Explore
News & Stories

Give Me the Backstory: Get to Know Matt Wolf, the Filmmaker Behind “Pee-wee as Himself”
By Bailey Pennick One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festival is having a front-row seat for the bright future of independent

Directors Lab at 45: Writer-Director Marielle Heller Remembers Finding Her Voice in the 2012 Lab
Director of photography Benjamin Kasulke, actors Katie Henney and Hannah Marks, and writer-director Marielle Heller at the 2012 Directors Lab. (Photo by Fred Hayes)

Detroit Is Gorgeous and Grief Is Gritty in “To Live and Die and Live”
PARK CITY, UTAH – JANUARY 20: Skye P. Marshall, Omari Hardwick, Cory Hardrict, Qasim Basir, Dana Gourrier, and Amin Joseph attend the 2023 Sundance Film

Sundance Film Festival: CDMX 2025 by Cinépolis Announces the Official Program for the Second Edition
The Sundance Film Festival: CDMX 2025 program is composed of 15 feature films and five short films, as well as a series of panels with

What to Watch: 6 Sundance Institute–Supported Films by Filipino Directors
A sinister fairy infiltrates a desperate family in Kenneth Dagatan’s “In My Mother’s Skin,” which premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. Photo courtesy of

Dark History and Evil Are Unearthed in “The Moogai”
Shari Sebbens attends the 2024 Sundance Film Festival “The Moogai” premiere at The Ray Theatre in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Donayle West/Shutterstock for Sundance Film
The Latest

Give Me the Backstory: Get to Know Matt Wolf, the Filmmaker Behind “Pee-wee as Himself”
By Bailey Pennick One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festival is having a front-row seat for the bright future of independent

Directors Lab at 45: Writer-Director Marielle Heller Remembers Finding Her Voice in the 2012 Lab
Director of photography Benjamin Kasulke, actors Katie Henney and Hannah Marks, and writer-director Marielle Heller at the 2012 Directors Lab. (Photo by Fred Hayes)

Detroit Is Gorgeous and Grief Is Gritty in “To Live and Die and Live”
PARK CITY, UTAH – JANUARY 20: Skye P. Marshall, Omari Hardwick, Cory Hardrict, Qasim Basir, Dana Gourrier, and Amin Joseph attend the 2023 Sundance Film
Festival

Give Me the Backstory: Get to Know Matt Wolf, the Filmmaker Behind “Pee-wee as Himself”
By Bailey Pennick One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festival is having a front-row seat for the bright future of independent

Detroit Is Gorgeous and Grief Is Gritty in “To Live and Die and Live”
PARK CITY, UTAH – JANUARY 20: Skye P. Marshall, Omari Hardwick, Cory Hardrict, Qasim Basir, Dana Gourrier, and Amin Joseph attend the 2023 Sundance Film

Dark History and Evil Are Unearthed in “The Moogai”
Shari Sebbens attends the 2024 Sundance Film Festival “The Moogai” premiere at The Ray Theatre in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Donayle West/Shutterstock for Sundance Film
Festival Highlights
News

Give Me the Backstory: Get to Know Matt Wolf, the Filmmaker Behind “Pee-wee as Himself”
By Bailey Pennick One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festival is having a front-row seat for the bright future of independent

Directors Lab at 45: Writer-Director Marielle Heller Remembers Finding Her Voice in the 2012 Lab
Director of photography Benjamin Kasulke, actors Katie Henney and Hannah Marks, and writer-director Marielle Heller at the 2012 Directors Lab. (Photo by Fred Hayes)

Detroit Is Gorgeous and Grief Is Gritty in “To Live and Die and Live”
PARK CITY, UTAH – JANUARY 20: Skye P. Marshall, Omari Hardwick, Cory Hardrict, Qasim Basir, Dana Gourrier, and Amin Joseph attend the 2023 Sundance Film
Artist Spotlight

Give Me the Backstory: Get to Know Shoshannah Stern, the Director of “Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore”
By Jessica Herndon One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festival is having a front-row seat for the bright future of independent

Give Me the Backstory: Get to Know Astrid Rondero and Fernanda Valadez, the Co-Directors of “Sujo”
By Jessica Herndon One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festival is having a front-row seat for the bright future of independent

Give Me the Backstory: Get to Know Benjamin Ree, the Director Behind “The Remarkable Life of Ibelin”
By Jessica Herndon One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festival is having a front-row seat for the bright future of independent
From the Labs

