Robert Redford, President and Founder of Sundance Institute, said, "As a leader in her field, Pat Mitchell has long championed the value of the storyteller, not just in entertainment, but in society at large. She clearly understands and is committed to the mission of Sundance. We are fortunate to have her leadership and we welcome her to her new role as Board chair."   Redford continued "we are grateful to Wally Weisman for his generosity and leadership, dedication to Sundance Institute and tireless support of independent artists over the past 25 years. Sundance Institute would not be the organization it is without his guidance."

Pat Mitchell, Sundance Institute Board of Trustees Chair, said,  "It has been my pleasure to serve on the Sundance Institute Board of Trustees under Wally and I am honored that the Board elected me as the new Chair of this dynamic organization.  I look forward to working with Keri and our Board and Institute leadership to execute on current strategy and imagine a productive, exciting and vibrant future."

Keri Putnam, Executive Director of Sundance Institute, said, "Sundance Institute has benefited greatly from Wally's exceptional leadership and it has been my distinct privilege to work with him. Pat is a revered nonprofit leader and visionary and veteran of our Board who brings genuine enthusiasm for the work of the Institute and a deep understanding of the organization.   She will do a wonderful job leading Sundance Institute in the years ahead in her new role and I look forward to working with her."

Pat Mitchell, who was president & CEO of the Paley Center from March 2006 to May 2014, now serves the organization as executive vice chair.  As president and chief executive officer of The Paley Center for Media (formerly The Museum of Television & Radio), Mitchell guided the institution through an exciting rebranding effort and strengthened its public and industry programs by analyzing and interpreting the immense changes in the media landscape.

Mitchell came to The Paley Center for Media from the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), where she was named president and chief executive officer in March 2000, the first woman and first producer and journalist to hold the position. Mitchell came to the world of media when she was recruited from college teaching by Look magazine. Not long after, she took her first story to WNBC New York, where she saw her work go from page to screen—and never looked back. Over the next three decades, Mitchell worked for three broadcast networks and several cable channels, winning national acclaim both in front of and behind the camera as a reporter, news anchor, talk show host, White House and special correspondent, producer, and executive.

In addition to her accomplishments both on and off the screen, Mitchell is also known for her humanitarian efforts and her work as a dedicated member of numerous nonprofit boards. Mitchell is a Trustee of the Mayo Foundation, a founding member of Mikhail Gorbachev's global environmental organization, Global Green USA, a board member of Acumen Fund, chair of the Jordan River Foundation US Board and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, Women's Forum Inc and the International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Mitchell also sits on the corporate board of AOL.

A magna cum laude graduate of the University of Georgia, with a master's degree in English literature, Mitchell has also been awarded honorary doctorate degrees from Emerson College, Hollins University, Bloomsburg University, and Converse College.

Sundance Institute
Sundance Institute is 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 connect audiences to their work. The Institute promotes independent storytelling as art and as a compelling and powerful way to inform, inspire and unite people. Internationally recognized for its annual Sundance Film Festival, Sundance Institute has supported such projects as Beasts of the Southern Wild, Fruitvale Station, Sin Nombre, The Invisible War, The Square, Dirty Wars, Spring Awakening, A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder and Fun Home. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.

The two first features produced from the inaugural 2005 Lab premiered at the Sundance Film Festival: Pomegranates and Myrrh, written and directed by Najwa Najjar (Palestine) and Amreeka, written and directed by Cherien Dabis (Palestine/Jordan/US). Notable alums of the Lab also include Mohammed Al Daradji (Son of Babylon) and Sally El Hosaini (My Brother The Devil).

More recently, 2009 Rawi alumna Haifaa Al Mansour (Saudi Arabia) premiered her first feature Wadjda at the 2012 Venice Film Festival. It was soon acquired by Sony Pictures Classics and was distributed to critical and audience acclaim from around the world. Wadjda is the first feature film shot entirely in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the first ever by a Saudi female filmmaker.

The 10th anniversary events in Amman included a panel on the craft of screenwriting led by Al Mansour, a public screening of Zindeeq by Lab Advisor Michel Khleifi, and a reception designed to connect local artists with filmmakers from across the region.

Keri Putnam, Executive Director of Sundance Institute, said, "Stories told by independent artists, whether working in the U.S. or internationally, provide remarkable windows into other cultures, and deepen understanding. Ten years into our work in the Middle East, we look forward to continuing to  give voice to artists in the region."

Michelle Satter, Founding Director of the Feature Film Program, said, "We deeply value our collaboration with the Royal Film Commission as well as the artists we have supported in the Middle East over the past 10 years. The films that have emerged from the Lab have reflected upon many of the region's important cultural and political moments over the past decade. I am proud to see the work of these  artists enriching the broader culture with unique and impactful stories."

George David, General Manager of the Royal Film Commission, said, "We are proud of what this Lab has accomplished over the past ten years. It is safe to say that Rawi, with the support of the Sundance Institute has become a recognized contributor to the development of Arab feature films. Cinematic works, which were born in Rawi, have been featured in major films festivals and released in cinema screens globally, exposing our Arab culture and heritage to the world."

Modeled on the Institute's renowned US-based Screenwriters Labs, the Rawi Screenwriters Lab provides an opportunity for filmmakers from the Middle East region to develop their work under the guidance of accomplished screenwriters in an environment that encourages storytelling at its highest level. The Lab is led by the Royal Film Commission of Jordan and managed by Deema Azar, in consultation with Sundance Institute's Feature Film Program, under the direction of Founding Director Michelle Satter and International Director Paul Federbush.

The Creative Advisors this year included Pavel Jech (This Is Not An American Movie), Rawi Screenwriting Lab alum Najwa Najjar (Eyes Of A Thief, Pomegranates And Myrrh), Hanna Weg (Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet), Jon Raymond (Night Moves, Wendy and Lucy), and Michel Khleifi (Zindeeq).

The six artists selected for the 2014 Rawi Screenwriters Lab include:

Shake
Writer and Director: Deema Dabis (Jordan)
Free-spirited Kareemah decides to leave her home in Los Angeles to pursue her lifelong dream when she accepts an offer to tour Palestine with an international circus troop. As she struggles to manage her insecurities as a first-time performer, she is continuously shaken up by the complexities of life in Palestine.

Dabis received an MFA in Cinema from the Red Sea Institute of Cinematic Arts. From a young age she has always been in love with stories and believes fiercely that the power of creation and a new vision will not only bring healing and insight into our world but also has the potential to create alternative narratives and realities. She is working on a number of projects including her first short film The Sri Lankan, which received funding from the Jordan Film Fund.

Baghdad Perfume
Writer and Director: Roua Ahmad (Iraq)
The tale of a middle-class family and their struggles during the darkest period in Iraq between 2004 and 2006. As the occupation becomes more oppressive and water and electricity begin to run out, the family of three tries to stay together through kidnapping, illness, and the increasing danger of staying in Baghdad.

Ahmad was born on 1983 in Iraq. She received a certificate of participation from USC School of Cinematic Art and a Bachelor's degree in Computer Programming. She later got her MFA in Directing and Editing from The Red Sea Institute of Cinematic Arts. Filmmaking has been her ambition since the age of 12. After graduation she worked as an editor and screenwriter for a television production company. Her short films include The Last Hour, and have been screened and nominated for awards in 12 film festivals around the world.

Killer of the Selawa
Writer and Director: Islam Azzazi (Egypt)
Co-Writer: Charles Akl (Egypt)
In the tense atmosphere following the revolution in Egypt, a man spends the night in a remote villa on the outskirts of Alexandria, trying to obtain a permit for his father's weapons. After news spreads of a vicious, mythical beast in the area, the man finds himself caught up in a murderous accident.

Since his Dostoyevski inspired thesis project, Al-Kharaz (Beads), Azzazi has directed and produced numerous Documentaries and short films. His documentaries include Wujouh Al-Fayoum (Fayoum Portraits) and Dominate Your Eyes. He has also produced and directed the short film Nahar we Leil (Day & Night), 2006. Azzazi has worked at El-Warsha Theatre Company where he coached actors and photographed theatrical productions. In 2007 he established a new production company WIKA with three other filmmakers.

Charles Akl works as a writer, director, editor, art critic and photographer. After graduating from the University of Alexandria's Faculty of Fine Arts in 2006, he has worked in several domains ranging from architecture design to writing and editing for several arts publications, including Magaz. Akl has also worked as the program coordinator at Al Mawred Al Thaqafy.

Tide
Writer and Director: Hussen Ibraheem (Lebanon)
A man and woman struggle in the aftermath of their son's death. As the tide approaches their coastal home and they make their way by car to a relative's house in the mountains, they must confront the tension the tragedy has created between them.

Ibraheem is an independent filmmaker, born in Beirut, Lebanon. After getting his BA in Architecture, Ibraheem followed his love for animation working as a freelance storyboard artist and character designer. Ibraheem was granted a scholarship from The Red Sea Institute of Cinematic Arts where he studied directing and cinematography. His second short film produced at RSICA, Typo, is currently touring 13 film festivals in Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, Greece, USA, UK, and Italy.

The Golden Cap Club
Writer and Director: Merva Faddoul (Lebanon)
A young girl comes of age as the organized world of the adults crumbles during the invasion of Kuwait in the early 1990s. Determined to win a trip to Disneyland, she collects bottle caps in an attempt to find the 'golden cap,' as her family tries to distract her from the sudden challenges they face.

Faddoul is an award-winning writer and director. She recieved an MFA in Film Production from the University of Southern California and a BA in Communications from the Lebanese American University. Her short films have won grants from National Geographic and the Doha Film Institute and they have screened at dozens of festivals worldwide including the Cannes Short Film Corner, Human Rights Nights (Italy), Doha-Tribeca Film Festival, and Tricycle Cinema in London. She is a member of the Writers Guild of America and the International Academy of WebTV.

Snow
Writer and Director: Omaima Hamouri (Palestine)
Eight year-old Dina believes that an old family curse is behind the conflict that arises each summer between her parents, and becomes convinced that snow is the only way to solve their problems. With the help of her grandmother, she resolves to delay her parents' divorce until the first snowfall.

Hamouri was born in 1988 in Jerusalem. She received her bachelor degree in Mass Media from Al-Quds University, followed by an MFA in Editing and Screenwriting from the Red Sea Institute of Cinematic Arts in Jordan. With a never-ending passion for telling human stories through film, Omaima is now working as an independent filmmaker.

The Sundance Institute Feature Film Program is supported by The Annenberg Foundation, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, RT Features, Time Warner Foundation,
The Lincoln Motor Company, Red Crown Productions,
the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, HP, Steve Bing, Jeanne Donovan Fisher, Hollywood Foreign Press Association, Microsoft, The Rockefeller Foundation,
NHK Enterprises, Inc., National Endowment for the Arts, 3311 Productions,
The Ammon Foundation, Firestone / von Winterfeldt Family Fund, Ford Foundation,
Philip Fung-A3 Foundation, SAGIndie, Grazka Taylor,
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences,
and The Ray and Dagmar Dolby Family Fund.

Sundance Institute Feature Film Program
Since its founding in 1981, the Sundance Institute Feature Film Program (FFP) has supported an extensive list of ground-breaking independent films. FFP films making their premieres this year include Damien Chazelle's Whiplash (winner of the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival), Cutter Hodierne's Fishing Without Nets (winner of the Directing Prize at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival), and Malik Vitthal's Imperial Dreams (winner of the Best of NEXT Audience Award at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival). Additional notable films supported over the program's history include Ryan Coogler's Fruitvale Station, Ritesh Batra's The Lunchbox, Haifaa Al Mansour's Wadjda, Lucy Alibar and Benh Zeitlin's Beasts of the Southern Wild, Sean Durkin's Martha Marcy May Marlene, Dee Rees' Pariah, Cary Fukunaga's Sin Nombre, Andrea Arnold's Red Road, Miranda July's Me and You and Everyone We Know, Hany Abu-Assad's Paradise Now, 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, Walter Salles' Central Station, Chris Eyre and Sherman Alexie's Smoke Signals, Allison Anders' Mi Vida Loca, Paul Thomas Anderson's Hard Eight, and Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs. sundance.org/featurefilm

Sundance Institute
Sundance Institute is 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 connect audiences to their work. The Institute promotes independent storytelling as art and as a compelling and powerful way to inform, inspire and unite people. Internationally recognized for its annual Sundance Film Festival, Sundance Institute has supported such projects as Beasts of the Southern Wild, Fruitvale Station, Sin Nombre, The Invisible War, The Square, Dirty Wars, Spring Awakening, A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder and Fun Home. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.

Featured speakers include: Dennis Scholl (Knight Foundation), Straith Schreder (BitTorrent Inc), Jeremy Schwartz (SquareSpace), Emily Eddey (Light Iron), Toby Halbrooks (Producer, Ain't Them Bodies Saints), Jessica Jalsevac (Gumroad), James M. Johnston (Producer, Ain't Them Bodies Saints, Listen Up Philip), and Yvonne Welbon (Producer, The New Black) as well as Sundance Institute staff. The event will be followed by a reception on site.

Since launching in 2011, Artist Services has helped to launch 120+ new and encore Sundance films into the digital marketplace and guided 200+ alumni artists with successful Kickstarter projects totaling over $8 Million. Artists whose work has been cultivated through the program include Heidi Ewing & Rachel Grady (Detropia), Shane Carruth (Primer and Upstream Color) and Tiffany Shlain (Connected).

Select breakout sessions for the workshop include:

Finance and Fans: Every Kickstarter is a Story
• Dan Schoenbrun / Kickstarter
• Missy Laney / Sundance Institute

• The Artist Services team has helped raise over $8 million-dollars on Kickstarter and empowered more than 250 artists since launching in 2010. Sundance Institute staffer Missy Laney will show you the collective objective patterns of over 200 campaigns and what you can learn from them.

Everything You Wanted to Know About Digital Deliverables (But Were Afraid to Ask)
• Emily Eddey / Light Iron
• Holden Payne / Sundance Institute

• This asset delivery bootcamp will teach you how to get your digital master and assets in the necessary shape to satisfy the strict requirements of encoding houses and digital retailers. Not for the faint of technical heart, but priceless in its specificity of a one-of-a-kind educational opportunity.

What We Love Right Now: Gumroad
• Jessica Jalsevac / Gumroad

• Gumroad is for independent writers, designers, game developers, musicians, artists, filmmakers, and makers. Without the hassle and cost of selling within a marketplace, they can help you sell directly to your audience — just like you talk to them.

Designing Your Look and Feel
• Jeremy Schwartz / SquareSpace

• Based in New York City, Squarespace is a beautiful and intuitive website publishing platform that allows anyone to easily create professional blogs, pages, stores, and galleries without touching a line of code. Learn how to create a site that serves as a fitting representation of your project.

Strategy to Know: Screening for Audiences Without an All-Rights Deal
• Yvonne Welbon / Producer
• Chris Horton / Sundance Institute  

• Yvonne Welbon, producer and outreach director of the award-winning documentary The New Black, shows us how you can achieve top-tier distribution – screening your film on a big screen, with an audience, across the country – without the headaches of pursuing a traditional theatrical release.

Bittorrent and the Art of the Bundle
• Straith Schreder / BitTorrent Inc

• Explore the impact of Drafthouse Films' decision to use BitTorrent Content Bundles to circumvent Phillipine censorship and deliver the Academy Award-nominated documentary The Act of Killing for free across the Internet: 3.5 million visits sent 45,000 visits to the iTunes Movies Store, where the film was available to buy or rent.

"The Producorialist"
• James M. Johnston / Filmmaker and Producer
• Toby Halbrooks / Filmmaker and Producer

• Second-Ever Edition! "The Producorialist" begins with the idea of creating a group keynote about the world of independent film and its strange and unexpected relationship to daily life.

For more information, please visit sundance.org/artistservices.

Sundance Institute
Sundance Institute is 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 connect audiences to their work. The Institute promotes independent storytelling as art and as a compelling and powerful way to inform, inspire and unite people. Internationally recognized for its annual Sundance Film Festival, Sundance Institute has supported such projects as Beasts of the Southern Wild, Fruitvale Station, Sin Nombre, The Invisible War, The Square, Dirty Wars, Spring Awakening, A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder and Fun Home. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.

New this fall, the Playwrights Studio at Flying Point offers Theatre Program alumni an uninterrupted period of  time and the space to work on their projects in a studio setting. The two one-week sessions each year are generously hosted by George and Joan Hornig.

Himberg said, "These fall labs provide unique and inspiring locations for these new and established artists to develop and explore their stories. MASS MoCA allows the creators of these innovative musical theatre and ensemble-generated projects the time and space for collaboration and rehearsal, while the Playwrights Studio offers a home to our alumni who continue to grow and experiment and can take advantage of the retreat setting to focus solely on their work."

The artists selected for the fall session of Playwrights Studio at Flying Point in Water Mill, NY are:

David Cale
David's solo shows include The History of Kisses, Palomino, A Likely Story, Lillian, Deep in a Dream of You, Smooch Music and The Redthroats. He wrote the book, lyrics, co-composed the music for, and played Floyd in the musical Floyd and Clea Under the Western Sky, inspired by the character of Floyd "Studebaker" Duffner he portrayed in the film The Slaughter Rule. His plays include Betwixt and Nightwear. Cale has written lyrics for songs sung by artists including Elvis Costello, Deborah Harry and Jimmy Scott. Most recently he wrote the songs for 600 Highwaymen's Employee of the Year. As an actor he performed on stage in shows including John Jesurun's Chang in a Void Moon, Stew and Heidi Rodewald's The Total Bent and Kevin Elyot's Mouth to Mouth. His film credits include Winter in the Blood, Two Lovers and Pollock. David has been a participant in the Sundance Theatre Lab three times, twice as an actor working on new plays by Annie Baker, Paula Vogel and Doug Wright and as a writer, working on his solo Palomino.

Dan LeFranc
Dan is the playwright-in-residence of Playwrights Horizons. His new play Troublemaker was commissioned by and recently produced at Berkeley Repertory. His last play The Big Meal premiered at ATC (Chicago), received an extended off-Broadway run at Playwrights Horizons and made its UK premiere last summer. Other plays include Sixty Miles to Silver Lake (Soho Rep, P73, NYC), Origin Story, Bruise Easy and Night Surf. Dan received the 2011 Helen Merrill Playwriting Award, the 2010 New York Times Outstanding Playwright Award, and the John C. Russell Fellowship, among others. He teaches at the Yale School of Drama and is currently on staff for the Showtime television drama The Affair.

Christopher Shinn
Christopher is the head of Playwriting at the New School for Drama, and author of many plays including Dying City (Pulitzer Prize finalist), Where Do We Live (Obie Award), and Four. His work has been produced internationally, with five world premieres at the Royal Court Theatre in London.

José Rivera
José's The Motorcycle Diaries was nominated for a Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar in 2005. His film On the Road premiered at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival and Trade was the first film to premiere at the United Nations. In theatre, Rivera has won two Obie Awards in playwriting for Marisol and References to Salvador Dali Make Me Hot. Cloud Tectonics, Boleros for the Disenchanted, Sueño, Sonnets for an Old Century, School of the Americas, Massacre (Sing to Your Children), Brainpeople, and Adoration of the Old Woman have been produced in theatres across the country and around the world. New plays include Human Emotional Process, The Last Book of Homer, The Hours are Feminine, Another Word for Beauty (a musical), and a new translation/adaptation of The Kiss of the Spider Woman. For television he co-created and produced Eerie, Indiana for NBC as well as The House of Ramon Iglesia for PBS. In the works is an untitled HBO series with Tom Hanks, producer. Films in development or in production include Three Apples Fell from Heaven (about the Armenian genocide, Shekhar Kapur, director), The 33, John Brown (Giancarlo Esposito, director), Vincent,and an adaptation of Jack London's White Fang for Disney, among others. Celestina, based on his play Cloud Tectonics will mark his debut as a feature film director. Love Makes the City Crumble is his first novel. Rivera runs a writing workshop in New York and has been a mentor/advisor for the Sundance Screenwriting Labs in Utah, Jordan, and India.

Cori Thomas
When January Feels Like Summer (Ensemble Studio Theatre/Page 73/Women's Project Theater NYC, World Premiere- City Theatre Co., Pittsburgh); Pa's Hat (Pillsbury House Theatre, MN); My Secret Language of Wishes (Mixed Blood, MN); Akosua Means Sunday; The Princess, The Breast, and, The Lizard; The Unusual Love Life of Bedbugs and Other Creatures; Waking Up; His Daddy; our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor. Her plays have been developed and produced at Sundance Theatre Lab, Goodman Theatre, City Theatre Co., Page 73, Women's Project, Playwrights Horizons, Lark Play Development Center, The Ensemble Studio Theatre, Pillsbury House Theatre, Mixed Blood Theatre, and Playwrights Realm, among others , American Theatre Critics Association Osborn Award (When January Feels Like Summer) ; Theodore Ward Prize (My Secret Language of Wishes),  2nd Place Theodore Ward Prize (our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor….) Publications: Waking Up (Plays For Two-Vintage), His Daddy (Best Short Plays 2010 –Smith and Krauss). Representation: Ron Gwiazda and Amy Wagner Abrams Artists Agency.

The projects and artists selected for the 2014 Sundance Institute Theatre Lab at MASS MoCA are:

Throw Me On the Burnpile and Light Me Up
Written & performed by Lucy Alibar

Tales of a man, his family, his animals, and his burn pile.

Lucy Alibar's work has been published in Zoetrope, the Oxford American, and the Wall Street Journal. Work seen at National Theatre Studio, Joe's Pub, Ojai, Berkeley Rep Ground Floor, Williamstown, HERE, EST, Dixon Place, New Georges, Avignon Festival, Women Center Stage/CSC, and the Cherry Lane. Her first movie, Beasts of the Southern Wild (an adaptation with Benh Zeitlin of her stage play, Juicy and Delicious) received the Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize and the Cannes Film Festival Camera D'Or. For her work on Beasts she was nominated for the Scripter, BAFTA, and Academy Award. Winner of the Ray Bradbury Nebula Award, the Humanitas Prize, and the Nantucket Film Festival New Voices in Screenwriting Award. Sundance Institute Screenwriting Fellow, two time finalist for the Heideman Award at ATL, and finalist for the O'Neill Playwright's Conference. Member of the OBIE award-winning Youngblood, and co-­founder of the New Georges Writer/Director Lab.

