Category: News

As Sundance Institute invests in the advancement of story by supporting artists in the New Frontier program, we realized we should also create space for “the observer,” a critical role in innovation. The observer helps to contextualize new things, create language, identify what’s not working, and amplify what resonates.
We invited filmmaker Samah Tokmachi to come to the 2013 New Frontier Story Lab in the role of Creative Observer.

We’ll just go ahead and say it—traveling to the Sundance Film Festival is not for the faint of heart. The good news is that Festival alumni Katie Aselton and David Lowery are agents of prudence when it comes to Park City travels. On one instance, Aselton recalls an absence of chivalry that led to a late Festival arrival and a lesson learned.

In the spirit of Sundance Film Festival’s upcoming 30th Anniversary, Sundance Institute’s #ArtistServices program partnered with iTunes to promote classics from the past 30 years. New alum Justin Simien, whose debut feature film “Dear White People” is premiering in the U.S.

Ladies and gentlemen, we are 30! Let’s not fail to celebrate.I set an agenda at the Film Festival offices to find a way to recognize our 30th Festival in the most fun and unique way possible. Here is what we came up with…On Monday, January 20, with FREE FAIL, we will dedicate a day of panels, workshops, and special events to exploring an always feared, often denied, but most vital aspect of the creative process: FAILURE.

Park City, UT — Sundance Institute today announced the addition of two films to the 2014 Sundance Film Festival: Wish I Was Here (Director: Zach Braff) to the Premieres section and Clerks (Director: Kevin Smith) for a special From the Collection midnight screening. The 2014 Festival will be January 16-26 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah.
Clerks joins the previously announced From the Collection screening of Hoop Dreams.

Los Angeles, CA — Sundance Institute has selected 12 projects for its 2014 January Screenwriters Lab, an immersive, five-day (January 10-15) writers’ workshop at the Sundance Resort in Utah. Participating independent screenwriters – drawn from around the world, including the United States, Latin America, Europe, and China – will have the opportunity to work intensely on their feature film scripts with the support of established writers in an environment that encourages innovation and creative risk-taking.  
Keri Putnam, Executive Director of Sundance Institute, said “The Sundance Institute Labs provide an environment that fosters innovation and creative risk-taking to allow artists to really take chances and push themselves and their work.

Sundance Institute is honored to congratulate President and Founder Robert Redford on his Golden Globe ‘Best Actor’ nomination for his intrepid role and performance in J.C. Chandor’s film All Is Lost.

Park City, UT — Sundance Institute announced today the films from the 2014 Sundance Film Festival that will each screen in one of nine independent theaters in cities across the country on January 30 as part of the Sundance Film Festival USA initiative. These audiences will share in the excitement of discovery of a film fresh from its world premiere at the  2014 Festival and hear directly from the filmmaker during a pre-screening introduction and post-screening Q&A. The filmmaker travel to these cities is courtesy of the Festival’s Official Airline Sponsor, Southwest Airlines.

Park City, UT — Sundance Institute today announced that the newly restored Hoop Dreams (1994) will screen in the From the Collection program at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, 20 years after the film made its world premiere at the 1994 Festival. The recently completed restoration represents the collaborative effort of Sundance Institute, UCLA Film & Television Archive, the Academy Film Archive and Kartemquin Films. Filmmakers Steve James, Peter Gilbert and Frederick Marx and subject Arthur Agee are expected to participate in an extended Q&A immediately following the January 20 screening.

Tostan, the Senegal-based organization known for its innovative Community Empowerment Program (CEP) launched a participant-led media training initiative. Together with Venice, California-based Venice Arts, the organizations trained members in the communities Tostan serves in the art of digital storytelling.  The result is three short films told from a perspective we hope to hear from more often.

Park City, UT — Sundance Institute announced today the program of short films selected to screen at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, January 16-26 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah. The 2014 Short Film program is comprised of 66 short films selected from a record 8,161 submissions (59 more than for the 2013 Festival).
Trevor Groth, Director of Programming for the Sundance Film Festival, said, “The Short Film program for the 2014 Sundance Film Festival features an astonishing array of new stories, viewpoints and filmmaking talent, positioning it at the core of our work to discover and share independent perspectives on our culture and world.

Park City, UT — Sundance Institute announced today the films selected to screen in the out-of-competition Premieres and Documentary Premieres sections of the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, January 16-26 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah.
John Cooper, Director of the Sundance Film Festival, said, “The Premieres and Documentary Premieres sections of the 2014 Sundance Film Festival feature new work from many established independent filmmakers who began their careers at our Festival years ago, which allows us to reflect on the impact, legacy and growth of the independent film movement over the past 30 years.”
Trevor Groth, Director of Programming for the Sundance Film Festival, said, “In many of the films selected for our 2014 Sundance Film Festival, we see fascinating characters and subjects throughout.