Directors Lab at 45: Writer-Director Marielle Heller Remembers Finding Her Voice in the 2012 Lab
Director of photography Benjamin Kasulke, actors Katie Henney and Hannah Marks, and writer-director Marielle Heller at the 2012 Directors Lab. (Photo by Fred Hayes)

Inside the Archives: Celebrating the Power of Women-Driven Cinema
Director Gina Prince-Bythewood reviews the script for her beloved film “Love and Basketball,” which she workshopped at the 1998 Directors Lab before it premiered at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival. Photo by Sandria Miller

Hope for the Independent Documentary Ecosystem: How Artist Accelerator Envisions an Equitable Future
The Artist Accelerator team on day 3 of the Shangri La / Sundance / Building Bridges Fellowship. Photo by Elyse Butler. By Hajnal Molnar-Szakacs, Director
Now Playing

Release Rundown: What to Watch in May, From “The Moogai” to “Pee-wee as Himself”
Paul Reubens appears in “Pee-wee as Himself,” an official selection of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Michael Ochs

Release Rundown: What to Watch in April, From “Freaky Tales” to “The Wedding Banquet”
Pedro Pascal appears in Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck’s “Freaky Tales,” which premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. By Lucy Spicer If variety is

Release Rundown: What to Watch in March, From “Opus” to “The Fishbowl”
Ayo Edebiri appears in “Opus” by Mark Anthony Green, an official selection of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by
Collab

“Boxcutter” Director Reza Dahya on His Path From the Sundance Institute to SXSW
By Jessica Herndon In 2022, Reza Dahya took a pivotal step in shaping his debut feature, Boxcutter, by enrolling in the Sundance Institute Collab’s “Directing:

Intimacy Coordinator Marci Liroff’s Rules for Shooting Safe and Authentic Intimate Scenes
By Jessica Herndon When Gwyneth Paltrow sat down with Vanity Fair for its April 2025 cover story, she admitted she had no idea there was

Sundance Collab Tips From 2025 Festival Award-Winners on Writing, Directing, and Making Their Mark
By Jessica Herndon What does it take to win an award at the Sundance Film Festival? Filmmakers Charlie Shackleton, Rashad Frett, Rohan Kanawade, Alireza Khatami,
Creative Distribution

From the Archives: The 3 Things It Takes to Be an Independent Producer
As the spiritual closing of Sundance Institute’s Creative Producing Summit, Sundance Film Festival director John Cooper wrapped up the weekend with the “One Word Challenge.”Cooper’s challenge to his three keynote guests was simple: “It is 2011, and the most important thing a producer needs to survive is …” Panelists were given this one-word task by email before arriving in Utah and told to bring their best thinking to the audience of creative fellows and advisors. The experiment is both simple and profound, and audience members were invited to play along with cards of their own.

‘I Knew People Wanted to See It’: The ‘In Reality’ Team on Why and How They Self-Distributed
In part one of this interview, In Reality writer/director/star Ann Lupo and producer Holly Meehl shared how they got their anti-romantic comedy feature off the ground. In this second and final part, we explore how they navigated self-distribution.
Were you building an audience along the way? How did you keep people engaged?
AL: During post-production I took on a side project editing a short for Casey Neistat called “Filmmaking is a Sport,” and it completely changed my perspective on YouTube.

From Short Film to Unexpected Feature: How ‘In Reality’ Came to Life
Liz Manashil is a filmmaker and former manager of Sundance Institute’s Creative Distribution Initiative.
A few months ago, before I had a baby, I encountered the anti-romantic comedy feature film In Reality, which I immediately fell for. As I told the filmmakers later, it was the movie I needed when I was in my early 20s.
From the Archives

Give Me the Backstory: Get to Know Matt Wolf, the Filmmaker Behind “Pee-wee as Himself”
By Bailey Pennick One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festival is having a front-row seat for the bright future of independent

Directors Lab at 45: Writer-Director Marielle Heller Remembers Finding Her Voice in the 2012 Lab
Director of photography Benjamin Kasulke, actors Katie Henney and Hannah Marks, and writer-director Marielle Heller at the 2012 Directors Lab. (Photo by Fred Hayes)

Detroit Is Gorgeous and Grief Is Gritty in “To Live and Die and Live”
PARK CITY, UTAH – JANUARY 20: Skye P. Marshall, Omari Hardwick, Cory Hardrict, Qasim Basir, Dana Gourrier, and Amin Joseph attend the 2023 Sundance Film

Sundance Film Festival: CDMX 2025 by Cinépolis Announces the Official Program for the Second Edition
The Sundance Film Festival: CDMX 2025 program is composed of 15 feature films and five short films, as well as a series of panels with