London, 30 April 2012 — The first-ever Sundance London film and music festival came to a close last night, capping off four days of film screenings and music performances hosted by Robert Redford, Sundance Enterprises, Sundance Institute and AEG Europe, with the support of Presenting Partner Sony Entertainment Network. The festival closed with an intimate performance by Rufus and Martha Wainwright following the World Premiere of Sing Me The Songs That Say I Love You ~ A Concert for Kate McGarrigle, Lian Lunson’s film about the music of their mother, folk singer Kate McGarrigle.
Robert Redford, President & Founder of Sundance Institute, said: “Sundance London marked our first time hosting an event in the UK, and we are grateful to all our supporters and collaborators for the reception we received. These four days have seen features, documentaries and live events with insightful filmmakers and musicians, as well as passionate audiences in attendance.”
Alex Hill, Chief Finance and Strategy Officer of AEG Europe, owner and operator of The O2, adds: “The feedback to our hosting Sundance London has been terrific. We set out to bring a slice of the Sundance Film Festival to London and if the audiences’ positive reaction is anything to go by, there’s obviously a real appetite for this kind of festival in the UK. The unique content of Sundance London, featuring a stunning film programme, amazing music performances and discussion panels, has brought new audiences to The O2 and allowed us to showcase the venue as a truly multi-purpose entertainment destination.”
Sundance London provided an array of film premieres, live music performances, discussions and panels with guest speakers. Opening the proceedings on 26 April, Robert Redford and 12-time Grammy Award winner T Bone Burnett led a fascinating discussion on the magical relationship between film and music. The two shared their recollections of achieving great musical moments with the many filmmakers, actors and musicians they’ve collaborated with throughout their storied careers. Nick Hornby moderated the event, which also featured performances from Guillemots and Glen Hansard.
Making their UK premieres at Sundance London were 14 fiction and documentary features as well as eight short films from the 2012 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, U.S.A. Those films included The Queen of Versailles by Lauren Greenfield, Liberal Arts by Josh Radnor, Chasing Ice by Jeff Orlowski, The House I Live In by Eugene Jarecki, Under African Skies by Joe Berlinger, and SHUT UP AND PLAY THE HITS by Dylan Southern and Will Lovelace.
The four Special Events at Sundance London were: an intimate performance by Rufus and Martha Wainwright following the world premiere of Sing Me The Songs That Say I Love You ~ A Concert for Kate McGarrigle; The debut theatrical screening of Coming Up For Air; a screening of the documentary HARMONY about the three decades of work by HRH The Prince of Wales to combat climate change and the global environmental crisis; and the 25th anniversary screening of River’s Edge, which first premiered at the 1987 Sundance Film Festival.
Music was featured prominently at the festival. In addition to showing several music-themed films, Friday night saw Tricky and Martina Topley-Bird reunite to perform the album Maxinquaye, and Placebo gave an electrifying performance to a sold-out crowd on Saturday night. Among the artists that performed in the festival’s Music Café at festival hub the Inc Club at The O2 were Beatrice Andersen and Seye.
Multiple panels on the creative process of independent filmmaking also took place at the festival, reflecting the year-round work of Sundance Institute. Events at the festival’s Cinema Café included guest speakers such Gina Rodriguez (Filly Brown), Sheldon Candis and producer Jason Michael Berman (LUV) in a relaxed and conversational setting. Also at the Cinema Café was a Table Read of FARMING, directed by Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (GI Joe, The Bourne Identity, LOST,OZ) and with a cast that included Ashley Walters, Marc Warren, Minnie Driver and David Harewood.
Sundance London took place 26-29 April at The O2. For more information, visit us online.
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FILMS AT SUNDANCE LONDON
2 Days in New York (Director: Julie Delpy, Screenwriters: Julie Delpy, Alexia Landeau)
Chasing Ice (Director: Jeff Orlowski)
Filly Brown (Directors: Youssef Delara, Michael D. Olmos, Screenwriter: Youssef Delara)
Finding North (Directors: Kristi Jacobson, Lori Silverbush)
For Ellen (Director and screenwriter: So Yong Kim)
The House I Live In (Director: Eugene Jarecki)
Liberal Arts (Director and screenwriter: Josh Radnor)
LUV (Director: Sheldon Candis, Screenwriters: Sheldon Candis, Justin Wilson)
Nobody Walks (Director: Ry Russo-Young, Screenwriters: Lena Dunham, Ry Russo-Young)
An Oversimplification of Her Beauty (Director and screenwriter: Terence Nance)
The Queen of Versailles (Director: Lauren Greenfield)
Safety Not Guaranteed (Director: Colin Trevorrow, Screenwriter: Derek Connolly)
SHUT UP AND PLAY THE HITS (Directors: Dylan Southern, Will Lovelace)
Under African Skies (Director: Joe Berlinger)
Special Event films:
Coming Up For Air (Director: Charlie Targett-Adams)
HARMONY: A New Way of Looking at Our World, Inspired by HRH The Prince of Wales (Directors: Stuart Sender, Julie Bergman Sender)
River’s Edge (Director: Tim Hunter, Screenwriter: Neal Jiminez)
Sing Me The Songs That Say I Love You ~ A Concert for Kate McGarrigle (Director: Lian Lunson)
Short films:
The Arm (Directors and screenwriters: Brie Larson, Sarah Ramos, Jessie Ennis)
Dol (First Birthday) (Director and screenwriter: Andrew Ahn)
Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared (Directors: Joseph Pelling, Rebecca Sloan)
Extranjero (Directors and screenwriters: Daniel Lumb and Crinan Campbell)
FISHING WITHOUT NETS (Director: Cutter Hodierne, Screenwriters: Cutter Hodierne, John Hibey)
The Return (Kthimi) (Director: Blerta Zeqiri, Screenwriter: Shefqet Gjocaj)
Robots of Brixton (Director: Kibwe Tavares)
Song of the Spindle (Director and screenwriter: Drew Christie)
