Category: News

“This home has come to an end; it’s time to move to the next home.” — Mescalero Apache ceremonial song
During my 20 years at the Sundance Institute, I’ve tried to imbue my work with inflections of my own Cheyenne and Mescalero Apache cultures. I saw the work of supporting Indigenous artists as a ceremony of transitioning storytellers into their full potential, much like my Mescalero community does when we ritually sing our young women into womanhood and into our matriarchy.

Just as nature brings out new and vivid colors in the fall, filmmakers step forward with their best and brightest as we head into the serious cinema season — not that some fun romps aren’t in store as well. In reviewing the fall movie season lineup, we started to notice some familiar faces from past labs and Festivals popping up behind the camera, from Daniel Deston Cretton to Chloé Zhao. Thus, we have another installment in our ongoing lesson: You find Sundance alums in some of the most exciting places.

The arrival of September means the start of fall festival season, beginning with the Venice International Film Festival, which hosts its opening night tonight. We’re excited at the prospect of getting to see Sundance Institute–supported projects in person at events around the world, beginning tomorrow, September 2, with the world premiere of Diana El Jeiroudi’s Republic of Silence, which was made with support from our Documentary Film Fund.
In addition to El Jeiroudi’s film, we’ve rounded up four additional Sundance Institute–supported projects that appear on the lineups of Venice (September 1–11), Telluride (September 2–6), Toronto (September 9–18), and the New York Film Festival (September 24–October 10).

Eighteen months into this pandemic, we struggle still to regain our lives and livelihoods. Society seeks to “get back to normal” by any means necessary, and meanwhile, many opportunities for fieldwide reform that the pandemic presented to us one year ago still remain largely unaddressed. In the last year, the longstanding extractive practices of so many of our societal structures have been laid bare, and our media arts system is no exception.

Through our #Sundance40th series, we’re offering a decade-by-decade look back at the Sundance Institute’s first 40 years, celebrating the artists and projects that have been such a vital part of our history. And our story doesn’t end here: We need your help in supporting the storytellers of tomorrow. Donate now.

Through our #Sundance40th series, we’re offering a decade-by-decade look back at the Sundance Institute’s first 40 years, celebrating the artists and projects that have been such a vital part of our history. And our story doesn’t end here: We need your help in supporting the storytellers of tomorrow. Donate now.

Through our #Sundance40th series, we’re offering a decade-by-decade look back at the Sundance Institute’s first 40 years, celebrating the artists and projects that have been such a vital part of our history. And our story doesn’t end here: We need your help in supporting the storytellers of tomorrow. Donate now.

Through our #Sundance40th series, we’re offering a decade-by-decade look back at the Sundance Institute’s first 40 years, celebrating the artists and projects that have been such a vital part of our history. And our story doesn’t end here: We need your help in supporting the storytellers of tomorrow. Donate now.