Category: News

In 1978, Hala Kaddoura’s father immigrated as a Palestinian refugee from Lebanon to the United States, where Hala was born. She then lived in Lebanon for most of her life until moving to San Francisco, and now resides in Los Angeles where she works as the social media manager for Sundance Institute.
This Independence Day, I’ve been reflecting on what America means to the world—and to me.

Fiction Film and Documentary Labs Combined into One Lab for the First Time Ever

Los Angeles and Marin, CA — Sundance Institute and Skywalker Sound today announced the composers and directors
selected for the Sundance Institute Film Music and Sound Design Lab, which returns to the legendary Skywalker Sound Facilities
for the sixth year. More than half of the composers selected for this year’s Lab are female.
At the Lab, composers, directors and sound designers will collaborate to develop music and sound for fiction and nonfiction
film projects.

We don’t often speak together, but as parents and grandparents ourselves, my wife Bylle and I simply could not stay silent today. I hope you won’t either.This is not America.

Sundance Institute announced today that three films have been picked for the second edition of the Creative Distribution Fellowship, following the 2017 release of inaugural fellowship films Columbus and Unrest. The new slate consists of the 2018 Sundance Film Festival documentaries The Devil We Know and 306 Hollywood (the latter of which also won the Emerging International Filmmaker Award at HotDocs) as well as Thunder Road, which premiered at the 2018 SXSW Film Festival, winning the Feature Film Grand Jury Award. These three films and filmmaking teams feature unique voices, bold release strategies, and a willingness to share their experiences with the field through expansive case studies, following the example of the case studies of Columbus and Unrest released earlier this year.

“Coming up to people as a musician and saying I got a script—nobody wants to hear that. They’re like, yeah, of course you want to make a movie. You probably want to get a line of shoes, and you want to get a barbecue chain or something like that,” said first-time director Boots Riley at last night’s special L.

The ReFrame Stamp is being Awarded to 12 Films from 2017 including
Everything, Everything; Girls Trip; Lady Bird; The Post; and
Wonder Woman

Los Angeles, CA —
ReFrame™, a coalition of industry professionals and partner companies founded by Women In Film and Sundance Institute
whose mission is to increase the number of women of all backgrounds working in film, TV and media, and
IMDbPro (
http://www.imdbpro.com/), the leading information resource for the entertainment industry, today announced a new collaboration
that leverages the authoritative data and professional resources of IMDbPro to recognize standout, gender-balanced film
and TV projects.

Largest-Ever Summer Film Series Showcases Utah with Eleven Sundance Favorites, Including
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Brigsby Bear, Man on Wire and
Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

Offscreen: Visiting Filmmakers, Games, Contests and a Vote for Final Series Screening at

sundance.org/utah

Park City, UT — Utah’s summer movie tradition is back for its 21st year with its largest lineup yet! Sundance
Institute will once again celebrate summer and Utah’s natural beauty with free screenings of eleven Sundance Film
Festival favorites, taking place in Salt Lake City, Park City, Ogden, Kamas and, new this year, St. George.

Visionary Storytellers to Receive Individualized Mentorship from Industry Notables and
Year-Round Suite of Creative and Tactical Support

Los Angeles, CA — Thirteen new independent feature projects from the U.S., Cuba, Kenya, Mexico, Morocco, and Palestine
have been selected for the 2018 Sundance Institute Directors and Screenwriters Labs.

Twenty-Three Projects from Twelve Countries Among Documentary Film Program’s Latest Grantees

Los Angeles, CA — More than $585,000 in targeted grants will support a global crop of independent nonfiction storytellers,
Sundance Institute announced today. 58% of the supported projects are helmed by women, and 48% are from outside the U.S.

Stories transport and can transform us. They allow us to know ourselves and others, and to find meaning in our lives and in our world. They cross borders, transcend culture, and allow us to frame our worlds through new lenses.

Fellows and Creative Advisors Gather May 13-18 in Santa Fe, New Mexico

Los Angeles, CA — Two emerging Native storytellers,
Erica Tremblay (Seneca-Cayuga) and
MorningStar Angeline Wilson (Navajo, Blackfeet, Chippewa Cree) will participate in the
2018 Sundance Institute Native Filmmakers Lab, continuing the Institute’s year-round work in the discovery and
development of artists from diverse backgrounds.
The Lab takes place May 13-18 in Santa Fe, NM. During the Lab, Fellows work with a cast, crew, and supervising producer to
shoot workshop versions of scenes from their short films under the expert creative mentorship of Program alumni and other
established industry professionals and Program staff.

Special Benefit to Celebrate the Winner of the 2018 Vanguard Award: Boots Riley, Artist and Multi-Hyphenate

Featuring the LA Debut Screening of
Sorry to Bother You and (Raucous) Afterparty: Tickets on Sale Now at
sundance.org/sundown

Los Angeles, CA — Sundance Institute, in collaboration with Annapurna Pictures, invites fans and supporters of
independent cinema to celebrate the irrepressible writer/director/producer/musician/activist
Boots Riley. Boots, an alumni of both the Sundance Labs and Film Festival, will be honored with the Sundance Institute’s
annual Vanguard Award at its summer fundraiser on June 14, 2018 at The Theatre at Ace Hotel Downtown Los Angeles, just
before the Los Angeles debut of his new film,
Sorry to Bother You and an afterparty for all ticketholders immediately following.