Ava DuVernay (Courtesy: Kevork Djansezian/Reuters)
By: Carson Blackwelder
Managing Editor
Let’s talk about race in this year’s Oscar race, shall we? Three of the top films up for best documentary feature this year — 13th (Netflix), I Am Not Your Negro (Magnolia), and O.J.: Made in America (Espn) — all deal with the black experience in the United States through various lenses. These movies, all favorites to make the official list of five nominees that will battle it out for the big win, drive home the fact that this is still a very important and is one of the Academy’s favorite topics to highlight — but has that always been the case?
First, let’s take a more in-depth look at what these three leading docs deal center around. Ava DuVernay’s 13th provides an in-depth look at the prison system and how the nation’s history of racial...
By: Carson Blackwelder
Managing Editor
Let’s talk about race in this year’s Oscar race, shall we? Three of the top films up for best documentary feature this year — 13th (Netflix), I Am Not Your Negro (Magnolia), and O.J.: Made in America (Espn) — all deal with the black experience in the United States through various lenses. These movies, all favorites to make the official list of five nominees that will battle it out for the big win, drive home the fact that this is still a very important and is one of the Academy’s favorite topics to highlight — but has that always been the case?
First, let’s take a more in-depth look at what these three leading docs deal center around. Ava DuVernay’s 13th provides an in-depth look at the prison system and how the nation’s history of racial...
- 11/16/2016
- by Carson Blackwelder
- Scott Feinberg
Danny Glover is one of America’s most beloved actors, but few know about his equally impressive accomplishments as a producer. He’s served as executive producer on multiple films to help see them through to completion, and with Joslyn Barnes he created his own company, Louverture Films, in order to give voice to underrepresented filmmakers. Their first project, Abderrahmane Sissako’s award-winning 2006 Bamako, was followed by an incredibly rich slate of films, including Tia Lessin and Carl Deal’s Trouble the Water, Eugene Jarecki’s The House I Live In, and Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s Palme d’Or winner Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives. They recently released […]...
- 1/5/2015
- by Ariston Anderson
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Danny Glover is one of America’s most beloved actors, but few know about his equally impressive accomplishments as a producer. He’s served as executive producer on multiple films to help see them through to completion, and with Joslyn Barnes he created his own company, Louverture Films, in order to give voice to underrepresented filmmakers. Their first project, Abderrahmane Sissako’s award-winning 2006 Bamako, was followed by an incredibly rich slate of films, including Tia Lessin and Carl Deal’s Trouble the Water, Eugene Jarecki’s The House I Live In, and Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s Palme d’Or winner Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives. They recently released […]...
- 1/5/2015
- by Ariston Anderson
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
By Anjelica Oswald
Managing Editor
This year’s Oscar race could make history with two possible best picture nominees directed by women — Ava DuVernay’s Selma and Angelina Jolie’s Unbroken. If both women are nominated for best director, that would also be a historical moment. But though these accomplishments in the narrative field are possible, more women directors are breaking into the documentary categories. Four of the 15 shortlisted documentaries feature women at the helm: Jennifer Grausman (co-directed with Sam Cullman and Mark Becker) with Art and Craft, Tia Lessin (co-directed with Carl Deal) with Citizen Koch, Laura Poitras with Citizenfour and Rory Kennedy with Last Days in Vietnam. Additionally, three of the eight shortlisted documentary shorts feature female directors: Ellen Goosenberg Kent with Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1, Aneta Kopacz with Joanna and Lucy Walker with The Lion’s Mouth Opens. More often than not, women directors tend to...
Managing Editor
This year’s Oscar race could make history with two possible best picture nominees directed by women — Ava DuVernay’s Selma and Angelina Jolie’s Unbroken. If both women are nominated for best director, that would also be a historical moment. But though these accomplishments in the narrative field are possible, more women directors are breaking into the documentary categories. Four of the 15 shortlisted documentaries feature women at the helm: Jennifer Grausman (co-directed with Sam Cullman and Mark Becker) with Art and Craft, Tia Lessin (co-directed with Carl Deal) with Citizen Koch, Laura Poitras with Citizenfour and Rory Kennedy with Last Days in Vietnam. Additionally, three of the eight shortlisted documentary shorts feature female directors: Ellen Goosenberg Kent with Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1, Aneta Kopacz with Joanna and Lucy Walker with The Lion’s Mouth Opens. More often than not, women directors tend to...
