Sundance Institute | Press Releases

Sundance Institute Announces FILM FORWARD: Advancing Cultural Dialogue Travels For First Time to Tai

2013-05-21T18:00:49+00:00

Filmmakers Jeff Orlowski, Chasing Ice
Patricia Riggen, Under The Same Moon (La Misma Luna) to participate

Los Angeles, CA — Sundance Institute and the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities announced today that FILM FORWARD: Advancing Cultural Dialogue will host free screenings of seven films, panel discussions and artist roundtables in Taiwan for the first time, May 22-26. Filmmakers Jeff Orlowski and Patricia Riggen will participate in the program. Sundance Channel Global is a supporter of the FILM FORWARD program in Taiwan which is hosted by the American Institute in Taiwan and CNEX Foundation. For a full schedule of events visit www.sundance.org/filmforward.

“Film inspires imagination, encourages civic engagement and underscores the rich diversity of human experience,” said Keri Putnam, Executive Director of Sundance Institute. “We are honored to present FILM FORWARD in Taiwan and to offer audiences in the region an opportunity to discuss universal themes that touch us all.”

"La Misma Luna explores the challenges many people face around the world when economic hardships force families to live apart," said filmmaker Patricia Riggen. "The film gives audiences the chance to ask themselves what the concept of ‘home’ means and how that changes as they grow. I am excited to meet audiences in Taiwan through the FILM FORWARD program and start a global dialogue.”

“Through the power of film, Chasing Ice is showing audiences captivating and unforgettable images of the world’s melting glaciers that they may never see firsthand,” said Director Jeff Orlowski. “Screening the film in Taiwan will mean reaching new audiences and engaging in dialogue on a global level. Ultimately I hope people leave feeling inspired.”

FILM FORWARD’s primary audience is communities without ready access to independent films, students and the local filmmaking community in each region. Common themes explored in the films include issues surrounding family, friendship and community, as well as the intersection of tradition and modern culture.

Sundance Institute staff members traveling with the program are: FILM FORWARD Consultant Jill Miller and FILM FORWARD Manager Jacqueline Carlson.

FILM FORWARD Films:


	*Bones Brigade: An Autobiography* (Director: Stacy Peralta) — A gang of disenfranchised kids reject mainstream culture, channel their controlled desperation into a loser activity and redefine winning in the process. Mentored by a former world champion skateboarder, the "Bones Brigade" became history's most influential skateboarding team. Their countercultural impact continues to affect change with best selling video games and books and millions of kids who embrace skateboarding around the world.

	*Chasing Ice* (Director: Jeff Orlowski) — Acclaimed environmental photographer James Balog was once a skeptic about climate change. But through his Extreme Ice Survey, he discovers undeniable evidence of our changing planet. Chasing Ice reveals Balog's hauntingly beautiful, multi-year time-lapse videos of vanishing glaciers across the Arctic, all while delivering fragile hope to our carbon-powered planet.

	*La Misma Luna (Under The Same Moon)* (Director: Patricia Riggen) — Even across thousands of miles, the special bond between a mother and son can never be broken. It gives hope to Carlitos, a scrappy nine-year-old boy whose mother, Rosario, has gone to America to build a better life for both of them. While Rosario struggles for a brighter future, fate forces Carlitos’ hand and he embarks on an extraordinary journey to find her.

	*The Light in Her Eyes* (Directors: Julia Meltzer and Laura Nix) — Houda al-Habash, a conservative woman preacher in Damascus, Syria, calls girls to the practice of Islam, teaching them that pursuing their ambitions is a way of worshipping God. Shot right before the uprising in Syria erupted, The Light in Her Eyes offers an extraordinary portrait of a leader who challenges the women of her community to live according to Islam, without giving up their dreams.

	*The Loving Story* (Director: Nancy Buirski) — A racially-charged criminal trial and a heart-rending love story converge in this documentary about Mildred and Richard Loving, a part-black, part-Indian woman married to a white man in Jim Crow-era Virginia. Thrown into rat-infested jails and exiled from their hometown for 25 years, the Lovings fought back and changed history.

	*Town of Runners* (Director: Jerry Rothwell) — Town of Runners is a feature documentary about young people from the Ethiopian rural town of Bekoji, whose runners have won 10 Olympic Gold medals in the last 20 years. The film tells the story of three teenagers who want to follow in their heroes’ footsteps, as they move from school track to national competition and from childhood to adulthood, trying to run their way to a different life.

	*Valley of Saints* (Director and screenwriter: Musa Syeed) — Using Kashmir’s picturesque Dal Lake as its backdrop and underpinned by the political unrest in the region, this moving drama explores the relationship between two best friends and the female researcher studying environmental degradation who threatens to distract them from their dreams of escape.

Federal Partners
The President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities (PCAH) bridges the interests of American federal agencies and the private sector, supports special projects that increase participation and excellence in the arts and humanities, and helps incorporate these disciplines into White House objectives. First Lady Michelle Obama is the Honorary Chairman of the PCAH.

The National Endowment for the Arts was established by Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. To date, the NEA has awarded more than $4 billion to support artistic excellence, creativity, and innovation for the benefit of individuals and communities. The NEA extends its work through partnerships with state arts agencies, local leaders, other federal agencies, and the philanthropic sector. To join the discussion on how art works, visit the NEA at arts.gov.

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), an independent federal agency, provides support for documentary films, digital media and other educational programs in the humanities through competitive grant programs. The NEH is the nation’s leading supporter of research, education, preservation and public programs in the humanities. Additional information about the National Endowment for the Humanities and its grant programs is available at: www.neh.gov.

The Institute of Museum and Library Services is the primary source of federal support for the nation's 123,000 libraries and 17,500 museums. Our mission is to inspire libraries and museums to advance innovation, lifelong learning, and cultural and civic engagement. Our grant making, policy development, and research help libraries and museums deliver valuable services that make it possible for communities and individuals to thrive. To learn more, visit http://www.imls.gov and follow @US_IMLS on Twitter and on Facebook.

Sundance Institute
Founded by Robert Redford in 1981, Sundance Institute is a global, nonprofit cultural organization dedicated to nurturing artistic expression in film and theater, and to supporting intercultural dialogue between artists and audiences. The Institute promotes independent storytelling to unite, inform and inspire, regardless of geo-political, social, religious or cultural differences. Internationally recognized for its annual Sundance Film Festival and its artistic development programs for directors, screenwriters, producers, film composers, playwrights and theatre artists, Sundance Institute has nurtured such projects as Born into Brothels, Trouble the Water, Son of Babylon, Amreeka, An Inconvenient Truth, Spring Awakening, Light in the Piazza and Angels in America. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.

About Sundance Channel Global
Dedicated to founder Robert Redford's mission to celebrate creativity, Sundance Channel is the television destination for independent-minded viewers seeking something different. Bold, imaginative and uncompromising, Sundance Channel offers audiences a diverse and engaging selection of high-quality independent films, documentaries and original programs. In addition to being widely distributed throughout North America, Sundance Channel is available throughout Europe and Asia. Owned and operated by AMC Networks Inc., Sundance Channel is a highly recognizable and magnetic brand that is available in HD and across multiple platforms.

Sundance Channel can be seen in Taiwan in HD on Chunghwa’s MOD service (channel 70), Dish HD (channel 330), CNS (channel 323) and Vee Time’s Vee TV (channel 208). For more information, please visit www.sundancechannelglobal.tw.

About the American Institute in Taiwan
The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) is a non-profit, private corporation established shortly after the United States Government changed its diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing on January 1, 1979. AIT is charged with carrying out the "commercial, cultural and other relations between the people of the United States and the people on Taiwan." The Department of State, through a contract with the Institute, provides a large part of AIT's funding and guidance in its operations.

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Media Contacts:

Sarah Eaton
Sundance Institute
+1 310.360.1981
Sarah_Eaton@sundance.org

Elizabeth Latenser
Sundance Institute
+1 435.658.3456
Elizabeth_Latenser@sundance.org

Film stills and director headshots available upon request. Email press@sundance.org.

Sundance Institute Selects Four Short Film Projects for 2013 NativeLab Fellowship

2013-05-13T15:59:13+00:00

Los Angeles, CA — Sundance Institute today announced the four fellows and short film projects selected for the 2013 NativeLab Fellowship, a two-stage development program that provides continuous and direct support to Native American, Native Hawaiian, and Alaskan Native film artists. For the first stage, filmmakers participate in an intensive four-day workshop (May 20-24) on the homelands of the Mescalero Apache Tribe in New Mexico. The second stage brings Fellows to the Native Forum during the 2014 Sundance Film Festival in January and provides opportunities for them to meet and hear from film industry professionals.

Bird Runningwater, Director of the Sundance Institute Native American and Indigenous Program, said, "The fellows selected for the 2013 NativeLab will begin a process of creative development to help them hone their work and give voice to their unique perspectives in the short film form. The lab in New Mexico coupled with the ongoing support of Sundance Institute will provide support to these Native American artists on a year-round basis."

Keri Putnam, Executive Director of Sundance Institute, said, "The emerging Native American filmmakers that come through our labs and those who return to help mentor new artists all play a key role in continuing the rich legacy of Native American storytelling."

Creative Advisors for the NativeLab are Aurora Guerrero (Pura Lengua, Viernes Girl, Mosquita y Mari), Danis Goulet (Spin, Wapawekka, Barefoot), Guinevere Turner (American Psycho, Go Fish, The Notorious Bettie Page) and Chad Burris (Four Sheets to the Wind, Barking Water, Mosquita y Mari).

The projects and participants selected for the 2013 Sundance Institute NativeLab Fellowship are:

End of the Road / Jeff Barehand (Gila River/ Navajo)

A cop must decide the fate of a killer – whether to let him live or give him a taste of his own medicine.

Jeff Barehand began his career as an actor before starting to write, produce, and direct his own films. Jeff found guidance at the ABC/Disney sponsored film workshop at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he produced and directed his first short film. He studied screenwriting at the Northwest Film Forum and founded the Olympia Film Collective, a local filmmaking group that fosters collaboration in local film productions and the sharing of film production experience and knowledge within its community. He studied acting at the Studio Theatre Acting Conservatory in Washington, D.C. and has been a regular performer at the Capital Playhouse in Olympia, WA in shows including Hair, The Full Monty, and Buddy! The Buddy Holly Musical. He had a lead role in MSNBC's docudrama Convictionand was featured in Warner Brother's The Visiting.

Da Frog / ʻĀina Paikai (Native Hawaiian)

A Hawaiian hero reflects on the lesson that made him who he is.

ʻĀina Paikai is from Waiau, in Central O'ahu. He is a Native Hawaiian filmmaker interested in bolstering the Hawaiian film industry. He received his bachelors degree from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa's Academy for Creative Media. His films have screened locally, nationally, and internationally, including Shanghai and Russia. He currently works for, 'ŌiwiTV, which is apart of the World Indigenous Television Broadcasting Network or WITBN, a group of indigenous channels from across the globe that continues to keep telling stories from a Native point of view.

A Good Day / Ty Coughenour (Lummi)

As they face life-changing news, an elderly couple reflects on the day they met.

Ty Coughenour is a writer and director belonging to the Lummi Nation. He recently graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a major in Political Science and a minor in Film and Television from the University of California at Los Angeles. While at UCLA he was the recipient of the Gates Millennium Scholarship. He has made several short films that have screened at several festivals including Big Bear International Film Festival and Beverly Hills Film Festival. He is based in Seattle, Washington, where he serves as an Associate Producer at Mighty Media Studios.

Ave and the Uglies / Kavelina Torres (Yup'ik, Inupiaq and Athabascan)

In a post-apocalyptic world, a young, tenacious woman struggles to stay alive as a pack of unrelenting devolved subhumans prey on her womb and her people.

Kavelina Torres attended The University of Alaska at Fairbanks for a rigorous interdisciplinary program in Yup'ik Filmmaking. She has participated in several 24-hour from page to stage formats, Alaska Native Playwrights Programs, and Last Frontier Theatre Conferences. With her goals of writing, producing and directing Alaska Native stories for stage and screen, she has documented several Elders' stories and their practices as digital shorts. Kavelina has dedicated herself to film production by making her own shorts and working as an intern, production assistant or assistant director. She has worked with directors such as Chris Eyre on Growing Native, Kade Mendelowitz on The Messenger and Ken Kwapis on Big Miracle. Born and raised in Alaska Kavelina now makes her home in North Pole, Alaska.

The Sundance Institute Native American and Indigenous Program is generously supported by Time Warner Foundation, with additional support from Native Arts and Cultures Foundation, NBC Universal, CBS Corporation, and SAGIndie.

Sundance Institute Native American and Indigenous Program
Rooted in the recognition of a rich tradition of storytelling and artistic expression by Native American and Indigenous peoples, Sundance Institute's Native American and Indigenous Program operates the NativeLab Film Fellowship established for emerging Native American/Alaska Native/Native Hawaiian filmmakers. The program has also established filmmaker labs in New Zealand and Australia which have spawned such projects as The Strength of Water (New Zealand), Samson and Delilah (Australia), Bran Nue Dae (Australia) and Here I Am (Australia). The program also collaborates with the other artist programs of the Institute and scouts worldwide and across the United States for Indigenous artists with projects that can be supported through the Institute's Feature Film Program, Creative Producers Summit/Creative Producing Fellowship and Sundance Film Festival. Filmmakers and projects identified for support include Sterlin Harjo, his Spirit Award–nominated Four Sheets to the Wind, and his follow-up feature Barking Water; Academy Award nominee Taika Waititi, his feature debut Eagle vs Shark, and his follow-up feature Boy; Billy Luther's award-winning Miss Navajo and his second feature documentary Grab; and Andrew Okpeaha MacLean's Sundance Film Festival Jury Prize–winning shortfilm Sikumi and his feature debut On the Ice, which was awarded the Crystal Bear Award and the Best First Feature Prize at the 61st Berlinale; and Aurora Guerrero's Mosquita y Mari, which premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. Forthcoming projects include Sydney Freeland's Drunktown's Finest and Yolanda Cruz's La Raya. www.sundance.org/native

Sundance Institute
Founded by Robert Redford in 1981, Sundance Institute is a global, nonprofit cultural organization dedicated to nurturing artistic expression in film and theater, and to supporting intercultural dialogue between artists and audiences. The Institute promotes independent storytelling to unite, inform and inspire, regardless of geo-political, social, religious or cultural differences. Internationally recognized for its annual Sundance Film Festival and its artistic development programs for directors, screenwriters, producers, film composers, playwrights and theatre artists, Sundance Institute has nurtured such projects as Born into Brothels, Trouble the Water, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Amreeka, An Inconvenient Truth, Spring Awakening, Light in the Piazza and Angels in America. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.

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Sundance Institute Selects Seven Projects for 2013 Theatre Lab at Sundance Resort, July 8-28

2013-05-13T11:59:52+00:00

Paula Vogel, Taylor Mac and Jackie Sibblies Drury to Work on Their Latest Scripts

Seven East African Theatre Fellows to Join the Lab

New York, NY — Sundance Institute today announced the seven projects selected to participate in the 2013 Theatre Lab, July 8-28 at the Sundance Resort in Utah. Under the supervision of Philip Himberg, Artistic Director, and Producing Director Christopher Hibma, the Theatre Lab is the centerpiece of the Sundance Institute's Theatre Program's year-round work and is designed to support emerging and established artists and to create a place where their original work can be effectively mentored and challenged.

The seven playwrights selected for the 2013 Theatre Lab in Sundance, Utah are: Adam Bock (The Colby Sisters of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), Jackie Sibblies Drury (Really Really Really Really Really), Taylor Mac (The Fre), Mona Mansour (The Vagrant), Qui Nguyen (War is F**king Awesome). Mfoniso Udufia (Sojourners), and Paula Vogel (The Vengeance Project). Seven East African theater makers will join the Lab community as well.

"We look forward to welcoming back a number of seasoned alumni this year as well as playwrights who are new to the Sundance Institute family," said Artistic Director Philip Himberg. "The range of vision and process of these particular artists is vast. This mix of emerging and more experienced theater makers will create a lively and productive atmosphere at a Lab environment designed to support and amplify creative impulses and risk-taking."

"The work that comes to the lab for development needs to be strong to withstand an intense and challenging process," said Keri Putnam, Executive Director of Sundance Institute. "There is nothing more exciting than seeing passionate, committed storytellers take risks and push their work to be the best it can be."

The Lab environment is an atmosphere solely focused on development in which mentors (Creative Advisors), dramaturgs, actors in the Lab ensemble, and Sundance Institute artistic staff work with Fellows to address the compelling needs of her/his text. The Theatre Lab provides rehearsal space, dramaturgical support, an acting company, and stage management for playwrights, directors, choreographers, composers, solo performers and ensembles. The Lab's unique day-on, day-off rehearsal structure provides Fellows the time to explore revising their work, without the pressure of daily rehearsals, as well as freedom from commercial attention. The three-week residency culminates in a closed presentation of each project for Lab participants, followed by a collaborative and specifically tailored feedback session.

The seven East African Fellows who participated in the 2012 Theatre Stage Directors Workshop in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and are traveling to Sundance, Utah, will divide their time between mentorship sessions with director Liesl Tommy and rehearsals of Lab projects to experience first-hand how play development processes function. These artists are: Habiba Issa (Tanzania), Aida Mbowa (Uganda), Rogers Otieno (Kenya), Wesley Ruzibiza (Rwanda), Freddy Sabimbona (Burundi), Azeb Worku Sibane (Ethiopia) and Surafel Wondimu (Ethiopia).

Fellows at the Lab will be supported by a team of advisors and colleagues who provide feedback on the material and process. Dramaturgs for the Lab are Janice Paran (Senior Program Associate), Elissa Adams (Minneapolis) and Jocelyn Clarke (Dublin, Ireland). Creative Advisors for the Lab are: Playwright Lynn Nottage and Artistic Director of Tricycle Theatre in London Indhu Rubasingham. The seven projects were selected with input from an Advisory Committee including: Program Associates Liesl Tommy and Mame Hunt Octavio Solis, Stephen Wadsworth and Senior Program Associate Janice Paran.

Projects selected for the 2013 Sundance Institute Theatre Lab are:

The Colby Sisters of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
By Adam Bock
Directed by Trip Cullman
Meet the Colby sisters of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Five sisters, "It girls" slightly past their time, living in New York City, trying to figure out how to put up with each other. Family. What are you going to do?

The Fre
By Taylor Mac
Directed by Lisa Peterson

This project is part of Mac's "Kothornos Festival" (four plays that will premiere separately but ultimately be performed in an all-day festival mirrored after the Greek Dionysia). It is an all-ages play written in the form of Old Comedy. It is the story of an intellectual aesthete, who is trapped inside a mud pit in the middle of a swamp, and his desperate attempt at escaping the swamp's fatuous inhabitants who call themselves, the Fre. Commissioned by the Children's Theater Company.

Really Really Really Really Really
By Jackie Sibblies Drury
Directed by Dan Rothenberg

Sibblies Drury's play centers on two women (the Mother and the Girlfriend of a conceptual artist who has vanished) leaving them to sort through his overwhelming body of work. It is a piece about artists, legacy and photography that asks about what we try to leave behind, what we actually leave behind, and how we deal with being left.

Sojourners
By Mfoniso Udufia
Director TBD

Abasiama Ekpeyoung came to America with high hopes for her arranged marriage and her future, intent on earning a degree and returning to Nigeria. But when her husband is seduced by America, she is forced to choose between the Nigerian or the American dream.

The Vagrant
By Mona Monsour
Directed by Mark Wing-Davey

England/London 1982. Part three of a trilogy. As Arab émigré, Adham faces his last hurdle to secure a coveted permanent position at university, a wave of "domestic terrorism" hits his chosen city, while at the same time, the family he's left behind in the Middle East faces their own escalating horrors. The life Adham has created threatens to unravel, destroying the political and personal equilibrium he's spent 15 years perfecting.

The Vengeance Project
By Paula Vogel
Directed by Rachel Taichman

Vogel's latest play follows the circuitous path of Scholem Asch's play God of Vengeance from 1905 Warsaw to 1951 Stamford Connecticut. It chronicles a contentious work written by a young man during the Yiddish Renaissance: from the fights in the salon after its first reading in Warsaw to its triumph on Second Avenue New York—and onward to 1923 Broadway. What should be the pinnacle of the Yiddish theatre crossing over to the Great White Way becomes a spectacle of scandal: prosecution for obscenity, struggles over anti-Semitism, and oh yes, the first kiss between two women on the American stage. When does one fight to produce a manuscript? When does prudence dictate a manuscript stays in the drawer? And when should an author burn his/her own script?

War is F**king Awesome
By Qui Nguyen
Directed by Liesl Tommy

A politically incorrect action-comedy following the life of Unity Spencer, a young colonial girl imbued with immortality but cursed to fight in every American conflict from the American Revolution to present day and beyond.

About Sundance Institute Theatre Program: The Theatre Program has been a core component of Sundance Institute since Robert Redford founded the Institute in 1984. The Theatre Program identifies and assists emerging theatre artists, contributes to the creative growth of established artists, and encourages and supports the development of new work for the stage. Under the guidance of Artistic Director Philip Himberg and Producing Director Christopher Hibma, the Theatre Program is the leading play development program in the United States. Titles such as Spring Awakening, An Iliad, I Am My Own Wife, The Good Negro, Circle Mirror Transformation, Passing Strange, Grey Gardens, Crowns and Marie Antoinette have gone from Theatre Program Labs to production from coast to coast and internationally, garnering multiple Pulitzers, Tonys, Obies and other recognition. The Theatre Program's East Africa initiative is the only professional program of its type on the continent, offering Labs, cross-cultural exchange, mentorship and exposure to artists in six African countries. www.sundance.org/theatre

About Sundance Institute: Founded by Robert Redford in 1981, Sundance Institute is a global, nonprofit cultural organization dedicated to nurturing artistic expression in film and theater, and to supporting intercultural dialogue between artists and audiences. The Institute promotes independent storytelling to unite, inform and inspire, regardless of geo-political, social, religious or cultural differences. Internationally recognized for its annual Sundance Film Festival and its artistic development programs for directors, screenwriters, producers, film composers, playwrights and theatre artists, Sundance Institute has nurtured such projects as Born into Brothels, Trouble the Water, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Amreeka, An Inconvenient Truth, Spring Awakening, Light in the Piazza and Angels in America. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.

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Sundance Institute Selects 13 Projects for 2013 June Directors and Screenwriters Labs

2013-05-09T20:04:55+00:00

Los Angeles, CA — Sundance Institute today announced the 13 projects selected for its annual June Directors and Screenwriters Labs, taking place at the Sundance Resort in Utah from May 27 through June 27. Under the leadership of Michelle Satter, Founding Director of the Institute’s Feature Film Program, and the artistic direction of Gyula Gazdag, the Fellows selected for this year's program include emerging filmmakers and projects from the United States, Europe, Mexico, Peru and Somalia.

At the Directors Lab, Fellows work with an accomplished group of Creative Advisors, professional actors and production crews to shoot and edit key scenes from their screenplays. Through this intense, hands-on process, the Fellows workshop their scripts, collaborate with actors and find a visual storytelling language for their films. Directors Lab Fellows join five additional projects for the week-long Screenwriters Lab, where they participate in individualized story sessions under the guidance of established screenwriters.

Projects supported through the Directors and Screenwriters Labs receive continued, customized, year-round support from the Feature Film Program, which can include the following resources: ongoing creative and strategic advice, significant production and postproduction resources, the Screenplay Reading Series, the Work in Progress Screening Initiative and direct financial support through project-specific grants and artist fellowships.

Since its founding in 1981, the Feature Film Program has supported an extensive list of award-winning and ground-breaking independent films. This year alone, four Feature Film Program-supported films have been selected for the 2013 Cannes Film Festival including Ritesh Batra’s The Lunchbox (Critics Week), Ryan Coogler’s Fruitvale Station (Un Certain Regard), Amat Escalante’s Heli (Competition) and David Lowery’s Ain't Them Bodies Saints (Critics Week).

“Removed from the pressures of production and with the guidance of an accomplished group of Creative Advisors, the 2013 Lab Fellows will be immersed in an intense, hands-on process to hone their filmmaking skills,” said Keri Putnam, Executive Director, Sundance Institute. “The June Lab is the centerpiece of a year-round system of creative and strategic support which begins with script development and continues all the way through to engaging audiences.”

Michelle Satter, Founding Director of the Feature Film Program, said, “We are very excited to support such a rich selection of projects that reflect the diversity of stories, artistic vision and innovation in narrative form that embraces the next generation of independent filmmakers. The support we provide through the Directors and Screenwriters Labs will allow each artist to develop the tools and confidence to more fully realize the promise of their first and second features.”

Creative Advisors for the Directors and Screenwriters Labs include Sundance Institute President and Founder Robert Redford, Gyula Gazdag (Artistic Director), Michael Almereyda, John August, Walter Bernstein, Kathryn Bigelow, Scott Burns, Steve Chbosky, Joan Darling, Caleb Deschanel, Suzy Elmiger, Deena Goldstone, Keith Gordon, Ed Harris, Michael Hoffman, Azazel Jacobs, Brian Kates, Pablo Larrain, Josh Marston, Doug McGrath, Andrew Mondshein, Walter Mosley, Tim Blake Nelson, Walter Salles, Jennifer Salt, Susan Shilliday, Elena Soarez, Peter Sollett, Oliver Stapleton, Wesley Strick, Chris Terrio, Joan Tewkesbury, Stanley Tucci, Audrey Wells, Tyger Williams, Alfre Woodard, Doug Wright, and Mauricio Zacharias.

The projects and participants selected for the 2013 June Directors Lab (May 27 – June 20) are:

Pamela Romanowsky (writer/director) / The Adderall Diaries (U.S.A.): Writer Stephen Elliott reaches a low point when his estranged father resurfaces, claiming that Stephen has fabricated much of the dark childhood that that fuels his work. Adrift in the precarious grey area of memory, Stephen has to navigate the unstable terrain of truth and identity, led by two sources of inspiration: a new romance, and a murder trial that reminds him more than a little of his own story. Based on the memoir by Stephen Elliott.

Pamela Romanowsky is a New York-based writer and director. Her short films Live Girls and Gravity have played at festivals nationwide, including Slamdance, Woodstock, and the Maryland Film Festival. In 2011, Romanowsky won the National Board of Review’s Student Grant Award and NYU’s prestigious Wasserman/King Award for excellence in filmmaking. In 2012, she wrote and directed a piece for Tar (James Franco, Mila Kunis, Jessica Chastain, Zach Braff), a multi-director narrative film based on the life and poetry of CK Williams, which premiered at the Rome International Film Festival and is awaiting a U.S. theatrical release. She studied documentary filmmaking with Barbara Kopple, and narrative filmmaking at New York University’s MFA film program.

Jan Kwiecinski (writer/director) / The Incident (U.S.A.): When a young man decides to cover up an accidental murder, his whole life comes into focus in ways he never expected.

Jan Kwiecinski graduated from the filmmaking departments of the London Film School and the Wajda's Master School of Directing. He also holds an MA degree in Theatre Studies from the Theatre Academy in Warsaw. His award-winning short film, The Incident, screened internationally at many festivals including the Shanghai International Film Festival and the T-Mobile New Horizons Film Festival. Recently, Kwiecinski directed the segment entitled Fawns of the omnibus feature The Fourth Dimension, co-directed by Alexey Fedorchenko and Harmony Korine. The film premiered in the Narrative Competition at the 2012 San Francisco Film Festival.

