Category: News

Tracy Rector participated at the 2011 Native Filmmakers Lab in Mescalero, New Mexico, and the 2011 Creative Producing Summit at Sundance Resort. Below she discusses her experience working on her Lab project, Clearwater, and attending the 2012 Sundance Film Festival.
Sometimes you just know when you’re in the right place at the right time.

There is no shortage of creative hyphenates of the musician-composer variety who would argue that measure of a great soundtrack or score is one that blends so seamlessly into the fabric of the filmmaking, audiences only subconsciously register a film’s musical subtext. But for legendary musician and film composer, T Bone Burnett — whose work spans the indelible twang-y folk melodies infusing O Brother Where Art Thou to his Oscar-winning work on Crazy Heart to his elegiac compositions pulsing through Finding North — the right combination of film and music can be highly combustible. “There is an alchemy that occurs when music and film are fused,” says Burnett, who recently lent his talents to a little under-the-radar project known as The Hunger Games.

Summer Wu was an audience member who watched Somewhere Between at Beijing Foreign Studies University. She graciously shared her observations of the emotional connection with Chinese audiences to this story.
“Audience members were constantly wiping tears in the dark during the screening of Somewhere Between at Beijing Foreign Studies University’s Annual Documentary Forum on March 16, 2012.

Here we are in China. Great people, great food, and more screenings to come. The individual is alive and well and looking for ways to express him/herself here.

Los Angeles, CA —As part of the 2012 Skoll World Forum, Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program (DFP) and the Skoll Foundation will present asneak preview of three films created as part of their joint “Stories of Change” program.  The screening will be followed by a panel discussion with participating filmmakers and social entrepreneurs and led by Sundance Institute DFP Director Cara Mertes. The screening and post-screening discussion are free and open to the public.

Sheri Candler, social network marketing guru/strategist can be contacted at info@shericandler.com or sheri@thefilmcollaborative.org and found at SheriCandler.

We all know that the vast majority of folks make their film-viewing choices based on what they are hearing about a film — be it from friends, traditional media, the blogosphere, or social media. They’re not likely to go out of their way to proactively research a film, and if they haven’t heard anything about a film, they aren’t likely to see it. Whatever you want to call that.

London, 20 March 2012 — Sundance Institute and The O2 announced today the programme of Special Events and panels that will take place at the inaugural Sundance London film and music festival, from 26-29 April at The O2. These events and panels were programmed by Sundance Institute, which annually hosts the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah – the premier independent film festival in the United States.
Among the Special Events announced today are: ‘Rufus and Martha Wainwright sing Kate McGarrigle,’ 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; The debut theatrical screening of Coming Up For Air, a documentary about Placebo, which will be followed by an extended Q&A with the band and filmmaker Charlie Targett-Adams; Robert Redford will introduce a screening of Harmony, a documentary about the three decades of work by HRH The Prince of Wales to combat climate change and the global environmental crisis, which will be followed by an extended Q&A; the 25th anniversary screening of River’s Edge, which first premiered at the 1987 Sundance Film Festival; and multiple panels on the creative process of independent filmmaking, reflecting the year-round work of Sundance Institute.

Los Angeles, CA — The Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program | CNEX Workshop and Documentary Summit in Beijing end today, following four days (March 14-19) of programming designed to nurture documentary storytelling and encourage the diverse exchange of ideas. Ten Chinese documentary project teams from mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan participated in the program, having been invited by DFP and CNEX staff.
The three-day Workshop began with a half-day orientation session and informal dinner hosted by CNEX.

Sundance Institute’s Film Forward project landed in Mumbai last week for an ongoing cultural dialogue between countries, sparked by the power of film to stimulate conversations that might not ever take place on their own.Filmmaker and Sundance alum Linda Goldstein Knowlton traveled to India with her personal documentary, Somewhere Between, a film that intertwines the stories of four teenage girls living in different parts of the U.S.

Ryan Gielen of marketing service company Believe helps explain how to best work the platform visited by 85% of Americans and hence enjoying an Alexa ranking of 3.How is YouTube best used for marketing indie films?The best use of YouTube is for audience building before, during and after the filming process.The perfect version of this would be a filmmaker who spends the year leading up to her shoot vlogging about the fundraising process, casting, producing, and any fears, hopes and challenges they’re facing.

London, 15 March 2012 — Sundance Institute and The O2 announced today the programme of eight short films that will screen at the inaugural Sundance London festival, taking place at The O2 from 26-29 April. These films screened in January at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah – the premier independent film festival in the United States. All eight short films will screen together in one Short Film Programme.