Category: News

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Sundance Producer in Residence Joins Film Forward in Nashville

It’s a beautiful spring morning, and we’re on day five of our excursion to Nashville, Tennessee. With our local partners – the amazing team of the Belcourt Theatre’s Stephanie Silverman, Toby Leonard, and Allison Inman – we’ve already screeened a handful of Film Forward films including the special filmmaker presentations of Peter Bratt’s La Mission and Isabelle Stead’s Son of Babylon. While you couldn’t find two films more different in language, style, and geography, they nevertheless embody the best of cinematic storytelling – a specificity of character and story but with universal themes that resonate across boundaries of language and culture.

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Theatre Program Shines this Month

“We clapped, the walls clapped, the ceiling clapped. Ah, the joy of being here! The joy of theatre!” exclaimed Deborah Asiimwe, a specialist for Sundance Institute East Africa, regarding a final presentation at the close of the 2011 Theatre Lab at The Banff Centre. This pulse of emotion that is intrinsic to live performance can be felt throughout the many activities underway with the Theatre Program this month from the Lab to a photography exhibition to a work-in-progress performance.

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Week Two Roundup at Banff

The 2011 Theatre Lab has reached the end of Week Two in the Canadian Rockies. Here are some thoughts from Sundance Institute artists at The Banff Centre:
Producing Artistic Director Philip Himberg and Lab participant Chita Rivera. Photo by Robert Petkoff.

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Director Peter Bratt: Have Movies, Will Travel!

Since many folks are unable to get to the big cities or small town resorts to attend indie film festivals, Film Forward brings the festival experience to communities that don’t usually enjoy that privilege. The cherry on top, of course, is that audience and filmmaker have a chance to engage in dialogue and interact after the screenings, just like they do at the big-time festivals.Yesterday we were at the Oasis Center, a nonprofit that serves LGBTQ+ youth here in Nashville.

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Sundance Institute Film Music Program Presents ComposersLab: L.A.

Los Angeles, CA – Sundance Institute announced today ComposersLab: LA,  its first-ever One Day Composers Lab workshop for film music composers.  On May 21, 2011, the Institute’s Film Music Program will host ComposersLab: LA at the Downtown Independent Theatre in Los Angeles located at 251 South Main Street. The workshop is open to the public, and tickets are available for purchase on a first-come, first-serve basis.

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The Story Thus Far in Nashville

We are so excited that Film Forward has finally landed in Nashville! Peter Bratt, director of La Mission, and Isabelle Stead, producer of Son of Babylon, both arrived Friday evening and were given a quick night to rest up before we hit the road running.Yesterday morning we began the day at the Edmondson Pike branch of the Nashville Public Library with a discussion on the Iraq’s Missing Campaign, a global initiative Isabelle began after seeing the massive number of loved ones in Iraq who are still searching for their husbands, sons, or other family members who were captured and imprisoned by Saddam Hussein’s government. Millions of Iraqis are caught in this quagmire, including the film’s lead actress whose husband has been missing for 20 years.

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Sneak Preview: Nostalgia for the Light

Patricio Guzmán is a Chilean documentary film director internationally renowned for films such as The Battle of Chile and Salvador Allende. Guzmán’s relationship with Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program goes back to 1998, when he was awarded support for his documentary film The Pinochet Case, a story investigating Augusto Pinochet for crimes against humanity. One decade later, in 2008, Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program was delighted to be able to support this exceptional international artist again, as the first North American support with a grant award for his new feature documentary Nostalgia for the Light.

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Sundance Institute Presents ShortsLab: Chicago

Los Angeles, CA — Sundance Institute invites filmmakers to participate in ShortsLab: Chicago, a day-long filmmaking workshop to be held at Columbia College Chicago on May 7. ShortsLab: Chicago will feature filmmakers and experts from the Sundance Institute community and Chicago’s respected film critics and industry professionals. Panelists include representatives from Sundance Film Festival, as well as SAG, Topspin Media, Kickstarter, Lawyers for the Creative Arts, Shorts International, Movieola, Chicago Short Film Brigade, Chicago International Film Festival, and Chicago Underground Film Festival.

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Storytellers Gather for Theatre Lab at Banff

Sitting in a circle this morning at the first rehearsal of the musical Like Water for Chocolate, I could not help but be moved by the stories being shared.  Each member of the creative team and cast members spoke lovingly of their own families, their connection with the cultural foods which helped define their growing up.  The diversity of backgrounds was terribly moving.

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Sundance Institute Announces Acting Company Selected for 2011 Theatre Lab Held at The Banff Centre

NEW YORK, NY – Sundance Institute announced today the acting company participating in its 2011 Theatre Lab held at The Banff Centre in Alberta, Canada from March 27-April 17. The Theatre Lab provides an atmosphere focused on artistic development and collaboration to develop and refine new theatre work with the support of full casts. Building upon the Sundance Institute’s history of cultivating international exchange and dialogue, the 2011Theatre Lab projects and participants  illustrate and explore the world’s most innovative storytelling.

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A Creative Advisor Finds Inspiration in Istanbul

Film Forward has three target audiences: underserved communities, student and youth groups, and artists. By partnering with other Sundance Institute programs Film Forward is able to enrich its program with workshops designed for artists. The artists component is important, as they are our storytellers, and their greater understanding and experiences will inform and inspire future audiences through the creation and dissemination of their work.

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