Eva Weber (co-writer/director) and Vendela Vida (co-writer) / Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name (UK/Germany/U.S.A.): Twenty-eight-year-old Clarissa discovers on the day of her father's funeral that everything she believed about her life was a lie. She flees San Francisco and travels to the Arctic Circle to uncover the secrets of her mother, who mysteriously vanished when Clarissa was fourteen. Based on the novel by Vendela Vida.

Originally from Germany, Eva Weber is a London-based filmmaker working in both documentary and fiction. Her award-winning films have screened at numerous international film festivals, including Sundance, Edinburgh, SXSW, BFI London, and Telluride; and have also been broadcast on UK and international television. Her documentary short film The Solitary Life of Cranes was selected as one of the top five films of the year by critic Nick Bradshaw in Sight & Sound’s annual film review in 2008. Earlier this year, she received the Sundance Institute Mahindra Global Filmmaking Award to further support the development of Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name.

Vendela Vida is the author of four books, including the novels Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name and The Lovers. She is a founding co-editor of the Believer magazine and co-writer of the film Away We Go, which was directed by Sam Mendes.

Russell Harbaugh (co-writer/director) and Eric Mendelsohn (co-writer) / Love After Love (U.S.A.): Love After Love is a messy and desperate love story about grief, sex, and the separation of a family.

Russell Harbaugh's short film Rolling on the Floor Laughing played the 2012 Sundance Film Festival and many other festivals around the world including the FSLC/MoMA co-curated New Directors/New Films, Maryland Film Festival, Sarasota International Film Festival, Milano, Warsaw, and others. Harbaugh received his MFA from Columbia University in 2011 and is originally from Evansville, Indiana. He lives in New York.

Eric Mendelsohn's feature film Judy Berlin, starring Edie Falco and Madeline Kahn, was an Official Selection of the Cannes Film Festival, won Best Director at Sundance, Best Independent Film at the Hamptons Film Festival and was nominated for three Independent Spirit Awards. His short film, Through An Open Window, premiered at Sundance, was an Official Selection of the Cannes Film Festival and garnered him a guest spot on The Tonight Show. Mendelsohn’s most recent feature, 3 Backyards, premiered in 2010 at Sundance and garnered the Best Director award, making him the only person in the festival's history to have received the award twice.

K’naan (writer/director) / Maanokoobiyo (Somalia/U.S.A.): In war-torn Somalia, an artistic orphan named Maano joins the mercenary killing squad of a notorious warlord, only to discover his adoptive father and gang leader is responsible for wiping out his family.

K'naan is a Somali poet, rapper and singer, songwriter. He spent his childhood in Mogadishu, Somalia and was on one of the last commercial flights out of the country before its collapse. He rose to prominence with the success of his song “Wavin' Flag” after it was chosen as the anthem of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. He lives in New York.

Ian Hendrie (co-writer/co-director) and Jyson McLean (co-writer/co-director) / Mercy Road (U.S.A.): Based on true events, Mercy Road traces the spiritual odyssey of a small town housewife and mother, as she becomes willing to commit violence and murder in the name of God.

Ian Hendrie is a San Francisco–based filmmaker and the co-founder of Fantoma, a production company and independent DVD label which has been releasing premium edition DVDs of films by such famed auteurs as Francis Ford Coppola, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Samuel Fuller, Fritz Lang, Kenneth Anger and Alex Cox, among others, since 1999.

Jyson McLean has been a commercial director for over nine years. His work includes spots for Bud Light, Career Builder, and Quaker Oats. He has won the ITVA PEER award three years in a row, and has worked with numerous award winning advertising agencies including DDB Los Angeles, BBDO London and Fred & Farid, Paris. He is currently signed at Contagious LA and Magali Films, Paris for commercial representation in America and Europe respectively.

Hendrie and McLean are recipients of a Fall 2011 SFFS/KRF Filmmaking Grant and SFFS FilmHouse residents.

Meredith Danluck (writer/director) / State Like Sleep (U.S.A.): Under the surreal cloud cover of northern Europe, a young American widow reluctantly revisits her past when her mother is hospitalized in Brussels. While coping with the bleak reality of parental loss, Katherine explores her deceased husband's secret life of underground sex clubs and finds comfort in a relationship with a stranger as equally broken as she is.

Meredith Danluck is an artist and filmmaker. Her work has screened at major art institutions internationally including MoMA, PS1, Venice Biennale, Liverpool Biennial, and Reina Sofia, as well as various film festivals including SXSW, TIFF, Doc NYC, Margaret Mead and Hamburg International. Her four-screen film installation North of South, West of East recently screened as part of the New Frontier exhibition at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival.

Miguel Calderón (writer/director) / Zeus (Mexico): Sporadically employed and still living with his mother, Joel finds his only joy in falconry in the flatlands outside Mexico City, until an encounter with a down-to-earth secretary forces him to face reality.

Miguel Calderón works in various mediums but has focused mostly in photography, video and writing. He was a co-founder of the non-profit art space, “La Panaderia,” which helped promote new tendencies of art in Latin America beginning in 1994. His exhibitions include the Rochester Art Center, the Sao Paolo Biennial, Museo Tamayo, The Yokohama Triennial and Museo Centro de Arte Reina Sofía. His book projects include Thumbs Down (onestar press, 2012), Backstabbing Gemini (Rochester Art Center, 2012), Eden is a Magic World (littlebigman books, 2011), and Miguel Calderón (Turner, 2007). He lives in Mexico City.

The projects and participants joining the Directors Lab Fellows for the 2013 June Screenwriters Lab (June 22-27) are:

Ray Tintori (writer/director) / Untitled Cabal Project (U.S.A.): Young revolutionaries in love take on the world and each other in a kaleidoscopically complicated universe that's coming apart at the seams.

Ray Tintori is an American director, screenwriter, and founding member of the Court 13 filmmaking collective. His directorial credits include Death to the Tinman and the music videos off MGMT's first record. Besides directing, he's worked in various capacities on Court 13 productions, including production designer and story co-writer on Glory at Sea, and Aurochs and Special Effects Unit Director on Beasts of the Southern Wild.

Bart Layton (writer/director) / The Heist (U.K.): This fiction/documentary hybrid tells the unlikely but very true story of four privileged Kentucky students who, seeking an escape from mundane middle America, hatch a plan to steal millions of dollars of rare books from their university library.

Bart Layton is a multi-award winning director and producer. His most recent documentary film, The Imposter, received almost unanimous critical acclaim after premiering at Sundance, won the Grand Jury Prize at Miami, the Golden Eye in Zurich and the Filmmakers' award at Hotdocs before winning a BAFTA and being shortlisted for the Oscars. Layton lives in London and is the Creative Director of leading British production company, RAW.

Andrew Ahn (writer/director) / Spa Night (U.S.A.): Struggling to escape his crumbling family life, a closeted Korean-American teenager follows his desires and finds more than he bargains for at the Korean spa.

Andrew Ahn is a Korean-American filmmaker born and raised in Los Angeles. His short film Dol (First Birthday) premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival and received the Outfest Grand Jury Award for Outstanding Dramatic Short Film. He graduated from Brown University with a degree in English and received an MFA in Film Directing from the California Institute of the Arts.

Nikole Beckwith (writer/director) / Stockholm, Pennsylvania (U.S.A.): When a young kidnapping victim is reunited with her family after 19 years, her mother discovers she has to work harder than ever to find her daughter, at any cost.

Nikole Beckwith is from Newburyport, Massachusetts. Her plays have been developed with The Public Theater, Playwrights Horizons and The National Theatre of London among others. Stockholm, Pennsylvania (2012 Nicholl Fellowship, 2012 Black List) is her first screenplay, adapted from her stage play of the same name.

Alvaro Delgado-Aparicio (writer/director) / Story Box of Dreams (Peru): In a rural community outside Lima, a young boy escapes from home to become a story box artisan, a sophisticated craft practiced only by a select group of families who have passed their skills down over generations.

Alvaro Delgado-Aparicio is an organizational psychologist and filmmaker from Peru. He received his BSC and MSC from the London School of Economics and Political Science and attended film directing workshops at the London Film Academy. He wrote and directed the award-winning short film El Acompañante (The Companion), which played at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival and many other festivals around the world including Rotterdam International Film Festival, La Habana, Palm Springs, Miami, Cork, Leeds, Atlanta, Indie Lisboa, Nashville, and Maryland, among others.

The 2013 Sundance Institute June Directors and Screenwriters Labs are made possible by generous support from The Annenberg Foundation, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Cinereach, DCM Productions, Mumbai Mantra Media, LTD., National Endowment for the Arts, Philip Fung – A3 Foundation, RT Features, Indian Paintbrush Productions, Time Warner Foundation, NHK Enterprises 21, Inc., SAGIndie, Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the Ray and Dagmar Dolby Family Fund, Sundial Pictures, LLC, and the Zygmunt & Audrey Wilf Foundation.

Sundance Institute Feature Film Program
Since its founding in 1981, the Sundance Institute Feature Film Program has supported an extensive list of leading-edge independent films. FFP films making their theatrical premieres this year include Ryan Coogler’s Fruitvale Station (winner of the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival), David Lowery’s Ain’t Them Bodies Saints, Haifaa Al Mansour’s Wadjda, and Andrew Dosunmu and Darci Picoult’s Mother of George. Additional notable films supported over the program’s history include Lucy Alibar and Benh Zeitlin’s Beasts of the Southern Wild, Andrei Zyvagintsev’s Elena, Craig Zobel’s Compliance, Sally El Hosaini’s My Brother the Devil, Sean Durkin’s Martha Marcy May Marlene, Dee Rees’ Pariah, Maryam Keshavarz’s Circumstance, Cary Fukunaga's Sin Nombre, Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden’s Half Nelson, Andrea Arnold's Red Road, Miranda July’s Me and You and Everyone We Know, Hany Abu-Assad’s Paradise Now, Debra Granik’s Down to the Bone, Josh Marston’s Maria Full of Grace, Peter Sollett’s Raising Victor Vargas, John Cameron Mitchell’s Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Darren Aronofsky’s Requiem for a Dream, Kimberly Peirce’s Boys Don't Cry, Lucrecia Martel’s La Cienaga, Walter Salles’ Central Station, Chris Eyre and Sherman Alexie’s Smoke Signals, Nicole Holofcener’s Walking and Talking, Allison Anders' Mi Vida Loca, Paul Thomas Anderson’s Hard Eight, Tamara Jenkins’ Slums of Beverly Hills, and Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs. www.sundance.org/featurefilm

Sundance Institute
Founded by Robert Redford in 1981, Sundance Institute is a global, nonprofit cultural organization dedicated to nurturing artistic expression in film and theater, and to supporting intercultural dialogue between artists and audiences. The Institute promotes independent storytelling to unite, inform and inspire, regardless of geo-political, social, religious or cultural differences. Internationally recognized for its annual Sundance Film Festival and its artistic development programs for directors, screenwriters, producers, film composers, playwrights and theatre artists, Sundance Institute has nurtured such projects as Born into Brothels, Trouble the Water, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Amreeka, An Inconvenient Truth, Spring Awakening, Light in the Piazza and Angels in America. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.

Filmmaker Ryan Coogler to be Honored with Vanguard Award

2013-05-09T16:00:25+00:00

Event Takes Place June 5 in Los Angeles, Hosted by Tiffany & Co.

Los Angeles, CA — Sundance Institute today announced filmmaker Ryan Coogler (Fruitvale Station) will be honored with the Vanguard Award, presented by Tiffany & Co. Actress Kerry Washington will present the award to Coogler at the third annual ‘Celebrate Sundance Institute’ benefit on June 5, 2013 in Los Angeles. As previously announced, the benefit will also honor the life and work of beloved journalist and film critic Roger Ebert with the Vanguard Leadership Award in Memoriam, in recognition of his advocacy of independent cinema. The award will be presented by Sundance Institute President and Founder Robert Redford and accepted by Ebert’s wife, Chaz Ebert.

The benefit is chaired by Institute Trustee Lyn Lear and her husband, Norman, and Institute Trustee Cindy Horn, and her husband, Alan. The Host Committee includes: Robert J. Abernethy; Wallis Annenberg; The Honorable Nicole Avant and Ted Sarandos; Sean and Charmaine Bailey; Chris and Jenny Brearton; Susanna Felleman and Erik Feig; Mark Gordon and Sally Whitehill; Joseph Gordon-Levitt; Miranda and Bruno Heller; David and Suzanne Johnson; Chris Kelly and Jennifer Carrico; Christine Lahti; Ross and Nicole Levinsohn; Heather Rae; Marshall and Sharon Rogers-McKay; Nadine and Fredric Rosen; Thomas E. Rothman; Carolyn Strauss; Sheila and Wally Weisman; and Jamie Wolf.

Director Ryan Coogler’s first feature film, Fruitvale Station, was selected for Sundance Institute's Feature Film Program Screenwriters Lab and Artist Granting Fund and went on to win both the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. Fruitvale Station will screen in the "Un Certain Regard" section at Cannes this month and will be released by The Weinstein Company in July 2013.

The Vanguard Award, presented by Tiffany & Co., comes with a cash grant and mentorship from industry professionals and Feature Film Program staff. Coogler will be the second recipient of the Vanguard Award. The first was presented last year to Benh Zeitlin, director of Beasts of the Southern Wild, whose film went on to receive critical acclaim and accolades worldwide. The Vanguard Awards were founded in 2011 to mark the 30th anniversary of the Sundance Institute Feature Film Program and its founding director, Michelle Satter.

Keri Putnam, Executive Director of Sundance Institute, said, “Ryan Coogler makes an extraordinary directorial debut with Fruitvale Station, in which he tells a heartbreaking story with courage and conviction. His talent and promise make him a fitting recipient of our Vanguard Award, and we look with great anticipation to the release of his film this summer as well as his future work in years to come.”

Sundance Institute will remember and celebrate journalist and film critic Roger Ebert by honoring him with the Vanguard Leadership Award in Memoriam, in recognition of his advocacy of independent cinema. He was a frequent attendee of the Sundance Film Festival, where he discovered and supported films like Hoop Dreams, Man Push Cart, Come Early Morning, Longtime Companion, Metropolitan, The Brothers McMullen, Crumb, Picture Bride, American Movie, and The War Zone. Sundance alumni who count him as an advocate include Steve James, Spike Lee, Kathryn Bigelow, Steven Soderbergh, Quentin Tarantino, Errol Morris and Werner Herzog. Beginning in 1967 with his film review column in the Chicago Sun Times, Ebert was a fierce and tireless champion of original storytelling. He is equally known for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies, Siskel & Ebert, and Ebert & Roeper. Ebert will be the second recipient of the Vanguard Leadership Award. The first was presented this year to philanthropist and Sundance Institute Trustee George Gund.

Robert Redford, President and Founder of Sundance Institute, said, “Roger Ebert was one of the great champions of freedom of artistic expression. When the power of independent film was still unknown and few would support it, Roger was there for our artists. His personal passion for cinema was boundless, and that is sure to be his legacy for generations to come.”

Also at the benefit, Sundance Institute will spotlight some of the talented artists it has supported since its founding in 1981 by Robert Redford. The evening will feature Sundance Institute-supported artists at each table, where they will discuss their creative journeys and the invaluable role the Institute has played in bringing their stories to life.

Sundance Institute relies on the generosity of donors who share a commitment to nurturing new artists, supporting unique and diverse creative voices, and furthering the reach of independent feature and documentary films around the world. The event will raise crucial funds to offset the non-profit Institute’s year-round programs for artists, including Labs, grants and the Sundance Film Festival. For information on benefit event tickets and tables or sponsorship opportunities, visit the events site at http://www.sundance.org/labenefit.

Sundance Institute
Founded by Robert Redford in 1981, Sundance Institute is a global, nonprofit cultural organization dedicated to nurturing artistic expression in film and theater, and to supporting intercultural dialogue between artists and audiences. The Institute promotes independent storytelling to unite, inform and inspire, regardless of geo-political, social, religious or cultural differences. Internationally recognized for its annual Sundance Film Festival and its artistic development programs for directors, screenwriters, producers, film composers, playwrights and theatre artists, Sundance Institute has nurtured such projects as Born into Brothels, Trouble the Water, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Sin Nombre, Ain’t Them Bodies Saints, An Inconvenient Truth, Spring Awakening, Light in the Piazza and Angels in America. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.

Tiffany & Co.
Tiffany & Co. operates jewelry stores and manufactures products through its subsidiary corporations. Its principal subsidiary is Tiffany and Company. The Company operates TIFFANY & CO. retail stores and boutiques in the Americas, Asia-Pacific, Japan, Europe and the United Arab Emirates and engages in direct selling through Internet, catalogue and business gift operations. For additional information, please visit www.tiffany.com.

Best Wins Sundance London Short Film Competition

2013-04-18T09:58:46+00:00

The O2, 18 April 2013 — Best, a five-minute film from Surrey filmmaker William Oldroyd, was announced today as the winner of the Short Film Competition for the second Sundance London film and music festival, 25-28 April at The O2. The film will screen as part of the official Short Film Programme at the festival, and Oldroyd will receive a three-night stay at The Langham, London as well as additional prizes.

The Short Film Competition was organized by a small team of Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication students, in collaboration with Sundance London organizers, including Sundance Institute, which annually hosts the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, U.S.A. To correspond with Sundance London’s location at The O2 in Greenwich, the home of Greenwich Mean Time, short film entries focused on the concept of time: ‘The Time is Now; a story that is about being immediate and in the moment.’ Submissions between three and five minutes in length were accepted.

The winning entry was selected by two juries on either side of the Atlantic. The first included: Kate Kinninmont, Women in Film and Television; Chris Collins, BFI Film Fund; Freddie Gaffney, Ravensbourne; Dave Calhoun, Time Out; and director / screenwriter Kat Lo. A second jury, organized by Sundance Institute, included: John Cooper, Director of the Sundance Film Festival; Trevor Groth, Director of Programming for the Sundance Film Festival; and filmmakers Francesca Gregorini and Roger Ross Williams

In Best, with one man’s wedding moments away, he and his best friend confront their future.

Oldroyd said: “I am privileged to have my short film presented in my home city as part of this year's festival. There is no better champion of international, emerging film makers than Sundance Institute, and I am grateful for their endorsement and support. I'm really looking forward to meeting the other participants and glad that Best will now get a wider, more diverse audience.”

Groth said: “The other jurors and I were delighted to find in Best a succinct yet moving story that so cleverly exemplifies the tagline ‘The Time is Now.’ Terrifically framed images as well as stellar performances bring to life a story that impressively manages to be tender, raw, visceral and heartbreaking in under five minutes.”

In addition to Best, finalists for the competition were: Double Take, by Sam Hodges; Fill Me In, by Sebastian Thiel; Kickoff, by Zoran Trajkovic / Pet Genius Productions; Outsiders, by William Wirrow; and What’s Past is Present, by Jason Robbins. All finalist films, including Best, are available for immediate viewing at http://competition.sundance-london.com/films/2013/.

Extranjero, a short film from Daniel Lumb and Crinan Campbell, was the winner of last year’s Short Film Competition at the first-ever Sundance London.

Tickets for all Sundance London films, panels and music performances are now on sale at www.sundance-london.com. Music performers include Peaches, Gregg Allman and John Paul White of The Civil Wars, and British Sea Power. The film programme, made up of 21 feature films and nine short films, includes the International, European or UK premieres of films from the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, including several award winners.

For more information visit www.sundance-london.com or follow @SundancefestUK on Twitter.

ENDS

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All photos are copyrighted and may be used by press only for the purpose of one-time reproduction and only when including proper image credits and/or ‘Courtesy of Sundance Institute.’ Images are available at image.net and ftp.premiercomms.com (Login ID: sundancelondon2013; no password). Unauthorized use, alteration or reproduction of logos and photos is strictly prohibited.

Press Enquiries:

General / Film – Claire Gascoyne / Liberty Green
Online – Sanam Jehanfard
Accreditation – Simone Devlin
Music – Oliver Lavery
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Notes to the Editor:

Sundance London
The Sundance London film and music festival is a partnership between Robert Redford, Sundance Enterprises, Sundance Institute and AEG Europe. The second Sundance London will take place from 25-28 April, 2013 at The O2 and will host the international and UK premieres of films fresh from the 2013 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, U.S.A., as well as live music performances, panels and events. Tickets are now on sale. For more information visit www.sundance-london.com or follow @SundancefestUK on Twitter.

Sundance London is supported by: Presenting Partner — Jaguar; Lead Partner — Sundance Channel Global; Supporting Partners — The Langham, London and Nokia; Media Partners — Empire, Fade to Black and Time Out; and Official Providers — ASCAP, Cineworld at The O2, Dolby, Gaucho at The O2, Gibson, Kenneth Cole Productions, Inc., Kickstarter and the US Embassy London. For more information about Sundance London partnerships, please contact: yan.li@the02.co.uk.

Robert Redford
Robert Redford is an Academy Award-winning actor, director and producer, a passionate advocate for the arts and a leading environmentalist. He serves as President of the non-profit Sundance Institute, which he founded 30 years ago to foster independence, discovery and new voices in American film and theatre. Mr. Redford also founded the Sundance Channel, Sundance Resort, Sundance Catalog, and Sundance Cinemas and the non-profit Redford Center. Though very different in their activities and independent in their operations, all of Mr. Redford’s Sundance entities share the same core mission he has always held dear: a passionate connection to new artists, new voices and new perspectives. www.sundancegroup.net

Sundance Institute
Founded by Robert Redford in 1981, Sundance Institute is a global, nonprofit cultural organization dedicated to nurturing artistic expression in film and theater, and to supporting intercultural dialogue between artists and audiences. The Institute promotes independent storytelling to unite, inform and inspire, regardless of geo-political, social, religious or cultural differences. Internationally recognized for its annual Sundance Film Festival and its artistic development programs for directors, screenwriters, producers, film composers, playwrights and theatre artists, Sundance Institute has nurtured such projects as Born into Brothels, Trouble the Water, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Amreeka, An Inconvenient Truth, Spring Awakening, Light in the Piazza and Angels in America. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.

AEG Europe and The O2
AEG is one of the leading sports and entertainment presenters in the world. It owns or operates some of the world’s best arenas and theatres, numerous sports franchises including the Los Angeles Kings (NHL) and LA Galaxy (MLS), and a collection of companies dedicated to producing, promoting and presenting world-class live entertainment.

In May 2005, AEG Europe announced that it would transform the former Millennium Dome and the surrounding area into the UK’s most exciting and technically advanced music, sport and entertainment destination. It was renamed The O2 and opened in June 2007.

The centrepiece of the multi-million pound development is the 20,000 capacity indoor arena, the most popular and busiest arena in the world. There is also a live music venue – indigO2 – with a capacity of 2,900, The O2 bubble – a state of the art exhibition space that is host to the British Music Experience, a permanent, high-tech, interactive music museum, an 11 screen cinema complex, and a vibrant ‘Entertainment District’ featuring a variety of bars, restaurants and leisure facilities.

The O2 arena sold more tickets than any other arena in the world last year (breaking all previous records) – making it the most popular music venue in the world for the fifth year running.

AEG employs more than 3,000 staff in over 45 operating companies worldwide. Its international head office is in Los Angeles, and its European headquarters is based in London.

Sundance London Announces Talks and Music Performances for ‘The Festival Hub’ at Th

2013-04-09T10:00:54+00:00

The O2, 9 April 2013 — Sundance Institute and The O2 announced today the programme of talks and music performances that will take place in The Festival Hub at the second Sundance London film and music festival, 25-28 April at The O2. Located under Cineworld at The O2, admission to The Hub is open to all Sundance London ticket holders 18 and older, subject to capacity.

The Hub Talks were programmed by Sundance Institute, which annually presents the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, U.S.A., as well as by Sundance London partners the British Music Experience, Film London and Kickstarter. Music performances were curated by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP).

John Cooper, Director of the Sundance Film Festival, said, “We created The Hub as a hangout for our invited artists and London audiences to discuss their love of film and music. These talks and musical performances, open to all Sundance London ticket holders, add to the experience of the festival in exciting ways.”

For more information visit www.sundance-london.com or follow @SundancefestUK on Twitter.

Hub Talks — A dialogue inspired by film in a relaxed, engaging environment. Participants are linked to a subject or idea but the form of these events is open to their interpretation.


	Friday 26 April, 4:00 p.m. Hub Talk — Meet the creative team behind Sundance Institute. John Cooper (Director, Sundance Film Festival), Paul Federbush (Director, Feature Film Program International), Peter Golub (Director, Film Music Program), Trevor Groth (Director of Programming, Sundance Film Festival), Michelle Satter (Founding Director, Feature Film Program) will discuss their roles in the non-profit’s year-round programs.

	Saturday 27 April, Noon Bands on Film – The Art of the Music Video: Over the last 20 years, the music video has ceased to be a humble promo, becoming as important as the song itself and evolving into an extension of a musician’s creative identity. In 3 ½ minutes a great music video can tell a story as iconic, moving and meaningful as any feature-length film. In this discussion, the British Music Experience will be examining how music video directors create the cinematic for the world of song.

	Saturday 27 April, 2:00 p.m. Filmmaker Hub Talk : Documentary filmmakers Barbara Kopple (Running From Crazy), Roger Ross Williams (God Loves Uganda) and Gabriela Cowperthwaite (Blackfish) will discuss the process of directing films full of powerful, emotional resonance that focus on urgent causes of global concern.

	Saturday 27 April, 4:00 p.m. Kickstarter and Creative Independence — Kickstarter helps filmmakers and audiences come together to make the films they want to see, while protecting the filmmaker's vision for their work. Join the filmmaking team behind the award-winning documentary Blood Brother, Sundance Institute's own Keri Putnam, Kickstarter's Kendel Ratley, and more to be announced for a discussion on fundraising and audience building.

	Sunday 28 April, 1:00 p.m. Film London Microwave – Producing and Exhibiting Micro-budget Films : Film London Microwave, in partnership with BBC Films, challenges filmmakers to shoot a feature film for £120,000. A unique training through production scheme, it aims to discover emerging London-based talent and provides funding, bespoke mentoring and training. Join us for an open discussion on low-budget filmmaking and exhibition, featuring filmmakers who have produced a feature under the constraints of a micro-budget.

	Sunday 28 April, 3:00 p.m. Filmmaker Hub Talk : Filmmakers Francesca Gregorini (Emanuel and the Truth About Fishes), Jeff Nichols (Mud) and Jordan Vogt-Roberts (The Kings of Summer) will discuss the creative process they went through to make unique coming-of-age stories that deftly balance humor, heart and distinctive cinematic styles.

Music Performers for The Hub — A dynamic showcase of intimate live performances by emerging and established artists and bands from across the musical spectrum. These performances were produced by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), which for years has produced a showcase for attendees of the Sundance Film Festival to experience live music performances. Production provided by Gibson.

Friday 26 April, 7:00 – 9:00 p.m.