- 12/16/2014
- by Anjelica Oswald
- Scott Feinberg
The Academy has announced the 15-wide documentary shortlist and apart from one title, it's is a very high-profile group of names. At least they are if you follow the world of documentary. I had discussed with a friend recently that last year's field may go down as the greatest in the category's history, but depending on how the branch votes this year they may just surpass it. I have already seen nine of the 15 and can vouch for almost all of them. Let's take a look.
Art and Craft The Case Against 8 (review) Citizen Koch Citizenfour (podcast | Glenn's review) Finding Vivian Maier The Internet's Own Boy Jodorowsky's Dune Keep On Keepin' On The Kill Team Last Days in Vietnam (review)
Life Itself The Overnighters The Salt of the Earth Tales of the Grim Sleeper (Nyff review | AFI review) Virunga
There are some big names in here. Apart from the...
Art and Craft The Case Against 8 (review) Citizen Koch Citizenfour (podcast | Glenn's review) Finding Vivian Maier The Internet's Own Boy Jodorowsky's Dune Keep On Keepin' On The Kill Team Last Days in Vietnam (review)
Life Itself The Overnighters The Salt of the Earth Tales of the Grim Sleeper (Nyff review | AFI review) Virunga
There are some big names in here. Apart from the...
- 12/2/2014
- by Glenn Dunks
- FilmExperience
Sundance Institute today announced the participants for its annual Creative Producing Labs and Creative Producing Summit, both held the week of July 28 at the Sundance Resort in Sundance, Utah. These activities are part of the Institute’s year-round Creative Producing Initiative, which encompasses a series of Labs, Fellowships and other signature events that support independent producers. The Creative Producing Labs and Summit wrap the summer season of 10 residential Labs hosted in Utah by Sundance Institute, collectively representing 15 weeks of residency support and mentorship for the most promising new independent film and theater projects from the United States and around the world.
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 a "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 theater 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 "Born into Brothels," "Trouble the Water," "Son of Babylon," "Amreeka," "An Inconvenient Truth," "Spring Awakening," "I Am My Own Wife," "Light in the Piazza" and "Angels in America."Join Sundance Institute on Facebook,Twitter and YouTube.
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 a "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 theater 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 "Born into Brothels," "Trouble the Water," "Son of Babylon," "Amreeka," "An Inconvenient Truth," "Spring Awakening," "I Am My Own Wife," "Light in the Piazza" and "Angels in America."Join Sundance Institute on Facebook,Twitter and YouTube.
- 7/30/2014
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Corporations Are People: Lessin and Deal Question Why
Tia Lessin and Carl Deal’s Citizen Koch looks to shine a light on the political upheaval going on in Wisconsin due to covert corporate concessions and bought out statesmen. With the election of the Republican governor Scott Walker, economic hell seems to have broken loose as unions have been stripped of their ability to defend their working class members as massive tax breaks have been given to the rich. Splitting time between former presidential candidate Buddy Roemer as he hits the campaign trail with a bluntly honest ethos, several financially hurting hardcore Republicans as they wage war with Walker’s Tea-Party politics in response to the loss of their collective bargaining power, and an amalgamation of media clips that annotate the journey from the monumental Citizen’s United ruling to back door dealings with Walker and the Kochs, the docu is...
Tia Lessin and Carl Deal’s Citizen Koch looks to shine a light on the political upheaval going on in Wisconsin due to covert corporate concessions and bought out statesmen. With the election of the Republican governor Scott Walker, economic hell seems to have broken loose as unions have been stripped of their ability to defend their working class members as massive tax breaks have been given to the rich. Splitting time between former presidential candidate Buddy Roemer as he hits the campaign trail with a bluntly honest ethos, several financially hurting hardcore Republicans as they wage war with Walker’s Tea-Party politics in response to the loss of their collective bargaining power, and an amalgamation of media clips that annotate the journey from the monumental Citizen’s United ruling to back door dealings with Walker and the Kochs, the docu is...
