Explore
News & Stories

Give Me the Backstory: Get to Know Tadashi Nakamura, the Filmmaker Behind “Third Act”
By Lucy Spicer Editor’s note: We are deeply saddened by the passing of Robert A. Nakamura, a trailblazer in Asian American cinema and the subject

“IGUALADA” Beats the Odds in the Ultimate Underdog Tale
(Stephen Lovekin/Shutterstock for Sundance Film Festival) By Patty Consolazio This one’s for any person who’s ever felt put down, left out, marginalized, oppressed, alone, defeated,

Release Rundown: What to Watch in July, From “FOLKTALES” to “Oh, Hi!”
Hege Wik and Odin appear in “FOLKTALES” by Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady, an official selection of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance

Give Me the Backstory: Get to Know Eva Victor, the Writer-Director Behind “Sorry, Baby”
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 Esteban Arango, the Director of “Ponyboi”
By Lucy Spicer One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festival is having a front-row seat for the bright future of independent

Inside the Archives: Underscoring the Value of Digitization and Access
On the set of Leslie McCleave’s “The Shamrocks” with Mount Timpanogos as a backdrop during the 1999 Directors Lab. Photo by Sandria Miller By Archives
The Latest

Give Me the Backstory: Get to Know Tadashi Nakamura, the Filmmaker Behind “Third Act”
By Lucy Spicer Editor’s note: We are deeply saddened by the passing of Robert A. Nakamura, a trailblazer in Asian American cinema and the subject

“IGUALADA” Beats the Odds in the Ultimate Underdog Tale
(Stephen Lovekin/Shutterstock for Sundance Film Festival) By Patty Consolazio This one’s for any person who’s ever felt put down, left out, marginalized, oppressed, alone, defeated,

Release Rundown: What to Watch in July, From “FOLKTALES” to “Oh, Hi!”
Hege Wik and Odin appear in “FOLKTALES” by Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady, an official selection of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance
Festival

Give Me the Backstory: Get to Know Tadashi Nakamura, the Filmmaker Behind “Third Act”
By Lucy Spicer Editor’s note: We are deeply saddened by the passing of Robert A. Nakamura, a trailblazer in Asian American cinema and the subject

“IGUALADA” Beats the Odds in the Ultimate Underdog Tale
(Stephen Lovekin/Shutterstock for Sundance Film Festival) By Patty Consolazio This one’s for any person who’s ever felt put down, left out, marginalized, oppressed, alone, defeated,

Release Rundown: What to Watch in July, From “FOLKTALES” to “Oh, Hi!”
Hege Wik and Odin appear in “FOLKTALES” by Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady, an official selection of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance
Festival Highlights
News

Give Me the Backstory: Get to Know Tadashi Nakamura, the Filmmaker Behind “Third Act”
By Lucy Spicer Editor’s note: We are deeply saddened by the passing of Robert A. Nakamura, a trailblazer in Asian American cinema and the subject

“IGUALADA” Beats the Odds in the Ultimate Underdog Tale
(Stephen Lovekin/Shutterstock for Sundance Film Festival) By Patty Consolazio This one’s for any person who’s ever felt put down, left out, marginalized, oppressed, alone, defeated,

Release Rundown: What to Watch in July, From “FOLKTALES” to “Oh, Hi!”
Hege Wik and Odin appear in “FOLKTALES” by Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady, an official selection of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance
Artist Spotlight

Give Me the Backstory: Get to Know Mathias Broe, the Director Behind “Sauna”
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 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
From the Labs

Inside the Archives: Underscoring the Value of Digitization and Access
On the set of Leslie McCleave’s “The Shamrocks” with Mount Timpanogos as a backdrop during the 1999 Directors Lab. Photo by Sandria Miller By Archives

John August on Encouraging Exploration at the Sundance Institute Labs
John August with fellow Kibwe Tavares at Sundance Institute’s 2016 June Screenwriters Lab. Photo by Brandon Cruz for Sundance Institute By Lucy Spicer When screenwriter

Kasi Lemmons on the Enduring Originality of the Sundance Institute Labs
Kasi Lemmons with fellow Daniel Kaluuya at Sundance Institute’s 2016 January Screenwriters Lab. Photo by Brandon Cruz for Sundance Institute By Lucy Spicer Writer-director, actor,
Now Playing

Release Rundown: What to Watch in July, From “FOLKTALES” to “Oh, Hi!”
Hege Wik and Odin appear in “FOLKTALES” by Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady, an official selection of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance

Channing Godfrey Peoples on a Bittersweet ‘Miss Juneteenth’ Release and the Urgency of Portraying Black Humanity on Screen
After premiering at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, Channing Godfrey Peoples’s debut feature is hitting digital platforms this Juneteenth—the day for which the film is named and which is very close to the director’s heart. “I feel like I’ve been living Miss Juneteenth my whole life,” she says.
The June 19 holiday—which commemorates the day slavery was finally abolished in Texas (more than two years after the 1863 Emancipation Proclamation was issued)—is celebrated in her hometown of Fort Worth with a deep sense of reverence and community, with barbecues, a parade, and a scholarship pageant for young Black women.

Release Rundown: What to Watch in June, From “SALLY” to “Sorry, Baby”
Sally Ride appears in “SALLY” by Cristina Costantini, an official selection of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by NASA.
Collab

Take 5: Sundance Collab Instructor Patrick Shen on What He Learned From His Biggest Failure
By Jessica Herndon Welcome to the first edition of Take 5, where we invite you to get familiar with the talented instructors behind our Sundance

Writer Veronica Reyes-How on Her Journey from the Sundance Institute to Premiering Her Series “Mother, May I Have a Kidney?” at Tribeca
By Jessica Herndon Veronica Reyes-How’s journey from stage to screen is a testament to the power of pivoting. A seasoned actor with Broadway credits, including

How “Hacks” Writers Jen Statsky and Lucia Aniello Shape the Show’s Iconic Characters
By Jessica Herndon Hacks is more than just a show — it’s a masterclass in creative collaboration, both in front of and behind the camera.
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 Tadashi Nakamura, the Filmmaker Behind “Third Act”
By Lucy Spicer Editor’s note: We are deeply saddened by the passing of Robert A. Nakamura, a trailblazer in Asian American cinema and the subject

“IGUALADA” Beats the Odds in the Ultimate Underdog Tale
(Stephen Lovekin/Shutterstock for Sundance Film Festival) By Patty Consolazio This one’s for any person who’s ever felt put down, left out, marginalized, oppressed, alone, defeated,

Release Rundown: What to Watch in July, From “FOLKTALES” to “Oh, Hi!”
Hege Wik and Odin appear in “FOLKTALES” by Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady, an official selection of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance

Take 5: Sundance Collab Instructor Patrick Shen on What He Learned From His Biggest Failure
By Jessica Herndon Welcome to the first edition of Take 5, where we invite you to get familiar with the talented instructors behind our Sundance