	Lesley Pike — Canadian indie darling Lesley Pike’s new album Tug of War blends pop sensibility, hints of ‘80s influence and electronic with her signature vocals and heart-on-her-sleeve lyrics. Pike has toured extensively throughout North America and the UK for the past four years and is known for her engaging and oftentimes hilarious live shows. http://www.lesleypike.com/fr_home.cfm

	Iman — After featuring on Wilkinson's smash 'Need To Know', and a new EP, ‘Golden’, due out May this year, it’s certainly an exciting time for Iman. She has also been busy writing with John Legend, Frank Ocean and Ed Sheeran, proving her credentials as not only a talented artist but also a highly sought after songwriter. http://www.imanmusic.co.uk/

	Charles Bruno — After becoming one of the most sought-after session guitarists, Charles Bruno posted a couple of rough recordings online and quickly signed a publishing deal with Sony/EMI. With his unique voice, classic songwriting ability and evident musicality, Charles Bruno is a rare artist, a raw talent that captivates with direct emotion. https://www.facebook.com/MrCharlesBruno

	Luls — Hotly tipped London three-piece Luls introduced themselves at the end of 2012 with their art-rock anthemics bringing together a towering wall of sound aesthetic with cathartic dynamics and an intrinsic ear for euphoric melody, bridging the gap between the classic pop sensibilities of the Everly Brothers and jagged edge of the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s. http://www.lulsofficial.tumblr.com/

Saturday 27 April, 7:00 – 9:00 p.m.

	Olivia Sebastianelli — Olivia Sebastianelli was signed to a major label at the age of 17 but left when they tried to turn her into Katy Perry. Far from the usual winsome girl with a guitar, she cites artists as diverse as Chrissie Hynde, Deborah Harry, Alison Krauss, Elvis Costello and Alice in Chains as influences. https://www.facebook.com/OliviaSebastianelli

	Josef Salvat — Less than a month after releasing his debut song This Life, Australian singer-songwriter Josef Salvat is climbing high in the HypeMachine charts (number 1 in ‘No-Remixes’ and number 9 in the ‘Most Blogged’ charts, respectively) and gaining increasing support from the UK's leading taste makers. http://josefsalvat.com/

	Mary Epworth — With the 2012 release of her debut album Dream Life, Mary Epworth has emerged as one of the UK’s most exciting talents. The album’s blend of 1960s West Coast psychedelia with gospel and dream pop gained Mary widespread radio exposure and glowing reviews. www.maryepworth.com

	Wolf Alice — Wolf Alice’s journey began in earnest and was quickly lauded by industry heads as one of the most exciting prospects around. Championed by Radio One, NME and many more as one of the hottest acts to emerge in 2013, the band’s debut single ‘Fluffy’ established them as one of the UK’s must-watch new bands.

Sunday 28 April, 7:00 – 9:00 p.m.

	Public Service Broadcasting — Public Service Broadcasting is the corduroy-clad brainchild of London-based J. Willgoose, Esq. who, along with his drumming companion, Wrigglesworth, is on a quest to inform, educate and entertain audiences around the globe. http://publicservicebroadcasting.net/IEE.php

	Sam Lee and Friends — Folk singer Sam Lee’s debut album ‘Ground Of Its Own’ is a musical manifesto for Sam’s journey collecting very old songs of The British Isles. It was nominated for the Mercury Prize and won FRoots album of the year. Sam is fast defining the sound, sight and texture of contemporary folksong. http://samleesong.co.uk

	Alex Burey — A musical endowment to be acclaimed is one way to describe the talent that is soul singer Alex Burey. At just 17 years of age, the teen from Croydon is ready to take the UK music scene by storm. http://alexbureymusic.tumblr.com

	Mt. Wolf — Describing their sound as ‘dreamfolk,’ a cinematic fusion of both folk and electronica, Mt. Wolf mix a unique hybrid of strings and instrumentation with heart-melting harmonies and contemporary electronic and bass influenced sounds. The four piece band's first EP ‘Life Size Ghosts’ received critical acclaim when it was released last October. http://www.mtwolf.co.uk/

ENDS

Images for Press:

Press Enquiries:

Notes to the Editor:

Sundance London is supported by: Presenting Partner — Jaguar; Lead Partner — Sundance Channel Global; Supporting Partners — The Langham, London and Nokia; Media Partners — Empire, Fade to Black and Time Out; and Official Providers — ASCAP, Cineworld at The O2, Dolby, Gibson, Kenneth Cole, Kickstarter and the US Embassy London. For partnership opportunities email yan.li@the02.co.uk.

Sundance Institute
Founded by Robert Redford in 1981, Sundance Institute is a global, nonprofit cultural organization dedicated to nurturing artistic expression in film and theater, and to supporting intercultural dialogue between artists and audiences. The Institute promotes independent storytelling to unite, inform and inspire, regardless of geo-political, social, religious or cultural differences. Internationally recognized for its annual Sundance Film Festival and its artistic development programs for directors, screenwriters, producers, film composers, playwrights and theatre artists, Sundance Institute has nurtured such projects as Born into Brothels , Trouble the Water , Beasts of the Southern Wild, Amreeka , An Inconvenient Truth , Spring Awakening , Light in the Piazza and Angels in America . Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.

The O2 arena sold more tickets than any other arena in the world last year (breaking all previous records) – making it the most popular music venue in the world for the fifth year running.

AEG employs more than 3,000 staff in over 45 operating companies worldwide. Its international head office is in Los Angeles, and its European headquarters is based in London.

Sundance Institute Announces FILM FORWARD: Advancing Cultural Dialogue Travels to Amman, Karak and M

2013-04-04T17:59:04+00:00

Los Angeles, CA — Sundance Institute and the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities announced today that FILM FORWARD: Advancing Cultural Dialogue will travel with eight films to host free screenings, panel discussions and artist roundtables in Jordan, April 13 – 18. Filmmakers Laura Nix and Ligiah Villalobos will participate in the program. For a full schedule of events visit www.sundance.org/filmforward.

FILM FORWARD, a partnership of Sundance Institute and U.S. federal cultural agencies, is a touring program that offers film screenings, workshops and discussions designed to foster dialogue and cross-cultural understanding. It uses the power of cinema to promote broader cultural understanding, inspire curiosity and enhance awareness of shared stories and values across generations, language, education and borders. The partnering federal agencies are the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities and Institute of Museum and Library Services.“Sundance Institute is honored to present FILM FORWARD in the country of Jordan and to offer audiences in the region this cultural exchange opportunity,” said Keri Putnam, Executive Director of Sundance Institute. “We have a long history of supporting and working with artists in Jordan and know that the country’s cultural diversity and rich tradition of storytelling will lend itself well to this initiative.”

“During the making of The Light In Her Eyes, we uncovered a lively debate about women’s roles as mothers, teachers, wives, workers, sisters and daughters,” said filmmaker Laura Nix. “I am excited to meet audiences in Jordan through the FILM FORWARD program and to reach common ground with the universal themes that touch us all.”

"La Misma Luna explores the challenges a family faces when they are forced to live apart due to economic challenges," said screenwriter Ligiah Villalobos. "Even though this film is set in Mexico and the United States, it has been sobering to realize that this is a challenge thousands of families face around the world, which is why audiences have connected to the film, regardless of where it has screened."

Sundance Institute staff members traveling with the program are: FILM FORWARD Consultant Jill Miller, FILM FORWARD Director Meredith Lavitt, Feature Film Program Creative Producing Initiatives Director Anne Lai and Editorial Coordinator Nate von Zumwalt.

Following FILM FORWARD’s visit to Jordan, upcoming destinations include: China/Taiwan (May 17-26); Puerto Rico (June 10-15); Washington (September 4-7); Bosnia & Herzegovina (September 20-27); and Maine (September 30 – October 4). Completed programs include California, Mexico and Colombia.

FILM FORWARD Year Three Films:

	*Beasts of the Southern Wild* (Director: Benh Zeitlin) — In a forgotten but defiant bayou community cut off from the rest of the world by a sprawling levee, a six-year-old girl exists on the brink of orphanhood. Buoyed by her childish optimism and extraordinary imagination, she believes that the natural order is in balance with the universe until a fierce storm changes her reality. Desperate to repair the structure of her world in order to save her ailing father and sinking home, this tiny hero must learn to survive unstoppable catastrophes of epic proportions.

	*Bones Brigade: An Autobiography* (Director: Stacy Peralta) — A gang of disenfranchised kids reject mainstream culture, channel their controlled desperation into a loser activity and redefine winning in the process. Mentored by a former world champion skateboarder, the "Bones Brigade" became history's most influential skateboarding team. Their countercultural impact continues to affect change with best selling video games and books and millions of kids who embrace skateboarding around the world.

	*Chasing Ice* (Director: Jeff Orlowski) — Acclaimed environmental photographer James Balog was once a skeptic about climate change. But through his Extreme Ice Survey, he discovers undeniable evidence of our changing planet. Chasing Ice reveals Balog's hauntingly beautiful, multi-year time-lapse videos of vanishing glaciers across the Arctic, all while delivering fragile hope to our carbon-powered planet.

	*La Misma Luna (Under The Same Moon)* (Director: Patricia Riggen) — Even across thousands of miles, the special bond between a mother and son can never be broken. It gives hope to Carlitos, a scrappy nine-year-old boy whose mother, Rosario, has gone to America to build a better life for both of them. While Rosario struggles for a brighter future, fate forces Carlitos’ hand and he embarks on an extraordinary journey to find her.

	*The Light in Her Eyes* (Directors: Julia Meltzer and Laura Nix) — Houda al-Habash, a conservative woman preacher in Damascus, Syria, calls girls to the practice of Islam, teaching them that pursuing their ambitions is a way of worshipping God. Shot right before the uprising in Syria erupted, The Light in Her Eyes offers an extraordinary portrait of a leader who challenges the women of her community to live according to Islam, without giving up their dreams.

	*The Loving Story* (Director: Nancy Buirski) — A racially-charged criminal trial and a heart-rending love story converge in this documentary about Mildred and Richard Loving, a part-black, part-Indian woman married to a white man in Jim Crow-era Virginia. Thrown into rat-infested jails and exiled from their hometown for 25 years, the Lovings fought back and changed history.

	*Town of Runners* (Director: Jerry Rothwell) — Town of Runners is a feature documentary about young people from the Ethiopian rural town of Bekoji, whose runners have won 10 Olympic Gold medals in the last 20 years. The film tells the story of three teenagers who want to follow in their heroes’ footsteps, as they move from school track to national competition and from childhood to adulthood, trying to run their way to a different life.

	*Valley of Saints* (Director and screenwriter: Musa Syeed) — Using Kashmir’s picturesque Dal Lake as its backdrop and underpinned by the political unrest in the region, this moving drama explores the relationship between two best friends and the female researcher studying environmental degradation who threatens to distract them from their dreams of escape.

# # #

Media Contacts:

Sarah Eaton
Sundance Institute
310.360.1981
Sarah_Eaton@sundance.org

Elizabeth Latenser
Sundance Institute
435.658.3456
Elizabeth_Latenser@sundance.org

Film stills and director headshots available upon request. Email press@sundance.org.

British Sea Power to perform at Sundance London

2013-04-04T08:00:38+00:00

Tickets on Sale Friday at www.sundance-london.com

The O2, 4 April 2013 — Sundance Institute and The O2 can reveal that British Sea Power will perform on Sunday 28 April, the closing night of the second Sundance London film and music festival. Live on stage in indigO2 in The O2, British Sea Power will perform their original score composed for From the Sea to the Land Beyond. The band will be playing live to a screening of the film. Tickets will be on sale from 9:00 a.m. GMT on Friday 5 April at www.sundance-london.com.

From the Sea to the Land Beyond, by award-winning director Penny Woolcock, is a lyrical portrait of Britain's coastline, created through an exquisite combination of evocative archive footage drawn from the BFI National Archive and stirring music. British Sea Power set the course for this cinematic voyage with an original score that ebbs and flows with the natural sounds of seagulls, ships and snippets of speech to create a deeply compelling and uniquely uplifting film experience. When From the Sea to the Land Beyond was originally shown on BBC4 under the Storyville banner a Twitter-storm resulted in viewing figures twice the norm for this slot. The film is nominated for three Televisual Bulldog Awards.

British Sea Power are a six-piece band variously originating from Cumbria, Yorkshire, Ealing and Shropshire and are currently based in East Sussex and on the Isle Of Skye. Ten years on from their debut album, their latest album Machineries of Joy, out now on Rough Trade Records, is a creative high, a superbly composed, multi-stylistic tour de force.

British Sea Power commented, "It’s an honour to be playing at Sundance London. We’re really pleased with the way this film worked out – it was great working with Penny Woolcock. The film has taken us on an incredible journey and this is a rare opportunity to perform live with the film."

In addition to the performance by British Sea Power, Sundance London will host previously announced performances by Peaches on Friday 26 April and Gregg Allman and John Paul White of The Civil Wars on Saturday 27 April. Tickets for those performances are now on sale.

For more information visit www.sundance-london.com or follow @SundancefestUK on Twitter.

Ends

All Sundance London Press enquiries:

Music programme – Oliver Lavery
General enquires – Claire Gascoyne, Liberty Green, Natasha Unalkat
Online – Sanam Jehanfard
Accreditation – Simone Devlin
Tel: 020 7292 8330
Email: firstname.surname@premiercomms.com
www.premiercomms.com

Sundance London is supported by: Presenting Partner — Jaguar; Lead Partner — Sundance Channel Global; Supporting Partners — The Langham, London and Nokia; Media Partners — Empire, Fade to Black and Time Out; and Official Providers — ASCAP, Cineworld at The O2, Dolby, Gibson, Kenneth Cole, Kickstarter and the US Embassy London. For partnership opportunities email yan.li@the02.co.uk.

Sundance Institute
Founded by Robert Redford in 1981, Sundance Institute is a global, nonprofit cultural organization dedicated to nurturing artistic expression in film and theater, and to supporting intercultural dialogue between artists and audiences. The Institute promotes independent storytelling to unite, inform and inspire, regardless of geo-political, social, religious or cultural differences. Internationally recognized for its annual Sundance Film Festival and its artistic development programs for directors, screenwriters, producers, film composers, playwrights and theatre artists, Sundance Institute has nurtured such projects as Born into Brothels, Trouble the Water, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Amreeka, An Inconvenient Truth, Spring Awakening, Light in the Piazza and Angels in America. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.

The O2 arena sold more tickets than any other arena in the world last year (breaking all previous records) – making it the most popular music venue in the world for the fifth year running.

AEG employs more than 3,000 staff in over 45 operating companies worldwide. Its international head office is in Los Angeles, and its European headquarters is based in London.

Digital Debut for 12 Independent Films via Sundance Institute’s Artist Services

2013-04-02T21:30:58+00:00

Upstream Color Makes its Digital Premiere May 7 documentaries about the experiences of motherhood for Mother’s Day. In addition to appearing on the Institute’s Now Playing page, themed collections will be highlighted on GoWatchIt.

Birth Story: Ina May Gaskin and the Farm Midwives, Code of the West and One Mile Away are the first films making their digital premieres as part of a new collaboration between Artist Services and partner organizations The Bertha Foundation, BRITDOC, Cinereach, Film Independent, Independent Filmmaker Project and the San Francisco Film Society.

Upstream Color, from award-winning director Shane Carruth, makes its digital debut on May 7, following a theatrical run beginning April 5. The film, which premiered in competition at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival and won the U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Sound Design, is the long-awaited follow up to Carruth’s 2004 cult classic, Primer.

Sleepwalk With Me, winner of the Best of NEXT <=> Audience Award, Presented by Adobe Systems Incorporated, at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, will be available in the UK on April 29, the day after its European premiere at the second Sundance London film and music festival at The O2. One Mile Away will also be available in the U.S. and UK earlier that week.

Unfinished Spaces, part of the FILM FORWARD: Advancing Cultural Dialogue 2012 program and winner of the Jameson FIND Your Audience Award from Film Independent, makes its digital debut April 16.

TITLES AVAILABLE APRIL 16

	*Code of the West* (Director: Rebecca Richman Cohen) — Code Of The West follows the human stories behind the recent federal crackdown on medical marijuana growers. This is the story of what happens when politics fail, emotions run high and communities pay the price. (Released through Artist Services collaboration with IFP and Cinereach)

	*Ecological Design: Inventing the Future* (Director: Brian Danitz) — This documentary's thesis focuses on the emergence of ecological design, from the original vision of the independent thinkers in the 1920s to the powerful present-day movement. (1995 Sundance Film Festival)

	*Unfinished Spaces* (Directors: Alysa Nahmias and Benjamin Murray) — Cuba's ambitious National Art Schools project, designed by three young artists in the wake of Castro's Revolution, is neglected, nearly forgotten, then ultimately rediscovered as a visionary architectural masterpiece. (FILM FORWARD: Advancing Cultural Dialogue)

TITLE AVAILABLE APRIL 23

One Mile Away (Director: Penny Woolcock) — One Mile Away is directed by award-winning filmmaker Penny Woolcock and charts the attempts by two warring gangs in inner city Birmingham, the Burger Bar Boys (B21) and the Johnson Crew (B6), to bring peace to their neighborhoods. (Released through Artist Services collaboration with BRITDOC)

TITLE AVAILABLE APRIL 29

Sleepwalk With Me (Director: Mike Birbiglia) — Reluctant to confront his fears of love, honesty, and growing up, a budding standup comedian has both a hilarious and intense struggle with sleepwalking. (2012 Sundance Film Festival)

TITLE AVAILABLE APRIL 30

Birth Story: Ina May Gaskin and the Farm Midwives (Directors: Sara Lamm and Mary Wigmore) — Birth Story: Ina May Gaskin and the Farm Midwives captures a spirited group of women who taught themselves how to deliver babies on a 1970s hippie commune, rescued modern midwifery from extinction, and changed the way a generation thought about childbirth. Today, as nearly a third of all babies are born via C-section in the U.S., they labor on, fighting to preserve their knowledge and pushing, once again, for the rebirth of birth. (Released through Artist Services collaboration with Film Independent)

TITLE AVAILABLE MAY 7

Upstream Color (Director and screenwriter: Shane Carruth) — A man and woman are drawn together, entangled in the life cycle of an ageless organism. Identity becomes an illusion as they struggle to assemble the loose fragments of wrecked lives.(2013 Sundance Film Festival)

TITLES ALSO AVAILABLE MAY 7:

Anderson Monarchs (Director and screenwriter: Eugene Martin)
Baby, It’s You (Director: Anne Makepeace)
A Doula Story (Director: Daniel Alpert)
Home of the Brave (Director and screenwriter: Paola di Florio)
How To Be Louise (Director and screenwriter: Anne Flournoy)

The Artist Services program provides artists with exclusive opportunities for creative self-distribution, marketing and financing solutions for their work. The exclusive aggregation partner for distribution across all portals participating in the Artist Services program is Cinedigm. The Artist Services initiative is made possible by The Bertha Foundation. These deals were brokered via pro bono legal services generously provided by law firm O’Melveny & Myers, which has built the legal framework for the Artist Services program and participating filmmakers since its inception.

Sundance Institute

Founded by Robert Redford in 1981, Sundance Institute is a global, nonprofit cultural organization dedicated to nurturing artistic expression in film and theater, and to supporting intercultural dialogue between artists and audiences. The Institute promotes independent storytelling to unite, inform and inspire, regardless of geo-political, social, religious or cultural differences. Internationally recognized for its annual Sundance Film Festival and its artistic development programs for directors, screenwriters, producers, film composers, playwrights and theatre artists, Sundance Institute has nurtured such projects as Born into Brothels, Trouble the Water, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Amreeka, An Inconvenient Truth, Spring Awakening, Light in the Piazza and Angels in America. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.

Sundance Institute Film Music Program Presents ComposersLab: LA on May 18

2013-03-27T19:00:00+00:00

Featured Composers Include Rolfe Kent (Up In The Air), Clint Mansell (Black Swan),
Thomas Newman (American Beauty) and Aaron Zigman (The Notebook)

Los Angeles, CA — Sundance Institute today announced that its Film Music program will host ComposersLab: LA, a one-day workshop for film music composers, on Saturday, May 18 at the Downtown Independent Theatre in Los Angeles (251 S. Main St.). For more information or to purchase tickets ($125 each), visit http://www.sundance.org/programs/composers-lab-la/.

Through a series of informative conversations and interactive networking opportunities with renowned composers and industry professionals, ComposersLab: LA will offer film composers insight into the process of creating music for film. ComposersLab: LA is a condensed version of Sundance Institute’s more intensive annual Composers Labs, which connect composers and directors and give them firsthand experience into the collaborative process of developing music for film.

The full-day program, led by Peter Golub, Director of the Sundance Institute Film Music program, will consist of:

Presentations by Creative Advisors: Rolfe Kent (Up In The Air, Sideways), Clint Mansell (Black Swan, Requiem For A Dream), Thomas Newman (American Beauty, Road to Perdition) and Aaron Zigman (The Notebook, Sex And The City) will show examples of their work and discuss choices and strategies.
Industry Panel: Including Doreen Ringer Ross (VP Film and TV Music, BMI), Carter Armstrong (Senior VP for Music, Warner Brothers Pictures), Robert Messinger (Agent, First Artists) and music supervisor Alexandra Patsavas (The Twilight Saga, Grey’s Anatomy).
Cocktail mixer

ComposersLab: LA is supported by BMI. The Sundance Institute Film Music Program is supported by Time Warner Foundation and the Film Music Foundation.

Sundance Institute Film Music Program
With the goal of nurturing the development of music in film, the Film Music Program connects composers and directors, giving them first-hand experience of the collaborative process. At the Sundance Film Festival, the program raises the profile of music in film through a series of concerts and panels. Year round, whether through international collaborations or through direct consultations with filmmakers, the Film Music Program is committed to enhancing the role of music in film. www.sundance.org/filmmusic

Sundance Institute
Founded by Robert Redford in 1981, Sundance Institute is a global, nonprofit cultural organization dedicated to nurturing artistic expression in film and theater, and to supporting intercultural dialogue between artists and audiences. The Institute promotes independent storytelling to unite, inform and inspire, regardless of geo-political, social, religious or cultural differences. Internationally recognized for its annual Sundance Film Festival and its artistic development programs for directors, screenwriters, producers, film composers, playwrights and theatre artists, Sundance Institute has nurtured such projects as Born into Brothels, Trouble the Water, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Amreeka, An Inconvenient Truth, Spring Awakening, Light in the Piazza and Angels in America. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

Sundance London Adds Three Feature Films

2013-03-22T08:58:00+00:00

Tickets now on sale at www.sundance-london.com

The O2, 22 March 2013 — Sundance Institute and The O2 announced today that three feature films have been added to the programme for the second Sundance London film and music festival, 25-28 April at The O2. They are: A.C.O.D. (Director: Stuart Zicherman, Screenwriters: Ben Karlin, Stuart Zicherman), Mud (Director and screenwriter: Jeff Nichols) and Metro Manila (Director: Sean Ellis, Screenwriters: Sean Ellis, Frank E. Flowers). Tickets for all Sundance London films and panels, including those announced on March 11, are now on sale at www.sundance-london.com.

Sundance Institute, which annually presents the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, U.S.A., selected the film and panel programming. Including the three films announced today, Sundance London will present 21 feature films and nine short films across four sections, including a new UK Spotlight. Of the 30 films in the festival, 26 films will make their international, European or UK premieres at Sundance London. Ten are by female filmmakers and six are by first-time feature filmmakers. The films collectively received 12 awards, including two Audience Awards, when they premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.

John Cooper, Director of the Sundance Film Festival, said, “With the addition of these three films, Sundance London will present an even more well rounded programme of independent films that represents the work we show at our Festival in Utah. In addition, each offers audiences a unique experience to interact with the artists behind exciting, challenging and entertaining work.”

For more information visit www.sundance-london.com or follow @SundancefestUK on Twitter.

FEATURE FILM PROGRAMME


The international and UK premieres of American independent narrative and documentary films that premiered in January at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, U.S.A.
	*A.C.O.D.* (Director: Stuart Zicherman, Screenwriters: Ben Karlin, Stuart Zicherman) — Carter is a well-adjusted Adult Child of Divorce. So he thinks. When he discovers he was part of a divorce study as a child, it wreaks havoc on his family and forces him to face his chaotic past. Cast: Adam Scott, Richard Jenkins, Catherine O'Hara, Amy Poehler, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Clark Duke. (Narrative) International Premiere

	Mud (Director and screenwriter: Jeff Nichols) — Two teenage boys encounter a fugitive and form a pact to help him evade the bounty hunters on his trail and reunite him with his true love. Cast: Matthew McConaughey, Tye Sheridan, Jacob Lofland, Reese Witherspoon. (Narrative) UK Premiere

UK SPOTLIGHT


Drawing on the Sundance Film Festival’s rich legacy of premiering outstanding films produced in the UK – including An Education, Four Weddings and a Funeral, In Bruges, In the Loop, Kinky Boots, and Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels – this new showcase presents a selection of UK films that premiered in Park City, Utah.
	Metro Manila (Director: Sean Ellis, Screenwriters: Sean Ellis, Frank E. Flowers) — Seeking a better life, Oscar and his family move from the poverty-stricken rice fields to the big city of Manila, where they fall victim to various inhabitants whose manipulative ways are a daily part of city survival. Cast: Jake Macapagal, John Arcilla, Althea Vega. Winner of the Audience Award: World Cinema Dramatic at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. (Narrative) International Premiere

These additions join the following previously announced titles:

FEATURE FILM PROGRAMME
Blackfish Director: Gabriela Cowperthwaite
Blood Brother Director: Steve Hoover
Emanuel and the Truth About Fishes Director: Francesca Gregorini
God Loves Uganda Director: Roger Ross Williams
In a World... Director: Lake Bell
The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete Director: George Tillman Jr.
The Kings of Summer Director: Jordan Vogt-Roberts
Muscle Shoals Director: Greg ‘Freddy’ Camalier
Running from Crazy Director: Barbara Kopple
Touchy Feely Director: Lynn Shelton
Upstream Color Director: Shane Carruth

SPECIAL EVENT PROGRAMME
History of the Eagles Part One Director: Alison Ellwood
Peaches Does Herself Director: Peaches
Sleepwalk With Me Director: Mike Birbiglia

UK SPOTLIGHT
In Fear Director: Jeremy Lovering
The Look of Love Director: Michael Winterbottom
The Moo Man Director: Andy Heathcote
The Summit Director: Nick Ryan

SHORT FILM PROGRAMME
The Apocalypse Director: Andrew Zuchero
Black Metal Director: Kat Candler
The Date Director: Jenni Toivoniemi
Irish Folk Furniture Director: Tony Donoghue
Jonah Director: Kibwe Tavares
Reindeer Director: Eva Weber
Until the Quiet Comes Director: Kahil Joseph
Whiplash Director: Damien Chazelle
The Whistle Director: Grzegorz Zariczny

ENDS

Images for Press:

Press Enquiries:

Notes to the Editor:

Sundance London is supported by: Presenting Partner — Jaguar; Lead Partner — Sundance Channel Global; Supporting Partners — The Langham, London and Nokia; Media Partners — Empire, Fade to Black and Time Out; and Official Providers — ASCAP, Cineworld at The O2, Dolby, Gibson, Kickstarter and the US Embassy London. For partnership opportunities email yan.li@the02.co.uk.

Sundance Institute
The Sundance Film Festival is a program of Sundance Institute, a global nonprofit organization founded by Robert Redford in 1981. Through its artistic development programs for directors, screenwriters, producers, composers and playwrights, the Institute seeks to discover and support independent film and theatre artists from the United States and around the world, and to introduce audiences to their new work. The Institute promotes independent storytelling to inform, inspire, and unite diverse populations around the globe. Sundance Institute has nurtured such projects as Born into Brothels, Trouble the Water, Son of Babylon, Amreeka, An Inconvenient Truth, Spring Awakening, I Am My Own Wife, Light in the Piazza and Angels in America. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

The O2 arena sold more tickets than any other arena in the world last year (breaking all previous records) – making it the most popular music venue in the world for the fifth year running.

