As beneficiaries of this summer’s World Cup basked in its euphoric glow, a much dimmer reality played out in the slums of South Africa. Dara Kell and Christopher Nizza, codirectors and producers of Dear Mandela, took their project to Sundance Institute’s Film Composers and Documentary Lab and the Documentary Producing Lab this summer in search of music and structure capable of evoking the passion and emotion of the Shack Dwellers Movement. What they discovered was a tireless support group, a lifetime’s worth of lessons, and a renewed drive for completing their film.

Over the next few months we’ll be chronicling memorable moments in Festival history as we reveal the mystery behind the 2011 snowflake icon. While the snowflake itself shares an obvious relationship with each winter’s Festival, the symbols within the icon tell the individual stories that have made the Festival what is today. Citing Festival Director John Cooper, the snowflake’s uniqueness and transient existence reflect the 10 days of joy that the Festival and its films provide us.

Mid-October means different things to different people. To people like my son, it means that Halloween, and the requisite belly full of candy is so close they can touch it. To people who live where there are actual seasons (i.

What: Sundance Institute, Levantine Cultural Center, and New Voices in Middle Eastern Cinema present a special preview screening of the Sundance Institute-supported film and 2010 Sundance Film Festival hit, THE TAQWACORES (Strand Releasing) on Wednesday, November 10, 2010 at The Harmony Gold Theatre in Los Angeles. This new feature film from director Eyad Zahra explores the complexities of being young and Muslim in today’s America, with a unique focus on the Muslim punk rock scene. The Taqwacores will open to the public in Los Angeles beginning Friday, November 12th at the Laemmle Sunset 5.

The title of a panel from the 1985 U.S. Film Festival is just as relevant when discussing documentary film today.

Sundance Institute and the Sundance Film Festival are two of the many major reasons why my first feature film, The Taqwacores, is debuting in New York City this Friday. The Taqwacores is as indie as it gets. It’s an ultra-low-budget film about a subculture of a subculture: punk-rock Muslims.

Jon Korn has been a Sundance Film Festival shorts programmer since the 2009 Festival, and he’s now in his third year with the team. We wanted to introduce you to one of the six people who are currently deciding on the fate of literally thousands of submissions.Tell us a bit about your background.

In late January 2010 the documentary community lost a vibrant talent and valued member of its community. Editor Karen Schmeer was killed in a hit-and-run accident in New York City. She was 39.

October 14, 2010-(Paris, France)- Robert Redford received one of France’s most highly esteemed recognitions today in Paris, the emblem of the “Légion d’Honneur” established by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1802. Redford was acknowledged for his work as actor and director, his decades long involvement in nurturing independent voices in film and the arts through the Sundance Institute, Sundance Film Festival, and overall advocacy on behalf of artists, as well as his work as an environmental activist over 40 years.Redford received the award from French President Nicolas Sarkozy at the Palais de l’Elysées.

“Oh, sure, I remember it like it was yesterday…

PARK CITY, UT — Sundance Institute, the global, nonprofit arts organization, today announced that the 20th anniversary of Richard Linklater’s seminal indie film Slacker has been selected as the special 2011 Sundance Film Festival From the Collection screening. The Institute, which, with the UCLA Film and Television Archive, created The Sundance Collection at UCLA to preserve and restore independent films, also announced a new program, Collector’s Circle, where for the first time Institute supporters are given the opportunity to directly impact the acquisition and preservation process.Established in 1997, The Sundance Collection at UCLA (The Collection) broke new ground by becoming the first archive devoted specifically to the preservation of documentaries, narratives, shorts, festival films, and commercially released independent films.

Hebe has been a Sundance Film Festival Shorts Programmer since 2008, and is now in her fourth year with the team. We wanted to introduce you to one of the six people who are currently deciding on the fate of literally thousands of submissions. Stay tuned for the full team line-up.

It is official, the season has begun. Even while last year’s Sundance hits are playing in theatres and awards season hopefuls are launching at fall festivals, we here at the Sundance Institute office are looking further into the future..

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.