Explore

Please check back on Monday, January 30. If you have any questions, please email archives@sundance.org

Digital Archive

Explore our digital archive to discover all the independent artists and stories supported through Sundance Institute’s labs and festivals.

Archives & Collection

Sundance Institute Archives & Collection inspires and educates through preservation and access to seminal work of independent artists and the unique history of the organization.

40 Years of the Festival

Ever wonder when the Shorts Program and World Cinema sections were introduced or which film won the inaugural Audience Award? Brush up on your Festival trivia and explore the Festival history page.

Festival Award Winners

Radha Blank won the Directing Award in U.S. Dramatic Competition at the 2020 festival. Take a look back at all of the past festival award winners.

1988: Superstar Short Films

The Festival honored Sam Fuller, showcased new Argentine cinema, and screened nearly 100 films, among them Bruce Weber’s Broken Noses, Louis Malle’s Au Revoir Les Enfants, Michael Hoffman’s Promised Land, Norman Jewison’s Moonstruck, John Waters’s Hairspray, Beth and George Gage’s Fire on the Mountain, and Rob Nilsson’s Heat and Sunlight. Award winners included Jennifer Fox’s Beirut: The Last Home Movie, Bill Couturie’s Dear America, and Jerry Rees’ The Brave Little Toaster.

Learn More

El Norte, an early landmark of American independent film

Directed by Nava from a screenplay co-written by Anna Thomas, El Norte tells the story of two indigenous siblings who flee from persecution in their native Guatemala to follow the promise of a better life in the United States.

Nava and Thomas attended the inaugural 1981 Directors Lab as part of a cohort of filmmakers invited by Robert Redford to develop their screenplays with the newly founded Sundance Institute.

Learn More