- 6/5/2014
- by Jordan M. Smith
- IONCINEMA.com
Title: Citizen Koch Variance Films Reviewed for Shockya by Harvey Karten. Data-based on Rotten Tomatoes Grade: B+ Director: Carl Deal, Tia Lessin Screenplay: Carl Deal, Tia Lessin Cast: Scott Walker, Dee Ives, Mari Jo Kabat, Brian Cunningham, Karl Rove, Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin, John McCain, Bud Roemer Screened at: Review 1, NYC, 5/21/14 Opens: June 6, 2014 A point made in this political doc by Carl Deal and Tia Lessin—heretofore known for “Trouble the Water” about two residents who became refugees in their own country when the New Orleans levees broke—is that there is one way that the person living in a box under a highway has same power as [ Read More ]
The post Citizen Koch Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
The post Citizen Koch Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
- 6/2/2014
- by Harvey Karten
- ShockYa
"Citizen Koch," the controversial documentary by Academy Award-nominated filmmakers Carl Deal and Tia Lessin ("Trouble the Water") has been acquired by Variance Films, which plans a theatrical release in the U.S. and Canada in Spring 2014. The film covers the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling and billionaire industrialists David and Charles Koch’s behind-the-scenes support of the Tea Party. After the film premiered at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, public television producers Itvs pulled $150,00 in finishing funds it had committed to the film and cancelled plans for its broadcast premiere -- presumably because they feared the reaction from David Koch, a major donor to PBS. After The New Yorker profiled the story of the film and its lost Itvs grant, the filmmakers received an outpouring of support and were able to raise necessary funds via Kickstarter. "We wanted a distributor who would be passionate, and also be a true partner,...
- 1/10/2014
- by Paula Bernstein
- Indiewire
Welcome to Holiday Favorites, a series in which Slackerwood contributors and our friends talk about the movies we watch during the holiday season, holiday-related or otherwise.
Just as I thought we were entering an It's a Wonderful Life trend of holiday favorites this year, Austin cinematographer and filmmaker Pj Raval surprises me with a selection I couldn't have predicted. Raval's most recent film is the documentary Before You Know It (Don's review). He's worked as Dp on Austin movies such as The Bounceback and Fourplay, and on the Academy Award-nominated documentary Trouble the Water, among many other films. And you might have seen one of the delightfully family-unfriendly music videos he's shot for local artist Christeene.
Raval's pick is a comedy I saw at SXSW 2007 and loved -- Smiley Face (my review) -- but never thought of as a holiday possibility. Until now. Here's what he has to say about...
Just as I thought we were entering an It's a Wonderful Life trend of holiday favorites this year, Austin cinematographer and filmmaker Pj Raval surprises me with a selection I couldn't have predicted. Raval's most recent film is the documentary Before You Know It (Don's review). He's worked as Dp on Austin movies such as The Bounceback and Fourplay, and on the Academy Award-nominated documentary Trouble the Water, among many other films. And you might have seen one of the delightfully family-unfriendly music videos he's shot for local artist Christeene.
Raval's pick is a comedy I saw at SXSW 2007 and loved -- Smiley Face (my review) -- but never thought of as a holiday possibility. Until now. Here's what he has to say about...
- 12/18/2013
- by Jette Kernion
- Slackerwood
Of the sixteen titles that are listed here there are at least more than half that will be talked about throughout the calendar year up until award season in 2015. It speaks volumes about the quality offerings from American Documentarian filmmakers, but it also says a lot about Sundance programming team David Courier, Caroline Libresco et al. exquisite taste for the form. As is the norm for the Sundance doc-comp, there is plenty of socially conscious films on offer, from Andrew Rossi’s film on the insurmountable rise of student debt, Ivory Tower, to government backed food campaigns that have resulted in massive amounts of American health problems in Stephanie Soechtig’s Fed Up, with plenty of diversity within the program as a whole.
