Category: News

If there was a prevailing motif to Thursday’s press conference kicking off the 2016 Sundance Film Festival, it may have come in the form of a corrective to commentary surrounding diversity in the film industry following last week’s disappointingly homogeneous Oscars news. Perhaps it’s the inevitable timing of the Festival, swelling conspicuously amidst awards season, but Redford once again found himself repeatedly foiling others’ efforts to detract from Sundance’s 10-day celebration of independent film. Just as he pointedly remarked several years ago to not “let that get in the way of why we’re here,” the longtime actor and filmmaker once again opined on the importance of remaining present, while also reframing the conversation around diversity in cinema.

The Sundance Film Festival’s newest venue won’t be missing a beat when the curtains are raised on the 2016 edition of the Festival. Festival Base Camp presented by Canada Goose is a dynamic cross-programmatic harbor for music performances, panels, art, and film, and today we’re unveiling the lineup of musicians taking the stage throughout the Festival. A Celebration of Film in Music and BMI Snowball are open to credential holders as space permits; all other events at Festival Base Camp presented by Canada Goose are open to the public.

Los Angeles, CA — Sundance Institute, one of the world’s largest grantmakers to documentary film, today announced the ‘Art of Nonfiction’ initiative, which will expand the Institute’s existing support for documentaries exploring contemporary social issues to include targeted creative and financial support for documentary filmmakers exploring inventive artistic practice in story, craft and form. As part of the initiative, the Institute has selected Robert Greene (Kate Plays Christine), Margaret Brown (The Order of Myths), and Omar Mullick and Bassam Tariq (These Birds Walk) as the first Art of Nonfiction fellows. The initiative launches with editorial and financial support from Cinereach.

A couple weeks ago, I returned to Havana with Sundance Institute – 16 years after I went to Havana with the Institute back in 1999. As part of this year’s program, I led a master class on creative producing during the Havana Film Festival and hosted a salon for emerging Cuban producers.
Today, Havana seems overwhelmingly different and overwhelmingly the same.

Nominations for the 88th Academy Awards were announced this morning and John Crowley’s Brooklyn, which premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, led all Sundance-supported films with three nominees, including Best Picture. Saoirse Ronan garnered a Best Actress nomination for her role in the film as Eilis, a young woman forced to choose between the allure of love in New York City and her abandoned roots back home in Ireland. On the nonfiction side, Matthew Heinemen’s perilous – and increasingly pertinent – journey into the world of Mexican drug cartels received a Best Documentary nod along with fellow 2015 Sundance docs The Look of Silence and What Happened, Miss Simone?
See below for the full list of Sundance-supported projects and artists receving Oscar nods.

Park City, UT — Sundance Institute has summoned 23 film, theatre, culture and science experts for jury duty to award 27 prizes at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival, January 21-31 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah.

(L-R) Sundance Film Festival, Credit: Fred Hayes; Taika Waititi, Credit: Sundance Film Festival; Director Crystal Moselle, Credit:Jemal Countess.
Also announced today, filmmaker and Institute alum Taika Waititi will host the feature film Awards Ceremony on Saturday, January 30 at 7:00 p.

Los Angeles, CA — Sundance Institute announced today the 12 projects selected for the 2016 January Screenwriters Lab, an immersive, five-day writers’ workshop at the Sundance Resort in Utah, January 15-20. The Lab is one of 25 residency Labs the Institute hosts each year for independent artists in theatre, film, new media and episodic content. Under the leadership of Michelle Satter, Founding Director of the Sundance Institute Feature Film Program, with Ilyse McKimmie, Labs Director, Feature Film Program, participating independent screenwriters will have the opportunity to develop their feature film scripts with the support of accomplished writers in an environment that encourages creative risk-taking and original storytelling.

Park City, UT — Adding to the excitement of the 2016 Sundance Film Festival’s onscreen films and episodic programming, Sundance Institute announced today the lineup for its offscreen panels, which will feature renowned artists and experts in conversation. This year’s panels will address topics including the relationship between media technology and storytelling, film aesthetics and the use of celluloid, music design, casting, and environmentalism. The Festival will again host the Art of Film Weekend, celebrating the craft of filmmaking January 28-30.

Los Angeles, CA — Sundance Institute today announced the appointment of Jared Hendler as Director of Marketing and Communications, responsible for overseeing all external communications for the Institute, including supervision of marketing, social media and media relations. He begins today and is based in the Institute’s Los Angeles office.

In his new role as part of the Senior Leadership group, Hendler will supervise brand strategy and messaging, develop methods to grow constituencies, and launch new collaborations to tell the story of Institute artists, programs and activities.

As 2015 comes to a close, and the inevitable top ten, twenty, one hundred, lists and award nominations are announced, women working behind the camera are all over the news.

Keri Putnam was named one of The Hollywood Reporter’s Women in Entertainment Power 100. (Link)

Jennifer Phang’s Advantageous was nominated for the Indie Spirit John Cassavetes Award, given to the writer, director and producer of a feature made for under $500,000.

Sundance Institute and Women In Film Los Angeles convened an unprecedented day meeting, organized and conducted in private, of entertainment industry decision-makers and top talent in mid-October to determine tangible steps for solving the gender parity issue that plagues Hollywood. Agents and industry executives who are normally accustomed to competing with each other, came together in a rare collaboration, the goal being to effect deep and lasting change.Participating were 44 senior industry leaders — both men and women — from studios, networks, distributors, guilds and agencies, along with high-profile writers, directors and producers, to drill into the systemic causes of gender bias in the industry and craft solutions.

Park City, UT — Squeezing in even more independent awesomeness, Sundance Institute has added two new feature films, two special events and three archive films to the 2016 Sundance Film Festival, January 21-31 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah.
With these additions, the 2016 Festival will present 123 feature-length films, representing 37 countries and 49 first-time filmmakers, including 30 in competition. These films were selected from 12,793 submissions, including 4,081 feature-length films and 8,712 short films.