Category: News

Vitality reigned at Day 3 of Sundance NEXT FEST. If skeptics needed a testament to the health and diversity of independent film, last night’s display was it, as stories from disparate communities throughout the country hit the screen.
First up was David and Nathan Zellner’s beautifully paced drama Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter, which follows a young woman (Rinko Kikuchi) who ditches the austerity of Japanese work life and treks to Minnesota to discover the buried loot from the film Fargo.

Last night’s Sundance NEXT FEST opener at the Theatre at Ace Hotel felt more like a reunion of old pals than a glitzy Los Angeles premiere. Perhaps that’s what you get when Aubrey Plaza and Father John Misty take the helm as your unofficial co-hosts. The versatile pair was on hand for the Los Angeles premiere of Plaza’s zombie romance Life After Beth and a post-screening performance from indie crooner – and all-around droll entertainer – Father John Misty.

Breaking Bad, Mad Men, House of Cards, Girls, The Office—the list could continue ad infinitum. Whatever your show preference, it would appear we are firmly entrenched in the era of serialized entertainment, where one’s fluency in pop culture is directly proportionate to their consumption (see: binge watching) of scripted shows on television or online. For audiences, the medium’s attributes are clear: accessible content that can be ingested in one heaping dose or savored over time.

Los Angeles, CA — Sundance Institute announced today that it has been awarded a grant for the second consecutive year from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to support professional training and development for emerging feature film artists. The grant supports four annual Labs hosted by the Institute’s renowned Feature Film Program (FFP): the June Screenwriters Lab, the Directors Lab, the Creative Producing Lab, and the Creative Producing Summit.
Sundance Institute’s Lab programs were built on a model established by  Institute President & Founder Robert Redford in 1981 and give aspiring independent filmmakers the skills and knowledge they need to make theatrical motion pictures.

(August 1, 2014)  Sundance Institute and The Metroplex will present Sundance Film Festival – Hong Kong Selects, a screening series of new American independent films accompanied by a delegation of filmmakers and Festival organizers from September 19 to 28, 2014, at the newly opened cineplex in Kowloon Bay in Hong Kong. Drawing on the Sundance Film Festival’s 30-year history of discovery and innovation and The Metroplex’s commitment to supporting film culture, Sundance Film Festival – Hong Kong Selects will offer the Hong Kong premieres of eight new films direct from the 2014 Festival in Park City, Utah, U.S.

The Sundance Film Festival is headed east. No, that doesn’t mean the Festival will be departing its snow globe-like wonderland in Park City. Instead, Sundance Institute and The Metroplex will present Sundance Film Festival – Hong Kong Selects, a screening series of new American independent films accompanied by a delegation of filmmakers and Festival organizers from September 19 to 28, 2014, at the newly opened cineplex in Kowloon Bay in Hong Kong.

Park City, UT—Sundance Institute today announced the participants for its annual Creative Producing Labs and Creative Producing Summit, both held the week of July 28 at the Sundance Resort in Sundance, Utah. These activities are part of the Institute’s year-round Creative Producing Initiative, which encompasses a series of Labs, Fellowships and other signature events that support independent producers. The Creative Producing Labs and Summit wrap the summer season  of 10 residential Labs hosted in Utah by Sundance Institute, collectively representing 15 weeks of residency support and mentorship for the most promising new independent film and theatre projects from the United States and around the world.

There are prolific filmmakers–Woody Allen famously cranks out a new movie each year–and then there’s Joe Swanberg, who makes everyone else who has ever stepped behind a camera seem like a slacker. Since 2005, the 32-year-old has directed, written and produced 17 films, often starring in them and in some instances serving as his own cinematographer. Once synonymous with the Mumblecore movement, Swanberg continues to evolve with Happy Christmas, a consistently surprising comedy that reunites him with his Drinking Buddies star Anna Kendrick, here cast against type as an irresponsible, down-on-her-luck young woman, who imposes on her brother (Swanberg) and his wife (Melanie Lynskey), and disrupts their domestic tranquility.

New York, NY — Sundance Institute and the LUMA Foundation today announced that the two organizations will again collaborate to host the second Sundance Institute | LUMA Foundation Theatre Directors Retreat in Arles, France, July 29 through August 11. The Retreat is one of 10 residential programs hosted by Sundance Institute this summer, collectively representing 15 weeks of support and mentorship for promising independent artists in theatre and film from the United States and around the world.
Under the supervision of Theatre Program Artistic Director Philip Himberg, Producing Director Christopher Hibma and Program Associate Anne Kauffman, the Retreat is the only theatre director-centered residency of its kind.

Alex Ross Perry’s brand of misanthropy is remarkably endearing. It also happens to permeate his intimate comedy Listen Up Philip, which screens Saturday, August 9, at the Theatre at Ace Hotel as part of Sundance NEXT FEST.
Perry’s peculiar charm was on full display when he introduced his film Listen Up Philip last January at the Sundance Film Festival.

There’s not much one can hope to gather from the genre-spanning description for Ana Lily Amirpour’s A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night. After all, what is a Persian vampire comedy romance – or one better, an Iranian vampire western? Now’s your chance to find out. The inscrutable work from Amirpour will be on display once again on Sunday, August 10, at Sundance NEXT FEST.

Between Jeff Baena’s serpentine zombie romance and Father John Misty’s unruly video for his breakout song “Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings,” it seems Aubrey Plaza can act her way into any adaptation of a deranged young woman.
Both Baena’s dramatic comedy Life After Beth and Father John Misty, in all his paradoxical (part-nihilist, part-shamanistic) allure, will be on showcase at Sundance NEXT FEST for a two-part event. First, we’ll screen the Los Angeles premiere of Life After Beth, which walks the thin line between zombie thriller, madcap comedy, and poignant romance, and stars Plaza and Dane DeHaan in similarly revelatory performances.