Though our non-fiction guesses have never been stellar, the films themselves look auspicious as all get out. Of this year’s promising batch of American docs, we...
Though our non-fiction guesses have never been stellar, the films themselves look auspicious as all get out. Of this year’s promising batch of American docs, we...
- 12/5/2013
- by Jordan M. Smith
- IONCINEMA.com
Sundance tends to include at least one eco-friendly docu in their line-up, and this one promises to shake up the establishment. He broke out with his directing debut, The Take (about unemployed auto-parts workers who took joblessness into their own hands) and now a decade later, his sophomore project also working with a direct, to-the-point type of title in The Message is in the works. Once again working alongside Naomi Klein (The Shock Doctrine), Canuck documentary helmer Avi Lewis has been working on this project since ’11, but as is the case with several docu titles, we might be a tad bit early on the delivery date.
Gist: Based on the book by Naomi Klein, truly confronting the climate challenge means reducing inequality, addressing the global South’s right to development, localizing economies, halting destructive extraction projects and deepening democracy. The film takes an international outlook and emphasizes people on the frontlines of change,...
Gist: Based on the book by Naomi Klein, truly confronting the climate challenge means reducing inequality, addressing the global South’s right to development, localizing economies, halting destructive extraction projects and deepening democracy. The film takes an international outlook and emphasizes people on the frontlines of change,...
- 11/20/2013
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
W hite Sun is one of the twenty-three films selected for the co- production market of Film Bazaar 2013.
Deepak Rauniyar
Project description. Language.
White Sun is a dark comedy about life in a Nepali village in the wake of the decade-long conflict that ended in 2006. Little Pooja lives with her mother Durga and grandfather Chitra in a remote mountain village. She has never met her father, Agni, who joined the Maoist guerrillas and left their village years ago to fight the government. The devastating war is over, and Agni’s rebel Maoist party now heads the government.
Agni returns to the village for the first time in 10 years for Chitra’s funeral. Pooja watches her father and mother readjust to each other’s presence and her father fight with the family’s closest friend, Suraj – who fought on the government side during the war. When Suraj leaves, Agni cannot find...
Deepak Rauniyar
Project description. Language.
White Sun is a dark comedy about life in a Nepali village in the wake of the decade-long conflict that ended in 2006. Little Pooja lives with her mother Durga and grandfather Chitra in a remote mountain village. She has never met her father, Agni, who joined the Maoist guerrillas and left their village years ago to fight the government. The devastating war is over, and Agni’s rebel Maoist party now heads the government.
Agni returns to the village for the first time in 10 years for Chitra’s funeral. Pooja watches her father and mother readjust to each other’s presence and her father fight with the family’s closest friend, Suraj – who fought on the government side during the war. When Suraj leaves, Agni cannot find...
- 11/19/2013
- by Editorial Team
- DearCinema.com
Gotham Awards 2013: Nominations don’t necessarily mean Oscar 2014 recognition (photo: Gotham Award nominee Robert Redford in ’All Is Lost’) Nominations for the indie-oriented, East Coast-based Gotham Awards, announced a few days ago, don’t necessarily translate into nominations for the equally indie-oriented, West Coast-based Spirit Awards. And they certainly don’t mean the likelihood of a matching Academy Award nod. (See list of 2013 Gotham Awards nominations.) In fact, in the last five years (2012-2008), of the 25 nominees in the Gotham Awards’ Best Feature category, only seven films — or less than one in three — received matching Academy Award nominations despite the fact that since 2009 up to ten films have been eligible for the Best Picture Oscar. Gotham Awards’ Best Feature vs. Academy Awards’ Best Picture The Gotham Awards’ Best Feature / Academy Awards’ Best Picture "double nominees" were the following: Kathryn Bigelow’s The Hurt Locker Joel and Ethan Coen’s...