A Memory of Fire: Hatuey 
Written by Elise Thoron
Music by Frank London

Based on Asher Penn's 1931 epic Yiddish poem Hatuey, as well as the story of the poet's life – hisescape to Cuba from pogroms in the Ukraine –Elise Thoron and Frank London's musical work A Memory of Fire: Hatuey is set in pre-revolutionary Cuba of the 1930's, and tells the story of the legendary Taino chief Hatuey who led a valiant uprising against the Spanish conquistadors.

Frank London is a trumpeter and composer and a member of the Klezmatics, with whom he won a Grammy Award. He has performed with John Zorn, LL Cool J, Mel Torme, They Might Be Giants and Ben Folds 5. London's projects include the folk-opera A Night In The Old Marketplace (with Glen Berger and Alex Aron, based on Y.L. Peretz's 1907 play), Davenen for Pilobolus and the Klezmatics; Green Violin (with Elise Thoron and Rebecca Taichman, winner Barrymore Award for Best New Musical); Great Small Works' The Memoirs Of Gluckel Of Hameln and Min Tanaka's Romance.

Elise Thoron's plays have been produced in the United States and Europe: Green Violin, music by Frank London of the Klezmatics (published Nine Contemporary Jewish Plays); Prozak and the Platypus, music by Jill Sobule (also album/graphic novella); and Charlotte: Life? or Theater? based on paintings of the young German Jewish artist, Charlotte Salomon.She developed and directed Tony award winning poet Lemon Andersen's County of Kings first as a Literature to Life piece, then performing at The Public, Spoleto, and venues around the world. Elise is directing Lemon's new play ToasT at The Public Theater this season. elisethoron.com

The Fever
By 600 HIGHWAYMEN

600 HIGHWAYMEN will begin work on The Fever, the company's adaptation of Stravinsky's 101-year-old ritualistic and revolutionary work Rite of Spring. This first exploration for the company brings together New Yorkers and North Adams residents to reopen this classic work, alongside a brand new music composition created during the residency by Brandon Wolcott.

Under the name 600 HIGHWAYMEN (600HWM), Abigail Browde and Michael Silverstone construct expansive performances that illuminate the inherent poignancy and theatricality of people together. They are exploring a radical approach to making live art, constructing events that create intimacy among a group of strangers. Developed using creative methods ranging from the mainstream to the peculiar, their Obie-award winning work is a rigorously tuned investigation of presence and humanity, not only in performance, but also in process and aftermath. Formed in 2009, past productions include: This Time Tomorrow, Empire City, This Great Country, The Record, Everyone Was Chanting Your Name, and Employee of the Year. Upcoming: The Record at Centre Pompidou and Parc de la Villette, Paris. 600HWM is the recipient of a 2014 ObieAward. 600highwaymen.org

The Sundance Institute Theatre Program is supported by an endowment from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, with generous additional support from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the John and Marcia Price Family Foundation, Time Warner Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, Inc., LUMA Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust, Karen Lauder, and Joan and George Hornig.

Sundance Institute
Sundance Institute is 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 connect audiences to their work. The Institute promotes independent storytelling as art and as a compelling and powerful way to inform, inspire and unite people. Internationally recognized for its annual Sundance Film Festival, Sundance Institute has supported such projects as Beasts of the Southern Wild, Fruitvale Station, Sin Nombre, The Invisible War, The Square, Dirty Wars, Spring Awakening, A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder and Fun Home. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.

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In addition, over the course of three years, 12 filmmakers from these cities will be named Sundance | Knight Fellows, and participate in special screenings, panels and professional development opportunities at the annual Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.

Keri Putnam, Sundance Institute Executive Director, said, "Sundance Institute is committed to supporting diverse independent artists at an early stage in their career.  Building on the success of last year's Knight Fellows Pilot Project, we are now able to directly reach independent artists in regions across the country."

Workshops, panels and labs will take place in the following communities: Akron, Ohio; Charlotte, N.C.; Detroit; Miami; Macon, Ga.; Philadelphia; San Jose, Calif.; and St. Paul, Minn.  Sundance Institute will bring together its national pool of alumni artists as mentors and panelists, and work with local host arts organizations for programming partnerships in each community.  The new funding follows a successful pilot project in Miami and Philadelphia during the past year, where hundreds of filmmakers took part.

"Over the last few years, independent filmmakers in these communities have begun to use film to tell unique and compelling stories about their cities that resound with audiences around the globe," said Dennis Scholl, Vice President of Arts for Knight Foundation. "By bringing Sundance Institute to these eight cities, we hope that emerging filmmakers will have access to the training necessary to launch their films and, eventually, a connect with a wider audience."

An ArtistServices workshop on Saturday, Oct. 25, at O Cinema in Miami, will be the first event of the series.  Industry experts will lead discussions on the latest technology, tools and tactics in creative financing, digital distribution, guerilla marketing and independent theatrical distribution.  Participation is free and RSVP required at sundance.org/artistservices. Workshops will take place in the other communities beginning in 2015.

Knight Foundation's arts program has supported local filmmaking as a way to build community, including supporting film festivals in these eight cities, in addition to providing seed funding for independent cinemas and professional development for filmmakers.

Sundance Institute
Sundance Institute is 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 connect audiences to their work. The Institute promotes independent storytelling as art and as a compelling and powerful way to inform, inspire and unite people. Internationally recognized for its annual Sundance Film Festival, Sundance Institute has supported such projects as Beasts of the Southern Wild, Fruitvale Station, Sin Nombre, The Invisible War, The Square, Dirty Wars, Spring Awakening, A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder and Fun Home. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.

John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
Knight Foundation supports transformational ideas that promote quality journalism, advance media innovation, engage communities and foster the arts. The foundation believes that democracy thrives when people and communities are informed and engaged. For more, visit KnightFoundation.org.

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The selected creative teams and projects are: Karim Ben Khelifa and Chloé Jarry (The Enemy), Dandypunk and Darin Basile (Heart Corps), Tracy Fullerton and Lucas Peterson (Walden, A Game), Braden King and Matthew Moore (Weather), Hasan Minhaj and Greg Walloch (Sakoon/Paint The Town) and Navid and Vassiliki Khonsari (1979 Revolution).

Activities at the weeklong Lab include individualized story sessions, conversations about key artistic, design and technology issues, and case study presentations from experts in diverse related disciplines. The Lab is a key initiative of Sundance Institute's recently expanded New Frontier program.

Robert Redford, President and Founder of Sundance Institute, said, "Rooted in Sundance Institute's mission to support risk-taking artists is an encouragement of innovation in the independent space. The New Frontier Story Lab supports our mission by providing a safe place for artists to define and advance emerging styles of storytelling."

Kamal Sinclair, Co-Director, New Frontier Lab Programs, said, "Story is at the heart of the New Frontier Story Lab's dynamic process, which encourages artists to create interactive, immersive and experimental experiences for audiences that explore new media. We look forward to bringing these artists and expert Creative Advisors together for an experiment in the convergence of story disciplines."

Michelle Satter, Founding Director of the Sundance Institute Feature Film Program, said, "During the New Frontier Story Lab, fellows will engage with a variety of industry leaders across multiple disciplines to both innovate and collaborate on new ways of storytelling through gaming, design and live performance.  This interactive space is exciting for artists who will create ground-breaking work and audiences who are hungry for an immersive art experience."

Creative Advisors for the New Frontier Story Lab include: Sarah Treem (Producer/Writer, House of Cards, In Treatment); Torfi Frans Olafsson (Creative Director, EVE Online Universe IP); Mark Monroe (Filmmaker, The Cove, Sound City); Dana Dansereau (Interactive Producer, NFB's Digital Studio, Bear 71); Nelson George (Filmmaker/Producer, Good Hair, Life Support, The Chris Rock Show); Kathleen Forde (Artistic Director at Large, Borusan Contemporary);  Susan O'Connor, (Video Game Writer, Tomb Raider, BioShock); Ricardo Rivera (Founder, Klip Collective); Scott Snibbe (Björk's Biophilia, Phillip Glass ReWork); Joan Tewkesbury (Writer/Director, Nashville, Chicago Hope); Lynette Wallworth (Artist, Evolution of Fearlessness, Coral: Rekindling Venus); Erin Cressida Wilson (Screenwriter, Secretary, Chloe); Ted Schilowitz (Futurist, 20th Century Fox; founding member, RED Digital Cinema); and Kevin Kuhlke (Playwright/Director, former Chair of the Drama Dept. at NYU's Tisch School of The Arts).

In addition to the New Frontier Story Lab, the Institute offers Labs throughout the year and around the world for independent directors, screenwriters, documentary editors, composers, playwrights and producers.

The creative teams and projects selected for the 2014 New Frontier Story Lab are:

1979 Revolution
Navid and Vassiliki Khonsari
1979 Revolution, the action/adventure game, immerses players into the gritty, euphoric streets of revolution – where the choices you make may betray you. Set in the actual events of 1979 Iran.

A founder of iNK Stories, Navid Khonsari is known for having developed the cinematic look and feel for groundbreaking video games such as Grand Theft Auto/Vice City/San Andreas, Max Payne, The Warriors, Midnight Club, Manhunt, Red Dead Revolver, Alan Wake, Homefront and more. His films include The Contract, Pindemonium and Pulling John. Khonsari recently completed his first graphic novel, Infidel. Khonsari can be found as a guest lecturer within the Game World focusing on the discourse surrounding the convergence of politics and gaming or the potential of games to incite empathy.

Vassiliki Khonsari arrived at filmmaking through Visual Anthropology, with a specialty in verite storytelling. In addition to her TV Producer/Director credits, Khonsari's Doc Feature Producer credits include Our House (20+ awards) and Pindemonium (Sundance Channel) and she directed the award winning Pulling John (premiered at SXSW). As co-founder of the innovative media studio iNK Stories Vassiliki is passionate about her current development projects that focus on immersive stories.

Weather
Braden King and Matthew Moore
Weather is a multi-platform, multi-channel interactive installation that seeks to create a deeper and more tangible connection to the impacts of Global Climate Change through emotional experience.

Braden King is a New York-based filmmaker, photographer and visual artist. His most recent feature film, HERE, starring Ben Foster and Lubna Azabal, premiered at the 2011 Sundance and Berlin Film Festivals and was distributed theatrically by Strand Releasing in 2012. A three-screen installation version of the project, HERE [ THE STORY SLEEPS ], premiered at The Museum of Modern Art in 2010 with live soundtrack accompaniment by the Boxhead Ensemble; it toured internationally the following two years. King's previous work includes the feature film DUTCH HARBOR: WHERE THE SEA BREAKS ITS BACK (co-directed with photographer Laura Moya), the award-winning short HOME MOVIE and music videos for Sparklehorse, Sonic Youth, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy (Will Oldham), Califone and Dirty Three.

Matthew Moore is a multi-media artist based in Phoenix, Arizona. His art practice explores the broad issue of placemaking, often by creating large-scale installations and environments with the goal of achieving a state of wonderment, contemplation, and invitation to change. Moore's work addresses issues of ecological, cultural, and economical sustainability often through the unique lens of his life as an active fourth generation farmer. His video and installation artwork are exhibited internationally, at the Sundance Film Festival, the Walker Art Center, Phoenix Art Museum, MassMoCA, the World Congress of Soil Science in Korea and Nuit Blanche in Canada among many other venues; and has been featured in Art Forum, Art in America, Art Lies, Metropolis Magazine, Dwell, and Architecture magazine, well as the Wall Street Journal, National Public Radio, and numerous other publications.

Sakoon/Paint The Town
Hasan Minhaj and Greg Walloch
Paint the Town is the film adaptation of Sakoon, the autobiographical solo show based on the first generation experiences of Indian-American comedian Hasan Minhaj. This project seeks to reinvent the one-hour comedy special by eliminating the distance between performer and audience in a transformative exploration of the "new brown experience."

Hasan Minhaj is a Los Angeles-based comedian, actor and writer.  A featured storyteller at The Moth, his storytelling has garnered acclaim in film, web and television. He recently hosted the documentary special Stand Up Planet, produced by The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and his viral web series The Truth with Hasan Minhaj has been featured in countless publications including The Huffington Post, Gawker and the New York Times. He has been seen on a variety of other television programs including Arrested Development on Netflix, HBO's Getting On, @Midnight on Comedy Central, and E!'s Chelsea Lately. His parents would still like him to go to law school.

Greg Walloch is a writer, storyteller and comedian whose live solo shows have toured in Moscow, Toronto, Vancouver, London, Ireland, Germany, Australia, Poland, Scotland, Tel Aviv and in various festivals across the United States. As a regular guest appearing with The Moth, the acclaimed not-for-profit organization dedicated to the art and craft of storytelling, he is currently featured in their Peabody Award winning series The Moth Radio Hour on National Public Radio. Walloch was also featured in USA Network's Characters Unite national live storytelling tour as well as appears in the network's Characters Unite, "I Won't Stand For…," PSA TV campaign to fight hate and discrimination. He currently lives and works in Los Angeles and is the host of the popular monthly live storytelling show, Eat Your Words at The Standard, Hollywood.

The Enemy
Karim Ben Khelifa and Chloé Jarry
The enemy is always invisible; When he becomes visible, he ceases to be the enemy. Two combatants from opposing sides observe each other. Each of them explains why they are fighting – what made them decide to take arms in order to defend their beliefs, their family, their country, their clan or their faith.

Karim Ben Khelifa is an award winning photojournalist and war correspondent who has freelanced regularly for TIME magazine, Vanity Fair, Le Monde, the New York Times Magazine, Stern and dozens of others.  He was the 2012 Carroll Binder Fellow at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University, where he has also given talks and lectures. He is currently a Visiting Scholar and Artist-in-Residence at the Open Documentary Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge.

Chloé Jarry joined Camera lucida as new media producer in charge of transmedia and cross-media development in January 2011. She produced a collection of iPad and iPhone apps mixing games, interactive animations and extracts from the films for children produced by Camera lucida, including Le Carnaval des animaux, Antoine's Four Seasons and Peter and the Wolf. She is also the author and producer of Missions Printemps – Die FruehlingsForscher, a French-German citizen sciences TV and web program. Since 2011, Chloé Jarry and Camera lucida have developed more than 10 transmedia projects.

Heart Corps
Dandypunk and Darin Basile
Ink illustrations are brought to life with projection mapping and live performance, in a fully immersive, "walk-through," graphic novel experience.

From a background in street art and acrobatics, Dandypunk discovered a way to combine the two using the "magical lantern" that is the projector. Mixing whimsical, hand drawn illustrations and stop motion animation with newer technology and physical movement, he attempts to evolve a style that has been described as "digital light poetry."

Darin Basile is a self-taught visual generalist, engineer, artist, developing story teller and introvert with an honest desire to understand himself and others. He hopes to imbue others with a sense of wonder for the worlds around us and empathy for those that inhabit them.

Walden, A Game
Tracy Fullerton and Lucas Peterson
Walden, A Game, simulates the experiment-in-living made by Henry David Thoreau at Walden Pond in 1845-47, allowing players to walk in his virtual footsteps, attend to the tasks of living a self-reliant existence, and discover in the beauty of a virtual landscape the ideas and writings of this unique philosopher.

Tracy Fullerton is the lead game designer and director of Walden, A Game. She is an experienced designer whose recent credits include The Night Journey, a collaboration with media artist Bill Viola. Currently, she serves as the Electronic Arts Endowed Chair of USC's Interactive Media & Games Division, and the Director of USC Games, ranked the #1 games program in North America by the Princeton Review. Prior to joining USC, she worked as a game designer creating innovative games for companies including Microsoft, Sony, MTV, among many others. Her long career in game design and influence on the independent games community was recently acknowledged by the IndieCade Trailblazer Award.

Lucas Peterson is the environment designer and character artist for Walden, A Game. He is a fine artist with an emphasis in drawing and design who has turned his talents to game design. Lucas has contributed to a number of projects at the USC Game Innovation lab including the FutureBound college access games and the Chrono Cards WWI history games. He holds a BFA from the USC Roski School of Fine Arts.

The Sundance Institute New Frontier Initiative is supported by Microsoft, Ford Foundation, Time Warner Foundation, and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

Sundance Institute
Sundance Institute is 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 connect audiences to their work. The Institute promotes independent storytelling as art and as a compelling and powerful way to inform, inspire and unite people. Internationally recognized for its annual Sundance Film Festival, Sundance Institute has supported such projects as Beasts of the Southern Wild, Fruitvale Station, Sin Nombre, The Invisible War, The Square, Dirty Wars, Spring Awakening, A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder and Fun Home. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.

The opening was officiated by Mr. John Cooper (Director of Sundance Film Festival), Ms. Sarah Pearce (Co-Managing Director, Sundance Institute) and Mr. Stuart Wang (Director, The Metroplex), together with visiting US directors including Ms. Maya Forbes (Director of the opening film Infinitely Polar Bear), Mr. Craig Johnson (Director of The Skeleton Twins), Mr. Cutter Hodierne and Mr. John Hibey (Director and Producer of Fishing Without Nets), and Mr. Ben Cotner and Ryan White (Directors of The Case Against 8).

Mr. Cooper explained their choice of Hong Kong for the screening series to take place: "In our effort to share the best of American independent film with audiences outside the U.S., Hong Kong seemed an excellent location with a rich cinematic history. In partnership with The Metroplex, we look forward to presenting this program of diverse and high quality independent films."

Mr. Stuart Wang commented on this collaboration: "We strongly believe that the collaboration with Sundance Institute will further stimulate the creativity of young local independent filmmakers and foster the interest of new upcoming talent."

The Sundance Film Festival – Hong Kong Selects features eight films from the Sundance Film Festival, including five award winners. The full lineup is: The Case Against 8, Fishing Without Nets, God Help the Girl, Infinitely Polar Bear, Life After Beth, Skeleton Twins, Whiplash and Wish I Was Here. The screening series has begun with the Hong Kong premiere of Infinitely Polar Bear, a bitter-sweet family tale of how life's storms can be weathered with creativity and love.

The visiting directors will also participate in a panel discussion on 20 September (4:00 – 5:30 p.m.), entitled Visions of Independence, sharing their stories of what it takes to make their films. Their experience in realizing their visions is often as intriguing as the films themselves. The panel discussion will be moderated by John Cooper with Bede Cheng, Festival Director and Senior Program Manager of The Metroplex.

The spirit of independence transcends art forms. As a complement to the Sundance Film Festival – Hong Kong Selects, The Metroplex has programmed a selection of independent artists who share the spirit of creativity and independence to perform at the Atrium, E-Max on two consecutive weekends during the screening series, 20-21 and 27-28 September. Besides, Musiczone @ E-Max will be transformed into a multi-media art museum showcasing two art pieces namely, Anádelta and Chance Cinematheque, which further echoes The Metroplex's and Sundance Institute's commitment in promoting creativity and cultural collaboration.

For more details and schedules of screenings and music performance, please visit hk.sundance.org  or  facebook.com/SundanceFilmFestivalHK

Press release sent by Cultural Connections on behalf of The Metroplex.
For enquiries:
Mr. Siu Heng (siuheng@culturalconnections.hk / 9668-5945)
Ms. Winnie Tam (momstudio.hk@gmail.com / 9199-2553)
Mr. Casey De La Rosa (casey_delarosa@sundance.org / 310-360-1981)

About Opening Film: Infinitely Polar Bear
Infinitely Polar Bear (Director and screenwriter: Maya Forbes) — A manic-depressive mess of a father tries to win back his wife by attempting to take full responsibility of their two young, spirited daughters, who don't make the overwhelming task any easier. Cast: Mark Ruffalo, Zoe Saldana, Imogene Wolodarsky, Ashley Aufderheide. OPENING FILM / HONG KONG PREMIERE

About Other Films in the Line-up
The Case Against 8 (Directors: Ben Cotner, Ryan White) — A behind-the-scenes look inside the case to overturn California's ban on same-sex marriage. Shot over five years, the film follows the unlikely team that took the first federal marriage equality lawsuit to the U.S. Supreme Court. Winner of the Directing Award: U.S. Documentary at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival. HONG KONG PREMIERE

Fishing Without Nets (Director: Cutter Hodierne, Screenwriters: Cutter Hodierne, John Hibey, David Burkman) — A story of pirates in Somalia told from the perspective of a struggling, young Somali fisherman. Cast: Abdikani Muktar, Abdi Siad, Abduwhali Faarah, Abdikhadir Hassan, Reda Kateb, Idil Ibrahim. Winner of the Directing Award: U.S. Dramatic at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival. HONG KONG PREMIERE

God Help the Girl (Director and screenwriter: Stuart Murdoch) — This musical from Stuart Murdoch of Belle & Sebastian is about some messed up boys and girls and the music they made. Cast: Emily Browning, Olly Alexander, Hannah Murray, Pierre Boulanger, Cora Bissett. Winner of a World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival. CLOSING FILM / HONG KONG PREMIERE

Life After Beth (Director and screenwriter: Jeff Baena) — Zach is devastated by the unexpected death of his girlfriend, Beth. When she mysteriously returns, he gets a second chance at love. Soon his whole world turns upside down... Cast: Aubrey Plaza, Dane DeHaan, John C. Reilly, Molly Shannon, Cheryl Hines, Paul Reiser. HONG KONG PREMIERE

The Skeleton Twins (Director: Craig Johnson, Screenwriters: Craig Johnson, Mark Heyman) — When estranged twins Maggie and Milo feel that they're at the end of their ropes, an unexpected reunion forces them to confront why their lives went so wrong. As the twins reconnect, they realize the key to fixing their lives may just lie in repairing their relationship. Cast: Bill Hader, Kristen Wiig, Luke Wilson, Ty Burrell, Boyd Holbrook, Joanna Gleason. Winner of the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award: U.S. Dramatic at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival. HONG KONG PREMIERE

Whiplash (Director and screenwriter: Damien Chazelle) — Under the direction of a ruthless instructor, a talented young drummer begins to pursue perfection at any cost, even his humanity. Cast: Miles Teller, JK Simmons. Winner of the U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic and Audience Award: U.S. Dramatic at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival. SPECIAL PRESENTATION / HONG KONG PREMIERE

Wish I Was Here (Director: Zach Braff, Screenwriters: Zach Braff, Adam Braff) — Aidan Bloom, a 35-year-old struggling actor, father, and husband, is still trying to find purpose in his life. In coming to terms with the death of his father, Aidan and his family unite to discover how to turn the page onto the next chapter. Cast: Zach Braff, Kate Hudson, Mandy Patinkin, Josh Gad, Ashley Greene, Joey King. HONG KONG PREMIERE

About The Metroplex
In 2014 The Metroplex opened its doors to the public as a state-of-the-art 9 screen multiplex at the heart of Eastern Kowloon. The Metroplex is a self-operated independent cinema under Hopewell Holdings Limited, showing a wide range of films from Hollywood blockbusters, international award-winning pictures, film festivals, local, specialty and independent films in its 9 silver screens. Moreover, being located in one of the Group's investment properties Kowloonbay International Trade and Exhibition Centre (KITEC), Metroplex has the flexibility in cross platform entertainment such as film/music festivals, live streaming, concerts and shows, multimedia conferences, and many other events of similar genre. For more details, please visit www.metroplex.com.hk.

