Category: News

“At some point, your own story becomes history.” — David France, director of How to Survive a Plague
Some
of the biggest moments and movements in modern human history have been
(or are being) carefully documented by independent artists working in
film, theatre, VR, music, and beyond—not to mention protesters on the ground in cities across our country.
In honor of Preservation Week in April, we took some time to recognize storytellers and those responsible for safekeeping and sharing our collective stories for generations to come.

THE SUNDANCE INSTITUTE IS NOW ON LETTERBOXD! Follow us on the social media platform for more Festival-related watchlists and exclusive content.
For those of us who really, really love movies, there’s nothing quite
like the experience of watching a film flicker to life on a big screen
in the company of a captive (and captivated) audience. However, these
are strange times, and as we adjust to the reality that it may be a
while before we’re able to file into theaters once again, we’ve been
finding new ways to commune with our fellow cinephiles.

In celebration of Friday, April 2, aka World Autism Awareness Day, we’ve rounded up a wide range of Sundance-supported films celebrating neurodiversity that you’ll want to add to your weekend watchlist. Start with the Academy Award–winning documentary Life, Animated by Roger Ross Williams, a selection from the 2016 Sundance Film Festival, and don’t miss Dan Sickles and Antonio Santini’s documentary Dina, which won the U.S.

“A film composer can be dubbed an auteur in the same sense as a filmmaker,” Katy Jarzebowski told us a few years ago when we quizzed a few fellows from our Film Music Sound Design Lab (psst—applications are open for the 2020 lab through April 20) about their favorite film scores. Jarzebowski waxed poetic on Danny Elfman’s Edward Scissorhands score, while Ryan Cohan expressed his admiration for Bernard Herrmann’s work in Taxi Driver and K.T.

Less than three months ago, the team behind Never Rarely Sometimes Always was in Park City premiering the project at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, where it won a Special Jury Prize for Neo-Realism. Eliza Hittman’s incredibly moving, visceral film—about two teenagers from rural Pennsylvania who travel to New York City so one of them can get an abortion—went on to win the Silver Bear in Berlin in late February ahead of the film’s theatrical release on March 13. Just a few days later, movie theaters around the country started closing due to the growing threat of COVID-19.

Year-Long Fellowship, in Collaboration with Universal Filmed Entertainment Group,
Launches with Two-Day Intensive
Los Angeles — Sundance Institute today announced the ten writer/directors selected for the fifth annual FilmTwo Fellowship supported by Universal Filmed Entertainment Group, which kicks off a year-long track of customized creative and tactical support with a two-day Intensive. Created to foster career sustainability as independent creators develop their second feature films, the Intensive includes a writing workshop, industry mentoring sessions, and one-on-one story meetings with Creative Advisors.
Recent alumni of FilmTwo include Lulu Wang, Marielle Heller, Andrew Ahn, Sally El Hosaini,, Crystal Moselle Laure de Clermont Tonnere and Steven Caple, Jr.

In June 1982, a group of independent filmmakers arrived at the Sundance Mountain Resort to attend the then-fledgling Sundance Institute’s second-ever Directors Lab—among them, a Harvard undergrad named Marisa Silver, who was there to workshop her coming-of-age story Old Enough. Working with a group of advisors that included Institute founder Robert Redford, actress Mary Beth Hurt, and Street Music director Jenny Bowen, Silver laid the groundwork for a project that would eventually introduce young actresses Rainbow Harvest, Sarah Boyd, and Alyssa Milano to the world.
To kick off Women’s History Month, we dug through the Institute’s archives to get the stories behind 11 such projects that have since been produced, offering up a peek behind the scenes and celebrating the careers of these groundbreaking women directors.

Writers and Advisors from a Broad Array of Backgrounds Come Together to Advance Distinctive Screenplays
LOS ANGELES — Twelve screenwriters have been selected to participate in Sundance Institute’s eighth annual Screenwriters Intensive in Los Angeles, to take place March 4-5, 2020. The Intensive, a two-day workshop for select emerging writers and writer-directors from underrepresented communities, focuses on the development of first fiction features. Fellows at the Intensive will advance the art and craft of their work under the guidance of experienced filmmakers and the Institute’s Feature Film Program, led by Founding Director Michelle Satter and Deputy Director Ilyse McKimmie.

As part of an ongoing partnership focused on developing and nurturing the next generation of independent artists, Sundance Institute and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation select a handful of Knight Fellows to attend the Sundance Film Festival every year as part of our Talent Forum.

Black women directors have created some of the most powerful, nuanced, and layered stories of our time. From indie hits to serious blockbusters, projects written and directed by Black women have proven to be essential in contributing a unique cinematic gaze. In the span of 40 years, Sundance Institute has supported numerous black women artists in telling their stories via labs, grants, and the annual Festival in Park City.

Seven fellows participate in a cross-disciplinary program reimagined for the next wave of storytellers
NEW YORK—February 11, 2020— Sundance Institute, a nonprofit organization that provides and preserves the space for independent artists in film, theatre, and media to create and thrive, and Ucross, a prestigious artist residency program and creative laboratory for the arts, and have announced seven fellows participating in the 21st annual Sundance Institute Artist Residency at Ucross in Wyoming, currently taking place February 3–21, 2020. This year, the retreat was renamed (formerly the Sundance Institute Playwrights & Composers Retreat) to reflect its cross-disciplinary structure.After more than two decades of success, the Residency will continue to provide the transformative benefits of uninterrupted time for creative work.

Lulu Wang’s moving drama, The Farewell, came out of last year’s Sundance Film Festival with major buzz—and this past Saturday, the film’s fairytale journey came to an end when the writer/director took to the stage to accept the Best Feature statue at the Independent Spirit Awards. Fittingly, Wang dedicated the award to her grandmother, Nai Nai, who inspired the film’s script, as well as her parents.
“I’m sorry, Mom and Dad, for putting all of your baggage out there, but thank you,” she quipped during the ceremony in Santa Monica, where The Farewell’s Zhao Shuzhen also took home the Best Supporting Female prize.