- 10/29/2013
- by Zac Gille
- Alt Film Guide
Having ruined the reputations of Itvs and PBS, “Citizen Koch,” a doleful review of the state of the union, reappears on the scene after a tumultuous struggle with funding and a tweaking post-2013 Sundance. David Koch and Charles Koch, the reactionary billionaire activists and ostensible subjects, are almost beside the point. Rather, the title of the film by Tia Lessin and Carl Deal (“Trouble the Water”) reflects the very traditional values the Kochs seem to want revived and restored: In ancient times, being a “citizen” is what differentiated one from being a slave. What Lessin and Deal see looming on the horizon is a world of one-percenter citizens, and the rest of us. ("Citizen Koch" will screen as part of Doc NYC on November 15.) It would be easier to wax both righteous and indignant about the co-opting of democracy that the movie portrays -- après the Supreme Court’s Citizens...
- 10/29/2013
- by John Anderson
- Thompson on Hollywood
After The New Yorker profiled the story of Carl Deal and Tia Lessin's loss of a grant for their Sundance competition title "Citizen Koch" from public television producers Itvs, the filmmakers received an outpouring of support. The filmmakers, who made the stellar Katrina doc "Trouble the Water," were working with Itvs on their film until Itvs pulled out of the project, presumably because the title called out a (now former) public television patron, David Koch, of the wealthy conservative Koch brothers. After the article ran, Lessin told Indiewire, "We had a beautiful response from people in the indie film community who were just heartbroken at what happened and wanted to throw in and support us in any way they could. There was empathy and appreciation. We spoke about what happened publicly at some expense to ourselves. Not only for this film, but I don't think [Itvs] will be knocking down...
- 7/18/2013
- by Bryce J. Renninger
- Indiewire
Shadow & Act has learned exclusively that Zeitgeist Films - the distribution company responsible for the releases of a few critically-acclaimed S&A highlight titles (like Raoul Peck's Lumumba, and Carl Deal & Tia Lessin's Katrina documentary Trouble The Water), has acquired all U.S. rights (excluding first window television) to Jason Osder’s powerful feature film directorial debut, Let The Fire Burn, a film that gives audiences an unbiased and thorough account of the incidents leading up to, and during the 1985 standoff between the radical African American Move organization and Philadelphia authorities. The widely-unfamiliar story goes... On...
- 7/15/2013
- by Tambay A. Obenson
- ShadowAndAct
Sundance Institute has announced the four independent films that will make their digital debut on June 18 through a variety of platforms and storefronts, via the Institute’s Artist Services program. In addition, three previously announced titles will expand to additional portals. For details visit sundance.org/nowplaying.
The upcoming releases, three of which are documentaries, focus on unlikely heroes such as the bold and brave reporters challenging the boundaries of free speech in their homeland of China (High Tech, Low Life) and women serving time in a Siberian prison who organize a beauty pageant every year to demonstrate that beauty can still be found in the ugliest of places (Miss Gulag). Titles will be available on a variety of platforms, including iTunes, Amazon Instant Video, Microsoft Xbox, Sony Entertainment Network, SundanceNOW, Vudu and YouTube.
Burn will be released as part of a recent collaboration between Artist Services and non-profit partner organization Film Independent. The collaboration allows partner organizations to select films they have supported to receive access to best-in-class digital distribution arrangements secured by Artist Services.
My Best Day premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival in the Next section.