About Sundance Institute
Sundance Institute is 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 connect audiences to their work. The Institute promotes independent storytelling as art and as a compelling and powerful way to inform, inspire and unite people. Internationally recognized for its annual Sundance Film Festival, Sundance Institute has supported such projects as Beasts of the Southern Wild, Fruitvale Station, Sin Nombre, The Invisible War, The Square, Dirty Wars, Spring Awakening, A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder and Fun Home. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.

Sarah Pearce, Sundance Institute Co-Managing Director said, “We are thrilled to add The Grand Theatre and increase ticket availability for independent film lovers in Salt Lake City. Plus, we are excited to work with Salt Lake Community College and engage with university audiences during the Sundance Film Festival.”

Locals-only Festival pass and ticket package registration begins tomorrow (September 17) and ends October 8, 2014. During that time, Festivalgoers must register at sundance.org/tickets to receive an email on October 10 with a randomly assigned timeslot to purchase Festival passes and ticket packages online in October. Early registration does not guarantee an early purchase time slot. Descriptions of locals-only pass and ticket package options including the new Grand Pass can be found at sundance.org/locals.

Additional Festival benefits for Utah residents include:

Free Best of Fest Screenings for Utah residents
Sundance Institute presents complimentary screenings of award-winning films to locals on Monday, February 2. Locals must bring a valid Utah Driver’s License or Utah State ID to pick up these free tickets in person at any main box office in Ogden, Park City, Salt Lake City and Sundance Resort on January 17.

Free Townie Tuesday Screenings for Summit County residents
Sundance Institute presents two complimentary screenings exclusively for Summit County residents on January 27. Summit County residents must bring a Utah ID to pick up these free tickets in person at the Park City Main Box Office on Saturday, January 17.

Sundance Institute | George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Foundation Student Screenings
Utah high school, middle and junior high students are invited to participate in a free interactive screening program including a Q&A with the filmmaker at select theaters in Salt Lake City, Ogden and Park City. 2015 Program dates are January 26 to January 30. Interested teachers and administrators should email studentprograms@sundance.org for additional program information.

Volunteer at the Sundance Film Festival
Every year, Sundance Institute selects more than 1,800 volunteers – more than half of whom live in Utah – to help create a global platform for independent film. Volunteers assist in all areas of the Festival, from theatre entrances to shuttle stops. Local, insider knowledge is always helpful, and of course, there are exciting benefits such as being among the first to see the best new independent films. With the addition of the Grand Theater, Sundance Institute is seeking more volunteers from the Salt Lake City area. Applications are now being accepted at sundance.org/volunteer.

Sundance Institute Community Programs
Sundance Institute brings Utah residents year-round events that best represent the Institute’s spectrum of artist programs. Free community events include screenings, musical performances and discussions with recent and past Institute Alumni in conjunction with local community collaborators. Sundance Institute gratefully acknowledges the generous support of Principal Sponsor Zions Bank, Major Sponsor the Utah Governor’s Office of Economic Development and Community Supporters, Salt Lake City Arts Council, Salt Lake County Economic Development Department, Salt Lake County Zoo, Arts and Park (ZAP) Program and Summit County RAP Tax.

The Sundance Film Festival®
The Sundance Film Festival has introduced global audiences to some of the most groundbreaking films of the past three decades, including Whiplash, Boyhood, Rich Hill, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Fruitvale Station, Little Miss Sunshine, sex, lies, and videotape, Reservoir Dogs, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, An Inconvenient Truth, Precious and Napoleon Dynamite, and through its New Frontier initiative has showcased groundbreaking media works by artists and creative technologists including Chris Milk, Doug Aitken, Palmer Luckey, Klip Collective and Nonny de la Pena. The Festival is a program of the non-profit Sundance Institute®. 2015 Festival sponsors to date include: Presenting Sponsors – HP, Acura, SundanceTV and Chase Sapphire Preferred®; Leadership Sponsors – DIRECTV and Southwest Airlines; Sustaining Sponsors – Canada Goose, Omnicom, and Stella Artois®. 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 helps offset the Festival’s costs and sustain the Institute's year-round programs for independent artists. sundance.org/festival

Sundance Institute
Sundance Institute is 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 connect audiences to their work. The Institute promotes independent storytelling as art and as a compelling and powerful way to inform, inspire and unite people. Internationally recognized for its annual Sundance Film Festival, Sundance Institute has supported such projects as Beasts of the Southern Wild, Fruitvale Station, Sin Nombre, The Invisible War, The Square, Dirty Wars, Spring Awakening, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder and Fun Home. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.

The Grand Theatre
The Grand Theatre is a 1,100-seat venue located at Salt Lake Community College’s historic South City Campus, home of the innovative and state-of-the-industry Center for Arts and Media at 1575 South State Street in Salt Lake City. The Grand dates to the 1930s when it was part of South High School, which SLCC purchased in 1989. The theatre, with great care and expense, has retained its Depression-era charm and attraction while also incorporating the latest technology in lighting and sound. Every season the Grand is host to award-winning theatre and dance productions and concerts that attract arts enthusiasts from all along the Wasatch Front. Students and faculty in the arts at SLCC’s South City Campus now enjoy and, as a result, excel from having access to the Grand’s classic look and feel and the Center for Arts and Media all in one place.

Every applicant for the program was required to submit a spec pilot and series overview as the basis of their creative work at the Lab. The selected writers are: Desiree Akhavan (Switch Hitter); Peter Biegen (Small Change); Nate Crocker (Scar Tissue); Katori Hall (The Dial); Barry Jenkins (Radical); Nick Keetch (Borderline); Lisa Kron (The Schaeffers); Crystal Liu (The White Sheep); Heather Marion (Bury Me) and Matt Young (Still).

Under the leadership of Michelle Satter, Founding Director of the Sundance Institute Feature Film Program, the writers will work with an accomplished group of showrunners, television executives, and producers. They will participate in one on one creative story meetings, a Writers' Room to break story, pitch sessions, and group conversations about the creative and business environment of television writing and producing.

Creative Advisors for the Episodic Story Lab include: Michelle Ashford (Creator, Masters of Sex); Jenny Bicks (Executive Producer, Sex and the City); Greg Daniels (Co-Creator, Parks and Recreation); Chic Eglee (Executive Producer, Dexter); Kerry Ehrin (Co-Creator and Executive Producer, Bates Motel); Howard Gordon (Co-Creator, Homeland); Noah Hawley (Creator, Fargo); Felicia D. Henderson (Creator, Soul Food); Warren Leight (Executive Producer, Law & Order: SVU); Amy Lippman (Executive Producer, Masters of Sex); Murray Miller (Executive Producer, Girls) and Elwood Reid (Executive Producer, The Bridge).

Industry Mentors include: Peter Friedlander (Vice President, Netflix Original Series), Tana Nugent Jamieson (Senior Vice President, A&E Studios), Laura Michalchyshyn (President, Sundance Productions), Erica Motley (Acquisition Consultant, Sonar Entertainment), Francesca Orsi (Senior Vice President, Drama Programming, HBO), Nena Rodrigue (Senior Vice President, Original Programming & Production, SundanceTV),Rodrigo Teixera (Founder and CEO, RT Features), Betsy Beers (Partner, Shondaland), Dante Di Loreto (President, Ryan Murphy Television), and Mark Johnson (Producer, Gran Via Productions).

Sundance Institute President and Founder Robert Redford said "Independent thinking continues to drive our culture in new ways and nowhere is it more evident than within the changing landscape of storytelling. It is with this in mind that we created the Sundance Episodic Story Lab to provide a creative place for writers to explore new territory."

Keri Putnam, Executive Director of Sundance Institute, said, "Our Episodic Story Lab is a rare opportunity for independent artists to develop unique multi-part projects and learn how to navigate the changing landscape of this field. We are grateful to the community of established television writers and professionals for lending their support and expertise to this next generation of artists with unique and diverse voices."

Michelle Satter, Founding Director of the Feature Film Program, said, "The selected writers are telling distinctive and dynamic stories in a range of genres and formats. It is exciting and humbling to support the creative journey of these talented writers who will work closely with accomplished showrunners to refine, challenge and advance their work and understanding of multi-episode storytelling."

Following the Lab, the writers will receive customized, year-round support including: ongoing creative and strategic advice, year-round mentors, and introductions to targeted showrunners, networks, agents and other creative and business professionals.

The Sundance Institute Episodic Story Lab is made possible by Founding Supporters Lyn and Norman Lear; Leadership Supporters A&E, Netflix, SundanceTV, and Time Warner Foundation/HBO; and Discovery Supporters Cindy and Alan Horn, RT Features and Sonar Entertainment.

In addition to the Episodic Story Lab, the Institute offers Labs throughout the year and around the world for independent directors, screenwriters, documentary editors, composers, playwrights, producers, and New Frontier artists.

Artists and projects selected for the Episodic Story Lab are:

Switch Hitter (half-hour comedy)
Writer: Desiree Akhavan
After Leila Shahi unexpectedly turns down a marriage proposal from her seemingly perfect lesbian partner, she is forced to confront a very basic fact about herself that she has been suppressing for years -- she's bisexual. Now, with a motley group of friends by her side, Leila must pick up the pieces of her life while trudging through the hell of dating—gay or straight.

Iranian-American filmmaker Desiree Akhavan is the writer/director/star of Appropriate Behavior, which premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival. She is also the co-creator and star of the critically-acclaimed web series The Slope. Desiree was featured as one of Filmmaker Magazine's "25 New Faces of Independent Film" and will appear on the next season of Girls. She has a BA from Smith College and an MFA from NYU's Grad Film Program.

Small Change (one hour drama)
Writer: Peter Biegen
As soon as Maxi, a brilliant but troubled 13-year-old, arrives at Fante Juvenile Detention Center, he strategically forms an unusual alliance with the dangerous and charismatic leader of the prison's criminal underworld. They operate under the watchful eye of Fante counselor Celia, an Afghanistan War veteran with demons of her own.

Peter Biegen is an award-winning playwright and screenwriter. His produced work includes writing and directing the short film Ceremonies of the Horsemen and co-writing The Last Lullaby with Max Allen. Peter's feature screenplay Fortunate Sons is being produced by Julie Lynn and Bonnie Curtis, with Eric Stoltz attached to direct.

Scar Tissue (one hour anthology series)
Writer: Nate Crocker
When Chew, a boxing cut man, is diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, he finally decides to pursue his long-deferred aspiration to become a trainer. He takes on a raw but talented budding prospect, but the young boxer's gang ties and the shady, sometimes dangerous politics of local professional boxing threaten to derail his dream.

Born in Evanston, Illinois, Nate Crocker went to college in Colorado and did a year of service with AmeriCorps in inner city Baltimore before moving to Los Angeles. His short films have been screened at NBCUniversal's Short Film Showcase, The Las Vegas Film Festival, and other venues.

The Dial (one hour drama)
Writer: Katori Hall
The Dial is inspired by the true story of Nat D. Williams, America's first black radio DJ. His weekly show on WDIA-Memphis starts a music revolution when he introduces the public to blues and soul. While tensions arise as whites and blacks begin working together at the radio station, the conflict within mirrors what is happening outside as the civil rights movement gathers thunder.

Katori Hall is a playwright-performer from Memphis, Tennessee. Her drama The Mountaintop won London's Olivier award for Best New Play and is one of the most produced plays in America. Her play Hurt Village was adapted into a feature screenplay and developed through the 2011 Sundance Screenwriters Lab.

Radical (one hour limited series)
Writer: Barry Jenkins
In 1972, George Wright and four other civil rights activists hijacked Delta Flight 841 from the United States to Algeria, collecting the largest ransom in airline history. Inspired by a true story, Radical follows each member of this disenfranchised group from their humble beginnings to the moment they decide to take matters into their own hands.

Filmmaker Barry Jenkins was born and raised in Miami, Florida, and studied film at Florida State University. His first film, Medicine For Melancholy, was acquired and released by IFC Films and nominated for four Gotham and Independent Spirit Awards. A United States Artists Smith Fellow, he was recently named one of "20 Directors to Watch" in world cinema by The New York Times.

Borderline (one hour drama)
Writer: Nick Keetch
Borderline follows two estranged brothers—one a DEA agent, the other a cartel lieutenant—as they operate on opposite sides of the drug war and compete for control of the trafficking corridor that separates US from Mexico. As their professional lives begin to intersect, the brothers confront their shared past while trying to negotiate between the relationship they once had and the lives they have forged since they were separated.

Nick Keetch is a screenwriter from London. After receiving a degree in American Literature at the University of Sussex, Nick worked briefly in advertising in New York, before moving to Los Angeles to attend UCLA Extension's Television Writing Program. In 2012, he was named a semi-finalist in UCLA Extension's Teleplay Competition for his Justified spec, and a quarter-finalist in Scriptapalooza's Teleplay Competition for his Boardwalk Empire spec. Nick has also worked as a writers' assistant on Rogue for DirecTV and The Assets for ABC.

The Schaeffers (half-hour dramedy)
Writer: Lisa Kron
Wife and working mother Ginger Schaeffer has her world turned upside down when she must move back to her Midwestern hometown to look after her aging mother and father. As she's plunged into the role of caregiver, her own life begins to crumble and Ginger discovers that nothing brings out your inner child like elderly parents. Together the Schaeffers must grapple with the relentless adventure of growing up and growing old.

Lisa Kron has been writing and performing theater since moving to New York from Michigan in 1984. She was supported by the Sundance Institute Theatre Program in 2003 to develop her award-winning play Well. Her work has been widely produced in New York, regionally, and internationally, earning numerous awards including three Obies and a Tony nomination. This year she was named a Doris Duke Artist and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. She also wrote the libretto for the acclaimed musical Fun Home (also supported by the Sundance Institute Theatre Program in 2012), set to open on Broadway in Spring 2015.

The White Sheep (half-hour comedy)
Writer: Crystal Liu
Adopted by an Asian American family at birth, blond-haired, blue-eyed Lori Lynn is pushing 30 and still working on finding herself. When a breakup and sudden unemployment force her to move back home, she struggles to get her life back on track while surrounded by a family of overachievers.

Crystal Liu graduated from the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television. Her award-winning short films have played at festivals across the world. She is currently a staff writer for American Horror Story: Freak Show.

Bury Me (half-hour comedy)
Writer: Heather Marion
When her family's funeral home threatens to go under, estranged eldest daughter and single mother Kim Diamond must return to Nebraska to confront her dysfunctional relatives—and her own insecurities—while trying to bring the family business back to life.

Heather Marion studied Biochemistry at Concordia University until she fell in love with improv and sketch comedy. She received an MFA in Screenwriting from UCLA. Marion is currently the writers' assistant on Better Call Saul, the upcoming Vince Gilligan/Peter Gould Breaking Bad prequel series.

Still (one hour drama)
Writer: Matt Young
A down-on-his-luck farmer in Depression-era Virginia runs into trouble with a sinister family of moonshiners after he is hired to bust up their stills. He struggles to protect his family while navigating the dangerous world of bootlegging and the horrifying realm of Appalachian black magic.

Matt Young got his start in the industry as a commercial actor and improviser. While he continues to perform both on television and live at Hollywood's IO West Theater, he is also pursuing a Masters Degree in Screenwriting at California State University, Northridge.

Sundance Institute Feature Film Program
Since its founding in 1981, the Sundance Institute Feature Film Program (FFP) has supported an extensive list of ground-breaking independent films. FFP films making their premieres this year include Damien Chazelle's Whiplash (winner of the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival), Cutter Hodierne's Fishing Without Nets (winner of the Directing Prize at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival), and Malik Vitthal's Imperial Dreams (winner of the Best of NEXT Audience Award at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival). Additional notable films supported over the program's history include Ryan Coogler's Fruitvale Station, Ritesh Batra's The Lunchbox, Haifaa Al Mansour's Wadjda, Lucy Alibar and Benh Zeitlin's Beasts of the Southern Wild, Sean Durkin's Martha Marcy May Marlene, Dee Rees' Pariah, Cary Fukunaga's Sin Nombre, Andrea Arnold's Red Road, Miranda July's Me and You and Everyone We Know, Hany Abu-Assad's Paradise Now, 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, Walter Salles' Central Station, Chris Eyre and Sherman Alexie's Smoke Signals, Allison Anders' Mi Vida Loca, Paul Thomas Anderson's Hard Eight, and Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs. sundance.org/featurefilm

Sundance Institute
Sundance Institute is 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 connect audiences to their work. The Institute promotes independent storytelling as art and as a compelling and powerful way to inform, inspire and unite people. Internationally recognized for its annual Sundance Film Festival, Sundance Institute has supported such projects as Beasts of the Southern Wild, Fruitvale Station, Sin Nombre, The Invisible War, The Square, Dirty Wars, Spring Awakening, A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder and Fun Home. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.

Film Forward, a partnership of Sundance Institute, the President's Committee and three 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.

The program in Michigan will focus on communities and change, beating the odds, acceptance, and the human experience behind the headlines. Common themes explored in the films traveling with the program this year include acceptance, overcoming adversity and the transformative power of the arts to heal and bridge differences. In each location, Film Forward seeks to engage audiences that have limited access to independent film, and artists.

"Storytelling through film illuminates different ways of thinking and brings about understanding of new cultures," said Keri Putnam, Executive Director of Sundance Institute. "We look forward to showing these films in Michigan which we hope will inspire a dynamic exchange of ideas."

"The National Endowment for the Humanities is proud to support Film Forward and the civic engagement it promotes through film," said Malcom Richardson, Senior Partnership Officer. "Film Forward programs demonstrate how the humanities actively expand knowledge of other cultures, perspectives and history, while the films and participating filmmakers help us understand the issues we face as citizens."

"Dancing In Jaffa is about defying expectations and believing that change is possible," said filmmaker Hilla Medalia. "No matter where the film is shown audiences around the world will relate to the common themes and issues expressed by the students. I am excited to engage audiences in dialogue in Michigan and see if my film can challenge audiences to see their community in a new way."

The 2014 season of Film Forward will reach over 10,000 people through international (Mexico, Taiwan, China, Bosnia & Herzegovina and Indonesia) and domestic locations (California, Michigan, Mississippi and Pennsylvania).Sundance Institute staff members traveling with the program are: Film Forward Director Meredith Lavitt, Film Forward Manager Jacqueline Carlson and Sundance Institute Manager of Diversity Initiatives Moira Griffin.

FILM FORWARD Year Four Films:

	Circles – (Directed by: Srdan Golubovic ) Five people are affected by a tragic heroic act. Twenty years later, all of them will have to confront the past through their own crises. Will they overcome the guilt, frustration, and the urge for revenge? Will they do the right thing, at all costs? International Narrative
	Dancing in Jaffa – (Directed by: Hilla Medalia) Renowned ballroom dancer, Pierre Dulaine, takes his belief that dance can overcome political and cultural differences and applies it to 11 year old Jewish and Palestinian Israelis. What occurs is magical and transformative. International Documentary
	Fruitvale Station – (Directed by: 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. US Narrative
	If You Build It – (Directed by: Patrick Creadon) If You Build It spends a year in the life of one of America’s most innovative classrooms. Designer/activists Emily Pilloton and Matt Miller, together with their high school students, unleash the power of humanitarian design to help their struggling community in rural North Carolina. US Documentary
	The Rocket – (Directed by: Kim Mordaunt) A boy who is believed to bring bad luck leads his family and a couple of ragged misfits through Laos to find a new home. After a calamity–filled journey through a land scarred by war, the boy sets off to prove he’s not cursed and builds a giant rocket to enter the most lucrative but dangerous competition of the year: the Rocket Festival. International Narrative
	The World Before Her – (Directed by: Nisha Pahuja) Moving between two extremes—the intimate verité drama of the Miss India pageant’s rigorous beauty “bootcamp” and the intense regime of a militant Hindu fundamentalist camp for young girls—The World Before Her delivers a provocative portrait of India and its current cultural conflicts during a key transitional era in the country's modern history. International Documentary
	Twenty Feet From Stardom – (Directed by: Morgan Neville) Millions know their voices, but no one knows their names. Twenty Feet From Stardom shines a spotlight on the untold true story of the backup singers behind some of the greatest musical legends of the 21st century. US Documentary
	Valentine Road – (Directed by: Marta Cunningham) On February 12, 2008, eighth-grade student Brandon McInerney shot his classmate Larry King twice in the back of the head. With keen insight, the film connects the human wreckage of Larry’s and Brandon’s troubled lives—both bullied and both searching for a sense of belonging. US Documentary

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, follow us on Twitter @NEAarts or like us on Facebook.

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. The mission of IMLS is to inspire libraries and museums to advance innovation, lifelong learning, and cultural and civic engagement. The agency's 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 www.imls.gov and follow @US_IMLS on Twitter and on Facebook.

Sundance Institute
Sundance Institute is 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 connect audiences to their work. The Institute promotes independent storytelling as art and as a compelling and powerful way to inform, inspire and unite people. Internationally recognized for its annual Sundance Film Festival, Sundance Institute has supported such projects as Beasts of the Southern Wild, Fruitvale Station, Sin Nombre, The Invisible War, The Square, Dirty Wars, Spring Awakening, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder and Fun Home. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.

New Frontier at Sundance Institute is a cross-programmatic initiative created to identify and foster independent artists working at the convergence of film, art, media, live performance, music and technology. Since 2007, the New Frontier exhibition at the Sundance Film Festival has provided the highest level of curation in the field, incorporating fiction, non-fiction and hybrid storytelling to showcase multi-media installations, performances and films. Sundance Institute established the New Frontier Story Lab in 2011 to deepen its support of storytellers pioneering new ways of working across various media and engaging with technology and in 2014 began the New Frontier Flash Lab and Artist Residency programs.

Highlights of work shown at the Festival include the first large-scale public exhibition of Oculus Rift VR technology, the world premiere of Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s hitRECord, NFB/interactive’s Bear 71, and the U.S. premiere of The Source (evolving) by renowned artist Doug Aitken, as well as works by Isaac Julien, Pierre Huyghe, Aaron Koblin, Jennifer Steinkamp, Lynn Hershman Leeson, and Matthew Barney. Among the artists supported at the New Frontier Story Lab are Chris Milk, Hank Willis Thomas, Gary Baseman, Roger Ross Williams, The Goggles and Yung Jake.

