Category: Press Release

Six artists selected for inaugural program focused on advancement of transgender storytellers of color

LOS ANGELES — The Sundance Institute Board of Trustees announced today that it has named longtime filmmaker and executive Joana Vicente as its next CEO. She joins the renowned media and arts nonprofit at a time of extraordinary growth and impact, in which it is uniquely positioned as a leading global advocate for independent artists, diversity in media, freedom of expression, and the critical role of arts in shaping society. Vicente will be responsible for setting strategies for the Institute that embrace the evolving future of storytelling and build on the Institute’s record of accomplishment in supporting visionary artists with distinct voices in film, theater, film composing, episodic storytelling, and emerging media.

Park City, UT – The nonprofit Sundance Institute announced today several key aspects of how their 2022 Sundance Film Festival will take place in person and online January 20-30, 2022, including sharing this year’s Satellite Screen partners and locations, ticket package details and on-sale dates, and elaborating upon earlier health and safety guidelines.
“Our programming team, led by the fearless Kim Yutani, is deep into screening the mountain of submissions we have already received this year,” said Festival Director Tabitha Jackson, “As our press and industry offices open in preparation for the next edition of our festival we are excited to share what details we can today, anticipate sharing more as we know more, and can’t wait to meet audiences wherever they are, including in Utah, in January.”
PLATFORM NOW LIVEThe Festival platform is now live and gives a first glimpse at the 2022 look and feel, an expression of the concept of convergence that powers the Festival experience this year.

Los Angeles, CAs — The nonprofit Sundance Institute announced today that it will present the 2021 Vanguard Award to filmmaker Siân Heder for her work on her feature film CODA, and filmmaker Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson for his work in documentary filmmaking on his directorial debut Summer Of Soul (…

Park City, UT — The nonprofit Sundance Institute and Sandbox Films today announced the 12 filmmakers and eight projects selected as the next cohort for support by the Sundance Institute | Sandbox Fund. The fund aims to elevate the voices of independent artists working at the intersection of science and nonfiction storytelling as they produce and promote work and discourse that highlights the overlap of science and art.The eight selected project teams will receive unrestricted and non-recoupable grants totaling $255,000.

In spring of 2021, the Sundance Institute conducted an online Film Music Intensive, an all-too-infrequent chance to create and claim some free creative space and examine something that fascinates us all: What happens when you combine music and film to tell a story?
We welcomed extraordinary emerging composers Chanell Crichlow, Olivia Komahcheet, Kalaisan Kalaichelvan, Alexandra Kalinowski, Dana Lynn, and EmmoLei Sankofa as fellows. They worked with a stellar group of creative advisors from across the industry, including Kathryn Bostic, George S. Clinton, Mychael Danna, Laura Karpman, Heather McIntosh, Blake Neely, Jeff Rona, Adam Smalley, and Christopher Willis.

JAKARTA — The Sundance Institute and XRM Media, with support from IDN Media, announced today the program of feature films and panel discussions for the 2021 Sundance Film Festival: Asia, taking place online 23–26 September 2021. The films will be available for viewing online in Indonesia, and digital screening passes for online screenings will be available beginning on Wednesday, 15 September; buy yours at sundancefilmfestivalasia.org.

The Sundance Institute has been hosting its labs since the summer of 1981, when its inaugural class of fellows arrived at the Sundance Mountain Resort to workshop their independent features. This year, we celebrate our 40th anniversary with an all-new group of artists in our Directors and Screenwriters Labs, our Episodic Lab, our Native Lab, our Producers Lab, and our Sundance Ignite x Adobe Fellowship. See each program’s list of fellows below, and click the links to learn more about them all.

Los Angeles, CA, August 4, 2021—In early 2021, nearly a year into a global pandemic, Sundance Institute commissioned Jesse Cameron Alick, the newly-appointed Associate Artistic Director for the Vineyard Theater in New York and past creator advisor to the Institute’s Theater Program, to launch an in-depth field study to hear directly from theater makers about the most urgent needs of artists and the field. The commission began as part of the Institute’s effort to re-imagine its own work in the field of theater and live performance. The report that resulted yielded the work published today: Emerging from the Cave: Reimagining Our Future in Theater and Live Performance, available at emergingfromthecave.