Titles Available June 18
Burn (Directors: Tom Putnam and Brenna Sanchez) — Burn is an award-winning, action-packed documentary capturing a year in the lives of Detroit firefighters who are charged with the thankless task of saving a city that many have written off as dead. A portion of proceeds from each sale go to the Leary Firefighters Foundation. (Released through Artist Services collaboration with Film Independent)
High Tech, Low Life (Director: Stephen Maing) — High Tech, Low Life follows two of China’s first and most daring citizen reporters as they fight censorship, document the underside of the country’s rapid economic development, and challenge the boundaries of free speech. (2010 Documentary Edit and Story Lab)
Miss Gulag (Director: Maria Yatskova-Ibrahimova) — Through the prism of a beauty pageant staged by female inmates of a Siberian prison camp emerges a complex narrative of the lives of the first generation of women to come of age in Post-Soviet Russia. (2006 Documentary Film Grant)
My Best Day (Director: Erin Greenwell) — Karen has to work her receptionist gig on the Fourth of July. A call comes from her long-lost father. Enlisting her friend Meagan, Karen investigates her father's trailer home. Karen's journey sets in motion a chain of events that will change not just her but this one small town forever. (2012 Sundance Film Festival)
Previously Announced Titles Available On Additional Platforms
Code of the West (Director: Rebecca Richman Cohen) — Code Of The West follows the human stories behind the recent federal crackdown on medical marijuana growers. This is the story of what happens when politics fail, emotions run high and communities pay the price. (Released through Artist Services collaboration with Ifp and Cinereach)
Ecological Design: Inventing the Future (Director: Brian Danitz) — This documentary's thesis focuses on the emergence of ecological design, from the original vision of the independent thinkers in the 1920s to the powerful present-day movement. (1995 Sundance Film Festival)
Unfinished Spaces (Directors: Alysa Nahmias and Benjamin Murray) — Cuba's ambitious National Art Schools project, designed by three young artists in the wake of Castro's Revolution, is neglected, nearly forgotten, then ultimately rediscovered as a visionary architectural masterpiece. (Film Forward: Advancing Cultural Dialogue)
The Artist Services program provides artists with exclusive opportunities for creative self-distribution, marketing and financing solutions for their work. The exclusive aggregation partner for distribution across all portals participating in the Artist Services program is Cinedigm. The Artist Services initiative is made possible by The Bertha Foundation. These deals were brokered via pro bono legal services generously provided by law firm O’Melveny & Myers, which has built the legal framework for the Artist Services program and participating filmmakers since its inception.
Sundance Institute
Founded by Robert Redford in 1981, Sundance Institute is a global, nonprofit cultural organization dedicated to nurturing artistic expression in film and theater, and to supporting intercultural dialogue between artists and audiences. The Institute promotes independent storytelling to unite, inform and inspire, regardless of geo-political, social, religious or cultural differences. Internationally recognized for its annual Sundance Film Festival and its artistic development programs for directors, screenwriters, producers, film composers, playwrights and theatre artists, Sundance Institute has nurtured such projects as Born into Brothels, Trouble the Water, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Amreeka, An Inconvenient Truth, Spring Awakening, Light in the Piazza and Angels in America. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.
The upcoming releases, three of which are documentaries, focus on unlikely heroes such as the bold and brave reporters challenging the boundaries of free speech in their homeland of China (High Tech, Low Life) and women serving time in a Siberian prison who organize a beauty pageant every year to demonstrate that beauty can still be found in the ugliest of places (Miss Gulag). Titles will be available on a variety of platforms, including iTunes, Amazon Instant Video, Microsoft Xbox, Sony Entertainment Network, SundanceNOW, Vudu and YouTube.
Burn will be released as part of a recent collaboration between Artist Services and non-profit partner organization Film Independent. The collaboration allows partner organizations to select films they have supported to receive access to best-in-class digital distribution arrangements secured by Artist Services.
My Best Day premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival in the Next section.