Robert Redford, President & Founder of Sundance Institute, said, “Artists continue to challenge us to immerse ourselves in new ways of experiencing stories. The Sundance Institute New Frontier program was created to discover, support and showcase those artists working at the forefront of this exciting new area.”

Keri Putnam, Executive Director of Sundance Institute, said, “New Frontier provides a unique and rich platform of support to artists who harness new technologies to develop interactive and immersive projects. Kamal and Shari will be instrumental in designing and implementing the future of our New Frontier program, allowing us to continue to evolve along with this dynamic field of storytelling.”

As Co-Directors, New Frontier, Frilot and Sinclair will collaborate on activities including cultivating and building relationships with artists and technologists, researching trends, and leading strategic planning and growth for the program.

Frilot will continue to curate New Frontier exhibition activities. A filmmaker, curator and festival programmer for events including MIX International Festivals and LA’s Outfest, she is presently in her 15th year as a Senior Programmer for the Sundance Film Festival. Frilot has been a pioneer in the development of immersive cinematic environments and the creative force behind New Frontier since its inception. She is an alumna of Harvard/Radcliffe University, and the Whitney Museum Independent Study Program.

Sinclair will oversee the annual New Frontier Story Lab, Flash Labs and Artist Residencies. She is a transmedia producer, theatrical director, community arts leader and multi-disciplinary artist. She served as artist and producer on the Question Bridge: Black Males collaborative transmedia art project and worked at 42 Entertainment on projects such as Legends of Alcatraz and Random Acts of Fusion. She graduated with her BFA from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and her MBA from Georgia State University’s Robinson College of Business.

Sundance Institute

Sundance Institute is 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 connect audiences to their work. The Institute promotes independent storytelling as art and as a compelling and powerful way to inform, inspire and unite people. Internationally recognized for its annual Sundance Film Festival, Sundance Institute has supported such projects as Beasts of the Southern Wild, Fruitvale Station, Sin Nombre, The Invisible War, The Square, Dirty Wars, Spring Awakening, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder and Fun Home. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.

The Sundance Film Festival – Hong Kong Selects will feature five of the Festival’s award-winning films. The full lineup is: The Case Against 8, Fishing Without Nets, God Help the Girl, Infinitely Polar Bear, Life After Beth, Skeleton Twins, Whiplash and Wish I Was Here. The screening series will begin with the Hong Kong premiere of Infinitely Polar Bear, a bitter-sweet family tale of how life’s storms can be weathered with creativity and love. God Help the Girl, the directorial debut of musician Stuart Murdoch of Belle and Sebastian, will close the screening series on a musical note. As a Special Presentation, the critically acclaimed Whiplash tells the story of a determined young drummer, shedding light on our fear of mediocrity and the price of success.

John Cooper, Director of the Sundance Film Festival, said, "In our effort to share the best of American independent film with audiences outside the U.S., Hong Kong seemed an excellent location with a rich cinematic history. In partnership with The Metroplex, we look forward to presenting this program of diverse and high quality independent films."

Filmmakers attending the Sundance Film Festival – Hong Kong Selects to engage in post-screening Q&As with audiences include Maya Forbes (Infinitely Polar Bear), Jeff Baena (Life After Beth), Craig Johnson (The Skeleton Twins), Cutter Hodierne (Fishing Without Nets), Ben Cotner and Ryan White (The Case Against 8). John Cooper will also attend and moderate a panel discussion, entitled Visions of Independence, on 20 September with Bede Cheng, Senior Program Manager of The Metroplex.

The spirit of independence transcends art forms. As a complement to the Sundance Film Festival – Hong Kong Selects, The Metroplex has programmed a selection of independent artists who share the spirit of creativity and independence, including The Stay Up, The Helter Skelter, Adrian Fu, Lillian Wong@O.U.R. Works, Shandy Gan@O.U.R. Works, Trekkerz@O.U.R. Works, HAZE, Hey Rachel, SiS Lok’s and Noughts and Exes to perform at the Atrium, E-Max on two consecutive weekends during the screening series, 20-21 and 27-28 September. Free Admission. Stay tuned at hk.sundance.org for details on panel discussion, post-movie discussion and live music events.

The box office will open on 28 August and tickets can be purchased at Internet Ticketing (hk.sundance.org, no handling charges required), The Metroplex Box Office, Metroplex Internet Ticketing (www.metroplex.com.hk) and Metroplex iPhone and Android Apps Ticketing. Ticket price: Adult - $80; Student/Child/Senior -$70. Become an HK Selects VIP by registering at hk.sundance.org to enjoy 20% discount for single tickets and 30% discount for “HK Select VIP Package” (including one ticket for each film), 20% Discount for The Metroplex VIP Metropolitans Membership fee as well as advance reservation for Panel Discussion.

For more details, please visit http://hk.sundance.org/ or https://www.facebook.com/SundanceFilmFestivalHK

Press release sent by Cultural Connections on behalf of The Metroplex.
For enquiries:
Mr. Siu Heng (siuheng@culturalconnections.hk / 9668-5945)
Ms. Winnie Tam (momstudio.hk@gmail.com / 9199-2553)
Mr. Casey De La Rosa (casey_delarosa@sundance.org / 310-360-1981)

Film Detail

The Case Against 8 (Directors: Ben Cotner, Ryan White) — A behind-the-scenes look inside the case to overturn California's ban on same-sex marriage. Shot over five years, the film follows the unlikely team that took the first federal marriage equality lawsuit to the U.S. Supreme Court. Winner of the Directing Award: U.S. Documentary at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival. HONG KONG PREMIERE

Fishing Without Nets (Director: Cutter Hodierne, Screenwriters: Cutter Hodierne, John Hibey, David Burkman) — A story of pirates in Somalia told from the perspective of a struggling, young Somali fisherman. Cast: Abdikani Muktar, Abdi Siad, Abduwhali Faarah, Abdikhadir Hassan, Reda Kateb, Idil Ibrahim. Winner of the Directing Award: U.S. Dramatic at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival. HONG KONG PREMIERE

God Help the Girl (Director and screenwriter: Stuart Murdoch) — This musical from Stuart Murdoch of Belle & Sebastian is about some messed up boys and girls and the music they made. Cast: Emily Browning, Olly Alexander, Hannah Murray, Pierre Boulanger, Cora Bissett. Winner of a World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival. CLOSING FILM / HONG KONG PREMIERE

Infinitely Polar Bear (Director and screenwriter: Maya Forbes) — A manic-depressive mess of a father tries to win back his wife by attempting to take full responsibility of their two young, spirited daughters, who don't make the overwhelming task any easier. Cast: Mark Ruffalo, Zoe Saldana, Imogene Wolodarsky, Ashley Aufderheide. OPENING FILM / HONG KONG PREMIERE

Life After Beth (Director and screenwriter: Jeff Baena) — Zach is devastated by the unexpected death of his girlfriend, Beth. When she mysteriously returns, he gets a second chance at love. Soon his whole world turns upside down... Cast: Aubrey Plaza, Dane DeHaan, John C. Reilly, Molly Shannon, Cheryl Hines, Paul Reiser. HONG KONG PREMIERE

The Skeleton Twins (Director: Craig Johnson, Screenwriters: Craig Johnson, Mark Heyman) — When estranged twins Maggie and Milo feel that they’re at the end of their ropes, an unexpected reunion forces them to confront why their lives went so wrong. As the twins reconnect, they realize the key to fixing their lives may just lie in repairing their relationship. Cast: Bill Hader, Kristen Wiig, Luke Wilson, Ty Burrell, Boyd Holbrook, Joanna Gleason. Winner of the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award: U.S. Dramatic at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival. HONG KONG PREMIERE

Whiplash (Director and screenwriter: Damien Chazelle) — Under the direction of a ruthless instructor, a talented young drummer begins to pursue perfection at any cost, even his humanity. Cast: Miles Teller, JK Simmons. Winner of the U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic and Audience Award: U.S. Dramatic at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival. SPECIAL PRESENTATION / HONG KONG PREMIERE

Wish I Was Here (Director: Zach Braff, Screenwriters: Zach Braff, Adam Braff) — Aidan Bloom, a 35-year-old struggling actor, father, and husband, is still trying to find purpose in his life. In coming to terms with the death of his father, Aidan and his family unite to discover how to turn the page onto the next chapter. Cast: Zach Braff, Kate Hudson, Mandy Patinkin, Josh Gad, Ashley Greene, Joey King. HONG KONG PREMIERE

About The Metroplex
In 2014 The Metroplex opened its doors to the public as a state-of-the-art 9 screen multiplex at the heart of Eastern Kowloon. The Metroplex is a self-operated independent cinema under Hopewell Holdings Limited, showing a wide range of films from Hollywood blockbusters, international award-winning pictures, film festivals, local, specialty and independent films in its 9 silver screens. Moreover, being located in one of the Group’s investment properties Kowloonbay International Trade and Exhibition Centre (KITEC), Metroplex has the flexibility in cross platform entertainment such as film/music festivals, live streaming, concerts and shows, multimedia conferences, and many other events of similar genre. For more details, please visit www.metroplex.com.hk.

About Sundance Institute
Sundance Institute is 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 connect audiences to their work. The Institute promotes independent storytelling as art and as a compelling and powerful way to inform, inspire and unite people. Internationally recognized for its annual Sundance Film Festival, Sundance Institute has supported such projects as Beasts of the Southern Wild, Fruitvale Station, Sin Nombre, The Invisible War, The Square, Dirty Wars, Spring Awakening, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder and Fun Home. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.

At the Music and Sound Design Lab, a joint initiative of the Institute’s Film Music Program and Documentary Film Program, composers, sound designers and directors will explore the collaborative process of designing a soundtrack for film. Fellows also participate in workshops and creative exercises under the guidance of leading film composers and film music professionals acting as Creative Advisors and who this year will include: composers Todd Boekelheide and Miriam Cutler; re-recording mixer Lora Hirschberg; and editor Vivien Hillgrove. The Composers Lab for narrative films took place in July and was hosted by the Film Music Program and Feature Film Program.

In addition to the Music and Sound Design Labs, the Institute offers labs throughout the year and around the world for independent directors, screenwriters, documentary editors, composers, playwrights, producers and New Frontier artists.

Artists and projects selected for the 2014 Sundance Institute Music and Sound Design Lab – Documentary (Sept. 15-23) are:

Filmmakers:
All filmmakers selected for this Lab have been supported by the Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program.

Marc Silver (director) / 3 1/2 Minutes: 3 1⁄2 Minutes dissects the shooting death of 17-year-old Jordan Davis, the aftermath of this tragedy and contradictions within the American criminal justice system.

Mike Day (director) / The Island and the Whales: The pilot whale hunters of the Nordic Faroe Islands believe that hunting is vital to their way of life, but when a local doctor makes a grim discovery about the effects of marine pollution, environmental changes threaten to end the controversial tradition and change the community forever.

Anna Sandilands and Ewan McNicol (co-directors) / Uncertain: On the shores of a dying lake, neighbors in the once outlaw town of Uncertain, Texas, are haunted by their pasts and battling for their future—a tender, humorous southern gothic tale.

Bill Ross and Turner Ross (co-directors) / Western: Eagle Pass, Texas, and Piedras Negras, Mexico are border towns and a harmonious vision of the modern frontier. Cowboys and lawmen share the desert landscape while international business and multicultural bonds flourish across the Rio Grande. But when darkness descends, two men in Eagle Pass face a new reality that threatens their way of life.

Composers:

Kent Sparling is a San Francisco Bay Area composer and improviser who employs techniques of manipulation and montage on a wide range of natural sounds, traditional instruments and home-made electronics. He’s released seven CDs of experimental music,and created original scores for feature films by Wayne Wang, Eduardo Sanchez, and Frazer Bradshaw. He sound-designed and mixed Lance Hammer’s Ballast, Braden King’s HERE, David Lowery’s Ain’t Them Bodies Saints, Kelly Reichardt’s Night Moves and Ira Sachs’ Love is Strange.

Linda Oh is a bassist from Perth, Australia, based in New York City. She performs with Dave Douglas, Joe Lovano, Kenny Barron and has released three albums to critical acclaim. She received an ASCAP Jazz Composer’s award, 2nd place at the BASS2010 Competition and was the 2012 Downbeat Critic's Poll "Rising Star.”

Ross Garren is a Los Angeles-based pianist, harmonicist, and composer. He received his B.M. from the University of Southern California where he was named Outstanding Graduate in Composition. In addition to an active freelance career, he has released numerous solo records, has written music featured on a number of television shows, and has served on staff at the Musician's Institute.

Sage Lewis is a Los Angeles-based composer who has frequently been writing music for US productions filmed in foreign countries including India, Cuba, Pakistan, Haiti, Iran, Italy, Indonesia, Peru and Colombia. His scores have been presented by Havana Film Festival, LA Film Festival, Palm Springs, Telluride, and Slamdance. He also composes for the NYC fashion brand Maiyet.

The Sundance Institute Film Music Program is supported by BMI, Time Warner Foundation, The Film Music Foundation, and Republic Records.

Sundance Institute
Sundance Institute is 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 connect audiences to their work. The Institute promotes independent storytelling as art and as a compelling and powerful way to inform, inspire and unite people. Internationally recognized for its annual Sundance Film Festival, Sundance Institute has supported such projects as Beasts of the Southern Wild, Fruitvale Station, Sin Nombre, The Invisible War, The Square, Dirty Wars, Spring Awakening, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder and Fun Home. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.

Film Forward, a partnership of Sundance Institute, the President’s Committee and three 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. .

The program in Indonesia will focus on the contribution of women to arts and culture, the tradition of storytelling through music, communities in conflict and what it means to be a hero. Common themes explored in the films traveling with the program this year include acceptance, overcoming adversity and the transformative power of the arts to heal and bridge differences.  In each location, Film Forward seeks to engage audiences that have limited access to independent film, and artists.  . 

“Film Forward uses the powerful medium of film and storytelling to bring people of different cultures, viewpoints, and backgrounds together in a shared dialogue,” said Keri Putnam, Executive Director of Sundance Institute.  “We are thrilled to travel to Indonesia for the first time and engage in conversation about the issues that connect us all.”

“Film Forward empowers filmmakers and audiences to talk about a range of ideas, perspectives and issues that touch all of us - whether we are in Mississippi or Indonesia. Just as President’s Committee Honorary Chair Michelle Obama made it a priority to reach out and engage young people on her recent trip to China, “Film Forward is excited to engage youth wherever the program goes, particularly in Indonesia,” says Rachel Goslins, President’s Committee executive director.

“Circles is a story that shows the scars of war and the complicated implications of making decisions based on one’s morals,” said filmmaker Srdan Golubovic. “Audiences around the world can relate the struggle of following your heart and what it means to truly be a hero in your everyday life. I look forward to the shared discussion around this film and hope audiences find similarities that will help make their world more nuanced.”

The 2014 season of Film Forward will reach over 10,000 people through international (Mexico, Taiwan, China, Bosnia & Herzegovina and Indonesia) and domestic locations (California, Michigan, Mississippi and Pennsylvania).Sundance Institute staff members traveling with the program are: Film Forward Director Meredith Lavitt, Film Forward Manager Bethany Clarke, Sundance Institute International Manager of The Feature Film Program Matthew Takada and Sundance Institute Field Producer Luis Silva.

FILM FORWARD Year Four Films:

	Circles – (Directed by: Srdan Golubovic ) Five people are affected by a tragic heroic act. Twenty years later, all of them will have to confront the past through their own crises. Will they overcome the guilt, frustration, and the urge for revenge?  Will they do the right thing, at all costs? International Narrative
	Dancing in Jaffa – (Directed by: Hilla Medalia) Renowned ballroom dancer, Pierre Dulaine, takes his belief that dance can overcome political and cultural differences and applies it to 11 year old Jewish and Palestinian Israelis. What occurs is magical and transformative. International Documentary
	Fruitvale Station – (Directed by: 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. US Narrative
	If You Build It – (Directed by: Patrick Creadon) If You Build It spends a year in the life of one of America’s most innovative classrooms.   Designer/activists Emily Pilloton and Matt Miller, together with their high school students, unleash the power of humanitarian design to help their struggling community in rural North Carolina.  US Documentary
	The Rocket – (Directed by: Kim Mordaunt) A boy who is believed to bring bad luck leads his family and a couple of ragged misfits through Laos to find a new home. After a calamity–filled journey through a land scarred by war, the boy sets off to prove he’s not cursed and builds a giant rocket to enter the most lucrative but dangerous competition of the year: the Rocket Festival. International Narrative
	The World Before Her – (Directed by: Nisha Pahuja) Moving between two extremes—the intimate verité drama of the Miss India pageant’s rigorous beauty “bootcamp” and the intense regime of a militant Hindu fundamentalist camp for young girls—The World Before Her delivers a provocative portrait of India and its current cultural conflicts during a key transitional era in the country's modern history. International Documentary
	Twenty Feet From Stardom – (Directed by: Morgan Neville) Millions know their voices, but no one knows their names. Twenty Feet From Stardom shines a spotlight on the untold true story of the backup singers behind some of the greatest musical legends of the 21st century. US Documentary
	Valentine Road – (Directed by: Marta Cunningham) On February 12, 2008, eighth-grade student Brandon McInerney shot his classmate Larry King twice in the back of the head. With keen insight, the film connects the human wreckage of Larry’s and Brandon’s troubled lives—both bullied and both searching for a sense of belonging. US Documentary

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, follow us on Twitter @NEAarts or like us on Facebook.

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. The mission of IMLS is to inspire libraries and museums to advance innovation, lifelong learning, and cultural and civic engagement. The agency’s 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
Sundance Institute is 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. Internationally recognized for its annual Sundance Film Festival, Sundance Institute has nurtured such projects as Beasts of the Southern Wild, Fruitvale Station, Sin Nombre, An Inconvenient Truth, Spring Awakening, Born into Brothels, Trouble the Water, Light in the Piazza and Angels in America. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.

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Media Contacts:

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

ShortsLab L.A. offers filmmakers the opportunity to participate in an intensive one-day seminar of screenings and discussions with firsthand insight and access into the world of short-form documentary story development, production and exhibition. Among the featured speakers are filmmakers Rodney Ascher (Room 237), Academy Award nominee  Kirby Dick (The Invisible War), Lauren Greenfield (The Queen of Versailles), AJ Schnack (Kurt Cobain: About a Son) and Academy Award nominee Lucy Walker (The Crash Reel), as well as Tabitha Jackson (Director, Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program) and programmers from the Sundance Film Festival.

Sundance Institute has long supported the creation and exhibition of short films. A record 8,161 short films were submitted for consideration for the 2014 Sundance Film Festival. Among the Sundance Institute alumni documentarians who work in the short form are Lauren Greenfield, Albert Maysles, Ondi Timoner, Monika Treut, Ava DuVernay, Errol Morris, Werner Herzog, Sam Green, Godfrey Reggio and Steve James.

Tickets ($75) and more information at sundance.org/shortslabLA.

Sundance Institute
Sundance Institute is 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 connect audiences to their work. The Institute promotes independent storytelling as art and as a compelling and powerful way to inform, inspire and unite people. Internationally recognized for its annual Sundance Film Festival, Sundance Institute has supported such projects as Beasts of the Southern Wild, Fruitvale Station, Sin Nombre, The Invisible War, The Square, Dirty Wars, Spring Awakening, A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder and Fun Home. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.

Sundance Institute's Lab programs were built on a model established by  Institute President & Founder Robert Redford in 1981 and give aspiring independent filmmakers the skills and knowledge they need to make theatrical motion pictures. These educational experiences enable Fellows to work with expert mentors and each other to learn the crafts of directing and screenwriting. The Labs' rigorous creative process encourages collaboration and risk-taking in an extraordinary natural setting, offering Fellows the physical and mental space to develop and hone their craft. By providing essential education for film artists developing their first or second features, these Labs enrich the field of independent cinema.

Recent award-winning projects supported by the FFP include Damien Chazelle's Whiplash,Cutter Hodierne's Fishing Without Nets, Malik Vitthal's Imperial Dreams, Ryan Coogler's Fruitvale Station, Benh Zeitlin's Beasts of the Southern Wild, Sean Durkin's Martha Marcy May Marlene, Cary Fukunaga's Sin Nombre, Dee Rees' Pariah, Cherien Dabis' Amreeka and Haifaa Al Mansour's Wadjda.

The nonprofit Sundance Institute relies on the generosity of corporations, foundations, government agencies and individuals 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. All funds offset the Institute's year-round programs for artists, including Labs, grants and the Sundance Film Festival.

Sundance Institute
Sundance Institute is 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 connect audiences to their work. The Institute promotes independent storytelling as art and as a compelling and powerful way to inform, inspire and unite people. Internationally recognized for its annual Sundance Film Festival, Sundance Institute has supported such projects as Beasts of the Southern Wild, Fruitvale Station, Sin Nombre, The Invisible War, The Square, Dirty Wars, Spring Awakening, A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder and Fun Home. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.

The Academy
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is the world's preeminent movie-related organization, with a membership of more than 6,000 of the most accomplished men and women working in cinema. In addition to the annual Academy Awards–in which the members vote to select the nominees and winners–the Academy presents a diverse year-round slate of public programs, exhibitions and events; acts as a neutral advocate in the advancement of motion picture technology; and, through its Margaret Herrick Library and Academy Film Archive, collects, preserves, restores and provides access to movies and items related to their history. Through these and other activities the Academy serves students, historians, the entertainment industry and people everywhere who love movies. www.oscars.org

John Cooper, Director of the Sundance Film Festival, said, "In our effort to share the best of American independent film with audiences outside the U.S., Hong Kong seemed an excellent location with a rich cinematic history. In partnership with The Metroplex, we look forward to presenting a program of diverse and high quality American independent films."

For more than three decades, Sundance Institute has promoted independent storytelling to inform and inspire audiences across political, social, religious and cultural differences. Through labs, funding, special projects with key partners and the Sundance Film Festival, the Institute serves as a leading advocate for independent film and theatre artists worldwide. Celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2014, the Sundance Film Festival has introduced global audiences to some of the most groundbreaking films of the past three decades, including Beasts of the Southern Wild, Fruitvale Station, Little Miss Sunshine, An Education, sex, lies, and videotape, Reservoir Dogs, Boys Don’t Cry, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, An Inconvenient Truth, Precious, and Napoleon Dynamite. The Festival is a program of the non-profit Sundance Institute®. Since 2012 Sundance Institute, with AEG Europe, has annually presented the Sundance London film and music festival and in 2013 the Institute launched the Los Angeles-based Sundance NEXT FEST, with this year’s event taking place August 7 to 10.