AEG employs more than 3,000 staff in over 45 operating companies worldwide. Its international head office is in Los Angeles, and its European headquarters is based in London.

Sundance Institute and FILM FORWARD: Advancing Cultural Dialogue Return Today to Colombia (Bogota, B

2013-03-18T16:00:39+00:00

Los Angeles, CA — Sundance Institute and the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities announced today that the second trip for FILM FORWARD: Advancing Cultural Dialogue in Colombia began with a free screening at a binational center in Medellín. The trip will continue through March 23 with free film screenings of eight different films, panel discussions, artist roundtables, events at Javeriana University, Casa de la Cultura de Ciudad Bolivar and Antioquia University as well as guided discussions with filmmakers Nancy Buirski and Jeff Orlowski. Sundance Channel Global is an official sponsor of the FILM FORWARD program in Colombia. For a full schedule of events visit sundance.org/filmforward.

“Sundance Institute is pleased to return to Colombia with this FILM FORWARD program of eight films, each of which explores universal issues that touch us all,” said Sundance Institute Executive Director Keri Putnam. “It is our hope that this collection of films and events exposes audiences to worlds they might not otherwise experience.”

“Making The Loving Story without a narrator was designed to allow audiences to observe the film’s subjects, feel how they feel and draw their own conclusions. I have found each time it screens that audiences have applied new meaning to the film beyond basic human rights,” said Director Nancy Buirski. “I'm excited to meet audiences in Colombia through the FILM FORWARD program, to discuss the themes that unify us all.”

“The imagery captured in Chasing Ice is beautiful and captivating, so my hope is that audiences will see the film and engage in dialogue about the environment on a global level,” said Director Jeff Orlowski. “I am excited to connect with audiences in Colombia through the FILM FORWARD program to talk about the measurable changes the globe is experiencing.”

FILM FORWARD’s primary audience is communities without ready access to independent films, students, and the local filmmaking community in each region. Common themes explored in the films include issues surrounding family, friendship and community, as well as the intersection of tradition and modern culture.

Sundance Institute Senior Programmer David Courier, FILM FORWARD Consultant Jill Miller and FILM FORWARD Manager Jacqueline Carlson will travel with the program.

Following FILM FORWARD’s visit to Colombia, upcoming destinations include: Jordan (April 13-18); China/Taiwan (May 17-26); Puerto Rico (June 10-15); Washington (September 4-7); Bosnia & Herzegovina (September 20-27); and Maine (September 30 – October 4). Completed programs include Imperial Valley, CA, and Mexicali, Mexico.

FILM FORWARD Year Three Films:

	*Beasts of the Southern Wild* (Director: Benh Zeitlin) — In a forgotten but defiant bayou community cut off from the rest of the world by a sprawling levee, a six-year-old girl exists on the brink of orphanhood. Buoyed by her childish optimism and extraordinary imagination, she believes that the natural order is in balance with the universe until a fierce storm changes her reality. Desperate to repair the structure of her world in order to save her ailing father and sinking home, this tiny hero must learn to survive unstoppable catastrophes of epic proportions.

	*Bones Brigade: An Autobiography* (Director: Stacy Peralta) — A gang of disenfranchised kids reject mainstream culture, channel their controlled desperation into a loser activity and redefine winning in the process. Mentored by a former world champion skateboarder, the "Bones Brigade" became history's most influential skateboarding team. Their countercultural impact continues to affect change with best selling video games and books and millions of kids who embrace skateboarding around the world.

	*Chasing Ice* (Director: Jeff Orlowski) — Acclaimed environmental photographer James Balog was once a skeptic about climate change. But through his Extreme Ice Survey, he discovers undeniable evidence of our changing planet. Chasing Ice reveals Balog's hauntingly beautiful, multi-year time-lapse videos of vanishing glaciers across the Arctic, all while delivering fragile hope to our carbon-powered planet.

	*La Misma Luna (Under The Same Moon)* (Director: Patricia Riggen) — Even across thousands of miles, the special bond between a mother and son can never be broken. It gives hope to Carlitos, a scrappy nine-year-old boy whose mother, Rosario, has gone to America to build a better life for both of them. While Rosario struggles for a brighter future, fate forces Carlitos’ hand and he embarks on an extraordinary journey to find her.

	*The Light in Her Eyes* (Directors: Julia Meltzer and Laura Nix) — Houda al-Habash, a conservative woman preacher in Damascus, Syria, calls girls to the practice of Islam, teaching them that pursuing their ambitions is a way of worshipping God. Shot right before the uprising in Syria erupted, The Light in Her Eyes offers an extraordinary portrait of a leader who challenges the women of her community to live according to Islam, without giving up their dreams.

	*The Loving Story* (Director: Nancy Buirski) — A racially-charged criminal trial and a heart-rending love story converge in this documentary about Mildred and Richard Loving, a part-black, part-Indian woman married to a white man in Jim Crow-era Virginia. Thrown into rat-infested jails and exiled from their hometown for 25 years, the Lovings fought back and changed history.

	*Town of Runners* (Director: Jerry Rothwell) — Town of Runners is a feature documentary about young people from the Ethiopian rural town of Bekoji, whose runners have won 10 Olympic Gold medals in the last 20 years. The film tells the story of three teenagers who want to follow in their heroes’ footsteps, as they move from school track to national competition and from childhood to adulthood, trying to run their way to a different life.

	*Valley of Saints* (Director and screenwriter: Musa Syeed) — Using Kashmir’s picturesque Dal Lake as its backdrop and underpinned by the political unrest in the region, this moving drama explores the relationship between two best friends and the female researcher studying environmental degradation who threatens to distract them from their dreams of escape.

The Institute of Museum and Library Services is the primary source of federal support for the nation's 123,000 libraries and 17,500 museums. Our mission is to inspire libraries and museums to advance innovation, lifelong learning, and cultural and civic engagement. Our grant making, policy development, and research help libraries and museums deliver valuable services that make it possible for communities and individuals to thrive. To learn more, visit imls.gov and follow @US_IMLS on Twitter and on Facebook.

# # #

Media Contacts:

Sarah Eaton
Sundance Institute
310.360.1981
Sarah_Eaton@sundance.org

Elizabeth Latenser
Sundance Institute
435.658.3456
Elizabeth_Latenser@sundance.org

Film stills and director headshots available upon request. Email press@sundance.org.

Sundance London to Host a Celebration of Muscle Shoals with Gregg Allman and John Paul White of The

2013-03-13T09:00:30+00:00

The O2 — Sundance Institute and The O2 announced that the second Sundance London film and music festival will play host to A Celebration of Muscle Shoals with Gregg Allman and John Paul White of The Civil Wars. On Saturday 27th Aprilat indigo02 in The O2 join Gregg Allman and John Paul White for an intimate sharing of music. This acoustic, 45-minute live performance will take place directly following the film screening. Tickets for A Celebration of Muscle Shoals can only be purchased in conjunction with a ticket to the screening of the film Muscle Shoals and are on sale now at www.sundance-london.com.

Founding member of The Allman Brothers Band, Duane Allman played on seminal tracks cut at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, while John Paul White lives in and calls Muscle Shoals home - the tiny Alabama town with the curious name. Gregg Allman, on behalf of his brother Duane, and John Paul White are some of the artists who feature in Greg Camalier’s acclaimed music documentary Muscle Shoals which will have its UK Premier at Sundance London. Muscle Shoals screens on Thursday 25, Saturday 27 and Sunday 28 April.

On his participation in Sundance London, Gregg Allman said, “It’s a pleasure to be involved in Sundance London and support the music of Muscle Shoals which was so important to my brother and myself. The music that came out of Muscle Shoals is the music I still listen to.”

On his involvement with Sundance London and working with Allman, John Paul White said, "For musicians raised in the heart of the South, the Allman Brothers are gods. Count me among the worshipers. I'm honoured immensely to be included in this project in any small way, and working with one of my heroes excites me to no end."

With interviews from an incredible roster of musicians, Muscle Shoals unearths the rich musical history of a tiny Alabama town with the curious name of Muscle Shoals, an unheralded gold mine of American music. At the heart of Muscle Shoals is Rick Hall; overcoming crushing hardship, he managed to entice talent like Aretha Franklin and Wilson Pickett. As the word spread about the electrifying musical chemistry in this unexpected place, the likes of Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones, the Staples Singers, the Allman Brothers Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Simon and Garfunkel magnetically followed suit.

The second Sundance London will take place from 25-28 April, 2013, and host the international and UK premieres of American independent films fresh from the 2013 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, U.S.A., as well as live music performances, panels and events. The 2013 film programme, announced on Monday 11 March, continues its 2012 focus on presenting new work by American filmmakers and music artists. Sundance Institute, which annually presents the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, U.S.A, selected the films and related programming. Individual film and panel tickets will also go on sale Friday.

In addition to the performance to A Celebration of Muscle Shoals with Gregg Allman and John Paul White of The Civil Wars, Sundance London will host a previously announced performance by Peaches on Friday 26 April. Tickets for that performance are also now on sale.

For more information visit www.sundance-london.com or follow @SundancefestUK on Twitter.

Ends

All Sundance London Press enquiries:
Music programme – Oliver Lavery
General enquires – Claire Gascoyne, Liberty Green, Natasha Unalkat
Online – Sanam Jehanfard
Accreditation – Simone Devlin
Tel: 020 7292 8330
Email: firstname.surname@premiercomms.com
www.premiercomms.com

Note for Editors:

Sundance London
The Sundance London film and music festival is a partnership between Robert Redford, Sundance Enterprises, Sundance Institute and AEG Europe. The second Sundance London will take place from 25-28 April, 2013 at The O2 and will host the international and UK premieres of films fresh from the 2013 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, U.S.A., as well as live music performances, panels and events. All films will screen at Cineworld at The O2. Tickets are now on sale. For more information visit www.sundance-london.com or follow @SundancefestUK on Twitter.

Sundance London is supported by: Presenting Partner — Jaguar; Lead Partner — Sundance Channel Global; Supporting Partners — The Langham, London and Nokia; Media Partners — Empire, Fade to Black and Time Out; and Official Providers — ASCAP, Cineworld at The O2, Dolby, Gibson, Kickstarter and the US Embassy London. For partnership opportunities email yan.li@the02.co.uk.

The O2 arena sold more tickets than any other arena in the world last year (breaking all previous records) – making it the most popular music venue in the world for the fifth year running.

AEG employs more than 3,000 staff in over 45 operating companies worldwide. Its international head office is in Los Angeles, and its European headquarters is based in London.

Eight Feature Film Projects Selected for Second Mumbai Mantra | Sundance Institute Screenwriters Lab

2013-03-12T16:00:27+00:00

Mumbai, India — Mumbai Mantra, the media and entertainment division of the Mahindra Group, in collaboration with Sundance Institute, has selected eight Indian Screenwriters and their feature film projects for the second annual Mumbai Mantra | Sundance Institute Screenwriters Lab, which began Sunday, March 10 at a Club Mahindra Resort and ends Friday, March15.

This year’s Screenwriting Fellows, selected from submissions from around the world, are: Sarthak Dasgupta (The Music Teacher); Pratim D. Gupta (Ink); Nitin Kakkar (Black Freedom); Abhijit Mazumdar (Delirium); Terrie Samundra (Betamax); Renuka Shahane (Tribhanga); Kavanjit Singh (Television); and Neha Sinha (Forgiven).

At the Lab, Screenwriting Fellows will engage in an artistically demanding process that offers indispensable lessons in craft, a fresh perspective on their work and a platform to fully realize their material. Screenwriting Fellows will have the opportunity to work intensely on their feature film scripts in an environment that encourages innovation and creative risk-taking, with the support of a distinguished group of established Screenwriters and Directors serving as Creative Advisors.

Creative Advisors include: Bill Wheeler (The Reluctant Fundamentalist, The Hoax), Joshua Marston (Maria Full of Grace), Asif Kapadia (The Warrior, Senna), Habib Faisal (Do Dooni Chaar, Ishaqzaade - Born to Hate... Destined to Love), Sabrina Dhawan (Monsoon Wedding), Anjum Rajabali (Rajneeti, Aaraakshan), Marti Noxon (Mad Men, Glee), Carlos Cuaron (Y Tu Mamá También, Rudo Y Cursi), and Malia Scotch-Marmo (Hook, Once Around).

The Mumbai Mantra | Sundance Institute Screenwriters Lab was announced and inaugurated On March 10 at independent cinema’s biggest annual event. The following were sighted: Anil Kapoor, Sharmila Tagore, Irrfan Khan, Rahul Bose, Tisca Chopra, Kunal Kapoor, Siddharath Basu, Meeta Vashishtha, Sanjay Suri, Onir, Swara Bhaskar, Sushma Reddy, Sridhar Raghavan, Tanuja Chandra, Sidharath Kak amongst others.

Rohit Khattar, Chairman, Mumbai Mantra, said, “We are at an exciting storytelling stage in the history of Independent Cinema in India. With the help of our exceptional collaborator, Sundance Institute, we are keen to recognize, nurture and hone talent in India and across the world. We welcome to the Lab the nine remarkably talented Screenwriters and Directors who are sparing their valuable time to guide the Screenwriting Fellows. We congratulate the eight Screenwriting Fellows selected for the second Mumbai Mantra | Sundance Institute Screenwriters Lab and look forward to their next films with great anticipation. I thank the Advisory Committee members for so generously giving back to the Indian Film Industry by reading innumerable screenplays in order to arrive at this shortlist."

Michelle Satter, Founding Director of the Sundance Institute Feature Film Program, and Paul Federbush, International Director, Feature Film Program, said, “Sundance Institute and Mumbai Mantra share a commitment to supporting the growth of independent artists in India, and we look forward with excitement to our second Screenwriters Lab together. We are grateful to the accomplished screenwriters who are bringing their expertise and generosity to the Lab as Creative Advisors and the very talented group of Indian screenwriters who have been selected for the Lab.”

Mumbai Mantra received over 500 applications for the Lab from Indian screenwriters across the globe. After intense debate and deliberation and consultation with the Sundance Institute, the final eight projects were decided.

The Selection Advisory Committee included Dev Benegal, Ira Bhaskar, Pubali Chaudhuri, Uma Da Cunha, Rashmi Doraiswamy, Habib Faisal, K. Hariharan, Deven Khote, Prakash Kovelamudi, Ram Madhvani, Neeru Nanda, Sriram Raghavan, Anjum Rajabali, Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury, Mahesh Samat, Meenakshi Shedde, and Anahita Uberoi.

The Lab is one facet of a creative and strategic collaboration between Sundance Institute and Mahindra Group that helps Indian filmmakers connect to ever-increasing global audiences. The inaugural Lab that was held last year was an overwhelming success. Last year’s Screenwriting Fellows and their projects included - Charudutt Acharya (Sonali Cable Centre), Shonali Bose & Nilesh Maniyar (Margarita, With a Straw), Vikas Chandra (Toothache), Rajnesh Domalpalli (Avani), Prashant Nair (Umrica), Anusha Rizvi & Mahmood Farooqui (Opium), Ajitpal Singh (Manjhi) and Kartik Singh (Public School).

At the 2013 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, U.S.A., Sundance Institute and Mahindra announced four recipients of the Sundance Institute | Mahindra Global Filmmaking Awards, which includes a cash award of $10,000 and attendance at the Sundance Film Festival for a specially curated five-day program of targeted creative and industry meetings, screenings and panels. The 2013 award winners are Sarthak Dasgupta / THE MUSIC TEACHER (India), Etienne Jonas Carpignano / A CHJANA (Italy/US), Vendela Vida & Eva Weber / LET THE NORTHERN LIGHTS ERASE YOUR NAME (UK/Germany) and Aly Muritiba / THE MAN WHO KILLED MY DEAD BELOVED (Brazil).

Now in its third year, the award has proved to be a vital platform for some of the most promising international filmmakers. In the past year, three former award winners wrapped production on their projects – Bogdan Mustata’s Wolf (Romania), Seng Tat Liew’s In What City Does It Live (Malaysia), and Tayla Lavie’s Zero Motivation (Israel) – with several others poised to begin production this year.

PROJECTS AND SCREENWRITERS SELECTED

The Music Teacher / India

The life of a small town music teacher takes a sharp turn when one of his ex-students, now estranged, a big celebrity in the far-away city today, is slated to visit the town after many years. The teacher, now lovelorn, prepares to meet her not knowing if she still bears the same feelings about him as she did those many years back.

Writer/director: Sarthak Dasgupta

With a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, a Master’s degree in Business Management, and five years in the corporate world of Mumbai, Sarthak Dasgupta realized life needed a different definition than the one he was living. Sarthak left his cushy job and set out to become a filmmaker. His debut feature The Great Indian Butterfly has screened at various international film festivals.

Ink / India

A struggling journalist chances upon a scandalous story which has the potential to rock the world of showbiz.

Writer/director: Pratim D. Gupta

Pratim D. Gupta has been the resident film critic for The Telegraph newspaper in Kolkata, the largest selling English daily in east India, for eight years. His screenplay The Deaths of Ray was selected from India for the Binger Script Lab at the 2009 Locarno International Film Festival. Paanch Adhyay (Afterglow) was Pratim’s first feature film as writer-director. The 2012 romantic drama was selected as the Centrepiece Premiere at the South Asian International Film Festival in New York and was picked as the New Voice in Indian Cinema at the Mumbai International Film Festival. It also won the Best Film Award at Kalakar Awards, one of the oldest and most prestigious award ceremonies in India.

Black Freedom / India

Black Freedom is a collection of five short stories woven in one film. It is dedicated to the memory of Saadat Hasan Manto. It’s about his dream of a sub-continent where people will still live as people, irrespective of religion, caste or color, where hatred shall stand abolished, where religion shall only ennoble those who follow it, not divide them into warring tribes. Sixty-five years after independence, Manto’s dream remains a dream...

The 5 short stories of Manto that the film is inspired from are Toba Tek Singh, Khol Do, Tetwaal Ka Kutta, Sharifan and The Last Salute.

Writer-director: Nitin Kakkar

After gaining experience as an assistant director for various Hindi movies, Nitin Kakkar made his directorial debut with the award-winning short film, Black Freedom (2004). Since then, he has worked on a number of television projects including Prayaschit, Jersey No 10, and CID. Nitin’s debut feature film Filmistaan received a Special Jury Mention during its World Premiere at the Busan International Film Festival. Thefilm also won Nitin the Best Debut Director at the International Film Festival of Kerala and Jaipur film Festival

Delirium / India

A story about six people and their manic missions...six specs of dust crisscross paths, ready to raise a storm in the endless city of Mumbai.

Writer/director: Abhijit Mazumdar

Abhijit Mazumdar is a Direction graduate from Film & Television Institute of India, Pune. He has made a number of short films, documentaries and commercials. His films have received both national and international awards. His latest medium-length film Vanishing Point is an official selection in Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2013, Glasgow Short Film Festival (Competition Section “Adrift”) 2013, International Film Festival of India (Indian Panorama) 2012, International Documentary & Short Film Festival, Kerala (Focus Section) 2012.

Betamax / India-US

With the release of the first home video camcorder, a teenage Sikh boy and a squatter Punk girl become unlikely friends and filmmaking collaborators as London sits on the brink of race riots and a youth uprising in the summer of 1976.

Writer/director: Terrie Samundra

Terrie Samundra grew up between a rural village in India, a small farming town in Missouri, and the California coast. She is the director of the award-winning short ﬁlms Kunjo and A Short Tale of Xuanand is co-writer of Pooja's Honor, the ﬁrst screenplay in The Ballad of Pooja trilogy. She is a Princess Grace Award recipient, a National Geographic All Roads Seed Grant recipient, and is currently the Head Programmer at the 2013 Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles.

Tribhanga / India

The film Tribhanga is a story of three women, from the same family, of three different generations. The lives of these three women overlap each other’s like concentric circles… each determining the shape of the other… each contributing to the other’s life in a very deep manner… each becoming the other’s strength in key times in their life. Their lives are like ‘Tribhanga’, the Odissi dance pose that is so disjointed, yet so beautiful, magical and mesmerising.

Writer/director: Renuka Shahane

Renuka Shahane has been an actress in Indian theatre, television and film for the past 25 years. Her work in television includes Lifeline, Surabhi, Circus, Imtihaan, Sailaab, Close-up Antakshari, Kora Kaagaz and the celebrity dance competition Jhalak Dikhla Jaa. In her film work, she is best known for the Bollywood blockbuster Hum Aapke Hain Kaun? Her first feature as director was the critically acclaimed Rita for which she won Best director for a Marathi film at the 16th Nokia Star-Screen Awards 2010. She also received the Best Screenplay Award in Marathi Films competitive section of the 8th Pune International Film Festival.

Television / India

Television is a story about three men - Vijay, who is about to get married and start a new life; Ravi, who wants best for his 3-year old son and must decide between his principals and the ways of world; and Malik, who is now retired and wants to live a peaceful life.

Unforeseen circumstances have put these three men at crossroads. They must decide what path to choose.

Writer/director: Kavanjit Singh

Kavanjit Singh is a screenwriter and director from Pune, India. Kavan started his film career at Whistling Woods, graduating in Film Direction. A former Infosys Project Manager with an undergraduate degree in electronics engineering, Kavan is pursuing his passion for cinema.
His short film Jagjeet has won nine Best Short Film Awards across the world.

Forgiven / India

Amidst the socio political unrest of 1987 in Kerala, a rebellious daughter from an upper caste family and her impressionable young niece set into motion a series of events that lead to betrayal and a dramatic death. 16 years on, with the patriarch on his deathbed, the disintegrated family is forced to come together, re-visit their past and find forgiveness.

Writer-director: Neha Sinha

After studying Philosophy at Lady Shri Ram College and film at the National Institute of Design, Neha Sinha has worked as a documentary filmmaker and as art director at the advertising firm JWT. She has also been a creative assistant to adman Ram Madhvani on various commercials, including the Cannes Lions 2007-winning 'Palace' for Happydent White, and assisted Abhinay Deo on Aamir Khan Production’s acclaimed film Delhi Belly. Currently, she works with Siddharth Basu in Big Synergy where she develops content and fiction based TV shows. Forgiven is her first original screenplay.

Mumbai Mantra Media Ltd
Mumbai Mantra Media Ltd, the Media & Entertainment vertical of the Mahindra Group, is actively evaluating opportunities in content and infrastructure in the domestic as well as international media and entertainment space. Mumbai Mantra's ‘Antaheen’, won 4 National Awards including Best Feature Film in 2009. It has also co-produced the film adaptation of Shakespeare's 'The Tempest' directed by Julie Taymor. Several other films are in development.

Mumbai Mantra has also made a commitment towards providing a platform for independent voices in Indian cinema to champion an emerging generation of exciting film makers. The first step in this direction is the forging of a partnership with the renowned Sundance Institute founded by Robert Redford, for the establishment of the Mumbai Mantra | Sundance Institute Screenwriters Lab which is planned to be an annual event in India, and the Sundance Institute | Mahindra Global Filmmaking Award to be awarded to 4 international film makers annually at Park City.www.mumbaimantra.com

Mahindra & Mahindra
Mahindra embarked on its journey in 1945 by assembling the Willys Jeep in India and is now a US $14.4 billion Indian multinational. It employs over 1,44,000 people across the globe and enjoys a leadership position in utility vehicles, tractors and information technology, with a significant and growing presence in financial services, tourism, infrastructure development, trade logistics and, recently, the entertainment industry.

The Mahindra Group has a long standing commitment to the arts and humanities. The Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Awards (META) were created to encourage both emerging and established theatre and celebrated its Sixth Anniversary in 2011. The Group's encouragement and support to world music will be at its fore at the second annual Mahindra Blues Festival in Mumbai in February 2012 – the largest festival of its kind in Asia, showcasing the best international Blues artists and providing a common platform for emerging Indian Blues bands.

To encourage and support the 'young and the unknown' and to give back to the communities it operates in, has been the core of the Mahindra Group's involvement in art and culture. www.mahindra.com

Sundance Institute Feature Film Program
Since 1981, the Sundance Institute Feature Film Program (FFP) has supported more than 600 independent filmmakers whose distinctive, singular work has engaged audiences worldwide. The program’s approach to the discovery and development of independent artists has become a model for creative development programs internationally. Program staff fully embraces the unique vision of each filmmaker, encouraging a rigorous creative process with a focus on original and deeply personal storytelling. Each year, up to 30 emerging filmmakers from the U.S. and around the world participate in a year-round continuum of support which can include the Screenwriters and Directors Labs, Composers Lab, Creative Producing Fellowship and Lab, Creative Producing Summit, a Work-in-Progress Screening Initiative, a Screenplay Reading Series, the Feature Film Program Fund, offering direct financial support through named grants, awards, and artist fellowships, the Artist Services program, a new initiative providing strategic resources for crowd funding and digital distribution, and ongoing creative and strategic advice. In 2011, the FFP created the New Frontier Story Lab, supporting innovative artists developing projects across multiple platforms, emphasizing the convergence of storytelling and technology.

Over its 30-year history, the Sundance Institute Feature Film Program has supported an extensive list of award-winning and groundbreaking independent films. Notable films supported over the program’s history include Cary Fukunaga's Sin Nombre, Josh Marston’s Maria Full of Grace, Darren Aronofsky’s Requiem for a Dream, Walter Salles’ Central Station, and Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs, amongst others. www.sundance.org/featurefilm

Sundance Institute
Founded by Robert Redford in 1981, Sundance Institute is a global, nonprofit cultural organization dedicated to nurturing artistic expression in film and theater, and to supporting intercultural dialogue between artists and audiences. The Institute promotes independent storytelling to unite, inform and inspire, regardless of geo-political, social, religious or cultural differences. Internationally recognized for its annual Sundance Film Festival and its artistic development programs for directors, screenwriters, producers, film composers, playwrights and theatre artists, Sundance Institute has nurtured such projects as Born into Brothels, Trouble the Water, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Amreeka, An Inconvenient Truth, Spring Awakening, Light in the Piazza and Angels in America. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

Sundance London Film and Panel Programme Announced

2013-03-11T12:01:01+00:00

Passes and ticket packages now on sale; Individual tickets on sale Friday

www.sundance-london.com

The O2, 11 March 2013 — Sundance Institute and The O2 announced today the programme of panels, feature films and short films for the second Sundance London film and music festival, 25-28 April at The O2. Passes and ticket packages are available at www.sundance-london.com, and individual tickets will be on sale from 9:00 a.m. GMT Friday 15 March.

Sundance Institute, which annually presents the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, U.S.A., selected the film and panel programming. The 2013 programme continues its 2012 focus on presenting new work by independent filmmakers and exploring the interplay between independent film and music.

The programme announced today includes 18 feature films and nine short films across four sections, including a new UK Spotlight. Twenty-three films will make their international, European or UK premieres at Sundance London. Ten are by female filmmakers and six are by first-time feature filmmakers. The films collectively received 11 awards when they premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, U.S.A.. Among the artists expected to attend Sundance London are Lake Bell, Mike Birbiglia, Jimmy Carr, the Eagles, Barbara Kopple and Peaches, as well as Sundance Institute President & Founder Robert Redford.

Robert Redford said, “We would hope for Sundance London to be another 'Sundance' experience – lively, culturally relevant and fun. We look forward to engaging with audiences as we discover new voices, new points of view and new perspectives.”