Titles Available June 18
Burn (Directors: Tom Putnam and Brenna Sanchez) — Burn is an award-winning, action-packed documentary capturing a year in the lives of Detroit firefighters who are charged with the thankless task of saving a city that many have written off as dead. A portion of proceeds from each sale go to the Leary Firefighters Foundation. (Released through Artist Services collaboration with Film Independent)
High Tech, Low Life (Director: Stephen Maing) — High Tech, Low Life follows two of China’s first and most daring citizen reporters as they fight censorship, document the underside of the country’s rapid economic development, and challenge the boundaries of free speech. (2010 Documentary Edit and Story Lab)
Miss Gulag (Director: Maria Yatskova-Ibrahimova) — Through the prism of a beauty pageant staged by female inmates of a Siberian prison camp emerges a complex narrative of the lives of the first generation of women to come of age in Post-Soviet Russia. (2006 Documentary Film Grant)
My Best Day (Director: Erin Greenwell) — Karen has to work her receptionist gig on the Fourth of July. A call comes from her long-lost father. Enlisting her friend Meagan, Karen investigates her father's trailer home. Karen's journey sets in motion a chain of events that will change not just her but this one small town forever. (2012 Sundance Film Festival)
Previously Announced Titles Available On Additional Platforms
Code of the West (Director: Rebecca Richman Cohen) — Code Of The West follows the human stories behind the recent federal crackdown on medical marijuana growers. This is the story of what happens when politics fail, emotions run high and communities pay the price. (Released through Artist Services collaboration with Ifp and Cinereach)
Ecological Design: Inventing the Future (Director: Brian Danitz) — This documentary's thesis focuses on the emergence of ecological design, from the original vision of the independent thinkers in the 1920s to the powerful present-day movement. (1995 Sundance Film Festival)
Unfinished Spaces (Directors: Alysa Nahmias and Benjamin Murray) — Cuba's ambitious National Art Schools project, designed by three young artists in the wake of Castro's Revolution, is neglected, nearly forgotten, then ultimately rediscovered as a visionary architectural masterpiece. (Film Forward: Advancing Cultural Dialogue)
The Artist Services program provides artists with exclusive opportunities for creative self-distribution, marketing and financing solutions for their work. The exclusive aggregation partner for distribution across all portals participating in the Artist Services program is Cinedigm. The Artist Services initiative is made possible by The Bertha Foundation. These deals were brokered via pro bono legal services generously provided by law firm O’Melveny & Myers, which has built the legal framework for the Artist Services program and participating filmmakers since its inception.
Sundance Institute
Founded by Robert Redford in 1981, Sundance Institute is a global, nonprofit cultural organization dedicated to nurturing artistic expression in film and theater, and to supporting intercultural dialogue between artists and audiences. The Institute promotes independent storytelling to unite, inform and inspire, regardless of geo-political, social, religious or cultural differences. Internationally recognized for its annual Sundance Film Festival and its artistic development programs for directors, screenwriters, producers, film composers, playwrights and theatre artists, Sundance Institute has nurtured such projects as Born into Brothels, Trouble the Water, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Amreeka, An Inconvenient Truth, Spring Awakening, Light in the Piazza and Angels in America. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.
- 6/9/2013
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Sundance is always on the move. Skywalker and George Lucas himself are refocusing on the indies and choosing sound design as their point of entry.
Sundance Institute and Skywalker Sound recently announced that the Sundance Institute Music and Sound Design Labs at Skywalker Sound will take place at Skywalker Ranch in 2013 and 2014 and also listed the artists that will participate in the 2013 Labs. This is the first time the two organizations will collaborate to support independent filmmakers and film composers and marks a significant expansion of the Institute’s existing Composers Labs to include sound design.
The Institute has hosted its Composers Labs at Sundance Resort for fiction feature films since 1999 and documentaries since 2005, allowing composers and independent filmmakers to collaboratively explore the 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.
Keri Putnam, Executive Director of Sundance Institute, said, “Hosting the Composers Labs at Skywalker Ranch allows an expansion of the program to include sound design, giving further insight into the powerful ways that sound and music can impact independent films. We are deeply grateful to the Skywalker team for working with us to provide our Fellows with the tremendous benefit of accessing this legendary facility”
Josh Lowden, General Manager of Skywalker Sound, said, “We’re very excited to formalize this relationship. Sundance Institute is virtually synonymous with independent film, and Keri and her team have done an amazing job to honor the Institute’s legacy. Twenty-five years ago Skywalker was founded by a filmmaker for filmmakers, and we have never forgotten our roots. We continue to believe in independent filmmaking, and are thrilled to deepen our relationship with the Institute by hosting these Labs at Skywalker.”
The Composers Lab for fiction feature films is a joint initiative of the Institute’s Film Music Program and Feature Film Program, and the Composers Lab for documentaries is hosted by the Film Music Program and Documentary Film Program and Fund.
