Mark Monroe, Maren Grainger-Monsen, MD, Nicole Newnham, Jonathan Stack, Ricki Stern, and Annie Sundberg, will become part of a multi-platform communications initiative of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation which plans to share the films online and at speeches and public events around the world.
For nearly three decades, Sundance Institute has promoted independent storytelling to inform and inspire across political, social, religious and cultural differences.

Park City, UT – Sundance Institute today announced the fall lineup of its Film Series, which includes seminal Sundance Film Festival films, as well as new work supported by Sundance Institute. The Film Series kicks off September 8 at the Park City Library with Rocket Science, a film about a stuttering teen recruited to be on the high school debate team, followed by an October screening of the horror film that broke all the rules –The Blair Witch Project. In addition, the Film Series will showcase Camp Victory, the true story of U.

LOS ANGELES, CA — Sundance Institute today announced the call for entries for its 2011 Theatre Lab to be held at the Banff Centre in Alberta, Canada, from March 27-April 17, 2011. The centerpiece of Sundance Institute’s Theatre Program, the Theatre Lab is a three-week developmental retreat designed to provide a private, creative environment for playwrights, directors, composers and librettists to devise and refine new work with the support of creative advisors, full casts and rehearsal space. Full submission details may be found at www.