John Cooper, Director of the Sundance Film Festival, said, “The film and panel programme announced today reflects the energy and enthusiasm that ignited audiences just weeks ago at our 2013 Sundance Film Festival. Building on the success of the first Sundance London, we again welcome the opportunity to engage with passionate and adventurous UK audiences and introduce them to the new work of independent filmmakers.”

Rebecca Kane, General Manager of The O2, said, “I am very excited to welcome Sundance London back to The O2 to build on the success of last year’s event, which attracted the likes of Robert Redford, Rufus and Martha Wainwright, and The Prince of Wales. Sundance London is a great opportunity for film and music fans to engage with artistes, and it also plays a big role in showcasing The O2’s ability to host high-profile global events that attract a variety of audiences.”

In addition to film screenings and panels, Sundance London will host several live music performances and events. Peaches has been announced as the first headlining act for the 2013 festival, and tickets for that performance are now on sale. Additional music performers will be named. Among the 17 musical acts at the first-ever Sundance London were Tricky and Martina Topley-Bird, Placebo, and Rufus and Martha Wainwright.

For more information visit www.sundance-london.com or follow @SundancefestUK on Twitter.

FEATURE FILM PROGRAMME


The international and UK premieres of American independent narrative and documentary films that premiered in January at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, U.S.A.
	Blackfish (Director: Gabriela Cowperthwaite) — Notorious killer whale Tilikum is responsible for the deaths of three individuals, including a top killer whale trainer. Blackfish shows the sometimes devastating consequences of keeping such intelligent and sentient creatures in captivity. (Documentary) International Premiere

	Blood Brother (Director: Steve Hoover) — Rocky went to India as a disillusioned tourist. When he met a group of children with HIV, he decided to stay. He never could have imagined the obstacles he would face, or the love he would find. Winner of the U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Documentary and the Audience Award: U.S. Documentary presented by Acura at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. (Documentary) UK Premiere

	Emanuel and the Truth About Fishes (Director and screenwriter: Francesca Gregorini) — Emanuel, a troubled girl, becomes preoccupied with her mysterious, new neighbor, who bears a striking resemblance to her dead mother. In offering to babysit her newborn, Emanuel unwittingly enters a fragile, fictional world, of which she becomes the gatekeeper. Cast: Kaya Scodelario, Jessica Biel, Alfred Molina, Frances O'Connor, Jimmi Simpson, Aneurin Barnard. (Narrative) International Premiere

	God Loves Uganda (Director: Roger Ross Williams) — A powerful exploration of the evangelical campaign to infuse African culture with values imported from America’s Christian Right. The film follows American and Ugandan religious leaders fighting “sexual immorality” and missionaries trying to convince Ugandans to follow biblical law. (Documentary) UK Premiere

	In a World... (Director and screenwriter: Lake Bell) — An underachieving vocal coach is motivated by her father, the king of movie-trailer voice-overs, to pursue her aspirations of becoming a voiceover star. Amidst pride, sexism and family dysfunction, she sets out to change the voice of a generation. Cast: Lake Bell, Demetri Martin, Rob Corddry, Michaela Watkins, Ken Marino, Fred Melamed. Winner of the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award: U.S. Dramatic at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. (Narrative) International Premiere

	The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete (Director: George Tillman Jr., Screenwriter: Michael Starrbury) — Separated from their mothers and facing a summer in the Brooklyn projects alone, two boys hide from police and forage for food, with only each other to trust. A story of salvation through friendship and two boys against the world. Cast: Skylan Brooks, Ethan Dizon, Jennifer Hudson, Jordin Sparks, Anthony Mackie, Jeffrey Wright. (Narrative) UK Premiere

	The Kings of Summer (Director: Jordan Vogt-Roberts, Screenwriter: Chris Galletta) — A unique coming-of-age comedy about three teenagers who, in the ultimate act of independence, decide to spend their summer building a makeshift house in the woods. Free from their parents’ rules, their idyllic summer quickly becomes a test of friendship. Cast: Nick Robinson, Gabriel Basso, Moises Arias, Nick Offerman, Megan Mullally, Alison Brie. (Narrative) International Premiere

	Muscle Shoals (Director: Greg 'Freddy' Camalier) — Down in Alabama Rick Hall founded FAME Studios and gave birth to the Muscle Shoals sound. Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Gregg Allman, Aretha Franklin, Etta James, Alicia Keys, Bono and others bear witness to the greatest untold American music story. (Documentary) UK Premiere

	Running from Crazy (Director: Barbara Kopple) — Mariel Hemingway, granddaughter of Ernest Hemingway, strives for a greater understanding of her family history of suicide and mental illness. As tragedies are explored and deeply hidden secrets are revealed, Mariel searches for a way to overcome a similar fate. From two-time Academy Award-winning director Barbara Kopple. (Documentary) International Premiere

	Touchy Feely (Director and screenwriter: Lynn Shelton) — A massage therapist is unable to do her job when stricken with a mysterious and sudden aversion to bodily contact. Meanwhile, her uptight brother's foundering dental practice receives new life when clients seek out his “healing touch.” Cast: Rosemarie DeWitt, Allison Janney, Ron Livingston, Scoot McNairy, Ellen Page, Josh Pais. (Narrative) International Premiere

	Upstream Color (Director and screenwriter: Shane Carruth) — A man and woman are drawn together, entangled in the life cycle of an ageless organism. Identity becomes an illusion as they struggle to assemble the loose fragments of wrecked lives. Cast: Amy Seimetz, Shane Carruth, Andrew Sensenig, Thiago Martins. Winner of a U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Sound Design at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival and from the director of the 2004 Sundance Film Festival U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic-winning film Primer. (Narrative) UK Premiere

SPECIAL EVENT PROGRAMME


On-screen stories complemented by extraordinary off-screen experiences.
	History of the Eagles Part One (Director: Alison Ellwood) — Iconic American rock band the Eagles have earned countless awards and sold more than 120 million albums worldwide, including the best-selling album of all time. Using never-before-seen home movies, archival footage and new interviews with all current and former members of the Eagles, this documentary provides an intimate look into the history of the band and the legacy of their music. Includes an extended Q&A with the Eagles. (Documentary) International Premiere

	Peaches Does Herself (Director and screenwriter: Peaches) — On the advice of an old stripper, Peaches makes sexually forthright music. This electro rock opera follows Peaches' rise in popularity and her love affair with a beautiful she-male that ultimately leads her to realize who she really is. Cast: Peaches, Danni Daniels, Sandy Kane, Mignon, Sweet Machine Band, Jolly Goods. Sundance London will also host a performance by Peaches. (Narrative) UK Premiere

	Sleepwalk With Me (Director: Mike Birbiglia, Screenwriters: Mike Birbiglia, Ira Glass, Joe Birbiglia, Seth Barrish) — Reluctant to confront his fears of love, honesty, and growing up, a budding standup comedian has both a hilarious and intense struggle with sleepwalking. Cast: Mike Birbiglia, Lauren Ambrose, Carol Kane, James Rebhorn, Cristin Milioti. Winner of the Best of NEXT <=> Audience Award, Presented by Adobe Systems Incorporated, at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. Includes an extended Q&A with director and screenwriter Mike Birbiglia, moderated by comedian Jimmy Carr. (Narrative) European Premiere

UK SPOTLIGHT


Drawing on the Sundance Film Festival’s rich legacy of premiering outstanding films produced in the UK – including An Education, Four Weddings and a Funeral, In Bruges, In the Loop, Kinky Boots, and Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels – this new showcase presents a selection of UK films that premiered in Park City, Utah.
	In Fear (Directed and story by: Jeremy Lovering) — Trapped in a maze of country roads with only their vehicle for protection, Tom and Lucy are terrorized by an unseen tormentor exploiting their worst fears. Eventually they realize they've let the evil in – it’s sitting in their car. Cast: Alice Englert, Iain De Caestecker, Allen Leech. (Narrative) UK Premiere

	The Look of Love (Director: Michael Winterbottom, Screenwriter: Matt Greenhalgh) — The true story of British adult magazine publisher and entrepreneur Paul Raymond. A modern day King Midas story, Raymond became one of the richest men in Britain at the cost of losing those closest to him. Cast: Steve Coogan, Anna Friel, Imogen Poots, Tamsin Egerton. (Narrative) UK Premiere

	The Moo Man (Directors: Andy Heathcote, Co-director: Heike Bachelier) — A year in the life of heroic farmer Steve, scene stealing Ida (queen of the herd), and a supporting cast of 55 cows. When Ida falls ill, Steve’s optimism is challenged and their whole way of life is at stake. (Documentary) UK Premiere

	The Summit (Director: Nick Ryan) — Twenty-four climbers converged at the last stop before summiting the most dangerous mountain on Earth. Forty-eight hours later, 11 had been killed or simply vanished. Had one, Ger McDonnell, stuck to the climbers' code, he might still be alive. Winner of the Editing Award: U.S. Documentary* at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival.* (Documentary)

SHORT FILM PROGRAMME


A wide-ranging collection of short films that screened in January at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. All will screen together in one Short Film Programme. The winner of the Sundance London Short Film Competition will be the tenth short film featured.
	The Apocalypse (Director and screenwriter: Andrew Zuchero) — Four uninspired friends try to come up with a terrific idea for how to spend their Saturday afternoon. International Premiere

	Black Metal (Director and screenwriter: Kat Candler) — After a career spent mining his music from the shadows, one fan creates a chain reaction for the lead singer of a black metal band. European Premiere

	The Date (Director and screenwriter: Jenni Toivoniemi) — Tino’s manhood is put to the test in front of two women when he has to host a date for Diablo, the family’s stud cat. Winner of the Short Film Jury Award: International Fiction at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival.

	Irish Folk Furniture (Director: Tony Donoghue) — In Ireland, old hand-painted furniture is often associated with hard times, with poverty, and with a time many would rather forget. In this animated documentary, 16 pieces of traditional folk furniture are repaired and returned home. Winner of the Short Film Jury Award: Animation at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival.

	Jonah (Director: Kibwe Tavares, Screenwriter: Jack Thorne) — When two young men photograph a gigantic fish leaping from the sea, their small town becomes a tourist attraction in this story about the old and the new. UK Premiere

	Reindeer (Director: Eva Weber) — A lyrical and haunting portrait of reindeer herding in the twilight expanses of the Lapland wilderness.

	Until the Quiet Comes (Director and screenwriter: Kahlil Joseph) — Shot in the Nickerson Gardens housing projects in Watts, Los Angeles, this film deals with themes of violence, camaraderie and spirituality through the lens of magical realism. Winner of a Short Film Special Jury Award at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. European Premiere

	Whiplash (Director and screenwriter: Damien Chazelle) — An aspiring drummer enters an elite conservatory’s top jazz orchestra. Winner of the Short Film Jury Award: U.S. Fiction at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. International Premiere

	The Whistle (Director: Grzegorz Zariczny) — Marcin, a lowest-leagues football referee who lives in a small town near Krakow, dreams of better times. At his mother’s urging, he decides to change his life and find himself a girlfriend and a better job. Winner of the Short Film Grand Jury Prize at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. UK Premiere

PANEL PROGRAMME

Discussions with renowned guest speakers providing incredible insights into the filmmaking process.

The Art of the Score: An Afternoon with David Arnold — In a career that has produced over 60 scores to date, David Arnold has written and arranged some of the most exciting music in film and television today – and has done so across myriad genres and styles. Best known for his five James Bond scores, including Casino Royale and Tomorrow Never Dies, as well as Independence Day, Stargate, Godzilla, Hot Fuzz, The Stepford Wives, and the television series Sherlock and Little Britain, his work has garnered numerous Grammy, Emmy, BAFTA, UK Royal Television Society and BMI awards and nominations. He was also Musical Director for 2012 Olympic Games and 2012 Paralympic Games in London. In a lively afternoon celebrating creativity and collaboration, Arnold and guests offer a first-hand look at the composing process – through conversation, clips and various demonstrations of his approach to film and the musical choices that have led to some of his most notable work.

Screenwriting Flash Lab — It takes years of screenwriting to have an overnight success. It also takes talent, willpower, determination, grit and more than anything – it requires failure. And yet the fear of failure can stymy creativity. What is a writer to do? Join UK and American screenwriters for a lively, honest and irreverent discussion on the creative lessons learned from their biggest “cock-ups”. A not-to-be-missed opportunity to meet fellow writers, as well as Sundance Institute’s Feature Film Program Founding Director, Michelle Satter, and International Director, Paul Federbush. Tony Grisoni (Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Tideland, In This World, Death Defying Acts), Peter Straughan (Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, The Debt, Men Who Stare at Goats), Lynn Shelton (Touchy Feely, Your Sister’s Sister, Humpday), moderator Mia Bays, Oscar-winning producer (Six Shooter, 30 Century Man) and marketing consultant / creative executive at Microwave, and other panelist to be announced. Co-presented with BAFTA.

Senses of Humor and Humour: US – UK Comedy — As the wisest among us have often observed, humor is a serious thing. A strangely elusive form (E.B. White once likened it to dissecting a frog; you can do it, but the thing dies in the process) comedy may be dispensed with sugarcoated smoothness, but it’s a uniquely powerful, sophisticated way of looking sat the foibles of human nature and the contradictions of our lives and societies. From family dysfunction to global politics, comedians might argue that laughing at the world is simply the most sensible way of making sense of it. In a battle to establish who is funnier and why, our group of UK and US actors, comedians and filmmakers unpeel the layers and explore what’s behind the American and British “brands” of humor. With comedian, author and filmmaker Mike Birbiglia (Sleepwalk With Me), writer, director and actress Lake Bell (In A World…) and other panelists to be announced. Co-presented with BFI.

ENDS

Images for Press:

Press Enquiries:

Notes to the Editor:

Sundance London
The Sundance London film and music festival is a partnership between Robert Redford, Sundance Enterprises, Sundance Institute and AEG Europe. The second Sundance London will take place from 25-28 April, 2013 at The O2 and will host the international and UK premieres of films fresh from the 2013 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, U.S.A., as well as live music performances, panels and events. Passes and ticket packages are now on sale and individual tickets will be available March 15. For more information visit www.sundance-london.com or follow @SundancefestUK on Twitter. For partnership opportunities email sundancelondon@the02.co.uk.

The O2 arena sold more tickets than any other arena in the world last year (breaking all previous records) – making it the most popular music venue in the world for the fifth year running.

AEG employs more than 3,000 staff in over 45 operating companies worldwide. Its international head office is in Los Angeles, and its European headquarters is based in London.

Sundance Institute to Host 4-Day Summer Film Festival in Los Angeles, Aug. 8-11

2013-03-04T17:00:33+00:00

NEXT WEEKEND, Presented by Sundance Institute to Offer Film Screenings and Panels
at Sundance Cinema in West Hollywood

Screenings Around Los Angeles Co-Hosted with American Cinematheque at the Aero Theatre, Cinefamily, Cinespia at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA) and UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television

LOS ANGELES, CA — NEXT WEEKEND, Presented by Sundance Institute will take place Aug. 8-11, 2013 at Sundance Cinema and additional venues throughout Los Angeles. The event is an extension of the popular NEXT <=> section at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, which showcases stylistically adventurous films that take a bold approach to storytelling.

NEXT WEEKEND will present four days of screenings, parties and artist programs that celebrate the renegade spirit of independent filmmaking. Over one summer weekend film fans will have the chance to choose from eight yet-to-be-released feature films. There will also be a panel discussion deconstructing how these films get made, a shorts program and the annual ShortsLab: Los Angles, a half-day short filmmaking workshop. NEXT WEEKEND will include films that have been featured in the Festival’s NEXT <=> section, as well as new films and films that have premiered elsewhere. Filmmakers, cast and crew will be invited to discuss their work and the creative inspiration driving it.

NEXT WEEKEND will kick off with an outdoor screening Aug. 8 at Cinespia at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. The weekend-long festival will be headquartered at Sundance Cinema in West Hollywood Aug. 9-11. On closing night, Aug. 11, the festival will expand to venues across Los Angeles including the American Cinematheque at the Aero Theatre, Cinefamily, MOCA, and the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television at the Billy Wilder Theater at the Hammer Museum.

Robert Redford, President & Founder of Sundance Institute, said, “The best part of independent filmmaking is the freedom to tell your stories your own way, to take risks and not be beholden to convention of any kind. At the core of NEXT WEEKEND are artists that are taking risks and pushing boundaries. As such, it’s fitting that Sundance Cinemas will be the home for this festival and these films.”

Keri Putnam, Executive Director of Sundance Institute, said, “The NEXT <=> section at our Festival in Utah, built under the leadership of Festival Director John Cooper and Director of Programming Trevor Groth, showcases films that marry form and content in a way that pushes boundaries and offers fresh perspectives on storytelling. We look forward to celebrating the energy of this work and these artists and to sharing it with a larger community in collaboration with like-minded cultural institutions.”

Films that have premiered in the NEXT <=> section at the Festival, launched in 2010, include Bellflower (Director and screenwriter: Evan Glodell), Compliance (Director and screenwriter: Craig Zobel), Sleepwalk With Me (Director: Mike Birbiglia, Screenwriters: Mike Birbiglia, Ira Glass, Joe Birbiglia, Seth Barrish) and sound of my voice (Director: Zal Batmanglij; Screenwriters: Zal Batmanglij and Brit Marling).

For more information about NEXT WEEKEND visit www.sundance.org/next. Programming announcements will be made this summer, and tickets will go on sale at that time. Sundance Institute members will have priority access to tickets and events; to join, visit www.sundance.org/membership.

Sundance Institute
Founded by Robert Redford in 1981, Sundance Institute is a global, nonprofit cultural organization dedicated to nurturing artistic expression in film and theater, and to supporting intercultural dialogue between artists and audiences. The Institute promotes independent storytelling to unite, inform and inspire, regardless of geo-political, social, religious or cultural differences. Internationally recognized for its annual Sundance Film Festival and its artistic development programs for directors, screenwriters, producers, film composers, playwrights and theatre artists, Sundance Institute has nurtured such projects as Born into Brothels, Trouble the Water, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Amreeka, An Inconvenient Truth, Spring Awakening, Light in the Piazza and Angels in America. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

For sponsorship opportunities for NEXT WEEKEND, email corporategiving@sundance.org.

Playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins to Receive Tennessee Williams Award

2013-02-27T20:30:41+00:00

SALLY FIELD
TO PRESENT AWARD
AT SUNDANCE INSTITUTE THEATRE PROGRAM BENEFIT
APRIL 8, 2013

ADDITIONAL PROGRAMMING FOR THEATRE PROGRAM BENEFIT:

MAGGIE GYLLENHAAL, JUDY KUHN AND DAVID HYDE PIERCE TO PERFORM SELECTIONS FROM NEW MUSICAL “FUN HOME” BY LISA KRON AND JEANINE TESORI

CHERRY JONES TO PERFORM SCENES FROM NEW PLAY BY AWARD RECIPIENT JACOBS-JENKINS “APPROPRIATE”

New York, NY (2/27/2013) — Sundance Institute has announced that playwright and Sundance Institute Theatre Lab alum Branden Jacobs-Jenkins will receive the first-ever Tennessee Williams Award from the Institute’s Theatre Program, which supports the development of new work for the stage. Sundance Institute Emeritus Trustee Sally Field will present the honor and accompanying $10,000 grant at the Celebrate Sundance Institute benefit for its Theatre Program on April 8, 2013 at Stephan Weiss Studio in Greenwich Village.

The event will also include musical selections from the Sundance Institute-supported, much-anticipated new musical Fun Home by Lisa Kron and Jeanine Tesori, featuring performances by Maggie Gyllenhaal, Judy Kuhn, David Hyde Pierce and others. Fun Home was supported at two Institute Labs and will open at the Public Theatre later this year. Also at the benefit, Cherry Jones and others will perform scenes from Appropriate by Williams Award winner Branden Jacobs-Jenkins.

Keri Putnam, Executive Director of Sundance Institute, said, “The Sundance Institute Theatre Program has discovered and supported many of the leading theatre artists and projects of the past three decades. We are pleased that our Tennessee Williams Award will further shine a spotlight on emerging playwrights from whom we can expect powerful and innovative work.”

Branden Jacobs-Jenkins is a Brooklyn-based playwright and dramaturg. His newest play, Appropriate, premieres at the Humana Festival in March 2013. His other work has been seen at The Public Theatre, PS122, Soho Rep, The Matrix Theatre in Los Angeles, Mixed Blood Theatre in Minneapolis, CompanyOne in Boston, Theater Bielefeld in Bielefeld, Germany and the National Theatre in London. He is Usual Suspect and a former New York Theatre Workshop Playwriting fellow, an alum of the Soho Rep Writers/Directors Lab, Public Theater Emerging Writers Group, and Ars Nova Playgroup. His honors include a Princess Grace Award, the Dorothy Strelsin Playwriting Fellowship, the Paula Vogel Award, and a fellowship in playwriting from the New York Foundation for the Arts. He holds an M.A. in Performance Studies from NYU and is working on commissions from Lincoln Center Theater/LCT3 and Yale Repertory Theater.

Branden is an alum of the 2012 Sundance Institute Playwrights Retreat at Ucross Foundation and the 2012 Sundance Institute Theatre Lab at the Sundance Resort.

“Branden‘s burgeoning body of work already heralds a dynamic career; his audacity and poetic language are reminiscent of many of the qualities that define Mr. Williams’ writing,” remarked Philip Himberg, Artistic Director of the Sundance Institute Theatre Program. “Following his wildly entertaining and dangerous Neighbors, his most recent play, Appropriate, reveals him to be an author willing to take substantial risk, and to fearlessly explore familial rage and personal emancipation. We look forward to his future output which will undoubtedly continue to reflect a singular sensibility, with humor and passion.”

Visit the events site at http://www.sundance.org/celebrateNY. For information on benefit event tickets and tables or sponsorship opportunities, contact celebrate@sundance.org. Individual tickets are $500.

The Theatre Program has been a core component of Sundance Institute since Robert Redford founded the Institute in 1984. The Theatre Program identifies and assists emerging theatre artists, contributes to the creative growth of established artists, and encourages and supports the development of new work for the stage. Under the guidance of Producing Artistic Director Philip Himberg and Associate Director Christopher Hibma, the Theatre Program is the leading play development program in the United States. Titles such as Spring Awakening, An Iliad, I Am My Own Wife, The Good Negro, Circle Mirror Transformation, Passing Strange, Grey Gardens, Crowns and Marie Antoinette have gone from Theatre Program Labs to production from coast to coast and internationally, garnering multiple Pulitzers, Tonys, Obies and other recognition. The Theatre Program hosts a range of creative Labs throughout the year and around the world, including the Theatre Lab at the Sundance Resort and Playwrights Retreat at Ucross. The Theatre Program’s East Africa initiative is the only professional program of its type on the continent, offering Labs, cross-cultural exchange, mentorship and exposure to artists in six African countries. Past activities have also included a Theatre Lab at White Oak, a Theatre Lab at MASS MoCA and a Theatre Lab on Governors Island in New York.

Sundance Institute relies on the generosity of donors who share a commitment to nurturing new artists, supporting unique and diverse creative voices, and furthering the reach of independent feature and documentary films around the world. The benefit will raise crucial funds to offset the non-profit Institute’s year-round programs for artists, including Labs, grants and the Sundance Film Festival.

The Sundance Institute Theatre Program is made possible by generous support from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, Time Warner Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, Cindy Harrell Horn and Alan Horn, and the LUMA Foundation.

Sundance Institute
Founded by Robert Redford in 1981, Sundance Institute is a global, nonprofit cultural organization dedicated to nurturing artistic expression in film and theater, and to supporting intercultural dialogue between artists and audiences. The Institute promotes independent storytelling to unite, inform and inspire, regardless of geo-political, social, religious or cultural differences. Internationally recognized for its annual Sundance Film Festival and its artistic development programs for directors, screenwriters, producers, film composers, playwrights and theatre artists, Sundance Institute has nurtured such projects as Born into Brothels, Trouble the Water, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Amreeka, An Inconvenient Truth, Spring Awakening, Light in the Piazza and Angels in America. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

The University of the South, Beneficiary of the Williams’ Estate
Tennessee Williams, American playwright and two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, left his estate to The University of the South, familiarly known as Sewanee, as a memorial to his maternal grandfather, the Reverend Walter E. Dakin, who studied at Sewanee’s School of Theology in 1895. This generous gift, which came to the University in 1996, included the copyrights to the plays, screenplays, poems, letters and stories written by Mr. Williams. The Walter E. Dakin Memorial Fund is used primarily to support the Sewanee Writers’ Conference and the Sewanee Young Writers’ Conference, both of which support writers and encourage creative writing as contemplated by Mr. Williams’ will. More than 500 writers have been provided financial assistance to attend the Sewanee Writers’ Conference. Additional information about both Conferences is available on the University’s website: www.sewanee.edu and at www.sewaneewriters.org. The Fund also supports scholarships for students who wish to pursue creative writing and fellowships which are granted annually to budding playwrights or authors. Those fellows include Ann Patchett, Claire Messud, Tony Early, and Mark Richard. The Tennessee Williams Center houses the University’s theater department and a portion of the Fund supports the department and the theatrical productions it mounts in the Center. Those productions include works of Tennessee Williams Fellows and Mr. Williams’ own plays. The Fund also supports the creative writing program in the University’s School of Letters. Because the income stream from the licensing of the copyrights will stop as the copyrights expire, the University has set aside a portion of the Fund as permanent endowment thus insuring that Mr. Williams’ gift will benefit writers for years to come.

# # #

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Peaches to Perform and Premiere Her Directorial Debut at Sundance London

2013-02-27T10:00:47+00:00

The O2, 27 February 2013 — Sundance Institute and The O2 announced Peaches as the first headlining act for the second Sundance London film and music festival, which will also host the UK premiere of Peaches Does Herself. Tickets for Peaches’ Friday 26 April performance at indigO2 in The O2 as well as a music-and-movie ticket package will be on sale from 9am GMT Friday 1 March at www.sundance-london.com.

Musician, DJ, producer and filmmaker Peaches has been captivating and changing the pop culture landscape since the release of her debut album in 2000. The Teaches of Peaches, was her first breakthrough statement, followed by her second LP, Fatherfucker. Impeach my Bush further infused the sexual and political into pop territory. Peaches’ fourth album, I Feel Cream, cemented her longevity with her biggest evolutionary leap to date. Over the years, Peaches has built a reputation on her suggestive and intelligent lyrics with her musical and stylistic influences continuing to be seen and heard in artists around the world, from mainstream to underground.

Peaches Does Herself - is directed and written by Peaches, In the film, Peaches follows the advice of an old stripper and makes sexually forthright music. The electro rock opera chronicles Peaches’ rise to popularity and her love affair with a beautiful she-male that ultimately leads her to realise who she really is. The film stars Peaches, Danni Daniels, Sandy Kane, Mignon, Sweet Machine Band and Jolly Goods. Sundance London will be the film’s UK Premiere.

About her participation in Sundance London, Peaches said: "I am totally thrilled to be selected for Sundance London. And to bring my live show to town in conjunction with the screening. Peaches Does Herself digs deeper into what I stand for as an artist while exploring the images and misconceptions surrounding my work. It's been awhile since I've performed in London. I always love London's live energy!"

Peaches is the first headlining act booked by Sundance London Music Programmer Jon Dunn. Jon is a UK music promoter, curator and booker who has worked with bands throughout the UK for over 20 years. Jon joined Live Nation in 2004, where he worked with artists including Arcade Fire, MIA, The National and Anthony and the Johnsons. In 2005 Jon began booking artists for the Latitude Festival, while continuing to promote tours nationally for Live Nation. Since 2010 his focus has been on curating festivals, including Latitude (35,000) and The Big Chill (55,000) and Electric Picnic Festival (35,000).

