Park City, UT — The Sundance Institute today announced the latest additions to the programming slate of the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, which kicks off Thursday, January 28, at festival.sundance.org and via a network of Satellite Screens across the U.S.

On the Festival platform at 6:00 p.m. MT, Thursday evening’s Opening Night Welcome will feature remarks from Institute CEO Keri Putnam and Festival Director Tabitha Jackson; musical performances from Red Spirit and Rhiannon Giddens; and messages from Festival alumni. February 2’s Awards Night, whose juries were announced last week, will be hosted by actor and comedian Patton Oswalt, and feature special appearances from Alison Brie, Shira Haas and Diego Luna alongside the jurors

“What makes Sundance Sundance is of course more than simply the films,” said Jackson. “We are excited that the conversations, provocations, performances, and celebration of this community are even richer this year because they are coming from so many different places and perspectives.”

Legal scholar and civil rights advocate Kimberlé W. Crenshaw moderates The Story of Us on Saturday, January 30, a conversation including Bryan Stevenson, founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative, and Pulitzer Prize–winning writer Việt Thanh Nguyễn about the construction, dissemination and deployment of the grand narrative of the United States, and the critical role of independent media in its retelling.

A new Music Speakeasy, Sound & Vision, presented by Southwest Airlines, will take place Monday, February 1; 9:00– 9:45 p.m. Come together for an unconventional audiovisual experience featuring artists Bardo (Chicano Batman), Alaina Castillo, Blu DeTiger, Elissa Mielke, Enny, Frances Forever, Jensen McRae, Orion Sun, Sofía Valdés and Viagra Boys, in an exclusive series of performances that will get everyone grooving from the comfort of their living rooms.

Participants have also been announced for the Institute’s Power of Story: Speculative Fiction is the Place conversation, presented by Netflix: Hannah Beachler (production designer, Black Panther), Jewelle Gomez (author, The Gilda Sisters), Sophia Nahli Allison (Traveling the Interstitium with Octavia Butler) and Wanuri Kahiu (Rafiki) will join moderator Jacqueline Stewart (Chief Artistic and Programming Officer, Academy Museum and TCM host) for.

Additionally: Conjuring the Collective, the Womxn at Sundance Speakeasy, will feature a very special appearance by recording artist Brittany Howard, as well as poet Ryka Aoki, alongside previously-announced appearances by poet Apiorkor, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and Artistic Director Emerita Judith Jamison (Ailey), actor Marlee Matlin, and director Siân Heder (CODA), actor Rita Moreno (Rita Moreno: Just A Girl Who Decided to Go For It), actor SOKO (Mayday, The Blazing World), with remarks from Institute board chair Pat Mitchell and board member Amy Redford. Collectives including Brown Girls Doc Mafia, Film Fatales, FWD-Doc and XRCoven will also participate.

More free content, including panels, talks and conversations from partners like Acura, SundanceTV, Chase Sapphire and Adobe, can be found in the Festival Village, alongside programming from our Satellite Screens. In the Artist Lounge, the Festival will host 15 events including daily artist meetups and even a special appearance by Lucy, an artificial intelligence who is technically an alum herself. Daily Artist Meetups, open to all and inspired by the Sundance Institute Collective’s ongoing Artist Roundtables, offer an intimate opportunity to break virtual bread with other members of our artist community. Join us and engage in conversation around technical and philosophical topics affecting the storytelling field. Each session will begin with a 15-minute provocation from a selection of Sundance Institute artists and staff members, followed by an open discussion in breakout rooms where you will have an opportunity to meet other storytellers and contribute to the conversation.

Other Artist Lounge programs include the Native Forum Celebration, the Art of Editing Celebration, presented by Adobe, the Producers Celebration presented by Amazon Studios, as well as (among others):

Beyond the Film: Exploring Genre
January 30, 3:00 p.m. MT
Moderated by Roxanne Benjamin and featuring the teams from Censor, Knocking, Violation and The Blazing World

Worldbuilding Toward 2030
January 31, 5:00 p.m. MT
In this interactive session, a selection of Sundance Film Festival artists will use 2020 as an inflection point to envision a radically aspirational future of their own design, through the lens of restoration for historically marginalized communities in the field and beyond.

Beyond the Film: Music-Driven Nonfiction
February 2, 3:00 p.m.
Moderated by Morgan Neville and featuring the teams from The Sparks Brothers and Summer Of Soul (…Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised)

While passes for films have sold out, single tickets are still available — as is the Explorer Pass, which in addition to the complete Short Film and Indie Series programs (U.S. only) provides global access to 2021 edition of New Frontier (including the Gallery space with its curated slate of work, the Cinema House, and Film Party environments where all passholders can connect as avatars via proximity audio and video chat for a truly innovative social experience).

The Sundance Film Festival®
The Sundance Film Festival has introduced global audiences to some of the most groundbreaking films of the past three decades, including Clemency, Never Rarely Sometimes Always, Zola, On The Record, Boys State, The Farewell, Honeyland, One Child Nation, The Souvenir, The Infiltrators, Sorry to Bother You, Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, Hereditary, Call Me By Your Name, Get Out, The Big Sick, Mudbound, Fruitvale Station, Whiplash, Brooklyn, Precious, The Cove, Little Miss Sunshine, An Inconvenient Truth, Napoleon Dynamite, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Reservoir Dogs and sex, lies, and videotape. The Festival is a program of the non-profit Sundance Institute. 2021 Festival sponsors to date include: Presenting Sponsors – Acura, SundanceTV, Chase Sapphire, Adobe; Leadership Sponsors – Amazon Studios, AT&T, DoorDash, Dropbox, Netflix, Omnicom Group, Southwest Airlines® , WarnerMedia; Sustaining Sponsors – AMC, Audible, Canada Goose, Canon U.S.A., Inc., Dell Technologies, Documentary Plus, GEICO, IMDbPro, Stella Artois®, Unity Technologies, University of Utah Health, White Claw Hard Seltzer, Zoom; Media Sponsors – The Atlantic, IndieWire, Los Angeles Times, NPR, The New York Times, Variety, Vulture, The Wall Street Journal. Sundance Institute recognizes critical support from the State of Utah as Festival Host State. The support of these organizations helps offset the Festival’s costs and sustain the Institute’s year-round programs for independent artists. sundance.org/festival

Sundance Institute
As a champion and curator of independent stories for the stage and screen, Sundance Institute provides and preserves the space for artists in film, theatre, film composing, and digital media to create and thrive.
Founded in 1981 by Robert Redford, the Institute’s signature Labs, granting, and mentorship programs, dedicated to developing new work, take place throughout the year in the U.S. and internationally.
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