PARK CITY, UTAH – Sundance Institute announced today Sundance Film Festival U.S.A, a groundbreaking initiative in which the premier 10-day Sundance Film Festival will expand nationwide on the night of Thursday, January 28, 2010 to theatres in eight cities, while featuring coinciding premiere screenings and topical events at the Festival in Utah. Sundance Film Festival U.S.A is designed to both entertain audiences and to highlight the ability of art, specifically film, to introduce new concepts, challenge ideals and spur debate. The Sundance Film Festival runs January 21-31, 2010.
“The concept behind Sundance Film Festival U.S.A. is to ignite dialogue as people across the country engage in a collective film experience. It is an extension, really, of the work we have done for decades: supporting the independent voice, bringing artists to the table and inserting art more and more into the social context of how we live,” said Robert Redford, Sundance Institute President and Founder of the Sundance Film Festival. “We hope by speaking with artists about their work and experiencing the Festival as it is happening, audiences will be inspired to share opinions, discuss the key issues of our day and reflect on the role art plays in social change.”
Sundance Film Festival U.S.A. Across America:
On January 28, eight filmmakers and their films will be dispatched from Park City to cities across America, for the first time providing audiences the opportunity to experience screenings direct from the Festival in their home town art houses and to engage in live conversation with Festival artists. An introduction video featuring Robert Redford and highlights from the Festival will precede the screenings. Selections for films and filmmakers traveling to the eight cities will take place shortly after the programming announcement in December. All films will be selected from the official Sundance Film Festival program. Tickets will be available through each theatre’s individual box office. Southwest Airlines is the official airline partner of Sundance Film Festival U.S.A. Participating cities and their theatres are:
Ann Arbor, MI — Michigan Theater www.michtheater.org
Brookline, MA — Coolidge Corner Theatre www.coolidge.org
Brooklyn, NY — BAM www.bam.org
Chicago, IL — Music Box Theatre www.musicboxtheatre.com
Los Angeles, CA — Downtown Independent www.downtownindependent.com
Madison, WI — Sundance Cinemas Madison www.sundancecinemas.com
Nashville, TN — The Belcourt Theatre www.belcourt.org
San Francisco, CA — Sundance Kabuki Cinemas www.sundancecinemas.com
Sundance Film Festival U.S.A. On the Mountain:
In Park City, Utah that same Thursday — the kickoff of the Festival’s anticipated awards weekend — filmgoers will have the chance to experience centerpiece programming celebrating a renewed commitment to the national dialogue and support of independent film. Serving as a departure point for a larger discussion, the Festival will feature the North American premiere of the socio-political documentary THE SHOCK DOCTRINE, closely based on the book by award-winning journalist Naomi Klein. THE SHOCK DOCTRINE, from directors Michael Winterbottom and Mat Whitecross was first presented as a work-in-progress at the Berlin Film Festival and will inspire debate and controversy with its startling and graphic expose of how shock is used to implement economic policy in vulnerable environments. Called a “whirlwind of contemporary socio-political world history” (KINO) and “sober, polished and persuasive” (Variety), THE SHOCK DOCTRINE will screen at the Eccles Theatre to be immediately followed by a conversation with the filmmakers, Naomi Klein and Robert Redford. Details regarding other screenings and events in Utah that evening will be announced later.
“Each January the Sundance Film Festival is home to a collective energy around independent filmmakers and their work: there is a definite sharing of ideas, emotions and conversation,” said John Cooper, Director, Sundance Film Festival. “And each January Bob Redford makes a point of reminding audiences that art and ideas know no boundaries. So we thought, it is time to experiment with physically expanding our reach. We feel a responsibility to bring independent filmmakers and films to a larger audience – so when better than during the Festival itself? Components of this event have been successfully pioneered with our ongoing Art House Project and Sundance Institute at BAM, and we’re excited to be able to offer an incredible evening of programming.”
About the Sundance Film Festival
Presenting dramatic and documentary feature-length films from emerging and established artists, innovative short films, filmmaker forums and panels, live music performances ranging from solo acts to film composer events, cutting-edge media installations, and engaging community and student programs, the Sundance Film Festival brings together the most original storytellers of our time.
Supported by the non-profit Sundance Institute, the Festival has introduced global audiences to some of the most ground-breaking films of the past two decades, including sex, lies, and videotape, Maria Full of Grace, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, An Inconvenient Truth, Trouble the Water, and Central Station and, through its New Frontier initiative, has brought to audiences the cinematic works of media artists including Isaac Julian, Doug Aitken, Pierre Huyghe, Jennifer Steinkamp, and Matthew Barney. The Presenting Sponsors for the 2010 Festival are Entertainment Weekly, HP, Honda and Sundance Channel.