The second Sundance London will take place from 25-28 April, 2013, and host the international and UK premieres of American independent films fresh from the 2013 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, U.S.A., as well as live music performances, panels and events. The 2013 programme will continue its 2012 focus on presenting new work by American filmmakers and music artists. Sundance Institute, which annually presents the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, U.S.A, will select the films and related programming. The full film programme will be announced on Monday 11 March with individual film tickets on sale from Friday 15 March.

The full Sundance London film panel programme will be announced on Monday 11 March with individual film tickets on sale from Friday 15 March.

For more information visit www.sundance-london.com or follow @SundancefestUK on Twitter.

Ends

Sundance Institute and TED Announce New Collaboration, Sundance Institute | TED Prize Filmmaker Awar

2013-02-27T03:00:31+00:00

Los Angeles, CA — Sundance Institute and TED today announced the first collaboration between the two organizations, which will jointly award $125,000 for a short documentary film project about the work of Sugata Mitra, winner of the annual TED Prize. The Institute’s Documentary Film Program and Fund will accept proposals March 1 through April 15, 2013 at sundance.org/ted and will design and oversee the selection process in collaboration with TED.

Keri Putnam, Executive Director of Sundance Institute, said, “Through the Sundance Institute | TED Prize Filmmaker Award, documentary film will bring to life the extraordinary vision of Sugata Mitra’s large-scale collaborative project, providing a record of his work and an inspiring way for audiences to engage with the ideas behind it.”

“The TED Prize is awarded to remarkable individuals who have a great vision and a world changing wish, and will use the prize to build on their bodies of work,” said Lara Stein, Director of the TED Prize. “The Sundance Institute | TED Prize Filmmaker Award not only provides a vehicle for telling the TED Prize winner’s story, but will engage a wider global audience to participate in the recipient’s wish.”

The winning project must: highlight the work of the TED Prize winner over the course of their first 12-18 months after receiving the award; be suitable for creating appreciation and deeper understanding of the TED Prize winner’s work; be independently produced, with creative control held by the producing/directing team; display directorial vision/aesthetic; and have the potential for theatrical release.

Deliverables for the award include a short cinematic film of 25-50 minutes in length, a multi-platform release strategy, a trailer of under 90 seconds, and a 3-5-minute version of the film. Film projects must be completed within 18 months of the announcement of the award. Clips will be screened at the next year’s TED Conference. The $125,000 award will cover all expenses associated with producing, delivering and qualifying the short film for Academy Award consideration.

Cara Mertes, Director of the Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program and Fund stated, “We see this collaboration as a tremendous opportunity for independent documentarians worldwide to offer a creative and original vision for telling the story of the TED Prize winner. We look forward to the proposals.”

The winning proposal will be announced at TED Global in Edinburgh, Scotland, in June 2013. For more information about Sugata Mitra, winner of the annual TED Prize, visit ted.com/prize.

The Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program and Fund is made possible by generous support from Open Society Foundations, the Ford Foundation, The Skoll Foundation, The Charles Engelhard Foundation, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Hilton Worldwide, Cinereach, Wallace Global Fund, the Joan and Lewis Platt Foundation, The J.A. & H.G. Woodruff, Jr. Charitable Trust, Time Warner Foundation, and Candescent Films.

Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program and Fund
The Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program and Fund provides year-round support to nonfiction filmmakers worldwide. The program advances innovative nonfiction storytelling about a broad range of contemporary social issues, and promotes the exhibition of documentary films to audiences. Through the Sundance Documentary Fund, the Documentary Edit and Story Labs, Composers + Documentary Lab, Creative Producing Lab, as well as the Sundance Film Festival, the Sundance Creative Producing Summit and a variety of international partnerships and initiatives, the program provides a unique, global resource for contemporary independent documentary film. sundance.org/documentary

Sundance Institute
Founded by Robert Redford in 1981, Sundance Institute is a global, nonprofit cultural organization dedicated to nurturing artistic expression in film and theater, and to supporting intercultural dialogue between artists and audiences. The Institute promotes independent storytelling to unite, inform and inspire, regardless of geo-political, social, religious or cultural differences. Internationally recognized for its annual Sundance Film Festival and its artistic development programs for directors, screenwriters, producers, film composers, editors, playwrights and theatre artists, Sundance Institute has nurtured such projects as Born into Brothels, Trouble the Water, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Amreeka, An Inconvenient Truth, Spring Awakening, Light in the Piazza and Angels in America. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

TED Prize
The first TED Prize was awarded in 2005, born out of the TED Conference and a vision by the world's leading entrepreneurs, innovators, and entertainers to change the world – one wish at a time.

The original prize: $100,000 and the TED community's range of talent and expertise. What began as an unparalleled experiment to leverage the resources of the TED community has evolved into an ambitious effort to spur global-scale change. From Bono's the ONE Campaign ('05 recipient) to Jamie Oliver 's Food Revolution ('10 recipient) and JR's Inside Out Project ('11 recipient), the TED Prize has helped to combat poverty, take on religious intolerance, improve global health, tackle child obesity, advance education, and inspire art around the world.

Sundance Institute Announces FILM FORWARD: Advancing Cultural Dialogue Returns to Imperial Valley, C

2013-02-07T19:38:46+00:00

Filmmakers Stacy Peralta (Bones Brigade: An Autobiography) and Jerry Rothwell (Town of Runners) to Lead Discussions and Workshops

Los Angeles, CA — Sundance Institute and the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities announced today that FILM FORWARD: Advancing Cultural Dialogue will return for a second year to host eight free film screenings, workshops and artist roundtables in Imperial Valley, California, and Mexicali, Mexico, February 26 through March 1. For a full schedule of events visit www.sundance.org/filmforward.

FILM FORWARD, a partnership of the Sundance Institute and U.S. federal cultural agencies, is a touring program that offers film screenings, workshops and discussions designed to foster dialogue and cross-cultural understanding. It uses the power of cinema to promote broader cultural understanding, inspire curiosity, foster dialogue, and enhance awareness of shared stories and values across generations, language, education and borders. The partnering federal agencies are the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities, National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities and Institute of Museum and Library Services.

Keri Putnam, Executive Director of Sundance Institute, said, “Returning to locations like Imperial Valley and Mexicali, Mexico, means we can deepen the relationships started last year with a new set of films and a renewed sense of community. We look forward to building on these shared experiences and connecting audiences with independent film.”

“From growing up in Kenya, to living in the United Kingdom to filming Town of Runners in Ethiopia, I have come to realize how film can be a powerful medium to discuss global issues,” said Director Jerry Rothwell. “I am excited to meet audiences in Imperial Valley, California, and Mexicali, Mexico, through the FILM FORWARD program, to discuss themes that unify us all.”

Events around the Imperial Valley, California, and Mexicali, Mexico, area include free screenings at El Centro Library, City of Brawley Skate Park, Slab City UABC University, Casa de la Cultura and Instituto de Investigaciones Culturales - Museo UABC well as guided discussions with filmmakers Stacy Peralta and Jerry Rothwell.

Following FILM FORWARD’s visit to Imperial Valley, CA, and Mexicali, Mexico, upcoming destinations include: Colombia (March 17-24); Jordan (April 13-18); China/Taiwan (May 17-26); Puerto Rico (June 10-15); Washington (September 4-7); Bosnia & Herzegovina (September 20-27); and Maine (September 30 – October 4).

FILM FORWARD Year Three Films:

	*Beasts of the Southern Wild* (Director: Benh Zeitlin) — In a forgotten but defiant bayou community cut off from the rest of the world by a sprawling levee, a six-year-old girl exists on the brink of orphanhood. Buoyed by her childish optimism and extraordinary imagination, she believes that the natural order is in balance with the universe until a fierce storm changes her reality. Desperate to repair the structure of her world in order to save her ailing father and sinking home, this tiny hero must learn to survive unstoppable catastrophes of epic proportions.

	*Bones Brigade: An Autobiography* (Director: Stacy Peralta) — A gang of disenfranchised kids reject mainstream culture, channel their controlled desperation into a loser activity and redefine winning in the process. Mentored by a former world champion skateboarder, the "Bones Brigade" became history's most influential skateboarding team. Their countercultural impact continues to affect change with best selling video games and books and millions of kids who embrace skateboarding around the world.

	*Chasing Ice* (Director: Jeff Orlowski) — Acclaimed environmental photographer James Balog was once a skeptic about climate change. But through his Extreme Ice Survey, he discovers undeniable evidence of our changing planet. Chasing Ice reveals Balog's hauntingly beautiful, multi-year time-lapse videos of vanishing glaciers across the Arctic, all while delivering fragile hope to our carbon-powered planet.

	*La Misma Luna (Under The Same Moon)* (Director: Patricia Riggen) — Even across thousands of miles, the special bond between a mother and son can never be broken. It gives hope to Carlitos, a scrappy nine-year-old boy whose mother, Rosario, has gone to America to build a better life for both of them. While Rosario struggles for a brighter future, fate forces Carlitos’ hand and he embarks on an extraordinary journey to find her.

	*The Light in Her Eyes* (Directors: Julia Meltzer and Laura Nix) — Houda al-Habash, a conservative woman preacher in Damascus, Syria, calls girls to the practice of Islam, teaching them that pursuing their ambitions is a way of worshipping God. Shot right before the uprising in Syria erupted, The Light in Her Eyes offers an extraordinary portrait of a leader who challenges the women of her community to live according to Islam, without giving up their dreams.

	*The Loving Story* (Director: Nancy Buirski) — A racially-charged criminal trial and a heart-rending love story converge in this documentary about Mildred and Richard Loving, a part-black, part-Indian woman married to a white man in Jim Crow-era Virginia. Thrown into rat-infested jails and exiled from their hometown for 25 years, the Lovings fought back and changed history.

	*Town of Runners* (Director: Jerry Rothwell) — Town of Runners is a feature documentary about young people from the Ethiopian rural town of Bekoji, whose runners have won 10 Olympic Gold medals in the last 20 years. The film tells the story of three teenagers who want to follow in their heroes’ footsteps, as they move from school track to national competition and from childhood to adulthood, trying to run their way to a different life.

	*Valley of Saints* (Director and screenwriter: Musa Syeed) — Using Kashmir’s picturesque Dal Lake as its backdrop and underpinned by the political unrest in the region, this moving drama explores the relationship between two best friends and the female researcher studying environmental degradation who threatens to distract them from their dreams of escape.

Media Contacts:

Sarah Eaton
Sundance Institute
310.360.1981
Sarah_Eaton@sundance.org

Elizabeth Latenser
Sundance Institute
435.658.3456
Elizabeth_Latenser@sundance.org

Film stills and director headshots available upon request. Email press@sundance.org.

Connected: An Autoblogography About Love, Death & Technology Makes Its Digital Premiere

2013-02-05T20:30:14+00:00

Los Angeles, CA — Tiffany Shlain’s award-winning documentary Connected: An Autoblogography About Love, Death & Technology makes its digital premiere today through the Sundance Institute Artist Services access to distribution program, which provides Institute artists with exclusive opportunities for creative self-distribution, marketing and financing solutions for their work. The film premiered in competition at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, was released theatrically in 11 U.S. cities, and was selected by the U.S. State Department to screen around the world as part of its American Film Showcase.

Look for the film today and in the coming weeks on iTunes, Amazon Instant Video, Microsoft Xbox, Sony Entertainment Network, SundanceNOW, VUDU and YouTube. For details visit sundance.org/nowplaying.

Connected: An Autoblogography About Love, Death & Technology — With wonderful heart and an impressive sense of scale, Tiffany Shlain’s vibrant and insightful documentary explores the visible and invisible connections linking major issues of our time—the environment, consumption, population growth, technology, human rights, the global economy—while searching for her place in the world during a transformative time in her life. (2011 Sundance Film Festival)

The exclusive aggregation partner for distribution across all portals participating in the Artist Services program is Cinedigm. The Artist Services initiative is made possible by The Bertha Foundation. These deals were brokered via pro bono legal services generously provided by law firm O’Melveny & Myers, which has built the legal framework for the Artist Services program and participating filmmakers since its inception.

Sundance Institute
Founded by Robert Redford in 1981, Sundance Institute is a global, nonprofit cultural organization dedicated to nurturing artistic expression in film and theatre, and to supporting intercultural dialogue between artists and audiences. The Institute promotes independent storytelling to unite, inform, and inspire, regardless of geopolitical, social, religious, or cultural differences. Internationally recognized for its annual Sundance Film Festival and its artistic development programs for directors, screenwriters, producers, film composers, playwrights, and theatre artists, Sundance Institute has nurtured such projects as Born Into Brothels, Trouble the Water, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Amreeka, An Inconvenient Truth, Spring Awakening, Light in the Piazza, and Angels in America. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

Sundance Institute Begins 2013 Playwrights Retreat at Ucross Foundation

2013-02-05T19:00:07+00:00

Radha Blank | Joy Harjo | Michael John LaChiusa Justin Levine | Matthew Paul Olmos | Stephen Wadsworth

New York, NY — The Sundance Institute Theatre Program has begun the 2013 Playwrights Retreat at Ucross Foundation. The 13th annual writing colony at the 20,000-acre working cattle ranch outside of Sheridan, Wyo. takes place through February 22 and provides a supportive environment for artists to create new work and receive guidance and reactions to it at an early stage. Under the supervision of Philip Himberg, Artistic Director of the Theatre Program, and Producing Director Christopher Hibma, the Playwrights Retreat is made possible through the generosity of Ucross Foundation.

Notable artists and projects supported through the Playwrights Retreat program include A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder by Steven Lutvak and Robert L. Freedman (Hartford Stage Company and La Jolla Playhouse), Song for the Disappeared by Tanya Saracho (Goodman Theater, Chicago), ToasT by Lemon Anderson (Under The Radar), and Appropriate by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins (Humana Festival).

As previously announced, the six artists selected for the 2013 Sundance Institute Playwrights Retreat at Ucross Foundation are:

Radha Blank
Ms. Blank is a writer for stage and screen. Last fall, the World Premiere of her play SEED received eight 2012 Audelco nominations including Best Playwright. Plays include HappyFlowerNail, American Schemes, SEED, nannyland, Casket Sharp and Kenya, her first solo show. Awards and Fellowships include New York Foundation for the Arts Artists Fellowship, Nickelodeon's Writers Fellowship, The Public Theater’s Emerging Writers Group Fellowship, The National Endowment for the Arts New Play Development Award and the 2011 Helen Merrill Award Emerging Playwright Award. For 2012-13, commissions include 32 To Base, a play about immigrant cabbies in the South Bronx for EPIC Theater Ensemble's Sunshine Series as well as Rice and Chicken Parts, a play about restaurant workers. Her latest play, Confections, explores how baking masks a mother and daughter’s dark secret in a small North Carolina town and is part of a trilogy based on the United States eugenicists movement. Her solo show, HappyFlowerNail, about a Korean-owned nail salon in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, will be presented in The Public Theater’s 2013 New Works Now Festival.

Joy Harjo
Joy was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma and is a member of the Mvskoke Nation. She has won a Native American Music Award (NAMMY) for Best Female Artist of the Year. She performs solo as well as with her band, The Arrow Dynamics. She has appeared on HBO's Def Poetry Jam. Most recently she performed We Were There When Jazz Was Invented at the Chan Centre at UBC in Vancouver, BC and appeared at the San Miguel Writer’s Conference in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. Her one-woman show, Wings of Night Sky, Wings of Morning Light, which features guitarist Larry Mitchell, premiered in Los Angeles in 2009. Her seven books of poetry include such titles as How We Became Human- New and Selected Poems and She Had Some Horses. Her awards include the New Mexico Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Native Writers Circle of the Americas, and the William Carlos Williams Award from the Poetry Society of America. She was recently awarded 2011 Artist of the Year from the Mvskoke Women’s Leadership Initiative and a Rasmuson US Artists Fellowship. She is a founding board member and treasurer of the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation. Soul Talk, Song Language, Conversations with Joy Harjo was recently released from Wesleyan University Press. Crazy Brave, a memoir is her newest publication from W.W. Norton.

Michael John LaChiusa
The Public: See What I Wanna See, The Petrified Prince, First Lady Suite. His other musicals include: Queen of the Mist (2012 Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Musical); Los Otros, (lyrics and book by Ellen Fitzhugh); Bernarda Alba; The Highest Yellow (book by John Strand); Little Fish; The Wild Party (Tony nominations for Best Score, Best Book, with George C. Wolfe); Marie Christine, (Tony nominations for Best Score and Best Book): Chronicle of a Death Foretold (Tony nomination for Best Book, with Graciela Daniele and Jim Lewis); Hello Again; and Break/Agnes/Eulogy for Mister Hamm. His operas include Send (who are you? I love you), Houston Grand Opera, and Lovers and Friends (Chautauqua Variations) Lyric Opera of Chicago. Mr. LaChiusa is an Obie-Award winner and the recipient of the Gilman-Gonzalez-Falla Musical Theatre Award. He is a composer for The Wonder Pets, for which he received two Emmy Awards and has written special material for Neil Patrick Harris and Hugh Jackman for the Tony Awards and Hugh Jackman on Broadway.

Justin Levine
Writing: Bonfire Night (Book, Music & Lyrics), Tell Me Tomorrow (Music & Lyrics), Jump Jim Crow (Music & Lyrics), Naked Radio (Music), Pepper and Sam: Death by Vaudeville (Co-created with Salty Brine). Musical Direction/Orchestration: Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson (Broadway/Public), Here Lies Love (Public/Mass MoCA), Murder Ballad (MTC/NYSF), Robber Bridegroom (Roundabout), Love’s Labors Lost (Public/WTF), Mo(or)town (Choreographer: Doug Elkins), Like Water for Chocolate (Sundance Institute Theatre Lab).

Matthew Paul Olmos
Originally from Los Angeles, Matthew is the 2012 Princess Grace Awardee in Playwriting and was named as the inaugural recipient of the La MaMa e.t.c.'s 2012-13 Ellen Stewart Emerging Playwright Award. He is a 2012-13 New York Theatre Workshop Fellow, 2012-13 Primary Stages Dorothy Strelsin New American Writer’s Group playwright, 2011-12 terraNOVA Groundbreaker Playwright, and 2011-12 Brooklyn Arts Exchange Resident Artist. He was previously a Sundance Institute Time Warner Storytelling Fellow for his play i put the fear of méxico in’em, and a two-time Resident Artist at Mabou Mines/Suite and BBC International Playwriting Top Prize of the Americas awardee for his play the nature of captivity. Also a Ensemble Studio Theatre lifetime member, No Passport member, National Endowment for the Arts New Play Development reader, New York Innovative Awards judge, and a core staff member at the Lark Play Development Center. M.F.A. Playwriting, The Actor’s Studio Drama School (now New School for Drama). i put the fear of méxico in’em world-premieres at Teatro Vista in Chicago in November 2012, and is being published by Samuel French and NoPassport Press; and part one of his 3-play cycle so go the ghosts of méxico world premieres at La MaMa e.t.c. in April 2013.

Stephen Wadsworth
Stephen’s translations of three plays by Marivaux brought that playwright to a wide American public in the 1990s. He also translated Goldoni’s Mirandolina and made a landmark translation of Molière’s Don Juan, working from new sources, for which the French government named him a Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters. He is currently at work on a new translation of the three Figaro plays of Beaumarchais. He has translated operas by Monteverdi, Handel, Mozart and Udo Zimmermann, written the story for Daron Hagen’s opera Amelia, and co-authored the opera A Quiet Place with Leonard Bernstein. As a director he has addressed the classics—Shakespeare, Goldoni, Shaw, Wilde and Coward, as well as his Molière and Marivaux translations—and contemporary works by Guare, Henley, Anna Deavere Smith and McNally (Master Class recently on Broadway and in the West End). He is one of the world’s leading opera directors, including a famous staging of Wagner’s massive Ring cycle, which plays again in summer 2013. He is a sought-after dramaturg, a script-reader for the Sundance Institute Theatre Lab, a Harman-Eisner Artist in Residence at the Aspen Institute. He is The James S. Marcus Faculty Fellow at The Juilliard School—his post-graduate advanced-training institute for singers there is the only intensive acting program for singers in the world—and Head of Drama for the Met’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program.

Sundance Institute Theatre Program
The Sundance Institute Theatre Program is one of the nation’s leading nonprofit organizations that champions theatre artists and their plays as a source of vital, challenging and diverse ideas in society. Through the guiding principles of risk-taking, experimentation and freedom of expression, the Theatre Program is the recognized leader in providing developmental laboratories rarely available to contemporary artists. The Theatre Program has been a core component of Sundance Institute since Robert Redford founded the Institute in 1984, and is led by Artistic Director Philip Himberg and Producing Director Christopher Hibma. Titles such as Spring Awakening, An Iliad, I Am My Own Wife, The Good Negro, Circle Mirror Transformation, Passing Strange, Grey Gardens, Crowns and Marie Antoinette have gone from Theatre Program Labs to production from coast to coast and internationally, garnering multiple Pulitzers, Tonys, Obies and other recognition. The Theatre Program’s East Africa initiative is the only professional program of its type on the continent, offering Labs, cross-cultural exchange, mentorship and exposure to artists in six African countries. www.sundance.org/theatre

Sundance Institute
Founded by Robert Redford in 1981, Sundance Institute is a global, nonprofit cultural organization dedicated to nurturing artistic expression in film and theater, and to supporting intercultural dialogue between artists and audiences. The Institute promotes independent storytelling to unite, inform and inspire, regardless of geo-political, social, religious or cultural differences. Internationally recognized for its annual Sundance Film Festival and its artistic development programs for directors, screenwriters, producers, film composers, playwrights and theatre artists, Sundance Institute has nurtured such projects as Born into Brothels, Trouble the Water, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Amreeka, An Inconvenient Truth, Spring Awakening, Light in the Piazza and Angels in America. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

Ucross Foundation
Founded in 1981, Ucross Foundation is an internationally known retreat for visual artists, writers, composers and choreographers working'in all creative disciplines. It provides living accommodations, studio space, uninterrupted time and the experience of the extraordinary High Plains landscape to competitively selected individuals. Ucross supports individuals whose work reflects innovative thinking, a depth of creative exploration, and the potential for significant future accomplishments. A number of residents have won recognition such as the Pulitzer Prize, the Tony Award, the National Book Award, the MacArthur Fellowship, the Guggenheim Fellowship and many other honors. Through its Residency Program, art gallery, and associated activities, Ucross actively seeks to support an appreciation for vibrant human creativity and aims to cast a reflection into the future from the cultural mirror of our lives and times. www.ucrossfoundation.org

2013 Sundance Film Festival Announces Feature Film Awards

2013-01-27T02:57:16+00:00

Park City, UT — Sundance Institute this evening announced the Jury, Audience, NEXT <=> and other special awards of the 2013 Sundance Film Festival at the feature film Awards Ceremony, hosted by Joseph Gordon-Levitt in Park City, Utah. An archived video of the ceremony in its entirety is available at www.sundance.org/festival.

John Cooper, Director of the Sundance Film Festival, said, “The films at our Festival this year truly reflect the unbridled passion, immense talent and diverse stories coming from the independent filmmaking community. I am confident that the awards presented this evening will fuel those films with special promise and that audiences will continue to champion the films they have discovered here.”

“The lively dialogue and genuine excitement sparked by the films over the past 10 days is sure to resonate as they further reach audiences in the weeks and months ahead,” commented Keri Putnam, Executive Director of Sundance Institute. “We congratulate and thank all of the filmmakers who shared their stories with us, and we look forward to continuing to support them.”

The 2013 Sundance Film Festival Awards presented this evening were:

The U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Documentary was presented by Davis Guggenheim to:
Blood Brother / U.S.A. (Director: Steve Hoover) — Rocky went to India as a disillusioned tourist. When he met a group of children with HIV, he decided to stay. He never could have imagined the obstacles he would face, or the love he would find.

The U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic was presented by Tom Rothman to:
Fruitvale / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Ryan Coogler) — The true story of Oscar, a 22-year-old Bay Area resident who crosses paths with friends, enemies, family and strangers on the last day of 2008. Cast: Michael B. Jordan, Octavia Spencer, Melonie Diaz, Ahna O'Reilly, Kevin Durand, Chad Michael Murray.

The World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Documentary was presented by Bob Hawk to:
A River Changes Course / Cambodia, U.S.A. (Director: Kalyanee Mam) — Three young Cambodians struggle to overcome the crushing effects of deforestation, overfishing, and overwhelming debt in this devastatingly beautiful story of a country reeling from the tragedies of war and rushing to keep pace with a rapidly expanding world.

The World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic was presented Anurag Kashyap to:
Jiseul / South Korea (Director and screenwriter: Muel O) — In 1948, as the Korean government ordered the Communists’ eviction to Jeju Island, the military invaded a calm and peaceful village. Townsfolk took sanctuary in a cave and debated moving to a higher mountain. Cast: Min-chul SUNG, Jung-won YANG, Young-soon OH, Soon-dong PARK, Suk-bum MOON, Kyung-sub JANG.

The Audience Award: U.S. Documentary presented by Acura, was presented by Barbara Kopple to:
Blood Brother / U.S.A. (Director: Steve Hoover) — Rocky went to India as a disillusioned tourist. When he met a group of children with HIV, he decided to stay. He never could have imagined the obstacles he would face, or the love he would find.

The Audience Award: U.S. Dramatic presented by Acura, was presented by Mariel Hemingway to:
Fruitvale / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Ryan Coogler) — The true story of Oscar, a 22-year-old Bay Area resident who crosses paths with friends, enemies, family and strangers on the last day of 2008. Cast: Michael B. Jordan, Octavia Spencer, Melonie Diaz, Ahna O'Reilly, Kevin Durand, Chad Michael Murray.

The Audience Award: World Cinema Documentary was presented by Barbara Kopple to:
The Square (Al Midan) / Egypt, U.S.A. (Director: Jehane Noujaim) — What does it mean to risk your life for your ideals? How far will five revolutionaries go in defending their beliefs in the fight for their nation?

The Audience Award: World Cinema Dramatic was presented by Mariel Hemingway to:
Metro Manila / United Kingdom, Philippines (Director: Sean Ellis, Screenwriters: Sean Ellis, Frank E. Flowers) — Seeking a better life, Oscar and his family move from the poverty-stricken rice fields to the big city of Manila, where they fall victim to various inhabitants whose manipulative ways are a daily part of city survival. Cast: Jake Macapagal, John Arcilla, Althea Vega.

The Audience Award: Best of NEXT <=> was presented by Joseph Gordon-Levitt to:
This is Martin Bonner / U.S.A.(Director and screenwriter: Chad Hartigan) — Martin Bonner has just moved to Reno for a new job in prison rehabilitation. Starting over at age 58, he struggles to adapt until an unlikely friendship with an ex-con blossoms, helping him confront the problems he left behind. Cast: Paul Eenhoorn, Richmond Arquette, Sam Buchanan, Robert Longstreet, Demetrius Grosse.

The Directing Award: U.S. Documentary was presented by Liz Garbus to:
Cutie and the Boxer / U.S.A. (Director: Zachary Heinzerling) — This candid New York love story explores the chaotic 40-year marriage of famed boxing painter Ushio Shinohara and his wife, Noriko. Anxious to shed her role of assistant to her overbearing husband, Noriko seeks an identity of her own.

