Everywhere you looked at the Grand Hyatt Deer Valley, there was someone whose life was touched by Michelle Satter. Of course you’d expect some of that at the Festival fundraising gala — Celebrating Sundance Institute presented by Google TV — but the sheer concentration of artists, storytellers, filmmakers, actors, collaborators, friends, and family was astounding.

Surprise guest Glenn Close summed up the emotional and inspirational energy flowing through everyone who was there to celebrate the enduring power of the labs, artist programs, institute, and independent storytelling. “I am totally in awe of this particular human being. Entering this room to celebrate Michelle,” says the cinematic icon. “I feel the unseen presence of thousands of people who could be here if they could. Think of all the filmmakers she has nurtured to fruition, all the moviegoers who have benefited by the impact of the stories that Michelle’s mentees have gifted to the world. The depth and breadth of her influence is incalculable.”

With the honorees of the night including newly minted Oscar nominees James Mangold, Cynthia Erivo, and Sugarcane’s Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie — as well as 2024 Oscar nominee Sean Wang — Close’s note of Satter’s institute is far from exaggeration. Even backstage, the radiating love for the Sundance-supported community, including presenters Olivia Colman, Joel Edgerton, Andrew Ahn, Marielle Heller, and RJ Cutler, resulted in group hugs, words of mutual admiration, and new friendships.

It’s humbling to feel over 40 years of culture-shifting influence and art convening in the same room, but that level of beauty and compassion is exactly what we need right now. It’s the same thing Satter has cultivated throughout her whole career. Close continues, “She has instinctively known and passionately searched out what we unknowing conflicted and deeply fallible human beings need: stories about who we are.”

We are who we are because of Michelle Satter.

Below watch all the speeches from the evening and feel the inspiration to tell your own story and support those who do.