The Sundance Film Festival – Hong Kong Selects program will be announced in mid-August followed by the commencement of ticket sales in late August. The Screening Series is jointly presented by Sundance Institute and The Metroplex, supported by the U.S. Consulate General in Hong Kong and Macau. Screenings will span across two weekends from September 19 to 28, 2014.

Press release sent by Cultural Connections on behalf of The Metroplex.
For enquiries:
Mr. SIU Heng (siuheng@culturalconnections.hk / 9668-5945)
Ms. Winnie TAM (momstudio.hk@gmail.com / 9199-2553)
Mr. Casey De La Rosa (casey_delarosa@sundance.org / 310-360-1981)

About The Metroplex
In 2014 The Metroplex opened its doors to the public as a state-of-the-art 9 screen multiplex at the heart of Eastern Kowloon. The Metroplex is a self-operated independent cinema under Hopewell Holdings Limited, showing a wide range of films from Hollywood blockbusters, international award-winning pictures, film festivals, local, specialty and independent films in its 9 silver screens. Moreover, being located in one of the Group’s investment properties Kowloonbay International Trade and Exhibition Centre (KITEC), Metroplex has the flexibility in cross platform entertainment such as film/music festivals, live streaming, concerts and shows, multimedia conferences, and many other events of similar genre. For more details, please visit www.metroplex.com.hk.

About Sundance Institute
Sundance Institute is 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 connect audiences to their work. The Institute promotes independent storytelling as art and as a compelling and powerful way to inform, inspire and unite people. Internationally recognized for its annual Sundance Film Festival, Sundance Institute has supported such projects as Beasts of the Southern Wild, Fruitvale Station, Sin Nombre, The Invisible War, The Square, Dirty Wars, Spring Awakening, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder and Fun Home. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.

Nine films, both documentary and narrative, will participate in the Labs (July 28 – August 1), where they will work with an accomplished group of Creative Advisors to develop their creative producing, communication and problem-solving skills in all stages of film production. These Producing Fellows will also receive ongoing creative and strategic support throughout the year, as well as direct granting for further development and production. This year's Fellows represent nine projects identified by Sundance Institute's Feature Film Program and Documentary Film Program.

Keri Putnam, Executive Director of Sundance Institute, said, "Independent producers play a critical role in discovering, fighting for and shaping original voices.  Sundance Institute is committed to developing and supporting independent producers whose skills and tenacity are critical to maintaining the health and vibrancy of independent film."

Immediately following the Labs, the Summit (August 1-4) takes place. The Creative Producing Summit is a three-day, invitation-only gathering that connects 40 independent filmmakers with more than 50 top film industry professionals including producers, distributors, sales agents, financiers and broadcasters to build a dialogue on film producing and the state of the independent film industry. Programmed events include case study sessions, panels, roundtable discussions, one-on-one meetings and pitching sessions. Panelists this year include Michael Barker (Sony Pictures Classics), Christine Vachon (Killer Films), Tom Quinn (Radius-TWC), Paul Mezey (Journeyman Pictures), Rena Ronson (UTA), Ron Yerxa (Bona Fide Productions), Diane Weyermann (Participant), Jessica Lacy (ICM), John Sloss (Cinetic), Jess Search (BritDoc), Kevin Iwashina (Preferred Content), Lois Vossen (Independent Lens), Ian Bricke (Netflix) and Josh Braun (Submarine).

FEATURE FILM CREATIVE PRODUCING LAB
The Feature Film Creative Producing Lab allows emerging narrative feature film producers to work with an accomplished group of Creative Advisors to develop their creative and strategic instincts and skills in all stages of film production. This year's Creative Advisors include producers Paul Mezey (Beasts of the Southern Wild), Pam Koffler (Boys Don't Cry), Jay Van Hoy (Love is Strange) and Julie Lynn (Albert Nobbs).

The Fellows and projects selected for the 2014 Feature Film Creative Producing Fellowship are:

Black Bats
Producing Fellows: Adam Hendricks and John Lang
Feeling cast out from society, two teens form a romantic relationship under the belief that they're transforming into monsters. What begins as fantasy ends with horrific consequences as they both lose touch with reality. (Writer/Director: Rick Spears)

Adam Hendricks has had over a decade of experience in the entertainment industry, including development positions at The Jinks/Cohen Company and Macari Edelstein Entertainment. Adam left development to raise financing and produce the independent feature film Caroline and Jackie (Tribeca FF 2012). He developed and produced a variety of web series for Fourth Wall Studios, including Dirty Work, winner of the 2012 Emmy for Original Interactive Programming. In 2013, Adam partnered with John Lang to form Divide & Conquer, a production company specializing in independent films, as well as commercials for clients including Ford, EA Sports and Victory Motorcycles.

John Lang began his career in Austin, Texas, working with the Austin Cinemathéque and South by Southwest Film Festival. Since relocating to Los Angeles in 2008, John has worked in a variety of fields within the film industry including production, development, festivals, and sales. In 2011, John joined Rough & Tumble Films as a development and production executive, where he co-produced We Gotta Get Outta this Place (TIFF 2013). In 2013, John partnered with Adam Hendricks to form the commercial and feature film production company, Divide & Conquer.

I'm No Longer Here
Producing Fellows: Gerry Kim and Mayuran Tiruchelvam
Following the death of his older brother, a teenage Mexican boy is forced to migrate to New York City. When he arrives, he quickly realizes that the violence plaguing his home is no match for the feelings of alienation and loneliness he experiences in America. (Writer/Director: Fernando Frias)

Gerry Kim & Mayuran Tiruchelvam formed Dodgeville Films to produce humanistic narrative and documentary films. Their most recent documentary, To Be Takei, a portrait of actor/activist GeorgeTakei, premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival and was acquired by Starz Digital Media. Gerry produced House of Suh, a feature documentary that premiered at HotDocs in 2010 and aired on MSNBC. Mayuran wrote and co-produced The Girl is in Trouble, executive produced by Spike Lee, and line-produced The Mend, which premiered at SXSW in 2014. In addition to I'm No Longer Here, Gerry and Mayuran are developing Christina Choeʼs Nancy, which was selected for the 2013 IFP Emerging Storytellers Lab, the 2013 Venice Film Festivalʼs Biennale College Cinema Program, and Film Independentʼs Fast Track. They are in post-production on the documentary Farewell, Ferris Wheel, a participant in the 2014 Film Independent Documentary Lab. They received their MFAs from Columbia University in New York City.

Microchip Blues
Producing Fellow: Riel Roch Decter
Fed up with his mundane existence working at the microchip factory, Jimmy teams up with a washed up mystic scientist to build the world's fastest microchip, win back his ex-girlfriend and save his factory from going quantum.
(Writer/Director: Aaron Beckum)

Riel Roch Decter is a Canadian-born, Los Angeles-based producer and the Co-Founder of Memory, a new media and film company. Riel began his career as the Director of Production for the independent production company Olympus Pictures working on such films as Rabbit Hole and Beginners. He has produced numerous awarding-winning films including the short Night Giant and the feature film The Wait, starring Jena Malone and Chloë Sevigny which premiered at SXSW 2013.

Tracktown, USA
Producing Fellow: Laura Wagner
In a small American town obsessed with competitive running, a famous but sheltered and lonely young runner rebels against her parents, coach and everything she's ever known in the midst of her first Olympic Trials. (Co-Writer/Director: Jeremy Teicher, Co-Writer: Alexi Pappas)

Laura Wagner is an independent producer, founder of Bay Bridge Productions and current resident at San Francisco Film Society's FilmHouse. She recently produced the feature film It Felt Like Love by Eliza Hittman, which premiered at Sundance in 2013 and opened in theaters in 2014. She also produced the film Memorial Day by Josh Fox, and she was Associate Producer of the documentary John Leguizamo: Tales from a Ghetto Klown, which premiered on PBS and Pulse: A Stomp Odyssey, the award-winning Imax film directed by the creators of Stomp.

We the Animals
Mark Silverman Honoree & Producing Fellow: Jeremy Yaches
Based on the bestselling novel by Justin Torres, We the Animals is about the brutal yet loving dynamic of a mixed-race working class family, seen through the eyes of the youngest son, as he discovers his heritage, his sexuality and his madness. (Co-Writer/Director: Jeremiah Zagar, Co-Writer: Dan Kitrosser)

Jeremy Yaches is an Emmy-nominated producer and co-founder of Public Record, a production company that specializes in film, TV, branded content, and commercials. He produced the award-winning documentary In A Dream which has screened all over the world and was broadcast on HBO. A graduate of Boston University, Jeremy lives and works in Brooklyn.

DOCUMENTARY FILM CREATIVE PRODUCING LAB
The Documentary Film Creative Producing Lab allows documentary filmmakers to work intensively with award-winning Creative Advisors to hone their craft. The Lab includes sessions on financing, creative distribution, marketing and outreach for independent documentary films. This year's Creative Advisors include Producers Bonni Cohen (The Island President), Brenda Coughlin (Dirty Wars), Josh Penn (Court 13) in addition to  Nancy Willen (Acme PR), Jess Search (Britdoc),  and Josh Braun (Submarine).

The Fellows and projects selected for the 2014 Documentary Film Creative Producing Fellowship are:

Transgender Youth Documentary
Director: Eric Juhola
Producer: Jeremy Stulberg
The Mathis Family in Colorado Springs struggle when their 6-year-old transgender daughter, Coy, is banned from the girl's bathroom at her elementary school. Coy's parents hire a lawyer to fight back and the family is thrust into the media spotlight, causing their lives to change forever.

Eric Juhola founded the film and television production company Still Point Pictures and produced the Gotham Award nominated documentary Off the Grid: Life on the Mesa, winning 8 best documentary prizes at festivals around the world, followed by a theatrical release and US broadcast on the Sundance Channel. Eric has additionally directed and produced documentaries and specials for ITVS/PBS, Discovery Channel, MTV, TLC, and TruTV, and has been featured at many film festivals including Tribeca.

Jeremy Stulberg is a documentary filmmaker, writer, and motion picture editor. His feature documentary, Off the Grid: Life on the Mesa, co-directed with his sister Randy, screened at over 40 film festivals in the US and Europe Jeremy has produced and edited award winning documentaries and feature films such as My Mother's Garden (HotDocs, MSNBC) and White Horse (Berlin FF 2008, HBO).

(T)error
Co-Directors/Producers: Lyric R. Cabral & David Felix Sutcliffe
(T)error is the inside story of  ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓, an active counterterrorism informant for the FBI. Filmed on the ground, it captures the dramatic unraveling of the informant's 20-year career with the Bureau after the target of his investigation realizes that he's been set up.

Named one of Filmmaker Magazine's 25 New Faces of Independent Film, Lyric R. Cabral is an independent documentary filmmaker and photojournalist based in New York City. Cabral's photography has been recently published through the Gordon Parks Foundation, the Aperture Foundation, the Smithsonian Institution Photography Initiative, and National Geographic Channel UK.

David Felix Sutcliffe is an independent documentary filmmaker recently named one of the "25 New Faces of Independent Film." His first film, ADAMA, was broadcast on PBS in November 2011. Sutcliffe has worked as a cinematographer on films in Paris, Indonesia, Kenya, and Kansas, and has taught documentary film for the Harlem Children's Zone, the Tribeca Film Institute, and the Brooklyn Arts Council since 2003.

Uncertain
Co-Directors/Co-Producers: Anna Sandilands & Ewan McNicol
On the shores of a dying lake, neighbors in the once outlaw town of Uncertain, Texas, are haunted by their pasts and battling demons for a future more certain—a tender, humorous southern gothic tale.

Anna Sandilands is a documentary filmmaker and founder of Lucid Inc. a communications company that makes work for clients based in real stories and documentary films. With Ewan McNicol she has made the short films The Roper, Missing, Ufologist, Dirt Racer, and Oil Man and make TV commercials and communications for clients including Google, Apple, Nike, Nokia and BlackBerry. Anna was named Filmmaker Magazine's "25 Fresh Faces To Watch" in 2013.

Ewan McNicol is a documentary filmmaker, cinematographer, photographer and partner of Lucid Inc. a communications company that makes work for clients based in real stories and documentary films. With Anna Sandilands, his work has received awards including the Webby for Best Documentary, The One Club's One Screen award for Best Documentary, an Effie and been nominated for a Cinema Eye award. Their films have been screened at film festivals including Sundance, BFI London International Film Festival, Edinburgh, SXSW, True/False, Seattle, Hot Docs, Silverdocs, Visions du Reel and IDFA. Ewan was named Filmmaker Magazine's "25 Fresh Faces To Watch" in 2013.

Speed Sisters
Producer: Avi Goldstein
The Middle East's first all-women motor racing team has come together in Palestine. What will it take to go further and faster than anyone thought they could? Speed Sisters captures the drive to follow your dreams against the odds, leaving in its trail shattered stereotypes about gender and the Arab world.

Avi Goldstein co-founded SocDoc Studios to produce story-driven films that engage audiences with social issues. He recently completed the documentary film Fire Lines (to be distributed by Journeyman Pictures) with the Ma'an Network in Bethlehem and Common Ground Productions. Avi received an BA in Psychology from Princeton University and was previously a consultant at Vantage Partners, a Boston-based negotiation and relationship management consulting firm spun out of the Harvard Negotiation Project. He recently completed an MA in Non-Profit Management and Leadership, and facilitates interest-based negotiation and problem-solving skills workshops for high schools students. Speed Sisters is his first feature-length documentary.

Sundance Institute
Sundance Institute is 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 connect audiences to their work. The Institute promotes independent storytelling as art and as a compelling and powerful way to inform, inspire and unite people. Internationally recognized for its annual Sundance Film Festival, Sundance Institute has supported such projects as Beasts of the Southern Wild, Fruitvale Station, Sin Nombre, The Invisible War, The Square, Dirty Wars, Spring Awakening, A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder and Fun Home. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.

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Under the supervision of Theatre Program Artistic Director Philip Himberg, Producing Director Christopher Hibma and Program Associate Anne Kauffman, the Retreat is the only theatre director-centered residency of its kind. The Retreat complements other initiatives of the Theatre Program by providing resources to mid-career theatre directors and grew out of a need expressed by directors for an immersive forum in which to exchange ideas and best practices with peers; review and discuss new work, and participate in intensive discussions led by experienced arts professionals.

Philip Himberg, Artistic Director of the Sundance Institute Theatre Program, said, "The Directors Retreat offers a truly rare opportunity for theatre directors to focus inward, to investigate, research and plan new projects, and to reinvigorate their creative spirits. This also comprises a unique experience for these stage artists to be in dialogue with their peers, and to engage in rigorous conversation about the contemporary field."

Directors selected for the 2014 Sundance Institute | LUMA Foundation Theatre Directors Retreat are:

Mark Brokaw recently directed the Broadway production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella. Other Broadway credits include The Lyons, After Miss Julie, Cry-Baby, The Constant Wife, and Reckless. New York premieres include works by David Auburn, Lynda Barry (The Good Times Are Killing Me), Douglas Carter Beane (As Bees in Honey Drown), Keith Bunin, Charles Busch (Olive and the Bitter Herbs), Julia Cho, Lisa Kron (2.5 Minute Ride), Kenneth Lonergan (This Is Our Youth, Lobby Hero), Craig Lucas (The Dying Gaul), Eduardo Machado, Nicky Silver (Too Much Sun, The Lyons), Paula Vogel (How I Learned to Drive, Long Christmas Ride Home) and Wendy Wasserstein (Old Money). Mark has collaborated with Noah Haidle and Laura Jacqmin at past Sundance Institute Theatre Labs. He has directed at London’s Donmar Warehouse and Menier Chocolate Factory, Dublin’s Gate Theatre and the Sydney Opera House. Mark is the Artistic Director of the Yale Institute for Music Theatre. Mark is also an Artistic associate at Roundabout Theatre.

Juliette Carrillo most recently worked as director and choreographer on The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Regionally, Juliette has directed Lydia (Mark Taper Forum, Yale Repertory Theatre, Denver Center Theatre Company); The Brothers Size, The Cook (Seattle Repertory Theatre); Plumas Negras (as writer), It’s All Bueno, Touch The Water, Lethe, As Vishnu Dreams, Los Faustinos (Cornerstone Theater Company); References to Salvador Dalí Make Me Hot, Anna in the Tropics, California Scenarios, Nostalgia, The Countess, Sidney Bechet Killed a Man, Jane of the Jungle (South Coast Repertory); Cloud Tectonics (Alliance Theatre); The Eviction, Eyes For Consuela (Magic Theatre); Sonia Flew (Laguna Playhouse); El Paso Blue (Summer Play Festival, New York); The Play That Knows What You Want (Women’s Project. Juliette has received various awards, including: Gypsy Rose Lee Awards, Seattle Repertory Theatre (The Brothers Size); Examiner Awards, Arizona Theatre Company (The Glass Menagerie). GLAAD award, Mark Taper Forum (Lydia); Ovation Awards, Henry Awards, Denver Center Theatre Company (Lydia); finalist, Alan Schneider Award for Directing, Drama-Logue Awards, NEA/TCG Directing Fellowship, Princess Grace Award. Juliette received her MFA at the Yale School of Drama.

Anne Kauffman has directed at most major New York non-profit and regional theaters.  Her recent credits include Lisa D’Amour’s Pulitzer Prize finalist play Detroit, Smokefall by Noah Haidle at South Coast Rep and The Goodman Theater, 100 Days by The Bengsons at Z Space in San Francisco, Somewhere Fun by Jenny Schwartz at the Vineyard Theater, Amy Herzog’s Belleville for Yale Rep, NY Theatre Workshop and Steppenwolf (Lortel Nomination for Best Director), Chloe Moss’s This Wide Night starring Edie Falco for Naked Angels (Lortel Nomination for Best Director), and Greg Pierce’s Slowgirl for LCT3. She is Program Associate at Sundance Institute, a Usual Suspect at New York Theatre Workshop, an alumna of the Soho Rep Writers and Directors Lab, a current member of Soho Rep’s Artistic Council, Lincoln Center Directors Lab, The Drama League of New York, a founding member of The Civilians, an Associate Artist with Clubbed Thumb and member of New Georges Kitchen Cabinet. From 2000-2006, Anne was on the directing faculty at NYU. She received her MFA in directing from UCSD, and a BA in Slavic Languages and Literature and Theater from Stanford University. Anne’s many awards include the Joan and Joseph Cullman Award for Exceptional Creativity from Lincoln Center, the Alan Schneider Director Award, several Barrymore Awards, Obie Award, and the Lilly Award in Direction.

Ralph B. Peña is the artistic director of Ma-Yi Theatre Company. Recent directing credits include developing a new musical at ACT in San Francisco, Lloyd Suh’s The Wong Kids in the Secret of the Space Chupacabra Go! (Children’s Theater Co. and Ma-Yi, Off Broadway Alliance Award), Joshua Conkel’s Curmudgeons in Love (EST Marathon), Mike Lew’s microcrisis (Youngblood, Ma-Yi), Ruth Margraff’s Centaur Battle of San Jacinto, and House/Boy (Dublin and Singapore Theater Festivals). He received an Obie Award for his work on The Romance of Magno Rubio. Ralph serves on the board of TCG, and is a member of Ensemble Studio Theater.

Leigh Silverman was nominated for Best Director of a Musical for Violet. Other Broadway credits include Chinglish and Well. Off-Broadway, Leigh has directed several shows, including American Hero (Second Stage and Williamstown Theater Festival); Kung Fu (Signature Theatre); The (curious case of the) Watson Intelligence (Playwrights Horizons); The Call (Playwrights Horizons); The Madrid (MTC); Golden Child (Signature Theatre); No Place to Go (Public Theater; Two River Theatre); In the Wake (Center Theatre Group/Berkeley Rep and Public Theater, Obie Award, Lortel nomination); Go Back to Where You Are (Playwrights Horizons, Obie Award); From Up Here (MTC, Drama Desk nomination); Yellow Face (Center Theatre Group/Public Theater); Coraline (MCC/True Love); Blue Door (Playwrights Horizons); Well (Public Theater; Huntington Theatre; ACT); Danny and the Deep Blue Sea (Second Stage Theatre). Recent regional productions include: Chinglish (Goodman Theater, Jeff nomination; West Coast/Hong Kong tour).

Les Waters recently directed Thornton Wilder’s Our Town, Will Eno’s Gnit, Todd Almond’s Girlfriend and Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey into Night at Actors Theatre. Waters also previously directed Big Love by Charles L. Mee at the 2000 Humana Festival, and Naomi Iizuka’s At the Vanishing Point. From 2003 to 2011, he served as Associate Artistic Director at Berkeley Repertory Theatre. His shows have ranked among the year’s best in The New Yorker, The New York Times, Time Magazine and USA Today. His productions have been seen in New York at The Public Theater, Second Stage, Manhattan Theatre Club, Connelly Theater and Clubbed Thumb, and regionally at theatres such as Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Goodman Theatre, Yale Repertory Theatre, American Conservatory Theater, La Jolla Playhouse and American Repertory Theater. In 2009, he made his Broadway debut with In the Next Room or the vibrator play. Led the the MFA directing program at UCSD from 1995 to 2003. Les is also an associate artist of The Civilians.

The Sundance Institute Theatre Program is supported by an endowment from Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, with generous additional support from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, John and Marcia Price Family Foundation, Time Warner Foundation, LUMA Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, The Shubert Foundation, Inc., The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust, and Karen Lauder.

Sundance Institute Theatre Program
The Theatre Program has been a core component of Sundance Institute since Robert Redford founded the Institute in 1981. 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 one of the leading play development programs in the United States. Titles such as Appropriate, Fun Home, A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, Circle Mirror Transformation, An Iliad, The Lily's Revenge, The Good Negro, The Light in the Piazza, Passing Strange, Stuck Elevator, Spring Awakening, The Laramie Project and I Am My Own Wife 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 and now expanding to include the MENA region. The Theatre Program’s newest initiative is the Theatre Directors Retreat in France. sundance.org/theatre

Sundance Institute
Founded by Robert Redford in 1981, Sundance Institute is a global, nonprofit organization dedicated to nurturing independent artists and introducing audiences to their new work. Internationally recognized for its Sundance Film Festival, the Institute annually supports over 200 artists with more than a dozen labs for directors, screenwriters, documentary editors, composers, playwrights, producers and New Frontier artists and grants more than $2 million to artists. The Institute has supported projects including Fruitvale Station, Ain’t Them Bodies Saints, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Question Bridge, Wadjda, God Loves Uganda, Gideon’s Army, Spring Awakening, Appropriate and Fun Home. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.