The Directing Award: U.S. Dramatic was presented by Ed Burns to:
Afternoon Delight / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Jill Soloway) — In this sexy, dark comedy, a lost L.A. housewife puts her idyllic life in jeopardy when she tries to rescue a stripper by taking her in as a live-in nanny. Cast: Kathryn Hahn, Juno Temple, Josh Radnor, Jane Lynch.

The Directing Award: World Cinema Documentary was presented by Enat Sidi to:
The Machine Which Makes Everything Disappear / Georgia, Germany (Director: Tinatin Gurchiani) — A film director casting a 15-23-year-old protagonist visits villages and cities to meet people who answer her call. She follows those who prove to be interesting enough through various dramatic and funny situations.

The Directing Award: World Cinema Dramatic was presented by Nadine Labaki to:
Crystal Fairy / Chile (Director and screenwriter: Sebastián Silva) — Jamie invites a stranger to join a road trip to Chile. The woman’s free and esoteric nature clashes with Jamie’s acidic, self-absorbed personality as they head into the desert for a Mescaline-fueled psychedelic trip. Cast: Michael Cera, Gaby Hoffmann, Juan Andrés Silva, José Miguel Silva, Agustín Silva.

The Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award: U.S. Dramatic was presented by Wesley Morris to:
In a World... / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Lake Bell) — An underachieving vocal coach is motivated by her father, the king of movie-trailer voice-overs, to pursue her aspirations of becoming a voiceover star. Amidst pride, sexism and family dysfunction, she sets out to change the voice of a generation. Cast: Lake Bell, Demetri Martin, Rob Corddry, Michaela Watkins, Ken Marino, Fred Melamed.

The Screenwriting Award: World Cinema Dramatic was presented by Joana Vicente to:
Wajma (An Afghan Love Story) / Afghanistan (Director and screenwriter: Barmak Akram) — A young man in Kabul seduces a girl. When she tells him she’s pregnant, he questions having taken her virginity. Then her father arrives, and a timeless, archaic violence erupts – possibly leading to a crime, and even a sacrifice. Cast: Wajma Bahar, Mustafa Habibi, Haji Gul, Breshna Bahar.

The Editing Award: U.S. Documentary was presented by Gary Hustwit to:
Gideon's Army / U.S.A. (Director: Dawn Porter) — Gideon’s Army follows three young, committed Public Defenders who are dedicated to working for the people society would rather forget. Long hours, low pay and staggering caseloads are so common that even the most committed often give up.

The Editing Award: World Cinema Documentary was presented by Enat Sidi to:
The Summit / Ireland, United Kingdom (Director: Nick Ryan) — Twenty-four climbers converged at the last stop before summiting the most dangerous mountain on Earth. Forty-eight hours later, 11 had been killed or simply vanished. Had one, Ger McDonnell, stuck to the climbers' code, he might still be alive.

The Cinematography Award: U.S. Documentary was presented by Brett Morgen to:
Dirty Wars / U.S.A. (Director: Richard Rowley) — Investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill chases down the truth behind America’s covert wars.

The Cinematography Award: U.S. Dramatic was presented by Rodrigo Prieto to:
Bradford Young for Ain’t Them Bodies Saints and Mother of George:

Ain't Them Bodies Saints / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: David Lowery) — The tale of an outlaw who escapes from prison and sets out across the Texas hills to reunite with his wife and the daughter he has never met. Cast: Rooney Mara, Casey Affleck, Ben Foster, Nate Parker, Keith Carradine.
Mother of George / U.S.A. (Director: Andrew Dosunmu, Screenwriter: Darci Picoult) — A story about a woman willing to do anything and risk everything for her marriage. Cast: Isaach De Bankolé, Danai Gurira, Tony Okungbowa, Yaya Alafia, Bukky Ajayi.

The Cinematography Award: World Cinema Documentary was presented by Sean Farnel to:
Who is Dayani Cristal? / United Kingdom (Director: Marc Silver) — An anonymous body in the Arizona desert sparks the beginning of a real-life human drama. The search for its identity leads us across a continent to seek out the people left behind and the meaning of a mysterious tattoo.

The Cinematography Award: World Cinema Dramatic was presented by Nadine Labaki to:
Lasting / Poland, Spain (Director and screenwriter: Jacek Borcuch) — An emotional love story about two Polish students who fall in love with each other while working summer jobs in Spain. An unexpected nightmare interrupts their carefree time in the heavenly landscape and throws their lives into chaos. Cast: Jakub Gierszal, Magdalena Berus, Angela Molina.

A U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Achievement in Filmmaking was presented by Diane Weyermann to:
Inequality for All / U.S.A. (Director: Jacob Kornbluth) — In this timely and entertaining documentary, noted economic-policy expert Robert Reich distills the topic of widening income inequality, and addresses the question of what effects this increasing gap has on our economy and our democracy.

A U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Achievement in Filmmaking was presented by Diane Weyermann to:
American Promise / U.S.A. (Directors: Joe Brewster, Michèle Stephenson) — This intimate documentary follows the 12-year journey of two African-American families pursuing the promise of opportunity through the education of their sons.

A U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Acting was presented by Clare Stewart to:
Miles Teller and Shailene Woodleyin The Spectacular Now / U.S.A. (Director: James Ponsoldt, Screenwriters: Scott Neustadter, Michael H. Weber) — Sutter is a high school senior who lives for the moment; Aimee is the introvert he attempts to "save." As their relationship deepens, the lines between right and wrong, friendship and love, and "saving" and corrupting become inextricably blurred. Cast: Miles Teller, Shailene Woodley, Brie Larson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Kyle Chandler.

A U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Sound Design was presented by Clare Stewart to:
Shane Carruth, Johnny Marshall and Pete Horner for Upstream Color / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Shane Carruth) — A man and woman are drawn together, entangled in the life cycle of an ageless organism. Identity becomes an illusion as they struggle to assemble the loose fragments of wrecked lives. Cast: Amy Seimetz, Shane Carruth, Andrew Sensenig, Thiago Martins.

A World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award was presented by Joana Vicente to:
Circles / Serbia, Germany, France, Croatia, Slovenia (Director: Srdan Golubovic, Screenwriters: Srdjan Koljevic, Melina Pota Koljevic) — Five people are affected by a tragic heroic act. Twenty years later, all of them will confront the past through their own crises. Will they overcome guilt, frustration and their urge for revenge? Will they do the right thing, at all costs? Cast: Aleksandar Bercek, Leon Lucev, Nebojsa Glogovac, Hristina Popovic, Nikola Rakocevic, Vuk Kostic.

A World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Punk Spirit was presented by Sean Farnel to:
Pussy Riot – A Punk Prayer / Russian Federation, United Kingdom (Directors: Mike Lerner, Maxim Pozdorovkin) — Three young women face seven years in a Russian prison for a satirical performance in a Moscow cathedral. But who is really on trial: the three young artists or the society they live in?

The Short Film Audience Award, Presented by YouTube, based on web traffic for 12 short films that screened at the Festival and were featured on The Screening Room, was presented to:
Catnip: Egress to Oblivion? / U.S.A.(Director: Jason Willis) — Catnip is all the rage with today's modern feline, but do we really understand it? This film frankly discusses the facts about this controversial substance.

The following awards were presented at separate ceremonies at the Festival:

Jury prizes and honorable mentions in short filmmaking were presented at a ceremony in Park City, Utah on January 22. The Short Film Grand Jury Prize was awarded to The Whistle / Poland (Director: Grzegorz Zariczny). The Short Film Jury Award: U.S. Fiction was presented to Whiplash / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Damien Chazelle). The Short Film Jury Award: International Fiction was presented to The Date / Finland (Director and screenwriter: Jenni Toivoniemi). The Short Film Jury Award: Non-fiction was presented to Skinningrove / U.S.A. (Director: Michael Almereyda). The Short Film Jury Award: Animation was presented to Irish Folk Furniture / Ireland (Director: Tony Donoghue). A Short Film Special Jury Award for Acting was presented to Joel Nagle in Palimpsest / U.S.A. (Director: Michael Tyburski, Screenwriters: Michael Tyburski, Ben Nabors). A Short Film Special Jury Award was presented to Until the Quiet Comes / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Kahlil Joseph).

The winning directors and projects of the Sundance Institute | Mahindra Global Filmmaking Award, in recognition and support of emerging independent filmmakers from around the world, are: Sarthak Dasgupta, The Music Teacher (India); Jonas Carpignano, A Chjana (Italy/U.S.); Aly Muritiba, The Man Who Killed My Beloved Dead (Brazil); and Vendela Vida & Eva Weber, Let The Northern Lights Erase Your Name (UK/Germany/U.S.).

The Sundance/NHK International Filmmaker Award, honoring and supporting emerging filmmakers, was presented to Kentaro Hagiwara, director of the upcoming film Spectacled Tiger.

The winning documentaries of the second annual Hilton Worldwide LightStay Sustainability Awards, selected by the Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program and Fund with Hilton Worldwide, were: Revolutionary Optimists (Directors: Nicole Newnham and Maren Grainger-Monsen) and Hungry (Director: Sandy McLeod). An honorable mentionwas awarded to Studio H (Director: Patrick Creadon), and the short film Jungle Fish (Director: Louisiana Kreutz) received $5,000.

The 2013 Indian Paintbrush Producer’s Award and $10,000 grant was presented to Toby Halbrooks and James M. Johnston for Ain’t Them Bodies Saints.

The Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize, presented to outstanding feature films focusing on science or technology as a theme, or depicting a scientist, engineer, or mathematician as a major character, was presented to Computer Chess, directed and written by Andrew Bujalski. The film received a $20,000 cash award from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

The 2013 Sundance Film Festival Jurors were: U.S. Documentary Competition: Liz Garbus, Davis Guggenheim, Gary Hustwit, Brett Morgen, Diane Weyermann; U.S. Dramatic Competition: Ed Burns, Wesley Morris, Rodrigo Prieto, Tom Rothman, Clare Stewart; World Cinema Documentary Competition: Sean Farnel, Robert Hawk, Enat Sidi; World Cinema Dramatic Competition: Anurag Kashyap, Nadine Labaki, Joana Vicente; Alfred P. Sloan Award: Jon Amiel, Paula Apsell, Darren Aronofsky, Scott Z. Burns, Dr. André Fenton, Dr. Lisa Randall; Short Film Competition: Mike Farah, Don Hertzfeldt, Magali Simard.

The 2013 Sundance Film Festival presented 119 feature-length films, representing 32 countries and 51 first-time filmmakers (including 27 in competition), and 65 short films. These films were selected from a record 12,146 submissions (429 more than for 2012), including 4,044 feature-length films and 8,102 short films. 103 feature films at the Festival were world premieres.

The 2013 Sundance Film Festival runs through January 27 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah. A complete list of films and events is available at www.sundance.org/festival.

The Sundance Film Festival®
A program of the non-profit Sundance Institute®, the Festival has introduced global audiences to some of the most ground-breaking films of the past two decades, including sex, lies, and videotape, Maria Full of Grace, The Cove, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, An Inconvenient Truth, Precious, Trouble the Water, and Napoleon Dynamite, and through its New Frontier initiative, has showcased the cinematic works of media artists including Isaac Julien, Doug Aitken, Pierre Huyghe, Jennifer Steinkamp, and Matthew Barney. The 2013 Sundance Film Festival® sponsors include: Presenting Sponsors – HP, Acura, Sundance Channel and Chase Sapphire PreferredSM; Leadership Sponsors – DIRECTV, Entertainment Weekly, FOCUS FORWARD, a partnership between GE and CINELAN, Southwest Airlines, Sprint and YouTube; Sustaining Sponsors – Adobe, Canada Goose, Canon U.S.A., Inc., CÎROC Ultra Premium Vodka, FilterForGood®, a partnership between Brita® and Nalgene®, Hilton HHonors and Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts, Intel Corporation, L'Oréal Paris, Recycled Paper Greetings, Stella Artois® and Time Warner Inc. Sundance Institute recognizes critical support from the Utah Governor's Office of Economic Development, and the State of Utah as Festival Host State. The support of these organizations will defray costs associated with the 10-day Festival and the nonprofit Sundance Institute's year-round programs for independent film and theatre artists. www.sundance.org/festival

Sundance Institute
Founded by Robert Redford in 1981, Sundance Institute is a global, nonprofit cultural organization dedicated to nurturing artistic expression in film and theater, and to supporting intercultural dialogue between artists and audiences. The Institute promotes independent storytelling to unite, inform and inspire, regardless of geo-political, social, religious or cultural differences. Internationally recognized for its annual Sundance Film Festival and its artistic development programs for directors, screenwriters, producers, film composers, playwrights and theatre artists, Sundance Institute has nurtured such projects as Born into Brothels, Trouble the Water, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Amreeka, An Inconvenient Truth, Spring Awakening, Light in the Piazza and Angels in America. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

# # # For images go to www.sundance.org/images

Kentaro Hagiwara Wins 2013 Sundance/NHK International Filmmaker Award

2013-01-26T19:29:59+00:00

Park City, UT — Sundance Institute and NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) have announced Kentaro Hagiwara, director of the upcoming film, Spectacled Tiger, as winner of the 2013 Sundance/NHK International Filmmaker Award. The award was presented at a private ceremony at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.

Created in 1996 to celebrate 100 years of cinema, the annual award recognizes and supports a visionary filmmaker on his or her next film. Sundance Institute staff works closely with the winner throughout the year, providing creative and strategic support through the development, financing and production of their films.

Films previously supported by this award include Beasts of the Southern Wild, by Benh Zeitlin, and May in the Summer, by Cherien Dabis, which had its world premiere at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival.

Kentaro Hagiwara is an alum of the inaugural Screenwriters Workshop in Tokyo, a collaboration between Sundance Institute and its longtime partner NHK. Kentaro is a graduate of the Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles, and the writer-director of the short film Super Star. Spectacled Tiger will be his first feature film.

Spectacled Tiger, co-written by Kyohta Fujimoto, is a romantic, coming-of-age film about a high school trivia quiz wunderkind, Taiga Suzuki, who lives in a world where things are only black or white, correct or incorrect. But when Taiga finds himself smitten by a new girl in the school, Misaki, he encounters the difficulty of forcing his restrictive world view upon her. Struggling to deal with new feelings, Taiga gradually loses his grip on what is true and begins searching for the real meaning of correctness.

The Sundance Institute Feature Film Program
Since 1981, the Sundance Institute Feature Film Program (FFP) has supported more than 450 independent filmmakers whose distinctive, singular work has engaged audiences worldwide. The program’s approach to the discovery and development of independent artists has become a model for creative development programs internationally. Program staff fully embrace the unique vision of each filmmaker, encouraging a rigorous creative process with a focus on original and deeply personal storytelling. Each year, up to 30 emerging artists from the U.S. and around the world participate in a year-round continuum of support which can include the Screenwriters and Directors Labs, Creative Producing Fellowship and Lab, Composers Lab, Creative Producing Summit, ongoing creative and strategic advice, significant production and postproduction resources, a Rough-Cut Screening Initiative, a Screenplay Reading Series, and direct financial support through project-specific grants and artist fellowships. In many cases, the Institute has helped the Program’s fellows attach producers and talent, secure financing, and assemble other significant resources to move their projects toward production and presentation. In addition, the FFP is providing strategic resources to completed Lab films in distribution and marketing across all platforms to support and expand their connection to audiences worldwide.

Over its 30-year history, the Sundance Institute Feature Film Program has supported an extensive list of award-winning and groundbreaking independent films which include Benh Zeitlin’s Beasts Of The Southern Wild, Craig Zobel’s Compliance, Mike Birbiglia’s Sleepwalk With Me, Haifaa Al Mansour’s Wadjda, Sally El Hosaini’s My Brother the Devil, Ira Sachs’ Keep the Lights On, Sean Durkin’s Martha Marcy May Marlene, Dee Rees’ Pariah, Maryam Keshavarz’s Circumstance, Eric Mendelsohn's 3 Backyards, Shirin Neshat's Women Without Men, Cherien Dabis' Amreeka, Cary Fukunaga's Sin Nombre, Alex Rivera's Sleep Dealer, Fernando Eimbcke's Lake Tahoe, Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden’s Half Nelson, Andrea Arnold's Red Road, Miranda July’s Me and You and Everyone We Know, Hany Abu-Assad’s Paradise Now, Debra Granik’s Down to the Bone, Ira Sachs’ Forty Shades of Blue, Josh Marston’s Maria Full of Grace, Lisa Cholodenko’s Laurel Canyon, Peter Sollett’s Raising Victor Vargas, John Cameron Mitchell’s Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Darren Aronofsky’s Requiem for a Dream, Kimberly Peirce’s Boys Don't Cry, Tony Bui’s Three Seasons, Walter Salles’ Central Station, Chris Eyre and Sherman Alexie’s Smoke Signals, Allison Anders' Mi Vida Loca, Paul Thomas Anderson’s Hard Eight, Tamara Jenkins’ Slums of Beverly Hills, and Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs. www.sundance.org/featurefilm

Sundance Institute
Founded by Robert Redford in 1981, Sundance Institute is a global, nonprofit cultural organization dedicated to nurturing artistic expression in film and theater, and to supporting intercultural dialogue between artists and audiences. The Institute promotes independent storytelling to unite, inform and inspire, regardless of geo-political, social, religious or cultural differences. Internationally recognized for its annual Sundance Film Festival and its artistic development programs for directors, screenwriters, producers, film composers, playwrights and theatre artists, Sundance Institute has nurtured such projects as Born into Brothels, Trouble the Water, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Amreeka, An Inconvenient Truth, Spring Awakening, Light in the Piazza and Angels in America. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

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For images go to www.sundance.org/images

Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize Awarded to Computer Chess at 2013 Sundance Film Festival

2013-01-24T17:00:14+00:00

Park City, UT — Sundance Institute today announced the winner of the Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, as well as the recipient of the Alfred P. Sloan Lab Fellowship, presented through the Sundance Institute Feature Film Program.

These activities, as well as a panel at the Festival, are part of the Sundance Institute Science-in-Film Initiative, which is made possible by a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. 2013 marks the 10th Anniversary of the Alfred P. Sloan Science in Film initiative, which supports the development and exhibition of new independent film projects that explore science and technology themes or that depict scientists, engineers and mathematicians in engaging and innovative ways. The initiative includes the Sundance Institute / Alfred P. Sloan Commissioning Grant, and a recipient for 2013 will be announced soon.

“We are delighted to recognize Andrew Bujalski's quirky, original film, Computer Chess as this year's winner and to add it to our impressive ten year list of Sloan Sundance winners, " said Doron Weber, Vice President, Programs at the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. "Coupled with Nicole Kassel's Screenwriting Lab fellowship for a script based on Barbara Kingsolver's ‘Prodigal Summer’ and a Commissioning Grant for another exciting science screenplay that we will announce shortly, it is clear that the 10-year partnership between Sloan and Sundance continues to set a new standard for science and technology films.”

Said Keri Putnam, Executive Director, Sundance Institute, “The Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize recognizes projects grounded in the exploration of math, science and technology. Advances in these fields are constantly altering our world, and we are proud to be able to provide an outlet for artists developing scripts pursuing these critical themes.”

Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize

Computer Chess, directed and written by Andrew Bujalski, has been awarded the 2013 Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize and will receive a $20,000 cash award by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. Now in its tenth year, the Prize is selected by a jury of film and science professionals and presented to outstanding feature films focusing on science or technology as a theme, or depicting a scientist, engineer or mathematician as a major character.

Computer Chess is an existential comedy about the brilliant men who taught machines to play chess – back when the machines seemed clumsy and we seemed smart. The cast includesPatrick Riester, Myles Paige, James Curry, Robin Schwartz, Gerald Peary and Wiley Wiggins. The jury presented the award to the film for its “off-beat and formalistically adventurous exploration of questions of artificial intelligence and human connections, unfolding during an early computer chess tournament.”

Previous Alfred P. Sloan Prize Winners include: Jake Schreier, Christopher Ford, Robot & Frank (2012); Musa Syeed, Valley of Saints (2012); Mike Cahill and Brit Marling, Another Earth (2011); Diane Bell, Obselidia (2010); Max Mayer, Adam (2009); Alex Rivera, Sleep Dealer (2008); Shi-Zheng Chen, Dark Matter (2007); Andrucha Waddington, The House of Sand (2006); Werner Herzog, Grizzly Man (2005), Shane Carruth, Primer (2004) and Marc Decena, Dopamine (2003). Several past winners have also been awarded Jury Awards at the Festival, including the Grand Jury Prize for Primer, the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award for Sleep Dealer and the Excellence in Cinematography Award for Obselidia.

Andrew Bujalski
Andrew Bujalski was born in Boston in 1977 and studied film at Harvard’s Department of Visual and Environmental Studies. He wrote and directed the films Funny Ha Ha, Mutual Appreciation, and Beeswax. His first three films all appeared on the New York Times’s “Best of the Year” lists. He types 89 words per minute.

As previously announced, this year’s Alfred P. Sloan jury members are:

Jon Amiel
After studies in English literature, Jon Amiel graduated from Cambridge University and ran the Oxford and Cambridge Shakespeare Company, which often toured the USA. He became the Hampstead Theatre Company's literary manager and began directing there, relocating to the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Amiel joined the BBC as a story editor, studied television directing and did TV work through the late 1970s and early 1980s, scoring attention in 1985 with The Silent Twins (1985), an unforgettable recreation of the tragic "silent twins" June and Jennifer Gibbons, who spoke only to each other.

After international acclaim for The Singing Detective (1986), Amiel's feature film debut, Queen of Hearts (1989), premiered at Cannes, was named Best First Film at the Montreal Festival and won the Birmingham Festival's Best British Feature Film Award. Amiel's Tune in Tomorrow... (1990), based on Mario Vargas Llosa's “Aunt Julia And The Scriptwriter,” won the Deauville Festival's Prix Publique. He followed with the period drama Sommersby (1993), the thriller Copycat (1995), The Man Who Knew Too Little (1997) and moved into action-adventure with Entrapment (1999) and The Core (2003).

Paula Apsell
As Director of the WGBH Science Unit and Senior Executive Producer of the PBS science series NOVA, Paula Apsell has overseen the production of hundreds of acclaimed science documentaries, including such distinguished miniseries as The Fabric of the Cosmos with Brian Greene, Origins with Neil deGrasse Tyson, Making Stuff with David Pogue and the magazine spin-off NOVA scienceNOW. NOVA is the nation’s most watched science series, a top site on pbs.org, and recipient of every major broadcasting honor, including the Emmy®, the Peabody®, and the duPont-Columbia Gold Baton. Paula has won numerous individual awards and has served on many boards including the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. She was recently journalist in residence at UC Santa Barbara’s Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics.

Darren Aronofsky
Academy Award® Nominated Director Darren Aronofsky was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. His most recent film, Black Swan, won Natalie Portman the Academy Award® for Best Actress and received four other nominations, including Best Picture. The film received scores of other accolades, appeared on over 200 critical Top Ten lists, and swept the 2011 Independent Spirit Award with wins for Best Film, Best Director, Best Actress and Best Cinematography. Prior to Black Swan, Darren directed The Wrestler. The film premiered at the Venice Film Festival where it won the esteemed Golden Lion making it only the third American film in history to win this grand prize. He also directed The Fountain, starring Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz, and Requiem for a Dream, which was named to over 150 Top Ten lists. Darren’s first feature, π, won the Director’s Award at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival and an Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay. He is currently at work on Noah, based on the biblical story of Noah’s ark. Among his honors, the American Film Institute gave Darren the prestigious Franklin J. Schaffner Alumni Medal, the Stockholm Film Festival presented him the Golden Horse Visionary Award, and he has won three Independent Spirit Awards.

Scott Z. Burns
Scott Burns is screenwriter, director and producer. He wrote the original screenplay for Contagion, directed by Steven Soderbergh, starring Matt Damon, penned the screen adaptation of Soderbergh's The Informant! and co-wrote the Academy Award® winning Bourne Ultimatum, directed by Paul Greengrass. He was a producer on An Inconvenient Truth, the Academy Award® winning documentary, for which he received the Humanitas Prize and the Stanley Kramer Award from the Producers Guild of America. Scott recently completed production on Side Effects, a psychological thriller, slated for release in early 2013. It stars Jude Law, Rooney Mara, Catherine Zeta Jones and Channing Tatum and is again directed by Steven Soderbergh with Scott writing and producing along with Greg Jacobs and Lorenzo Di Bonaventura. Currently, Scott is writing The Library, a stage play based on the 1999 shootings at Columbine High School with Steven Soderbergh directing and Kennedy/Marshall producing. The play is under development at the Public Theater in New York City. Scott began his career in advertising and was part of the creative team responsible for the original "Got Milk?" campaign. His advertising work has been recognized by the Clio Awards, the Cannes Film Festival, and the New York Film Festival.

Dr. André Fenton
Dr. André Fenton, is a neuroscientist, biomedical engineer and entrepreneur working on three related problems: how brains store information in memory; how brains coordinate knowledge to selectively activate relevant information and suppress irrelevant information; and how to record electrical activity from brain cells in freely-moving subjects. André and colleagues identified PKMzeta as the first memory storage molecule, a discovery identified by Science, the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s journal, as one of the ten most important breakthroughs in all the science reported in 2006. Recordings of electrical brain activity in André’s lab are elucidating the physiology of cognitive dysfunction in schizophrenia. It was recently discovered that preemptive cognitive training during adolescence changes the brain sufficiently to prevent the adult brain dysfunction and cognitive impairments that arises from brain damage during early life in a schizophrenia-related animal model. André is a Professor of Neural Science at New York University’s Center for Neural Science. He founded Bio-Signal Group Corp., which is developing an inexpensive, miniature wireless EEG system for functional brain monitoring of patients in emergency medicine applications and other clinical scenarios.

Dr. Lisa Randall
Dr. Lisa Randall studies theoretical particle physics and cosmology at Harvard University where she is Frank J. Baird, Jr., Professor of Science. Her research connects theoretical insights addressing puzzles in our current understanding of the properties of matter, the universe, and space. Dr. Randall is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and is the recipient of many awards and honorary degrees. Professor Randall was included in Time Magazine's “100 Most Influential People” of 2007, was among Esquire Magazine's “75 Most Influential People of the 21st Century," and was one of 40 people featured in “The Rolling Stone 40th Anniversary issue" in 2008. Dr. Randall's two books, Warped Passages (2005) and Knocking on Heaven’s Door (2011) were featured on the lists of New York Times 100 Most Influential Books. Her ebook, Higgs Discovery: The Power of Empty Space, was published last summer.

Sundance Institute / Alfred P. Sloan Lab Fellowship

Prodigal Summer (U.S.A.)
Nicole Kassell (co-writer/director)

Prodigal Summer, co-written by Barbara Kingsolver and based her on best selling novel, weaves together three utterly unexpected love stories through the course of one summer in southern Appalachia. In this extravagant ode to the natural orders of biology and the human spirit, the forces of life, death and procreation connect every life that inhabits the lush landscape.

Nicole Kassell is an MFA graduate of NYU’s Film Program. Her first feature, The Woodsman,premiered in competition at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival and went on to receive numerous accolades including a CACAE (art house award) at the Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival; The Jury Prize at the Deauville Film Festival; a Humanitas nomination; and The Satyajit Ray Award at the London Film Festival. In addition, Kassell was nominated for a Gotham Award (Breakthrough Director) and Independent Spirit Award (Best First Feature) and was recognized by Variety as one of ten “directors to watch.” Her latest feature, A Little Bit of Heaven, stars Kate Hudson, Gael Garcia Bernal, and Kathy Bates. Kassell has continued to write and direct film and episodic television. She lives in New York City with her husband and two children.

Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
Founded in 1934, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation is a non-profit philanthropy that makes grants in science, technology and economic performance. This Sloan-Sundance partnership forms part of a broader national program by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to stimulate leading artists in film, television, and theater; to create more realistic and compelling stories about science and technology; and to challenge existing stereotypes about scientists, engineers, and mathematicians in the popular imagination. Over the past decade, the Foundation has partnered with some of the top film schools in the country – including AFI, Carnegie Mellon, Columbia, NYU, UCLA, and USC – and established annual awards in screenwriting and film production and an annual first-feature award for alumni. The Foundation has also started an annual Sloan Feature Film Prize at the Hamptons International Film Festival and initiated new screenwriting and film production workshops at the Hamptons and Tribeca Film Festival and with Film Independent. As more finished films emerge from this developmental pipeline—four features were completed this year, with half a dozen more on deck—the foundation has also partnered with the Coolidge Corner Theater and the Arthouse Convergence to screen science films in up to 40 theaters nationwide. The Foundation also has an active theater program and commissions over a dozen science plays each year from the Ensemble Studio Theater, Manhattan Theatre Club and Playwright Horizons.

Sundance Institute
Founded by Robert Redford in 1981, Sundance Institute is a global, nonprofit cultural organization dedicated to nurturing artistic expression in film and theater, and to supporting intercultural dialogue between artists and audiences. The Institute promotes independent storytelling to unite, inform and inspire, regardless of geo-political, social, religious or cultural differences. Internationally recognized for its annual Sundance Film Festival and its artistic development programs for directors, screenwriters, producers, film composers, playwrights and theatre artists, Sundance Institute has nurtured such projects as Born into Brothels, Trouble the Water, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Amreeka, An Inconvenient Truth, Spring Awakening, Light in the Piazza and Angels in America. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

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For images go to http://www.sundance.org/images

2013 Sundance Film Festival Announces Jury Awards in Short Filmmaking

2013-01-23T05:45:48+00:00

Park City, UT— Sundance Institute this evening announced the jury prizes and honorable mentions in short filmmaking at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. The awards were presented at a ceremony in Park City, Utah.

This year's Short Film program is comprised of 65 short films selected from a record 8,102 submissions.
The Short Film jurors are: Mike Farah, President of Production for Funny or Die; Don Hertzfeldt, Academy Award® nominated American independent filmmaker; and Magali Simard, short film programmer for the Toronto International Film Festival.

The Short Film program at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival is presented by YouTube. Twelve short films from the 2013 Festival are featured on The Screening Room, a YouTube channel curated by Sundance Institute. After the Festival, the Institute will continue to curate The Screening Room, highlighting short films each week.

Trevor Groth, Director of Programming for the Sundance Film Festival, said, “Our Short Film program this year represented a broad range of extraordinary short filmmaking talent, showcasing the diverse approaches to storytelling that one can achieve with limited time. The short film awards further distinguish those that pushed the medium in new directions and affected audiences in powerful and lasting ways.”

Short film award recipients will also be honored at the Festival’s feature film Awards Ceremony, hosted by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, on Saturday, January 26 at 7:00 p.m. MT and live-streamed at www.sundance.org/festival.

The 2013 Sundance Film Festival runs through January 27 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah. A complete list of films and events is available at www.sundance.org/festival.

The Short Film Grand Jury Prize was awarded to:
The Whistle / Poland (Director: Grzegorz Zariczny) — Marcin, a lowest-leagues football referee who lives in a small town near Krakow, dreams of better times. At his mother’s urging, he decides to change his life and find himself a girlfriend and a better job.

The Short Film Jury Award: U.S. Fiction was presented to:
Whiplash / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Damien Chazelle) — An aspiring drummer enters an elite conservatory’s top jazz orchestra.

The Short Film Jury Award: International Fiction was presented to:
The Date / Finland (Director and screenwriter: Jenni Toivoniemi) — Tino’s manhood is put to the test in front of two women when he has to host a date for Diablo, the family’s stud cat.

The Short Film Jury Award: Non-fiction was presented to:
Skinningrove / U.S.A. (Director: Michael Almereyda) — Photographer Chris Killip shares unpublished images chronicling time spent among the fiercely independent residents of a remote English fishing village.

The Short Film Jury Award: Animation was presented to:
Irish Folk Furniture / Ireland (Director: Tony Donoghue) — In Ireland, old hand-painted furniture is often associated with hard times, with poverty, and with a time many would rather forget. In this animated documentary, 16 pieces of traditional folk furniture are repaired and returned home.

A Short Film Special Jury Award for Acting was presented to:
Joel Naglein: Palimpsest / U.S.A. (Director: Michael Tyburski, Screenwriters: Michael Tyburski, Ben Nabors) — A successful house tuner provides clients with a unique form of therapy that examines subtle details in their living spaces.

A Short Film Special Jury Award was presented to:
Until the Quiet Comes / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Kahlil Joseph) — Shot in the Nickerson Gardens housing projects in Watts, Los Angeles, this film deals with themes of violence, camaraderie and spirituality through the lens of magical realism.

Sundance Institute
Founded by Robert Redford in 1981, Sundance Institute is a global, nonprofit cultural organization dedicated to nurturing artistic expression in film and theater, and to supporting intercultural dialogue between artists and audiences. The Institute promotes independent storytelling to unite, inform and inspire, regardless of geo-political, social, religious or cultural differences. Internationally recognized for its annual Sundance Film Festival and its artistic development programs for directors, screenwriters, producers, film composers, playwrights and theatre artists, Sundance Institute has nurtured such projects as Born into Brothels, Trouble the Water, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Amreeka, An Inconvenient Truth, Spring Awakening, Light in the Piazza and Angels in America. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

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For images go to www.sundance.org/images

2013 Sundance Institute | Mahindra Global Filmmaking Awards

2013-01-23T01:00:14+00:00

PARK CITY, UT, U.S.A. — Sundance Institute and India’s Mahindra Group today announced the four winners of the 2013 Sundance Institute | Mahindra Global Filmmaking Awards, in recognition and support of emerging independent filmmakers from around the world. The winning directors and projects are: Sarthak Dasgupta, THE MUSIC TEACHER from India; Jonas Carpignano, A CHJANAfrom Italy-US; Aly Muritiba, THE MAN WHO KILLED MY BELOVED DEAD from Brazil; and Vendela Vida & Eva Weber, LET THE NORTHERN LIGHTS ERASE YOUR NAMEfrom UK-Germany-US.

The awards were presented at a private ceremony at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, U.S.A., by Rohit Khattar, Chairman, Mumbai Mantra, Michelle Satter, Founding Director, Feature Film Program, Sundance Institute, and Paul Federbush, International Director, Feature Film Program, Sundance Institute.

The Sundance Institute | Mahindra Global Filmmaking Awards are part of a multifaceted collaboration that exemplifies a commitment to and support of world cinema by the Mahindra Group, one of the largest industrial conglomerates in India known throughout the world for its dedication to excellence and to social responsibility, and the nonprofit Sundance Institute, one of the world’s leading cultural organizations. This is the third of the three-year collaboration between the two organizations.

“At a time when there is no dearth of issues around the world that are crying out to be heard, the Global Filmmaking award recognizes independent film-makers who give expression to those voices. The Mahindra Group is proud to assist the Sundance Institute in this endeavour, which, in line with the Group’s ‘Rise’ philosophy, aims to drive a positive change in communities across the world,” said the Chairman & Managing Director of the Mahindra Group, Anand Mahindra.

"We are grateful to the Mahindra Group for building with us, this multifaceted program, which embraces our joint global commitment to nurturing new storytellers and getting their voices out to the widest possible audiences," said Sundance Institute President and Founder Robert Redford.

Said Rohit Khattar, Chairman, Mumbai Mantra, “These are exciting times for Independent Cinema in India and across the world. We feel privileged to help support Sundance Institute in its mission of nurturing and honing emerging talent. We congratulate this year’s four Award Winners and look forward to hearing much more about their incredible work in the future.”

Michelle Satter, Founding Director, Feature Film Program, Sundance Institute, and Paul Federbrush, International Director, Feature Film Program, Sundance Institute, said, “As we enter the third year of our collaboration with Mahindra, we are very excited about supporting emerging international filmmakers who are telling stories that will resonate for audiences worldwide. The Award winners announced today represent filmmakers with singular vision and projects of quality and distinction. Sundance staff and advisors will continue to provide creative and business resources needed to get their films made at critical moments in their journey.”

The Sundance Institute and Mahindra Group collaboration also includes the Mumbai Mantra | Sundance Institute Screenwriters Lab in India, which provides an annual opportunity for eight screenwriters from India to develop their works under the guidance of accomplished international screenwriters in an environment that encourages storytelling at the highest level. The first Mumbai Mantra | Sundance Institute Screenwriters Lab took place in March 2012 and was an overwhelming success. The distinguished group of 11 Creative Advisors included Guillermo Arriaga, Marcos Bernstein, Michael Goldenberg, Asif Kapadia, Kasi Lemmons, Jose Rivera, Howard A Rodman, Audrey Wells, Shekhar Kapur and Anjum Rajabali. The second edition will take place in March 2013 in India.

Each of the four winning filmmakers will receive a cash award of $10,000, attendance at the Sundance Film Festival for targeted industry and creative meetings, year-round mentoring from Institute staff and creative advisors, participation in a Feature Film Program Lab, and ongoing creative and strategic support. This is the second year that one of the four award recipients is an Indian director – a commitment to fulfill the vision of Mahindra and of Sundance Institute to champion a new generation of Indian filmmakers. Last year, the Indian recipient for the Global Filmmaking Award was Shonali Bose for her project, Margarita. With A Straw.

The winners of the 2013 Sundance Institute/Mahindra Global Filmmaking Award are:

Jonas Carpignano / A CHJANA (Italy/US): After leaving his native Burkina Faso in search of a better life, Ayiva makes the perilous journey to Italy; though he finds compatriots along the way, they are unprepared for the intolerance facing immigrants in their newly-claimed home.
Jonas Carpignano is an Italian-American filmmaker currently based in New York City and Rome. While raised and educated in New York, he has spent periods of time in Italy where he began his career working as an assistant director. Since enrolling at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, Carpignano has made several short films that have screened in numerous prestigious festivals throughout the world. Recently, he was awarded the Martin Scorsese Young Filmmaker Award, and his latest short film A Chjàna won the Controcampo Award for Best Short Film at the 68th Venice Film Festival.

Sarthak Dasgupta / THE MUSIC TEACHER (India): The life of a small town music teacher takes a sharp turn when an estranged ex-student, now a celebrity in the city, comes to visit after several years. The teacher, now lovelorn, prepares to meet her, not knowing if she still bears the same feelings about him as she did those many years back.
Sarthak Dasgupta’s debut feature is the critically acclaimed The Great Indian Butterfly, which screened at several International Film Festivals before its release in 2010. Sarthak holds a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering and a Master’s degree in Business Management.

Aly Muritiba / THE MAN WHO KILLED MY BELOVED DEAD (Brazil): After the death of his wife, Paulo mourns her each day by repairing her clothes and tending to the personal belongings she’s left behind. One day, he finds a video tape that will change his life.
Aly Muritiba is a partner at the independent production company, Grafo Audiovisual. As writer-director, he has directed six short films, a tele film and a feature film. His most recent short film, A Fábrica, is a winner of 60 film awards (including Best Live action in CFC World Wide Short Film Festival, Best Short Film in Cartagena das Indias and Honorable Mention in Clermont-Ferrand short film festival). A Fábrica was recently shortlisted for the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short.

Eva Weber / LET THE NORTHERN LIGHTS ERASE YOUR NAME (UK/Germany): When 28-year-old Clarissa discovers on the eve of her father's funeral that everything she believed true of her life was a lie, she flees New York and travels to the Arctic Circle to uncover the secrets of her mother who mysteriously vanished many years before.
Originally from Germany, Eva Weber is a London-based filmmaker working in both documentary and fiction. Her multi-award-winning films have screened at numerous international film festivals, such as Sundance, Edinburgh, SXSW, BFI London, and Telluride; and have also been broadcast on UK and international television. Her film, The Solitary Life of Cranes was described as “one of the most absorbing documentaries of the year” by The Observer newspaper in the UK, and selected as one of the top five films of the year by critic Nick Bradshaw in Sight & Sound’s annual film review in 2008. Eva is currently developing a number of feature projects, including the fiction/documentary hybrid ‘Ghost Wives’. She has also been selected to direct the 20-minute fiction film, ‘Field Study’. Funded through the British Film Institute’s shorts scheme, filming is scheduled for late spring 2013.

Sundance Institute
Founded by Robert Redford in 1981, Sundance Institute is a global, nonprofit cultural organization dedicated to nurturing artistic expression in film and theater, and to supporting intercultural dialogue between artists and audiences. The Institute promotes independent storytelling to unite, inform and inspire, regardless of geo-political, social, religious or cultural differences. Internationally recognized for its annual Sundance Film Festival and its artistic development programs for directors, screenwriters, producers, film composers, playwrights and theatre artists, Sundance Institute has nurtured such projects as Born into Brothels, Trouble the Water, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Amreeka, An Inconvenient Truth, Spring Awakening, Light in the Piazza and Angels in America. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

The Mahindra Group
The Mahindra Group focuses on enabling people to rise through solutions that power mobility, drive rural prosperity, enhance urban lifestyles and increase business efficiency.
A USD 15.9 billion multinational group based in Mumbai, India, Mahindra employs more than 155,000 people in over 100 countries. Mahindra operates in the key industries that drive economic growth, enjoying a leadership position in tractors, utility vehicles, information technology and vacation ownership. In addition, Mahindra enjoys a strong presence in the agribusiness, aerospace, components, consulting services, defence, energy, financial services, industrial equipment, logistics, real estate, retail, steel and two wheeler industries.

In 2012, Mahindra featured on the Forbes Global 2000 list, a listing of the biggest and most powerful listed companies in the world.

www.mahindra.com

For further enquiries on The Mahindra Group
Roma Balwani
Senior Vice President – Group Communications
Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd.
Phone: +91 22 2490 1441
Email: balwani.roma@mahindra.com

Sundance Institute and Women In Film Los Angeles Study Examines Gender Disparity in Independent Fil

2013-01-21T20:00:42+00:00

Study Conducted by Stacy L. Smith, Ph.D., Katherine Pieper, Ph.D. and Marc Choueiti at Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA — Keri Putnam, Executive Director, Sundance Institute, and Cathy Schulman, President, Women In Film Los Angeles, announced today the results of a first-of-its-kind research study examining gender disparity in American independent film. The study is part of a collaboration between Sundance Institute and Women In Film Los Angeles to support independent female filmmakers. Results were shared at a gathering of film and industry leaders at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.

The study was commissioned by Sundance Institute and Women In Film Los Angeles and was conducted by Stacy L. Smith, Ph.D., Katherine Pieper, Ph.D. and Marc Choueiti at Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, University of Southern California.

Putnam said, "The results of this research are encouraging, and we hope they will highlight the barriers and opportunities facing women behind the camera. We look forward to collaborating with Women In Film Los Angeles and other allied organizations to raise awareness and inspire action around this important issue.”

Schulman said of the results, “This data shows us that there is a higher representation of female filmmakers in independent film as compared to Hollywood – but it also highlights the work that is still to be done for women to achieve equal footing in the field.”

The research was conducted with a two-prong approach. First, it quantitatively assessed the gender of 11,197 directors, writers, producers, cinematographers and editors in U.S. movies programmed for the Sundance Film Festival between 2002 and 2012 to identify the prevalence of female filmmakers. Second, researchers documented the qualitative experiences of female filmmakers through interviews with filmmakers and film industry representatives.

Findings include:

Of U.S. films selected for the Sundance Film Festival from 2002-2012, 29.8% of filmmakers (directors, writers, producers, cinematographers and editors) were female.
Across all behind-the-camera positions, females were most likely to be producers. As the prestige of the producing post increased, the percentage of female participation decreased. This trend was observed in both narrative and documentary filmmaking. Fewer than one third of all narrative producers but just over 40% of associate producers were female. In documentaries, 42.5% of producers and 59.5% of associate producers were female.
When compared to films directed by males, those directed by females feature more women filmmakers behind the camera (writers, producers, cinematographers, editors). This is true in both narratives (21% increase) and documentaries (24% increase).
Females were half as likely to be directors of narrative films than documentaries (16.9% vs. 34.5%).
Female directors of Sundance Film Festival films exceed those of the top 100 box office films. 23.9% of directors at the Sundance Film Festival from 2002-2012 were female, compared to 4.4% of directors across the top 100 box office films each year from 2002 to 2012 that were female.
41.5% of the female directors across 1,100 top-grossing movies of the past ten years had been supported by Sundance Institute.
Five major areas were identified as hampering women’s career development in film:
- Gendered financial barriers (43.1%)
- Male-dominated industry networking (39.2%)
- Stereotyping on set (15.7%)
- Work and family balance (19.6%)
- Exclusionary hiring decisions (13.7%)
Opportunities exist to improve the situation for women in independent film. Individuals mentioned three key ways to change the status quo:
- Mentoring and encouragement for early career women (36.7%)
- Improving access to finance (26.5%)
- Raising awareness of the problem (20.4%)

View full report

The first initiative of the Sundance Institute and Women In Film Los Angeles collaboration, which began in January 2012, was to create a Mentorship Program, matching 17 Sundance Institute-supported women directors and producers with leaders in the field. Sundance Institute and Women In Film Los Angeles also convened meetings in New York and Los Angeles this fall with leading organizations working on gender in media. These Allied Organizations will be involved in and lend counsel to the project, and include: AFI; Alliance of Women Directors; Women in Film New York; Athena Film Festival / Women & Hollywood; Chapman University; Chicken & Egg; Film Independent; Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media; IFP; Impact Partners Women’s Fund; Loreen Arbus Foundation; Mayor's Office of Film, Theatre and Broadcasting, NYC; Paley Center for Media; PGA; Tangerine; UCLA; USC; Women Make Movies; Women Moving Millions; and Women’s Media Center.

The Sundance Institute and Women In Film Los Angeles collaboration is supported by LUNA and JPMorgan Chase Foundation.

Sundance Institute
Founded by Robert Redford in 1981, Sundance Institute is a global, nonprofit cultural organization dedicated to nurturing artistic expression in film and theater, and to supporting intercultural dialogue between artists and audiences. The Institute promotes independent storytelling to unite, inform and inspire, regardless of geo-political, social, religious or cultural differences. Internationally recognized for its annual Sundance Film Festival and its artistic development programs for directors, screenwriters, producers, film composers, playwrights and theatre artists, Sundance Institute has nurtured such projects as Born into Brothels, Trouble the Water, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Amreeka, An Inconvenient Truth, Spring Awakening, Light in the Piazza and Angels in America. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

Women In Film
Women In Film is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping women achieve their highest potential within the global entertainment, communication and media industries and to preserving the legacy of women within those industries. Founded in 1973, Women In Film and its Women In Film Foundation provide for members an extensive network of contacts, educational programs, scholarships, film finishing funds and grants, access to employment opportunities, mentorships and numerous practical services in support of this mission. www.wif.org

Sundance Institute Artist Services Program Expands Self-Distribution Opportunities

2013-01-17T23:00:46+00:00

Artist Services Announces Collaboration with REELHOUSE, VHX, VIMEO and TUGG, Offering Filmmakers Additional Platforms and Tools

Los Angeles, CA — Keri Putnam, Executive Director of Sundance Institute, today announced that the Institute’s Artist Services program – which provides Institute artists with exclusive opportunities for creative self-distribution, marketing and financing solutions for their work – has expanded to include selected films supported by one foundation and five nonprofit organizations. Additionally, these organizations will join with Sundance Institute in continuing to shape the program and the services it offers.

The Bertha Foundation, BRITDOC, Cinereach, Film Independent, the Independent Filmmaker Project and the San Francisco Film Society will each select films that they have supported to receive access to best-in-class digital distribution arrangements that have been negotiated by Sundance Institute Artist Services. These services are targeted for filmmakers who intend to pursue an independent release plan. In support of these filmmakers, the Institute will curate submitted films and work closely each organization, the filmmakers, and exclusive aggregation partner Cinedigm – New Video to develop independent distribution strategies. Furthermore, each organization will work with the Institute to expand educational opportunities to their alumni building on the model of the Artist Services Workshop that takes place each year during the Sundance Film Festival.

“Now more than ever filmmakers need to be creative and entrepreneurial in order to get their stories to audiences. Sundance Institute embraces cross-organizational collaboration in an effort to increase the collective impact on the field; it is in this spirit that we welcome the input of our colleagues to further help us shape the Artist Services program,” said Putnam. “Our hope is that it contributes to the long-term sustainability of independent film careers and a greater diversity of films reaching audiences each year.”

With the addition of new partners Tugg, Reelhouse, VHX, and Vimeo, Sundance Institute is expanding its suite of digital platforms and tools offered by Artist Services. Current partners include ten digital retailers as well as Kickstarter , GoWatchIt, and Topspin Media. Tugg is a web-platform that allows filmmakers and fans to create screening events at their local theater. Direct-to-fan platforms Reelhouse, VHX and Vimeo, like longtime Artist Services collaborator Topspin Media, will work with Sundance Institute and its interested supported filmmakers to develop opportunities to sell their films and merchandise directly to end users. All four new partners will participate in the annual Artist Services Workshop on Monday, January 21, at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.

Since the Artist Services program launched in January 2011, more than $3.2 million has been raised for nearly 100 Institute artists’ projects via Kickstarter and more than 40 films are now accessible by the public on a variety of platforms and storefronts.

The exclusive aggregation partner for distribution participating in the Artist Services program is Cinedigm – New Video. The Artist Services initiative is made possible by The Bertha Foundation. These deals were brokered via pro bono legal services generously provided by law firm O’Melveny & Myers LLP, which has built the legal framework for the Artist Services program and participating filmmakers since its inception.

Sundance Institute
Founded by Robert Redford in 1981, Sundance Institute is a global, nonprofit cultural organization dedicated to nurturing artistic expression in film and theatre, and to supporting intercultural dialogue between artists and audiences. The Institute promotes independent storytelling to unite, inform, and inspire, regardless of geopolitical, social, religious, or cultural differences. Internationally recognized for its annual Sundance Film Festival and its artistic development programs for directors, screenwriters, producers, film composers, playwrights, and theatre artists, Sundance Institute has nurtured such projects as Born Into Brothels, Trouble the Water, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Amreeka, An Inconvenient Truth, Spring Awakening, Light in the Piazza, and Angels in America. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

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QUOTES FROM COLLABORATING ORGANIZATIONS

The Bertha Foundation
“The Bertha Foundation has been a proud supporter of the Artist Services initiative since it began,” said Rebecca Lichtenfeld of Bertha Philanthropies. “It not only gives films the much-deserved opportunity to reach broader audiences but it also offer resources for the filmmaker and producers that assist with their distribution strategies. We are looking forward to this next phase of the initiative and the support it will provide Bertha Foundation film grantees among others.” http://www.berthafoundation.org/

BritDocs
"Wow. Thank you, Sundance Institute.” remarked Jess Search, CEO Britdoc Foundation, “BRITDOC is delighted to be joining Artist Services and to be able to get some films we love to audiences who will love them also. Artist Services is just the kind of smart distribution intervention that independent filmmakers, independent organizations like ours and independent audiences need. Kudos to Sundance Institute for having put it together and we look forward to being part of the innovations to come." http://britdoc.org/

Cinereach
Philipp Engelhorn, Founder & Executive Director, Cinereach, stated, "Artist Services is a tremendous resource for producers who are committed to releasing their films with the same independent spirit it took to create them. We're thrilled that Sundance Institute has opened this door for filmmakers, and look forward to being part of the dedicated family of organizations coming together to offer collective support."

Film Independent
Josh Welsh, Co-President Film Independent, commented, "At a time when the biggest challenge isn't so much making your film as it is getting it out into the world in a meaningful way, the Artist Services program provides a great opportunity for us to continue supporting the filmmakers we work with in our Labs and at the Los Angeles Film Festival, and to help them fully reach their audiences." http://www.filmindependent.org/

Independent Filmmaker Project
Executive Director, IFP, Joana Vicente said, “It’s been exciting to see how Artist Services has flourished in the past year, and to see how many projects are reaping its benefits. IFP is thrilled to be collaborating with Sundance Institute on this initiative, as Artist Services is the perfect platform for what we have been doing for years: supporting filmmakers’ marketing and distribution efforts, ensuring that great independent work reaches and connects with audiences.” http://www.ifp.org/

San Francisco Film Society,
Ted Hope, Executive Director of the San Francisco Film Society, said, "The Sundance Institute Artist Services program is the most robust set of options for any filmmaker recognizing the full responsibility of independence. It’s an incredible privilege for SFFS to be invited to help guide filmmakers and their work into this new era." www.sffs.org/

BOILERPLATES FOR COLLABORATING ORGANIZATIONS

Tugg, Inc.
Tugg, Inc. (“Tugg”) is a web-platform that enables people to choose the films that play in their local theaters. Through Tugg, individuals and organizations are empowered to select a film, screening time, and nearby theater, and then spread the word to their immediate and online community. Once a necessary amount of people commit to attending, the event will be confirmed, and Tugg will reserve the theater, manage ticketing and ensure delivery of the film; allowing the audience to sit back and enjoy the show. Tugg is currently working with exhibitors Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, AMC Theatres, Bow Tie Cinemas, Cinemark Theatres, Goodrich Quality Cinemas, Rave Cinemas and Regal Cinemas, as well as additional regional and independently-owned theaters across the country. These exhibitors provide theatrical venues for individually curated events showcasing Tugg’s growing library of hundreds of studio and independent films.

About Reelhouse
Founded in 2011, Reelhouse is an open video sharing community that offers film and video creators a rich toolset to self-distribute their content directly to their viewers via any Internet- connected device. Creators can chose between a series of monetization models while also leveraging customization, marketing, merchandising and media features that provide an engaging experience for their audience, all within a community specifically for quality entertainment content. Co-founded by former Electronic Arts producer Bill Mainguy and executive producer Bill Harrison, Reelhouse is advised by company executive board member and former Electronic Arts Canada General Manager Rory Armes, Hootsuite CEO Ryan Holmes and former Warner Bros. Records CEO Todd Moscowitz, among others. For more information, please visit http://www.reelhouse.org.

VHX
VHX, founded by Casey Pugh and Jamie Wilkinson, is a platform that allows filmmakers and artists to sell their work directly to fans via their own websites. Recent titles include the live special THE INVISIBLE MADE VISIBLE from This American Life, INDIE GAME: THE MOVIE directed by James Swirsky and Lisanne Pajot, Aziz Ansari’s DANGEROUSLY DELICIOUS, BEAUTY IS EMBARRASSING directed by Neil Berkeley, WE ARE LEGION directed by Brian Knappenberger, Drafthouse Films MIAMI CONNECTION, and SOUND CITY directed by Dave Grohl. http://www.vhx.tv

Vimeo
Vimeo® is the home for high-quality videos and the people who love them. Vimeo’s mission is to empower and inspire people around the world to create, share and discover videos. As one of the world’s largest creative networks, Vimeo has over 14M registered members and reaches a global audience of more than 85M each month. Founded in 2004 and based in New York City, Vimeo, LLC is a subsidiary of IAC (NASDAQ: IACI)