Category: News

On Monday morning, a small crowd of filmmakers, philanthropists, and media leaders gathered at the Park City home of Jacki Zehner to hear Sundance Institute executive director Keri Putnam and Women in Film Los Angeles President Cathy Shulman announce a collaborative effort to support women working in narrative and documentary independent film. The brunch was co-hosted by Zehner, Putnam, Schulman, and Sundance Institute Trustee Pat Mitchell.Lauren Greenfield (Queen of Versailles), Katie Aselton (Black Rock), and Sheila Johnson were among the 120 guests treated to brunch served with Wonder Woman-themed party ware and complimentary handbags provided by Coach.

Erstwhile Indie Queen, sardonic girl next door and trailblazer for a generation of quirked-out Emmas, Kats and Zooeys — Parker Posey’s reputation precedes her. She first came to Sundance in 1995 with Party Girl, the film that introduced the world to her unique blend of crush-worthy beauty and self-effacing comedic chops. And she last swept through Park City when she served as a juror for the US Dramatic Competition in 2010.

Sleepwalk with Me is much funnier than the outline of its plot indicates: A man has lived with his girlfriend for eight years, but doesn’t really love her. Succumbing to family pressures, the couple gets engaged. His anxieties manifest themselves in a disorder that is eventually diagnosed as rapid eye movement behavior disorder, which causes its sufferers to actually act out the dream they are experiencing.

Day Six of #Sundance on Instagram focuses on Festival landscapes and the interesting characters who inhabit them.

Don’t forget to use #sundance when posting to Instagram so your photo has a chance of making our daily roundup. And also follow us on Instagram at username sundanceinstitute.

Exactly one year ago, a group of activist friends armed with cameras walked out their front door to the epicenter of the Egyptian uprising. With the struggle to survive competing with the struggle to document the events, directors Omar Shargawi and Karim El Hakim capture a fierce moment of history in their film ½ Revolution, part of the Festival’s World Documentary Competition. Karim El Hakim, whose past film credits include Egypt We Are Watching You, understands the power of street protests in action.

Recognizing what is dubbed the Festival’s most innovative and experimental program, the Sundance Film Festival Awards for Best Short Films were just announced in a location that most definitely subverts expectations: the Jupiter Bowl, an irreverent, fluorescently-lit, DJ pulsing mega-bowling-plex. The awards were hosted by actress Michaela Watkins who described coming back to Sundance with her second film as returning to summer camp “when your boobs come in.”
Out of the nearly 7,000 short films submitted to the Festival, 64 films were accepted into the Short Film program presented by Yahoo! The 7 favorites below were selected for awards by three jurors: Beavis and Butt-Head and King of the Hill creatorMike Judge; the director of the award-winning short film and subsequent feature film Pariah, Dee Rees; and Shane Smith, director of public programs at TIFF Bell Lightbox.

We’re at the midway point of the Festival and the quality—and quantity—of #Sundance photos on Instagram is not letting up. Day Five gives us a look at packed theatres, a view through 3D glasses, and an invisible Sean Penn?

Don’t forget to use #sundance when posting to Instagram so your photo has a chance of making our daily roundup. And also follow us on Instagram at username sundanceinstitute.

Park City, UT — Sundance Institute this evening announced the jury prizes and honorable mentions in short filmmaking at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. The awards were presented at a ceremony in Park City, Utah. These award recipients will also be honored at the Festival’s Awards Ceremony, hosted by Parker Posey on Saturday, January 28 at 7:00 p.

PARK CITY, UT – Sundance Institute and Mahindra today announced the winners of the 2012 Sundance Institute | Mahindra Global Filmmaking Award, in recognition and support of emerging independent filmmakers from around the world. The winning directors and projects are:Etienne Kallos, Vrystaat (Free State) from South Africa; Ariel Kleiman, Partisan from Australia; Dominga Sotomayor, Late To Die Young from Chile; and Shonali Bose, Margarita. With A Straw from India.

Celebrated filmmaker Stephen Frears was positively giddy about introducing the world premiere of his latest film, Lay the Favorite, on Saturday night at the Eccles Theater. Festively outfitted in a long red scarf and wordlessly roaming behind the podium, he seemed as excited for film’s world premiere as the audience. After all, he said, “I just finished it last Friday.

Moderator and New York Times media columnist David Carr kicked off Monday’s Cinema Cafe panel at the Filmmaker Lodge with an allusion to the “giant elephant in the room,” the SOPA and PIPA anti-piracy bills whose passage was recently waylaid as a result of an internet uprising voicing concern and anger over the bill’s perceived threats to free speech.The Cinema Cafe series of panels is designed to foster free-ranging conversation among artists and industry leaders about issues that affect independent filmmakers. Presided over by a trio of knowledgeable and high-powered panelists former Senator Christopher Dodd, the chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America, John Fithian, the president and CEO of the National Association of Theatre Owners, and independent producer Christine Vachon—today’s Cinema Cafe landed right on top of the news, with an illuminating debate of the issues surrounding copyright protection and the creative community.

Lizzy Caplan is a woman on the verge of stardom. Just don’t tell Lizzy Caplan. With two high-profile, markedly different films in this year’s Festival—dramedic romance Save the Date and the jet-black comedy Bachelorette—Caplan is showing the kind of range and adaptive likeability that is bound to push her career forward.