The LUMA Foundation
The LUMA Foundation was created in 2004 to promote challenging artistic projects combining a particular interest in environmental issues, human rights, education and culture in the broadest sense. The conceptualisation of its initial programming has been spear headed by Maja Hoffmann and a Core Team, which includes Tom Eccles, Liam Gillick, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Philippe Parreno, and Beatrix Ruf. The LUMA Foundation’s current focus is the development of a new creative campus in Arles (France) with its Core Team working together with architects Frank Gehry and Annabelle Selldorf. This ambitious project for the production of exhibitions, research, education and archives is supported by a growing number of public and private partnerships. luma-arles.org

Under the supervision of Theatre Program Artistic Director Philip Himberg and Producing Director Christopher Hibma, the three-week Lab supports emerging and established playwrights and directors developing new work for the stage. The Institute provides rehearsal space, dramaturgical support, and an acting company, creating an immersive environment where artists can experiment, see their work take shape and collaborate with creative advisors, dramaturgs, actors and Institute staff to address the compelling needs of their text. The Lab’s unique day-on, day-off rehearsal structure provides Fellows additional time to explore revisions and new writing between rehearsals. The Lab culminates in a closed presentation of each project for Lab participants, followed by a collaborative feedback session.

This year’s participants include:

As previously announced, the projects selected for the Theatre Lab are:

The Sundance Institute Theatre Program is supported by an endowment from Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, with generous additional support from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, John and Marcia Price Family Foundation, Time Warner Foundation, LUMA Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, The Shubert Foundation, Inc., The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust, and Karen Lauder

Sundance Institute Theatre Program
The Theatre Program has been a core component of Sundance Institute since Robert Redford founded the Institute in 1981. 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 one of the leading play development programs in the United States. Titles such as Appropriate, Fun Home, A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, Circle Mirror Transformation, An Iliad, The Lily's Revenge, The Good Negro, The Light in the Piazza, Passing Strange, Stuck Elevator, Spring Awakening, The Laramie Project and I Am My Own Wife 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 and now expanding to include the MENA region. The Theatre Program’s newest initiative is the Theatre Directors Retreat in France. sundance.org/theatre

Sundance Institute
Sundance Institute is 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 connect audiences to their work. The Institute promotes independent storytelling as art and as a compelling and powerful way to inform, inspire and unite people. Internationally recognized for its annual Sundance Film Festival, Sundance Institute has supported such projects as Beasts of the Southern Wild, Fruitvale Station, Sin Nombre, The Invisible War, The Square, Dirty Wars, Spring Awakening, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder and Fun Home. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.

Each Fellow was identified by one of the following core programs of the Institute: Documentary Film Program, Feature Film Program, Film Music Program, Native American & Indigenous Program and Theatre Program. Fellows attend an annual Lab and receive continued support from the Institute, including mentoring, strategic granting, attendance at the Sundance Film Festival and participation in screenplay readings, work-in-progress screenings and related programs and events. The Native Producing Fellowship addresses the need to deepen the field of Native American and Indigenous film producers who can engage with the marketplace while supporting independent artists in their development processes.

Keri Putnam, Executive Director of Sundance Institute, said, “With Time Warner Foundation’s critical support, Sundance Institute is able to foster independent storytellers from diverse backgrounds with distinctive and original voices. Our collaboration through the Time Warner Foundation Fellowship Program has nurtured exceptional artists like Ryan Coogler, Aurora Guerrero and Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, who have shared their award-winning work with audiences around the world.”

“The mission of the Time Warner Foundation is to seek innovative and powerful ways to discover, nurture and celebrate the next generation of storytellers,” said Lisa Garcia Quiroz, President of the Time Warner Foundation. “The creative team at Sundance Institute has a keen eye for extraordinary new talent. We are proud to collaborate with them, and we welcome the new Fellows.”

The 2014 Sundance Institute | Time Warner Foundation Fellows are:

Jongnic Bontemps (Film Music Program) – Jongnic Bontemps has scored numerous films including the award-winning Daughter of Fortune, A Different Tree, Soaring on Invisible Wings and Saudade. His scores incorporate ethnic instruments with organic and synthetic textures to create a unique musical world for a film. Through the Sundance Institute | Time Warner Foundation Fellowship he was able to hire an orchestra and record live scores for two short films, Roubado and Para Ellos.

Chanda Dancy (Film Music Program) – Film composer Chanda Dancy is known for her rich musical scores, providing engaging music for films playing in festivals such as Cannes, Tribecca and Sundance. Besides composing, Chanda is also a versatile multi-instrumentalist and gifted vocalist, having performed across the United States. The Sundance Institute | Time Warner Foundation Fellowship included support for Chanda and the opening of CYD Post (pronounced “sid”), a company she founded that is dedicated to providing music and sound artistry for films and various other multimedia platforms.

Sydney Freeland, Drunktown’s Finest (Native American and Indigenous Program) – Three young Native Americans—a rebellious father-to-be, a devout Christian woman, and a promiscuous transsexual—strive to escape the hardships of life on an Indian reservation. Cast: Jeremiah Bitsui, Carmen Moore, Morningstar Angeline, Kiowa Gordon, Shauna Baker, Elizabeth Francis. The film made its world premiere at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah and its UK premiere at the Sundance London film and music festival.

Sydney Freeland (Navajo) is an independent filmmaker and has worked for a number of  companies including The Food Network, Comedy Central, Office Max, Audi, National Geographic, PBS and Walt Disney. She is also a recipient of the following awards: 2010 Sundance Screenwriting Fellowship, 2010 Sundance Directing Fellowship, 2010 Eccles Directing Fellowship, 2009 Sundance Native American Lab Fellowship, 2008 Disney Fellowship semi-finalist, 2007 Disney Scholarship recipient, and is a 2004 Fulbright Scholar. Sydney currently lives and works in Los Angeles. In July of 2014, her film Drunktown’s Finest will screen in New York at the Museum of Modern Art as part of Sundance Institute’s yearlong celebration of its Native American and Indigenous Program’s 20th Anniversary.

Cody Harjo, In The Time of Occupy (Native American and Indigenous Program)
Sundance Institute | Time Warner Foundation Native Producing Fellow – In the Time of Occupy introduces Jim Anders, an investment banker specializing in high-end deals for Indian Country. He has a determination to succeed that only those from extreme hardship possess. Jim’s wayward cousin, Josh, is a participant of the Occupy Wall Street Movement and currently an unwanted houseguest. While Jim tries to disregard the rising movement and Josh’s politics, he learns that his latest tribal casino deal is falling apart. The brilliant lawyer sent to renegotiate on the tribe’s behalf is his ex – fiancé.
Cody Harjo (Seminole/Otoe/Creek/Cherokee/Iowa) holds a Bachelor's degree from Dartmouth College, where she received the Alexander Laing Memorial Prize for Excellence in Screenwriting. She currently resides in New York City. Harjo wrote the dystopian film The Migration which was directed by Sundance Institute | Time Warner Foundation Fellow Sydney Freeland in 2012.

Christina D. King, Warrior Women (Native American and Indigenous Program)
Sundance Institute | Time Warner Foundation Native Producing Fellow – Warrior Women is the story of American Indian Movement activists who fought for civil rights in the 1970’s and the children who were their inspiration and cohorts. Through documentary vérité and archives the film shows the complex relationships that continue in families when motherhood is shared with a movement.

Christina D. King’s (Creek/Seminole) work focuses largely on civic engagement through storytelling and democratizing media opportunities for minority voices. King’s feature producing credits include Up Heartbreak Hill (POV) and This May Be the Last Time (Sundance Channel Global Intl.) She is currently producing the feature film, We The Animals, directed by Jeremiah Zagar. King began her career in production on the feature films Fur: An Imaginary Portrait Of Diane Arbus and Che, among others, before moving on to work for Michael Moore on Capitalism: A Love Story and Line Produce for Ric Burns and Chris Eyre on Tecumseh’s Vision, as part of the American Experience: We Shall Remain series on Native American history.

Heather McIntosh (Film Music Program) – Heather McIntosh is a cellist, bassist and composer who got her musical start playing with the Elephant 6 collective in Athens, Georgia and went on to perform with artists such as Gnarls Barkley and Lil Wayne. Now residing in Los Angeles, her many film credits include Compliance by Craig Zobel and The Rambler by Calvin Lee Reeder. The Sundance Institute | Time Warner Foundation Fellowship included support for Heather to develop the score and record pipe organ source sounds for Craig Zobel's upcoming feature Z for Zachariah featuring Chiwetel Ejiofor, Margot Robbie and Chris Pine.

Qui Nguyen, War Is F**King Awesome (Theatre Program) – War Is F**king Awesome is 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.

Qui Nguyen is a Brooklyn‐based writer, fight choreographer, and Co‐Founder of Vampire Cowboys, an OBIE Award‐winning “geek theatre” company based in NYC that focuses on highly physical genre‐bending productions blending stage combat, multimedia, and puppetry. Qui’s plays include the Off‐Broadway productions of She Kills Monsters (premiered by The Flea and subsequently produced in Steppenwolf’s Garage Rep by Buzz22 Chicago and in Boston by Company One) and Soul Samurai (premiered by Ma‐Yi Theater in association with Vampire Cowboys). Qui is a resident artist of New Dramatists, a core member of The Playwrights Center, an alumnus of Youngblood, and a member of Ensemble Studio Theatre and The Ma‐Yi Writers Lab.

Angelica Nwandu, Night Comes On (Feature Film Program) – Angel is released from juvenile hall on her 18th birthday with a single focus: shoot the man who killed her mother. As her rebellious past and empty future confront her at every turn, her plans derail and Angel becomes what she wanted and feared.

Originally from Nigeria, Angelica Nwandu has travelled around the world as an advocate for foster youth after her own experience living in foster care for 12 years. A recent graduate of Loyola Marymount University, she is a writer, a spoken-word poet who has performed nationwide, the owner of her own fashion boutique, and she serves on the board of the Fostering Change Organization, which seeks to define the culture of foster youth. Angelica is a co-writer of Night Comes On, which was selected for participation in the Sundance Institute January 2014 Screenwriters Lab and June 2014 Directors and Screenwriters Labs.

Bernardo Ruiz, Recolectores (The Gatherers) (Documentary Film Program) – A group of medical and anthropology students in Latin America revolutionize how human rights violations are investigated globally. Dubbed “unlikely forensic sleuths” in the late 1980’s by The New York Times, the team now identifies the remains of people killed by repressive regimes and political violence in over 30 countries.

Bernardo Ruiz founded Quiet Pictures in 2007 in order to produce projects at the intersection of journalism and cinema. He co-produced the award-winning The Sixth-Section (POV, 2003) and is the director/producer of American Experience: Roberto Clemente (PBS, 2008), winner of the NCLR ALMA Award for Outstanding Made for Television Documentary. He is the director and producer of Reportero (POV, 2013) a gripping look in to the world of Mexican journalists who cover organized crime and political corruption. He is the Executive Producer of the bilingual documentary series, The Graduates/Los Graduados (Independent Lens, 2013), a project of the public media initiative American Graduate.

Sundance Institute

Sundance Institute is 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 connect audiences to their work. The Institute promotes independent storytelling as art and as a compelling and powerful way to inform, inspire and unite people. Internationally recognized for its annual Sundance Film Festival, Sundance Institute has supported such projects as Beasts of the Southern Wild, Fruitvale Station, Sin Nombre, The Invisible War, The Square, Dirty Wars, Spring Awakening, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder and Fun Home. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.

LOS ANGELES, CA — Sundance Institute today announced the films and music acts that will headline the Sundance NEXT FEST summer festival August 7-10 in Los Angeles. NEXT FEST, headquartered at the Theatre at Ace Hotel Downtown Los Angeles, celebrates the intersection of film and music and the renegade spirit of independent artists. Tickets ($15-25) go on sale to Sundance Institute members today and all others tomorrow at sundance.org/next.

In addition to a 10th Anniversary screening of Napoleon Dynamite with Cinespia at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery as the festival’s kickoff event on August 7, NEXT FEST will present the Los Angeles premieres of six films that first screened at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, and offer unfettered creativity and fresh perspectives. The program features a zombie love story, an Iranian-set vampire movie, a modern tale of buried treasure, a thriller about a mysterious soldier, and films that explore the perils of artistic ambition amongst gang life in Watts and the literary world of New York respectively.

Each film screens once at the Theatre at Ace Hotel August 8-10 and will be paired with either a special music act that shares a complementary artistic sensibility or conversations that bring together filmmakers with those who inspired them. The Sundance Film Festival programming staff selected the films and music acts for NEXT FEST.

The festival is an extension of the popular NEXT <=> section at the Sundance Film Festival, which showcases stylistically adventurous and bold films, and builds on the Institute’s NEXT WEEKEND event, hosted in 2013.

John Cooper, Director of the Sundance Film Festival, said, “NEXT FEST is a continuation of our efforts to connect film-loving audiences with the next generation of independent filmmakers. The unique convergence of film and music enhances the experience of each and offers fresh insight into the talent and vision of these outstanding independent artists.”

Trevor Groth, Director of Programming for the Sundance Film Festival, said, “In the heart of one of the most creative cities in the world, NEXT FEST will launch a new wave of film and music talent into the artistic atmosphere. The Theatre at Ace Hotel, with its roots in cinematic trailblazing, will serve as the ideal hub for this cultural adventure.”

Sundance Institute members have access to a host of benefits related to NEXT FEST, including the ability to purchase tickets today, before they go on sale to the general public tomorrow. At the August 7 screening with Cinespia at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, members will enjoy a reserved seating section and receive an exclusive tote bag, screenprinted live at the event by Hit + Run. Members are also invited to a special party during NEXT FEST and are eligible to win a prize package including a three-night stay at the Ace Hotel plus airfare. To join, visit sundance.org/membership.

Sundance NEXT FEST is supported by Principal Sponsors Acura and YouTube, which are both long-time sponsors of the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. Additional NEXT FEST sponsors include: Major – Kickstarter; Media – KCRW 89.9; and Supporting – Beachside Films, FilmL.A., Inc., Southwest Airlines and Stella Artois.

Thursday, August 7  —  Cinespia at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery

Friday, August 8, 8:00 p.m.  —  Theatre at Ace Hotel

Saturday, August 9, 1:00 p.m.  —  Theatre at Ace Hotel

Saturday, August 9, 4:45 p.m.  —  Theatre at Ace Hotel

Saturday, August 9, 8:30 p.m.  —  Theatre at Ace Hotel

Sunday, August 10, 4:00 p.m.  —  Theatre at Ace Hotel

Sunday, August 10, 7:45 p.m.  —  Theatre at Ace Hotel

Sundance Institute
Sundance Institute is 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 connect audiences to their work. The Institute promotes independent storytelling as art and as a compelling and powerful way to inform, inspire and unite people. Internationally recognized for its annual Sundance Film Festival, Sundance Institute has supported such projects as Beasts of the Southern Wild, Fruitvale Station, Sin Nombre, The Invisible War, The Square, Dirty Wars, Spring Awakening, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder and Fun Home. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.

Theatre at Ace Hotel Downtown Los Angeles
A loving reanimation of the former flagship movie house of United Artists, the Theatre at Ace Hotel serves Los Angeles' burgeoning epicenter for art and modern entertainment with a prime setting for a wide array of events — from large-scale concerts to movie premieres, conferences, seminars, symposiums and other performances. Retrofitted with a state-of-the-art digital projection system and cinema sound, an independent, ultramodern live sound system, plus an elaborate contemporary stage lighting system, the Theatre can take on whatever fits within the confines of its dazzling proscenium — a much-needed bridge to the exciting future of Downtown Los Angeles.

Built upon the immersive Lab model launched in 1981 by Sundance Institute President & Founder Robert Redford, each session of the Documentary Edit and Story Labs brings together director and editor teams with world-renowned documentary filmmakers and Sundance Institute staff to support creative risk-taking around issues of story, dramatic structure and character development.

Editors serving as Creative Advisors for the June 20-28 session are Joelle Alexis (The Green Prince), Lewis Erskine (Freedom Riders), Mary Lampson (Harlan County USA), Jonathan Oppenheim (The Oath). Directors serving as Creative Advisors for this session are Ra’anan Alexandrowicz (The Law In These Parts), Jon Else (Sing Faster!) and Jesse Moss (The Overnighters). Editors serving as Creative Advisors for the July 4-12 session are Kate Amend (The Case Against 8), Joe Bini (We Need to Talk About Kevin), Pedro Kos (The Square), Jean Tsien (Hungry in America), David Zieff (Crazy Love). Directors serving as Creative Advisors for this session are Ross McElwee (Photographic Memory) and Rob Epstein (Howl).

Keri Putnam, Executive Director of Sundance Institute, said  “Sundance Institute Labs provide a haven for filmmakers to take risks in their work and uncover their greatest potential with the support of our staff and Creative Advisors.   With the guidance of acclaimed film editors, the Documentary Story and Edit Lab offers a unique space for the documentary filmmaker and editor to challenge their film in the most crucial ways and in the process find the heart of the story.”

Tabitha Jackson, Director of the Documentary Film Program, said, “This year’s Fellows reflect a range of artistry, perspective and experience that is part of a vibrant contemporary dialogue about nonfiction storytelling. It is our hope that this rigorous lab environment strengthens each project and engenders a creative community that bonds Fellows and Advisors together.”

In addition to the Documentary Edit and Story Labs, the Institute offers labs throughout the year and around the world for independent directors, screenwriters, documentary editors, composers, playwrights, producers and New Frontier artists.

Artists and projects selected for the June 20-28 Documentary Edit and Story Lab:

A Flickering Truth
Director: Pietra Brettkelly
Editor: Jacob Schulsinger
A Flickering Truth unwraps the world of three dreamers living amongst the dust of Afghanistan's 100 years of war as they struggle to protect and restore 8,000 hours of fragile film.  What truths will emerge from the cloak of time?

Containment
Co-Directors: Robb Moss & Peter Galison
Editor: Chyld King 
How can humankind dispose of and live with nuclear waste, a material that remains dangerous for a period as far into the future as we are from the Ice Age?

Like Ants for Sugar
Co-Directors: Shirley Abraham and Amit Madheshiya
Editor: Menno Boerema
For nearly seven decades, the wonder of the movies visits rural India atop cinema lorries. Accompanying the showmen of touring cinemas on their magical journeys, Like Ants for Sugar witnesses their struggle to keep their cinemas running. 2014 brings a watershed moment in the survival of this beloved tradition.

(T)ERROR
Co-Directors: Lyric Cabral & David Felix Sutcliffe
Editor: Laura Minnear
(T)ERROR is the inside story of ******, an active counterterrorism informant for the FBI. Filmed on the ground, it captures the dramatic unraveling of the informant's 20-year career with the Bureau after the target of his investigation realizes that he’s been set up.

Artists and projects selected for the July 4-12 Documentary Edit and Story Lab:

Down By Law
Director: George Amponsah
Editor: Michael Aaglund
Down By Law follows the childhood friends of Mark Duggan, a young man who was killed by armed police on August 4, 2011. This event is known as the spark that set the London riots in motion.

One Bullet Afghanistan
Director: Carol Dysinger
Editor: Ricardo Acosta
One Bullet Afghanistan is the story of an Afghan family coming to terms with the “accidental” shooting of their son Fahim.   At it’s center is Bibi Hajji, the matriarch—late fifties as best as she can tell, the third wife now widow, mother of nine, grandmother to seventy— illiterate, religious, and a survivor of the highest order.           

Speed Sisters
Director: Amber Fares
Producer: Jessica Devaney
Editor: Rabab Haj Yahya
The Middle East’s first all-women motor racing team has come together in Palestine. What will it take to go further and faster than anyone thought they could? Speed Sisters captures the drive to follow your dreams against the odds, leaving in its trail shattered stereotypes about gender and the Arab world.

Uncertain
Co-Directors: Anna Sandilands & Ewan McNicol
Editor: Marco Perez
On the shores of a dying lake, neighbors in the once outlaw town of Uncertain, Texas, are haunted by their pasts and battling demons for a future more certain—a tender, humorous southern gothic tale.

The Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program and Fund is supported by Open Society Foundations, Ford Foundation, Hilton Worldwide, Skoll Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, TED, CNN Films, The Charles Engelhard Foundation, Compton Foundation, Emerald Data Solutions, Time Warner Foundation, Joan and Lewis Platt Foundation, Candescent Films, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Arcus Foundation.

Sundance Institute
Sundance Institute is 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 connect audiences to their work. The Institute promotes independent storytelling as art and as a compelling and powerful way to inform, inspire and unite people. Internationally recognized for its annual Sundance Film Festival, Sundance Institute has supported such projects as Beasts of the Southern Wild, Fruitvale Station, Sin Nombre, The Invisible War, The Square, Dirty Wars, Spring Awakening, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder and Fun Home. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.

At the Music and Sound Design Lab, a joint initiative of the Institute’s Film Music Program and Feature Film Program, composers and directors will explore the collaborative process of writing music for film. Fellows also participate in workshops and creative exercises under the guidance of leading film composers and film music professionals acting as Creative Advisors and who this year will include: composers Harry Gregson-Williams, James Newton Howard, Blake Neely, Alan Silvestri; sound designer, Randy Thom; film music agent Robert Messinger; BMI Vice President, Doreen Ringer Ross;  and music editor, Adam Smalley. The Composers Lab for documentaries takes place this fall and is hosted by the Film Music Program and Documentary Film Program.

Keri Putnam, Executive Director of Sundance Institute, said, “Our Film Music Program, now in its 15th year, has established itself as both a leader and resource for experimenting with music in film and advancing stories through musical scores. Support for music composers is critical to the independent film community, and we continue to advance the ways we help these artists grow.”

Josh Lowden, General Manager of Skywalker Sound said, “Collaborating with the Institute to host these Labs at Skywalker allows us to deepen our commitment to independent filmmaking. Twenty-five years ago Skywalker was founded by a filmmaker for filmmakers, and among our core philosophies is the importance of early collaboration between directors, sound designers and composers in bringing a story and vision to life.”

Peter Golub, Director of the Sundance Institute Film Music Program, said, “We are thrilled to be returning to Skywalker Ranch, with a new slate of fellows poised to broaden their skills and deepen their understanding of film music. They will have a unique opportunity to work with emerging independent filmmakers and accomplished sound designers. Likewise our filmmakers deepen their insight into how music and sound, together, can enhance the impact of storytelling.” 