Tooty’s Wedding (Director: Frederic Casella, Screenwriters: Laura Solon, Ben Willbond)
MUSICAL PERFORMERS AT SUNDANCE LONDON
Glen Hansard
Guillemots
Placebo
Fifi Rong
Tricky and Martina Topley-Bird
Music Café, produced by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP):
Beatrice Andersen
Gabrielle Aplin
Daughter
Escapists
Cosmo Jarvis
Simon Lynge
Man Without Country
Rams’ Pocket Radio
Orlando Seale and The Swell (winner of the Gibson Spotlight at Sundance London contest in association with Absolute Radio)
Seye
Charlene Soraia
The Staves
EVENTS AT SUNDANCE LONDON
Opening Night event: An Evening with Robert Redford and T Bone Burnett
Panels:
Documentary Flash Lab
Film Music from the Composer’s Point of View: an afternoon with Harry Gregson-Williams
Thinking Independently: UK versus US
Cinema Cafe:
Table Read: FARMING, with Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (actor/writer/director)
Bring the Noise: Music in My Film
Making LUV
Notes to the Editor:
Sundance London
The first-ever Sundance London film and music festival took place at The O2 26-29 April, 2012, and is a partnership between Robert Redford, Sundance Enterprises, Sundance Institute and AEG Europe. Sundance London hosted the UK premieres of films fresh from the 2012 Sundance Film Festival as well as live music performances and events each evening, including the previously announced Opening Night event An Evening With Robert Redford and T Bone Burnett, Placebo in concert, Rufus and Martha Wainwright sing Kate McGarrigle, and Tricky and Martina Topley-Bird performing Maxinquaye. Also on offer to Sundance London audiences were unique opportunities to attend panels and hear guest speakers talk about the part they play in making films, documentaries and the role of music in modern cinema. Sundance London is made possible by support from: Presenting Partner – Sony Entertainment Network; Supporting Partners – The Langham, London and Stella Artois®; Official Providers – Air New Zealand, ASCAP, Dolby Laboratories, Inc, Gibson Guitar Corp., HR Owen and Aston Martin, MGM HD, Stolichnaya Vodka, US Embassy Office of Cultural Affairs, and WorldView. Special thanks to AMC Networks, The BRITDOC Foundation; BAFTA, BFI, Film London, and Sundance Channel. 30% of proceeds go to the nonprofit Sundance Institute.
Robert Redford
Robert Redford is an Academy Award-winning actor, director and producer, a passionate advocate for the arts and a leading environmentalist. He serves as President of the non-profit Sundance Institute, which he founded 30 years ago to foster independence, discovery and new voices in American film and theatre. Mr. Redford also founded the Sundance Channel, Sundance Resort, Sundance Catalog, and Sundance Cinemas and the non-profit Redford Center. Though very different in their activities and independent in their operations, all of Mr. Redford’s Sundance entities share the same core mission he has always held dear: a passionate connection to new artists, new voices and new perspectives. www.sundancegroup.net
Sundance Institute
The Sundance Film Festival is a program of Sundance Institute, a global nonprofit organization founded by Robert Redford in 1981. Through its artistic development programs for directors, screenwriters, producers, composers and playwrights, the Institute seeks to discover and support independent film and theatre artists from the United States and around the world, and to introduce audiences to their new work. The Institute promotes independent storytelling to inform, inspire, and unite diverse populations around the globe. Sundance Institute has nurtured such projects as Born into Brothels, Trouble the Water, Son of Babylon, Amreeka, An Inconvenient Truth, Spring Awakening, I Am My Own Wife, Light in the Piazza and Angels in America. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
AEG
AEG is one of the leading sports and entertainment presenters in the world. It owns or operates some of the world’s best arenas and theatres, numerous sports franchises including the Los Angeles Kings (NHL) and LA Galaxy (MLS), and a collection of companies dedicated to producing, promoting and presenting world-class live entertainment.
In May 2005, AEG Europe announced that it would transform the former Millennium Dome and the surrounding area into the UK’s most exciting and technically advanced music, sport and entertainment destination. It was renamed The O2 and opened in June 2007.
The centrepiece of the multi-million pound development is the 20,000 capacity indoor arena, the most popular music arena in the world. There is also a live music venue – indigO2 – with a capacity of 2,350, The O2 bubble – a state of the art exhibition space that is host to the British Music Experience, a permanent, high-tech, interactive music museum, an 11 screen cinema complex, and a vibrant ‘Entertainment District’ featuring a variety of bars, restaurants and leisure facilities.
The O2 arena sold more tickets than any other arena in the world last year (breaking all previous records) – making it the most popular music venue in the world for the fifth year running.
AEG employs more than 3,000 staff in over 45 operating companies worldwide. Its international head office is in Los Angeles, and its European headquarters is based in London.
Sony Entertainment Network are proud to be Presenting Partner of Sundance London. Sony Entertainment Network is the ultimate destination for digital music, movies, games, and more accessible across a wide array of connected devices through one convenient account. The service incorporates Video Unlimited, Music Unlimited and the PlayStation Network. Video Unlimited is a global premium digital video service with a growing library of over 80,000 of blockbuster movies and hit TV shows. It gives users convenient, single account access to great content across a wide variety of connected devices both in the home and on the go. Music Unlimitedis a global cloud-based, digital streaming music service that features an expanding catalogue of over 15 million songs. It gives music lovers convenient, single account access to great music on a wide variety of connected devices both in-home and on the go. www.sonyentertainmentnetwork.com