In addition to the Sundance Music and Sound Design Labs, the Institute offers labs throughout the year and around the world for independent directors, screenwriters, documentary editors, composers, playwrights, producers and New Frontier artists.

Artists and projects selected for the 2014 Sundance Institute Music and Sound Design Lab – Feature Film (July 8-22) are:

Filmmakers:
All filmmakers selected for this Lab have been supported by the Sundance Institute Feature Film Program. This is the first year that two projects are coming to the Lab in the post-production phase. The other projects recently participated in the Institute’s June Directors and Screenwriters Lab.

Nikole Beckwith (writer/director) / Stockholm, Pennsylvania (U.S.A): A young woman is returned home to her biological parents after 17 years with her abductor. As she struggles to adapt not only to the world around her, but the life she is meant to have missed, her mother discovers she must work harder than ever to get her daughter back. (Starring Saoirse Ronan and Cynthia Nixon) POST-PRODUCTION

Chloe Zhao (writer/director) / Songs My Brothers Taught Me (U.S.A): Songs My Brothers Taught Me explores the unique world of South Dakota's Pine Ridge Indian Reservation through the eyes of Jashaun, a young spirited Lakota girl, whose faith in her family and community is tested when her brother Johnny threatens to leave the only place they've ever known. POST-PRODUCTION

Gabriela Amaral Almeida (writer/director) / The Father’s Shadow (Brazil): A nine-year-old girl with strange powers and an obsession with horror films attempts to bring her mother back from the dead as a means of connecting with her sick father.

Jordana Spiro (co-writer/director) and Angelica Nwandu (co-writer) / Night Comes On (U.S.A.): Angel is released from juvenile hall on her 18th birthday with a single focus: shoot the man who killed her mother.

Oorlagh George (writer/director) / Stranger with a Camera (U.S.A. / Northern Ireland): In this dramatic thriller, an American girl is stranded in a remote village in Northern Ireland after her father is arrested on a 20-year-old murder charge tied to the IRA. Compelled by her father’s secrecy, she sets out to uncover the mysterious family history that he has kept hidden from her.

Daniel Kwan (co-writer/co-director) / Swiss Army Man (U.S.A.): In this absurdist comedy, a hopeless man stranded in the wilderness befriends a dead body and together they go on a journey to get home.

Composers:

Timo Chen has a musical background rooted in both strict tradition and radical experimentation. He has worked on music for films and TV shows as a musician, sound designer, engineer, songwriter, and composer. He has also been the composer/music director for awards shows such as the Emmys and the People’s Choice Awards. He is a graduate of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music with additional studies at the Colburn School and Musicians Institute.

KT Tunstall is a Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter from Scotland. Her multi-million-selling debut 2004 album, Eye to the Telescope cemented an international career, in part due to her live performances and loop pedal work. She has penned songs for films such as Winters Tale (2014), and Million Dollar Arm (2014), working alongside legendary Indian composer, AR Rahman. Tunstall released her 4th studio album to critical acclaim in 2012.

Josh Moshier is a composer and pianist from Chicago. His scores for films, independent television pilots and webseries include Shrink (dir. Ted Tremper) and Running Buddies (dir. Micah Gardner). Josh has performed and recorded with Marquis Hill, Mike Lebrun and Milton Suggs, and is currently based in Los Angeles where he works for composer Alex Wurman. He is a graduate of the Northwestern University Bienen School of Music. 

Katy Jarzebowski is a composer and vocalist currently based in New York. Having scored numerous independent films and documentaries – most recently The Pakistan Four – she has also composed concert music that explores her Slavic roots for such ensembles as the JACK Quartet. Katy's accomplishments include the NYU Elmer Bernstein Award, ASCAP Film Scoring Fellowship, a Masters in Music degree from NYU and two BA's from Yale University.

Pianist/composer and Guggenheim Fellow Ryan Cohan has worked with numerous jazz icons and has released five critically acclaimed CD’s of original music. He has toured five continents, and his arrangements from solo piano to symphony orchestra have been recorded by Ramsey Lewis, Joe Locke and Otis Clay among other notable artists.

Composer Nora Kroll-Rosenbaum leads a diverse musical life. Her scores have appeared at Sundance, Tribeca, IDFA, and Telluride. A Juilliard grad with commissions from the London Symphony Chorus, San Francisco Symphony, Seattle Symphony, & Cabrillo Festival, Nora’s music for Regarding Susan Sontag will play on HBO this fall. 
The Sundance Institute Film Music Program is supported by BMI, Time Warner Foundation, The Film Music Foundation, and Republic Records

Sundance Institute
Sundance Institute is 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 connect audiences to their work. The Institute promotes independent storytelling as art and as a compelling and powerful way to inform, inspire and unite people. Internationally recognized for its annual Sundance Film Festival, Sundance Institute has supported such projects as Beasts of the Southern Wild, Fruitvale Station, Sin Nombre, The Invisible War, The Square, Dirty Wars, Spring Awakening, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder and Fun Home. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.

Now in its 17th year, the free series kicks off July 8 at Salt Lake City’s Red Butte Garden and July 25 at City Park in Park City. All films have screened at the Sundance Film Festival or have been supported through an Institute program. Screenings are free of charge and seated on a first-come, first-served basis. Attendees are encouraged to bring picnic baskets and blankets or low-back lawn chairs.

Sarah Pearce, Co-Managing Director of Sundance Institute, said, “The free outdoor Summer Series is one of my favorite ways to celebrate independent cinema in Utah and a shining example of how film has the power to bring our community  together. I look forward to screening current and past Festival favorites under the stars and learning what the community selects for the final film in the series.”

Sundance Institute is once again joining forces with other Utah-based organizations for the Summer Series. This year’s collaborators include Kimball Art Center, Park City Chamber of Commerce/Convention & Visitors Bureau, Park City Institute, Park City Recreation, and Red Butte Garden.

Films screening as part of the 2014 Sundance Institute Summer Series are:

Twenty Feet From Stardom / U.S.A. (Director: Morgan Neville) — Millions know their voices, but no one knows their names. Twenty Feet From Stardom shines a spotlight on the untold true story of the backup singers behind some of the greatest musical legends of the 21st century. Academy Award Winner: Best Documentary, Features

• Tuesday, July 8 at 9:30 p.m. at Red Butte Garden, Salt Lake City
• Friday, August 1 at 9:00 p.m. at City Park, Park City – Screening note: Sundance Institute is pleased to collaborate with Kimball Art Center and Park City Institute during the 46th Annual Park City Kimball Arts Festival.

What We Do in the Shadows / New Zealand, U.S.A. (Directors and screenwriters: Taika Waititi, Jemaine Clement) — This mockumentary follows the struggles of a group of New Zealand-based vampires to understand modern society and adapt to the ever-changing world around them. Cast: Jemaine Clement, Taika Waititi, Jonny Brugh, Cori Gonzales-Macuer, Stu Rutherford.

• Tuesday, July 15 at 9:00 p.m. at Red Butte Garden, Salt Lake City – Screening note: Director and Screenwriter Taika Waititi will be in attendance to lead a guided discussion before the film. Sundance Institute is proud to present this film in celebration of the 20th Anniversary of its Native American and Indigenous Program.

Big Night / U.S.A., (Directors: Campbell Scott and Stanley Tucci) — A failing Italian restaurant run by two brothers gambles on one special night to try to save the business. Cast: Marc Anthony, Minnie Driver, Ian Holm, Allison Janney, Isabella Rossellini, Campell Scott, Tony Shalhoub,Stanley Tucci.

• Friday, August 15 at 9:00 p.m. at City Park, Park City – Screening note: Sundance Institute is pleased to collaborate with Park City Chamber of Commerce/Convention & Visitors Bureau for the first-ever Park City Grub Crawl created by bon appétit Magazine.

Ping Pong Summer / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Michael Tully) — 1985. Ocean City, Maryland. Summer vacation. Rap music. Parachute pants. Ping pong. First crushes. Best friends. Mean bullies. Weird mentors. That awkward, momentous time in your life when you're treated like an alien by everyone around you, even though you know deep down you're as funky fresh as it gets. Cast: Susan Sarandon, John Hannah, Lea Thompson, Amy Sedaris, Robert Longstreet, Marcello Conte.

• Friday, July 25 at 9:00 p.m. at City Park, Park City – Screening note: Sundance Institute is pleased to collaborate with Park City Recreation for a ping pong tournament before the screening.  

The Battered Bastards of Baseball / U.S.A. (Directors: Chapman Way, Maclain Way) — Hollywood veteran Bing Russell creates the only independent baseball team in the country—alarming the baseball establishment and sparking the meteoric rise of the 1970s Portland Mavericks.

• Wednesday, August 13, at 9:00 p.m. at Red Butte Garden, Salt Lake City - Screening note: Director Maclain Way will be in attendance to lead a guided discussion before the film.

God Help the Girl  / United Kingdom (Director and screenwriter: Stuart Murdoch) — This musical from Stuart Murdoch of Belle & Sebastian is about some messed up boys and girls and the music they made. Cast: Emily Browning, Olly Alexander, Hannah Murray, Pierre Boulanger, Cora Bissett.

• Wednesday, August 20, at 9:00 p.m. at Red Butte Garden, Salt Lake City

Utah Community Choice Film – For the second year, Sundance Institute wants YOU to program the last film of the Summer Series.  Through August 15, visit sundance.org/utah to vote for your favorite Sundance Film Festival flick with a music theme: SLC Punk!, Something From Nothing:The Art of Rap and U2 3D.The winning film will be announced in late August.

• Wednesday, August 27 at 9:00 p.m. at Red Butte Garden, Salt Lake City

Sundance Institute gratefully acknowledges the generous support of Principal Sponsor Zions Bank, and Community Supporters Promontory Foundation, Red Butte Garden, Salt Lake City Arts Council, Salt Lake County Economic Development Department, Salt Lake County Zap Tax Tier II, and Summit County RAP Tax.

For more information about Sundance Institute programming for Utah residents and to vote for the Utah Community Choice Film visit sundance.org/utah.

Sundance Institute
Sundance Institute is 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 connect audiences to their work. The Institute promotes independent storytelling as art and as a compelling and powerful way to inform, inspire and unite people. Internationally recognized for its annual Sundance Film Festival, Sundance Institute has supported such projects as Beasts of the Southern Wild, Fruitvale Station, Sin Nombre, The Invisible War, The Square, Dirty Wars, Spring Awakening, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder and Fun Home. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.

For the festival’s kickoff event on August 7, a cult classic film supported by Sundance Institute will screen at Cinespia at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. A similar event for last year’s NEXT WEEKEND featured a double-bill screening of Chris Smith’s iconic documentary American Movie and the horror film it chronicled the making of, Mark Borchardt’s Coven.

Films that have premiered in the NEXT <=> section at the Sundance Film Festival, launched in 2010, include Bellflower (Director and screenwriter: Evan Glodell), Blue Caprice (Director: Alexandre Moors, Screenwriters: R. F. I. Porto, Alexandre Moors), 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).

Robert Redford, President & Founder of Sundance Institute, said, “Independent artists working in film and music have a profound impact on our culture, but there are few opportunities to enjoy them side by side. NEXT FEST will break down those barriers and explore what these artists and audiences have in common – an appreciation for exceptional creative vision.”

The Theatre at Ace Hotel is a delicate restoration of the 1,600-seat United Artists Theater, built in the 1920s for the Maverick Film Studio founded by Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, D.W Griffith and Charles Chaplin. Designed by C. Howard Crane, the Theatre is a shrine to the arts, with a three-story, 2,300-square-foot grand lobby, an ornate open balcony and mezzanine, vaulted ceiling and richly colored murals depicting the legends of film's Golden Age, immortalized in mythic attire.

Keri Putnam, Executive Director of Sundance Institute, said, “The Theatre at Ace Hotel in the former home of the Historic United Artists Theatre will be a fitting home for our NEXT FEST. This beautiful Los Angeles gem was built as a maverick film studio and stands as a monument to independent artists who forged their own path. A similar spirit will be visible in the films and music acts at NEXT FEST.”

John Cooper, Director of the Sundance Film Festival, said, “At its core, NEXT FEST is about celebrating artists who push creative boundaries. This unique program presents an opportunity for audiences in Los Angeles to explore the outer edges and intersections of film and music.”

For more information about NEXT FEST visit sundance.org/next. Programming announcements will be made this summer, and tickets will go on sale at that time. Sundance Institute members will enjoy access to pre-sale tickets, a members party and a chance to win a NEXT FEST prize package including a three-night stay at the Ace Hotel plus airfare. To join, visit sundance.org/membership.

Sundance NEXT FEST is supported by Principal Sponsors Acura and YouTube, which are both long-time sponsors of the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. Additional NEXT FEST sponsors include: Major – Kickstarter; Media – KCRW 89.9; and Supporting – Beachside Films, FilmL.A., Inc., Southwest Airlines and Stella Artois.

Sundance Institute
Sundance Institute is 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 connect audiences to their work. The Institute promotes independent storytelling as art and as a compelling and powerful way to inform, inspire and unite people. Internationally recognized for its annual Sundance Film Festival, Sundance Institute has supported such projects as Beasts of the Southern Wild, Fruitvale Station, Sin Nombre, The Invisible War, The Square, Dirty Wars, Spring Awakening, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder and Fun Home. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.

Theatre at Ace Hotel
A loving reanimation of the former flagship movie house of United Artists, The Theatre at Ace Hotel serves Los Angeles' burgeoning epicenter for art and modern entertainment with a prime setting for a wide array of events — from large-scale concerts to movie premieres, conferences, seminars, symposiums and other performances. Retrofitted with a state-of-the-art digital projection system and cinema sound, an independent, ultramodern live sound system, plus an elaborate contemporary stage lighting system, the Theatre can take on whatever fits within the confines of its dazzling proscenium — a much-need bridge to the exciting future of Downtown Los Angeles.

The Economic Report, posted in full on the Sundance Institute website, also found that the 2014 Festival: supported over 1,434 jobs; generated over $65.1 million in international media exposure; provided nearly $6.9 million in tax revenue; and was attended by more than 45,300 people. At least 69 percent of festival attendees traveled from outside of Utah, including more than 3,500 visitors from 29 international locations, and more than 36 percent of tourist attendees indicated that they intend to visit Utah again during the next year.

Over the last five years, Sundance Institute, through its annual Sundance Film Festival, has brought Utah more than $369.8 million dollars in economic activity, $31.1 million dollars in tax revenue, more than 7,500 jobs and more than 225,048 festival attendees. Over the last ten years, the Festival has generated in excess of $500 million in economic activity for Utah. The Festival is the state’s largest annual international event, bolstering tourism and attracting worldwide media attention.

Laurie Hopkins Co-Managing Director of Sundance Institute, said, “Over the last 30 years, our primary goal with the Sundance Film Festival is to provide a platform for audiences to connect with independent filmmakers and their work. Through the research conducted by the University of Utah, we are able to see the tremendous financial impact our event has also had on the Utah economy, particularly the small businesses and local vendors who help put on the Festival.”

"The consistent economic benefit to our state from the Sundance Film Festival is the perfect example of cultural tourism shaping a strong and diverse economy," said Gov. Gary R. Herbert. “Beyond the tax revenue, tourism dollars and global exposure, the cultural benefits to hosting the Sundance Film Festival in Utah leave a lasting impact in our classrooms and communities.”

Sarah Pearce, Co-Managing Director of Sundance Institute, said, “The consistent attendance numbers from out-of-state visitors year over year shows that audiences and industry professionals make their visit to Utah a priority. We are proud to partner with the State of Utah, The Governor’s Office of Economic Development and the Utah Film Commission to showcase Utah’s culture, gorgeous landscape and business-friendly climate.”

More than 14,000 Utah residents participated in special community screenings and events as part of this year’s Festival. The annual Salt Lake Galaand world premiere screening of the documentary MITT by director Greg Whiteley was attended by Governor Herbert, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and his family, Utah legislators and community leaders. In the Governor’s welcoming remarks, he commented on the Festival’s cultural and economic value in Utah. Also, the Festival’s student screening programs reached more than7,000college and secondary students, who discussed with filmmakers the art of storytelling and an array of social and cultural issues. Over 600 complimentarytickets were given to 72 Utah-based non-profit and community leaders to attend  Festival screenings via the Institute’s Outreach Ticket program. An additional 1,300 local residents attended Festival Community Outreach film screenings in Park City, Salt Lake City and Utah County. The Festival also welcomed Hill Air Force Base for a special screening at Ogden’s Egyptian Theatre. Upon the conclusion of the Festival, 5,300 Utah locals attended Best of Fest, free public screenings of the Festival’s award-winning films.

Building Audiences at Home and Abroad
Between the announcement of the film program in December 2013 through wrap-up articles in February 2014, Sundance Institute generated more than 48,100 print and online articles and more than 1,600 television pieces about the Festival. In total, publicity value from the Festival totaled more than $65.1 million. Over 940 registered press from 30 countries attended the Festival, including Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Hungary, Italy, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Norway, Poland, Romania, Russia, Scotland, Serbia, Singapore, South Korea, Spain and Sweden.

Sundance Institute’s social media and website content strategy continues to expand to reach new audiences across the world. From December 1, 2013 to February 28, 2014, the Institute’s website, Sundance.org, had more than 20 million page views and 9 million unique visitors from 218 countries. Top countries outside the United States included the United Kingdom, Canada, France and Germany. In addition, the Festival now has nearly 1.5 million fans and followers across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Tumblr, Pinterest and Google+ platforms.

Economic Report Methodology
The Economic Report findings were generated using an economic impact model known as RIMS II, developed by the U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Economic Analysis. The economic impact study measures the impact of the Sundance Film Festival on jobs, wages, and value-added (or gross state product) on the state of Utah during a ten day period in January 2014. It also provides an estimate of the fiscal impacts that result from the increased economic activity generated by the Festival during the study period. Fiscal impacts refer to the effects of the Festival on state and local tax collections.

Estimating the economic impact of the 2014 Festival was a two-part process. The first phase of the study estimated the economic impacts of direct expenditures made by the Institute to produce the Festival. The second phase estimated the impacts of spending by Festival attendees.

University of Utah Bureau of Economic and Business Research
Established in 1932, the Bureau of Economic and Business Research (BEBR) is an applied research center in the David Eccles School of Business at the University of Utah. BEBR’s mission is to conduct and support research related to the structure of the Utah economy, its resources, and its potential for expansion. Since its inception, BEBR has been a primary source of information on the Utah economy. BEBR’s professional staff gathers and analyzes data specific to both Utah and the Rocky Mountain Region to identify those factors which influence the state’s economic growth.

The Sundance Film Festival®
Celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2014, the Festival has introduced global audiences to some of the most groundbreaking films of the past three decades, including Beasts of the Southern Wild, Fruitvale Station, Little Miss Sunshine, An Education, sex, lies, and videotape, Reservoir Dogs, The Cove, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, An Inconvenient Truth, Precious, 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 Festival is a program of the non-profit Sundance Institute®. 2014 Festival sponsors included: Presenting Sponsors – HP, Acura, Sundance Channel and Chase Sapphire Preferred®; Leadership Sponsors – Airbnb, DIRECTV, Entertainment Weekly, LensCrafters, Southwest Airlines, Sprint and YouTube; Sustaining Sponsors – Adobe, Canada Goose, Canon U.S.A., Inc., Brita® FilterForGood®, in partnership with Nalgene®, Hilton HHonors and Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts, Ketel One Vodka, L'Oréal Paris, MorningStar Farms®, Omnicom, Quaker Oats Company, 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 helps offset the Festival’s costs and sustain the Institute's year-round programs for independent film and theatre artists. sundance.org/festival

Sundance Institute
Sundance Institute is 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 connect audiences to their work. The Institute promotes independent storytelling as art and as a compelling and powerful way to inform, inspire and unite people. Internationally recognized for its annual Sundance Film Festival, Sundance Institute has supported such projects as Beasts of the Southern Wild, Fruitvale Station, Sin Nombre, The Invisible War, The Square, Dirty Wars, Spring Awakening, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder and Fun Home. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.

True to founder Robert Redford’s original vision, the Institute maintains a strong commitment to supporting Native and indigenous filmmakers. The Native program has built and sustained a unique support cycle for indigenous artists through grants, labs, mentorships, a fellowship program at the Sundance Film Festival, and screenings for Native communities to inspire new generations of storytellers. Currently operating programs in the United States, Canada, and formerly New Zealand and Australia, the Institute has established a rich legacy of work by supporting more than 300 Native and indigenous filmmakers, including Taika Waititi, Sterlin Harjo, Billy Luther, Andrew Okpeaha MacLean, Aurora Guerrero, Sydney Freeland and Yolanda Cruz.

“Native American and Indigenous filmmakers are rooted in a long and deep tradition of storytelling,” said Sundance Institute president and founder Robert Redford. “I am proud of the work that Sundance Institute has done over the past 20 years to encourage Native American artists to share their stories, take risks with their work, and to both share with their communities and to give of their time and expertise to encourage younger Native American artists to do the same.   Their stories enrich and inspire us all.”

Bird Runningwater (Cheyenne/Mescalero Apache), Director of the Sundance Institute Native American and Indigenous Program, said, “I am honored to be celebrating 20 years of support for some of the most creative and impactful Native American and indigenous voices of our time. Over the course of the next year I look forward to paying tribute to some of our distinguished program alumni and also fostering the next generation of Native American filmmakers.”

The NativeLab Fellowship is a 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 19-23) on the homelands of the Mescalero Apache Tribe in New Mexico. The second stage will bring Fellows to the Native Forum during the 2015 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah in January and provide opportunities for them to meet and hear from film industry professionals.

The artists and projects selected for the NativeLab Fellowship are:

Missy Whiteman (Northern Arapaho/Kickapoo) / The Coyote Way Trilogy (Going) Back Home

Reality and ancient lore merge in a vivid, dream-like voyage for a Charlie, a young boy and his time traveling bicycle on a quest for his identity as Coyote the Trickster.

Daniel Flores (Yaqui) / Viva Diva
Two trans women pack up and leave their hometown with hope for a better future.

Carmen Tsabetsaye (Zuni / Zia Pueblo) / Puebloan in Praha
After moving to the Czech Republic, a young pueblo woman learns that her brother has died and her family is torn apart, through new found friendships she cultivates a new sense of family.

Christopher Kahunahana (Native Hawaiian) / Karaoke Kings
A suicidal homeless Hawaiian singer struggles to survive on the deadly streets of Honolulu's Chinatown long enough to compete in the KARAOKE KING competition, -- the everyman bar version of "American Idol." This could be his only shot at fame, redemption and most importantly, love.

Creative Advisors for the NativeLab are Ligiah Villalobos (La Misma Luna), Catriona McKenzie (Sattelite Boy, Mr. Patterns) Chris Eyre (Smoke Signals,Skins, Edge of America) and Andrew Maclean (Sikumi, On the Ice).

In addition to the NativeLab, the Institute will partner with Longhouse Media in 2015 to host a series of workshops in Seattle for Native American and indigneous artists as part of a new initiative called 4th World.

The Institute invites the public to attend the following events celebrating the 20th Anniversary of its Native American & Indigenous Program:

Carte Blanche: Sundance Institute’s Native American and Indigenous Program
The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY; July 10-21, 2014
This exhibition consists of ten programs of dramatic features and documentaries—nine features and 11 shorts in total—by Native American and indigenous directors from the United States, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. Filmmakers attending the screenings at MoMA for guided discussions and artist conversations include Taika Waititi (Te Whanau a Apanui) (Boy, 2010), Chris Eyre (Cheyenne/Arapaho) (Smoke Signals, 1998)  Heather Rae (Cherokee) (Trudell, 2005), Andrew Okpeaha MacLean (Inupiaq) (On the Ice, 2011), and Sterlin Harjo (Seminole/Creek) (This May Be The Last Time, 2014) and Sydney Freeland (Navajo) (Drunktown’s Finest, 2014)

Sundance Institute Native American and Indigenous Screening Series
Jean Cocteau Cinema in Santa Fe, New Mexico; August 20-24
In conjunction with the Santa Fe Indian Market, Sundance Institute will screen 6 feature-length films and 2 short films by Native American and indigenous filmmakers.  Films in the series include: Drunktown’s Finest by Sydney Freeland (Navajo); Miss Navajo by Billy Luther (Navajo/Hopi/Laguna Pueblo); On The Ice by Andrew Okpeaha MacLean (Inupiaq); Skins by Chris Eyre (Cheyenne/Arapaho); Boy by Taika Waititi (Te Whanau a Apanui); This May Be The Last Time by Sterlin Harjo (Seminole/Creek Nations); Shimásání by Blackhorse Lowe (Navajo) and Gesture Down – I Don’t Sing by Ceder Sherbert (Kumeyaay).

Sundance Institute’s Native American Short Films and panel discussion
MocNa in Santa Fe, New Mexico; May 24 – July 31, 2014
Four short films programmed by Sundance Institute will screen in a loop in the Helen Hardin Media Gallery. Artists and films include: Sikumi (On The Ice) by Andrew Okpeaha MacLean (Inupiaq); Nikamowin (Song) by Kevin Lee Burton (Swampy Cree); Shimásání by Blackhorse Lowe (Navajo); Gesture Down – I Don’t Sing by Ceder Sherbert (Kumeyaay);and Two Cars One Night / New Zealand by Taika Waititi (Te Whanau Apanui).

Sundance Institute Native American and Indigenous Screening Series
Museum of Indian Arts and Culture  in Santa Fe, New Mexico; August 31 – October 4
Five feature films programmed by Sundance Institute will screen in the Kathryn O’Keefe Theatre. Artists and films include: Smoke Signals by Chris Eyre (Cheyenne/Arapaho); Boy by Taika Waititi (Te Whanau a Apanui); On the Ice by Andrew Okpeaha MacLean (Inupiaq); Trudell by Heather Rae (Cherokee) and Incident at Oglala by Michael Apted.

The Sundance Institute Native American and Indigenous Program is supported by Surdna Foundation, Ford Foundation, Time Warner Foundation, NBCUniversal, Cindy and Alan Horn, Princess Grace Foundation, and SAGIndie.

For more information on the Native American and Indigenous Program visit sundance.org/native

Sundance Institute
Founded by Robert Redford in 1981, Sundance Institute is a global, nonprofit organization dedicated to nurturing independent artists and introducing audiences to their new work. Internationally recognized for its Sundance Film Festival, the Institute annually supports over 200 artists with more than a dozen labs for directors, screenwriters, documentary editors, composers, playwrights, producers and New Frontier artists and grants more than $2 million to artists. The Institute has supported projects including Fruitvale Station, Ain’t Them Bodies Saints, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Question Bridge, Wadjda, God Loves Uganda, Gideon’s Army, Spring Awakening, Appropriate and Fun Home. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.

The benefit will support the Institute’s programs for independent film and theatre artists and is chaired by Trustees Jeanne Donovan Fisher and Pat Mitchell. The Host Committee includes: Michael Barker; Tom Bernard; Maria Cuomo Cole and Kenneth Cole; Sally Field; Agnes Gund; Ruth Ann and Bill Harnisch; Cindy Harrell Horn and Alan Horn; Joan and George Hornig; Nancy and Andrew Jarecki; Karen Lauder; Kate Lear; Lyn Davis Lear and Norman Lear; Maggie Lear; Rebecca Lichtenfeld; Lori and Janusz Ordover; Abbe Raven; Shari Sant Plummer; Nadine Schiff-Rosen and Fred Rosen; Elena and Geoffrey Sands; Regina Kulik Scully and John Scully; Sheila and Wally Weisman; and Jacki and Gregory Zehner.

Institute Trustees and event co-chairs Jeanne Donovan Fisher and Pat Mitchell said, “The Sundance Institute Vanguard Awards recognize those who are finding new and exciting ways to advance the independent film community. Both Glenn’s and Damien’s impressive accomplishments show that independent film is as vital, relevant, forward-looking and impactful as ever before.”

Emmy, Golden Globe and Tony Award winner and six-time Academy Award acting nominee Glenn Close will be the third recipient of the Vanguard Leadership Award, joining philanthropist and former Institute Trustee George Gund and journalist and film critic Roger Ebert. Close has had a distinguished career in film, with prominent roles in The Big Chill, The Natural, Fatal Attraction and Dangerous Liaisons,among others. Close produced, co-wrote the screenplay for, and composed the title song lyrics for 2012’s feature film Albert Nobbs, in which she also played the lead role. That performance earned her an Academy Award nomination. Also that year, Close headlined the fifth and final season of the critically acclaimed original legal thriller, Damages. She is an Emeritus Trustee of the Institute and has served as a Creative Advisor at its Labs for emerging independent filmmakers. She has appeared in several films at the Sundance Film Festival, including Cookie’s Fortune, Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her, Heights, The Chumscrubber and Nine Lives. Close has completed filming on four upcoming features: Low Down, for director Jeff Preiss, co-starring John Hawkes and Elle Fanning; 5 to 7, with Anton Yelchin, Bérénice Marlohe and Frank Langella for writer-director Victor Levin; Anesthesia for writer-director Tim Blake Nelson; and the feature film of Marvel Comics’ Guardians of the Galaxy. She is currently filming The Great Gilly Hopkins with Kathy Bates, Danny Glover and Sophie Nelisse.

Damien Chazelle wrote and directed the feature film Whiplash, starring Miles Teller and J.K. Simmons. For the film, Damien received a development grant and dedicated screenwriter mentors from the Sundance Institute Feature Film Program. Whiplash made its world premiere at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, where it won both the U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic and the Audience Award: U.S. Dramatic Presented by Acura and was acquired for distribution by Sony Pictures Classics. His short version of the film won a Short Film Jury Award at the Sundance Film Festival the prior year. He directed his first feature film, Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench, while an undergraduate at Harvard University, and it was named one of 2009’s best films by The New York Times, Village Voice, Film Comment and several other publications after its premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival.

The Vanguard Award, presented by The Lincoln Motor Company as part of its “Reimagine Project,” comes with a cash grant and mentorship from industry professionals and Sundance Institute Feature Film Program staff. Chazelle will be the third recipient of the Vanguard Award, joining Benh Zeitlin (Beasts of the Southern Wild) and Ryan Coogler (Fruitvale Station), whose films also received critical acclaim and accolades worldwide. The Vanguard Awards were founded in 2011 to mark the 30th anniversary of the Feature Film Program and its founding director, Michelle Satter.

Sundance Institute relies on the generosity of supporters 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.

For information on event tickets and tables or sponsorship opportunities, visit sundance.org/nycbenefit or contact celebrate@sundance.org. The benefit is supported by The Lincoln Motor Company.

Sundance Institute
Sundance Institute is 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 connect audiences to their work. The Institute promotes independent storytelling as art and as a compelling and powerful way to inform, inspire and unite people. Internationally recognized for its annual Sundance Film Festival, Sundance Institute has supported such projects as Beasts of the Southern Wild, Fruitvale Station, Sin Nombre, The Invisible War, The Square, Dirty Wars, Spring Awakening, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder and Fun Home. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.

The Lincoln Motor Company
The Lincoln Motor Company is the luxury automotive brand of Ford Motor Company, committed to creating compelling vehicles with an exceptional ownership experience to match. Lincoln is in the process of introducing four all-new vehicles through 2016. For more information about Lincoln, please visit media.lincoln.com or lincoln.com. Follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/Lincoln.

Projects and participants selected for the 2014 Directors and Screenwriters Labs are from the United States, Brazil, Europe, China, India, Vietnam and Mexico. The Directors Lab fellows are: Gabriela Amaral Almeida, The Father’s Shadow (Brazil); Jordana Spiro and Angelica Nwandu, Night Comes On (U.S.A.); Sofia Exarchou, Park (Greece); Geremy Jasper, Patti Cake$ (U.S.A.); Oorlagh George, Stranger with a Camera (U.S.A. / Northern Ireland): Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, Swiss Army Man (U.S.A.); Johnny Ma, Ten Thousand Happiness (U.S.A. / China / Canada); Jeremiah Zagar and Daniel Kitrosser, We the Animals (U.S.A.).
The Screenwriter Lab fellows are: Ana Lily Amirpour, The Bad Batch (U.S.A.); Karrie Crouse and Will Joines, Dust (U.S.A.); Fernando Frias, I’m Already Not Here (U.S.A. / Mexico); Hong Khaou, Monsoon (Vietnam / UK); and Vasan Bala, Side Hero (India).

At the Directors Lab and under the leadership of Michelle Satter, Founding Director of the Sundance Institute Feature Film Program, and the artistic direction of Gyula Gazdag, 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 concentrated, 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.

Creative Advisors include Robert Redford, Michael Arndt, Miguel Arteta, John August, Walter Bernstein, Kathryn Bigelow, Scott Z. Burns, Joan Darling, Deena Goldstone, Keith Gordon, Catherine Hardwicke, Ed Harris, Azazel Jacobs, Brian Kates, Christine Lahti, Kasi Lemmons, Josh Marston, Pamela Martin, Walter Mosley, Howard Rodman, Ira Sachs, Marjane Satrapi, Susan Shilliday, Peter Sollett, Dana Stevens, Wesley Strick, Chris Terrio, Joan Tewkesbury, Athina Tsangari, Tyger Williams, and Erin Cressida Wilson.

Keri Putnam, Executive Director of Sundance Institute, said, ”For more than 30 years, the Institute labs have challenged and fostered creative voices from around the world. Our lab mentorship continues to serve a critical role  in facilitating artist development in a place where they can take risks, challenge norms and grow to produce the best work they can.”

Michelle Satter, Founding Director of the Feature Film Program, said, “We are excited to support this group of singular artists from all over the world who are compelled to tell bold, relevant and impactful stories in a range of genres. It is humbling to embark on a creative journey with these talented storytellers to refine, challenge and advance their ground-breaking work, starting with the Lab and supporting them throughout the life cycle of their films.”

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.

In addition to the Directors and Screenwriters Labs, the Institute offers labs throughout the year and around the world for independent directors, screenwriters, documentary editors, composers, playwrights, producers and New Frontier artists.

Artists and projects selected for the 2014 Directors Lab (May 26 – June 19) are:

Gabriela Amaral Almeida (writer/director) / The Father’s Shadow (Brazil): A nine-year-old girl with strange powers and an obsession with horror films attempts to bring her mother back from the dead as a means of connecting with her sick father.

Gabriela Amaral Almeida is a Brazilian screenwriter and director. She has directed seven short films, including The Comforting Hand and One Spring, which have screened at over 80 international film festivals. She has worked as a screenwriter for directors including Cao Hamburger, Sérgio Machado, and Marcia Faria, and is currently writing the screenplay for Walter Salles’ next feature.

Jordana Spiro (co-writer/director) and Angelica Nwandu (co-writer) / Night Comes On (U.S.A.): Angel is released from juvenile hall on her 18th birthday with a single focus: shoot the man who killed her mother.

Jordana Spiro is a writer, director, and actress currently finishing her MFA in Film at Columbia University. Her short film Skin won the Women in Film Grant at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival and screened at several other festivals including SXSW, Telluride, Palm Springs, and AFI. As an actress, she has starred in numerous films and television series, and studied drama at the Circle in the Square Theatre School in New York and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London.

Originally from Nigeria, Angelica Nwandu has travelled around the world as an advocate for foster youth after her own 12 years’ experience living in foster care. A recent graduate of Loyola Marymount University, she is a writer, a spoken word poet who has performed nationwide, the owner of her own fashion boutique, and serves on the board of the Fostering Change Organization, which seeks to define the culture of foster youth. Angelica is a 2014 Sundance Institute | Time Warner Fellow.

Sofia Exarchou (writer/director) / Park (Greece): Ten years have passed, and the Olympic Village in Athens, Greece is in decay. Among the abandoned athletic facilities and new-money tourist resorts nearby, 17-year-old Dimitris and his friends traverse Greece’s “glorious” past with the decadence of today, creating a portrait of a society unprepared for the brutal fall.

Sofia Exarchou is the writer/director of the short films Mesecina and Distance. She pursued post-graduate studies in Toulouse and at the Stella Adler Studio in New York. Exarchou is based in Athens, Greece, where she received degrees in Electrical Engineering and Film Studies. Park, which has been developed with the support of the Centre Nationale de la Cinematographie (CNC, France) and the Eurimages Council of Europe, is her first feature film. The film is slated for production in late summer 2014 in Athens.

Geremy Jasper (writer/director) / Patti Cake$ (U.S.A.): Patricia Dombrowski, aka Patti Cake$, aka White Trish, is a big girl with big dreams of rap superstardom. Stuck in Lodi, New Jersey, Patti battles an army of haters as she strives to break the mold and take over the rap game.

Geremy Jasper is a music video and commercial director, composer and co-founder of the progressive New York production studio LEGS. With his wife and creative partner Georgie Greville, he has directed VMA-nominated videos for Florence + The Machine, Selena Gomez and others, and his direction for the “Target Kaleidoscopic Fashion Spectacular” won a Cannes Gold Lion, TED Prize and was inducted into the MOMA’s permanent collection. Patti Cake$ is his debut feature film.

Oorlagh George (writer/director) / Stranger with a Camera (U.S.A. / Northern Ireland): In this dramatic thriller, an American girl is stranded in a remote village in Northern Ireland after her father is arrested on a 20-year-old murder charge tied to the IRA. Compelled by her father’s secrecy, she sets out to uncover the mysterious family history that he has kept hidden from her.

Oorlagh George is an award-winning filmmaker and artist from Northern Ireland. In 2012, she won the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short for producing The Shore, which won over 40 awards in festivals and was released in cinemas worldwide. George worked as a creative executive and in production on films including Beginners and Hotel Rwanda.

Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (co-writers/co-directors) / Swiss Army Man (U.S.A.): In this absurdist comedy, a hopeless man stranded in the wilderness befriends a dead body and together they go on a journey to get home. Kwan and Scheinert  have also been selected as the inaugural Sundance Institute | HP Fellows, in recognition of their passion for technology and innovation in independent filmmaking.

DANIELS is comprised of two guys named Daniel: Daniel Scheinert and Daniel Kwan. Together they share the writing, directing, editing, and VFX on every kind of film they can possibly tackle. They’ve been nominated for a best music video Grammy, an MTV VMA award, awarded a UK MVA for Best Music Video 2011, and a Vimeo Award for Best Music Video in 2012. Collectively their music videos (for bands including Foster the People and the Shins), short films, viral videos, and commercials have earned millions of views

Johnny Ma (writer/director) / Ten Thousand Happiness (U.S.A. / China / Canada): The sudden divorce of their 80-year-old grandparents causes three generations of a Chinese family to each re-evaluate their relationships in love, life and happiness in modern Beijing.

Johnny Ma was born in Shanghai, China and immigrated to Toronto at age 10. He is a DGA and National Board of Review student-award winning director and a graduate from the Columbia University MFA program. His most recent short film A Grand Canal screened at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival and was nominated for a Canadian Screen Academy Award.

Jeremiah Zagar (co-writer/director) and Daniel Kitrosser (co-writer) / We the Animals (U.S.A.): Based on the bestselling novel by Justin Torres, We the Animals is about the brutal love of a multi-racial working class family, seen through the eyes of the youngest son, as he discovers his heritage, his sexuality and his madness.

Jeremiah Zagar is the co-founder of Public Record, a production company in Brooklyn. His documentary, In A Dream, screened theatrically across the US and was broadcast on HBO. His newest film CAPTIVATED: The Trials of Pamela Smart, premiered in competition at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival and will air on HBO later this year.

Dan Kitrosser is an award-winning writer and storyteller living in Manhattan. His plays include The Mumblings (published on IndieTheaterNow.com), Tar Baby, which will go on a national tour in 2014, and the upcoming Dead Special Crabs.

Artists and projects joining the Directors Lab Fellows for the 2014 June Screenwriters Lab (June 21-26) are:

Ana Lily Amirpour (writer/director) / The Bad Batch (U.S.A.): In this post-apocalyptic cannibal love story set in a desert wasteland in Texas, a muscled cannibal breaks one important rule: don't play with your food. In saturated hues and stylings of the 80's & 90's and with a wicked techno & western-laced soundtrack, The Bad Batch is kind of like Road Warrior meets Pretty in Pink... meets Gummo.

Ana Lily Amirpour has a varied background in the arts including painting and sculpting, and was the frontwoman of an art-rock band before she eventually moved to Los Angeles to make films. In 2014, her debut feature film, A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night, described as the world’s first Iranian Vampire Western, premiered in the NEXT section of the Sundance Film Festival and opened the Lincoln Center's New Directors/New Films Festival at MoMA in New York.

Karrie Crouse (writer) and Will Joines (director) / Dust (U.S.A.): Trapped by increasingly horrific dust storms, a young mother haunted by the past becomes convinced that a mysterious presence is threatening her family and takes extraordinary measures to protect them.

A native North Carolinian, Karrie Crouse is co-writer of the feature film Pilgrim Song (SXSW Narrative Competition 2012, Oxford American Best Southern Film Award 2012) and the feature screenplay Papaw Easy (Sundance Creative Producing Fellowship 2013, Winner of Tribeca All Access Grant 2013, IFP Emerging Narrative 2012). She also writes and directs for the darkly comedic film collective Sunset Television.

Since graduating from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts School of Filmmaking, Will Joines has become one of the most sought after music video directors working in New York. Known for his arresting visual style and imaginative narrative approach, Joines’ award-winning videos for bands including The Soft Moon and ExitMusic have screened extensively both domestically and abroad.

Fernando Frias (writer/director) / I’m No Longer Here (U.S.A. / Mexico): Following the death of his older brother, a teenage Mexican boy is forced by his mother to migrate to New York City. When he arrives, he quickly realizes that the violence plaguing his home is nothing compared to the feelings of alienation and loneliness he experiences in America.

Born and raised in Mexico City, Fernando Frias currently attends Columbia University Graduate School of the Arts as a Fulbright Scholar. His first feature, Rezeta, won the Jury Award for Best Narrative Feature at the 2014 Slamdance Film Festival.

Hong Khaou (writer/director) / Monsoon (Vietnam / UK): Two young men visiting present day Vietnam find solace in each other, and are confronted with the war’s ramifications nearly forty years after its end.

Hong Khaou’s debut feature film Lilting premiered in World Cinema Competition at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival where it also won the Cinematography Award. He is also the director of three short films, including Spring, which premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, and Summer, which premiered at the 2006 Berlinale. This year, Khaou was named one of the Stars of Tomorrow by Screen International.

Vasan Bala (writer/director) / Side Hero (India): A teenager who lives by the codes of his beloved kung fu movies must find his own way when he discovers that he may never get to be the hero.

Vasan Bala was born and raised in Mumbai. Both his father and grandfather were film buffs whose love of film inspired his own. Bala has collaborated in various capacities with filmmakers including Anurag Kashyap, Michael Winterbottom, and Danis Tanvoic. His debut feature as a writer/director, Peddlers, screened in Critics Week at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival.

The Sundance Institute Feature Film Program is supported by The Annenberg Foundation, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, HP, Mumbai Mantra Media, LTD., John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, DCM Productions, Cinereach, Jeanne Donovan Fisher, Philip Fung-A3 Foundation, Hollywood Foreign Press Association, RT Features, Red Crown Productions, NHK Enterprises, Inc., SAGIndie, Microsoft, National Endowment for the Arts, Time Warner Foundation, 3311 Productions, The Ammon Foundation, Grazka Taylor, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and The Ray and Dagmar Dolby Family Fund.

Sundance Institute Feature Film Program
Since its founding in 1981, the Sundance Institute Feature Film Program (FFP) has supported an extensive list of leading-edge independent films. FFP films making their premieres this year include Damien Chazelle’s Whiplash (winner of the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival), Cutter Hodierne’s Fishing Without Nets (winner of the Directing Prize at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival), and Malik Vitthal’s Imperial Dreams (winner of the Best of NEXT Audience Award at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival). Additional notable films supported over the program’s history include Ryan Coogler’s Fruitvale Station, Ritesh Batra’s The Lunchbox, Haifaa Al Mansour’s Wadjda, Lucy Alibar and Benh Zeitlin’s Beasts of the Southern Wild, Andrew Dosunmu and Darci Picoult’s Mother of George, Sean Durkin’s Martha Marcy May Marlene, Dee Rees’ Pariah, Cary Fukunaga's Sin Nombre, 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, Allison Anders' Mi Vida Loca, Paul Thomas Anderson’s Hard Eight, and Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs. sundance.org/featurefilm

Sundance Institute
Sundance Institute is 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 connect audiences to their work. The Institute promotes independent storytelling as art and as a compelling and powerful way to inform, inspire and unite people. Internationally recognized for its annual Sundance Film Festival, Sundance Institute has supported such projects as Beasts of the Southern Wild, Fruitvale Station, Sin Nombre, The Invisible War, The Square, Dirty Wars, Spring Awakening, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder and Fun Home. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.

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