Peter Golub, Director of the Sundance Institute Film Music Program, said, “Skywalker Sound is a leader in the field of post-production and sound design, and their world-class facilities offer the ideal environment for our Composers Labs. Lab fellows will have access to Skywalker’s sound designers and mixers for ongoing collaboration, as well as the state-of-the-art facility during their stay.”
Artists and projects selected for the 2013 Sundance Music And Sound Design Lab – Documentary (June 3-10) are:
Filmmakers
Director: Kirsten Johnson
A Blind Eye (U.S.) — The voice of an American camerawoman explores the nature of cinematography and what she has failed to see while filming in Afghanistan through her encounters with two Afghan teenagers. Najeeb, a one-eyed boy, struggles to hide what really haunts him, while a bold teenage girl must decide how much she will risk to be visible. A U.S. Military surveillance blimp in the sky over Kabul tracks their every move.
Director: Judith Ehrlich
Open (U.S.) — The fight for free speech in the 21st century is being fought in cyberspace, and its most dramatic story may be unfolding in Iceland. Open follows trailblazing Internet revolutionary Birgitta Jónsdóttir and three generations of digital “hacktivists” as their stories converge in the tiny island nation now poised to become the world’s first haven for freedom of information and transparency online and off.
Director: Thomas Allen Harris
Through a Lens Darkly: Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People (U.S.) — A 90-minute documentary film with an innovative companion transmedia project that explores the ways black communities have used the medium of photography to construct political, aesthetic and cultural representations of themselves and their world. This will be the first film to vividly bring to life the individual photographers, photographic collectives, and anonymous and celebrated subjects, whose work has transformed the lives of African Americans through the magic and power of the camera lens.
Director: Mark Grieco
Marmato (Canada/Colombia) — A peaceful gold-mining town in rural Colombia confronts destruction by a Canadian multinational mining company.
Composers
Kathryn Bostic
Kathryn Bostic is a prolific composer, pianist and singer-songwriter. She is a recipient of several awards and fellowships including the Sundance Fellowship for Feature Film Scoring, Bmi Conducting Fellowship and the Ascap Musical Theatre Workshop. She has written for both off-Broadway and Broadway productions. Currently her score can be heard in the Mark Taper production of August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come and Gone.
Omar Fadel
Los Angeles-based composer Omar Fadel has carved out a niche fusing an eclectic palette of musical instruments and styles. He has scored numerous features films, documentaries and television shows, including Walt Disney Studios’ first ever Arabic language feature film, The United.
Miles Jay
Miles Jay is a composer, contrabassist, and multi-instrumentalist with many traditional and cross over artists around the world. Supporting himself as a musician around the Eastern Mediterranean and North Africa for much of the last decade, Miles has re-imagined the contrabass, adapting a wide range of melodic ornamentation to his own technique, as well as having invented and hand-built a new type of contrabass utilizing rawhide for a soundboard. Miles has performed in such venues as Carnegie Hall, the Emirates Palace Abu Dhabi, Ted, and the United Nations.
Todd Reynolds
Todd Reynolds is a long-time New York violinist for Bang on a Can, Steve Reich, Broadway, and founder of the string quartet known as Ethel. His double CD set, Outerborough, rose to "best in classical" on the Amazon classical charts of 2011. A classical violinist 'gone horribly wrong', his genre-defying and technologically savvy music and performances have been called "a charming, multi-mood extravaganza, playful like Milhaud, but hard-edged like Hendrix."
Artists and projects selected for the 2013 Sundance Music And Sound Design Lab – Feature Film (July 10-25) are:
Filmmakers
Writer/director: Miguel Calderón
Zeus (Mexico) — Sporadically employed and still living with his mother, Joel finds his only joy in falconry in the flatlands outside Mexico City, until an encounter with a down-to-earth secretary forces him to face reality.
Writer/director: Meredith Danluck
State Like Sleep (U.S.A.) — Under the surreal cloud cover of northern Europe, a young American widow reluctantly revisits her past when her mother is hospitalized in Brussels. While coping with the bleak reality of parental loss, Katherine explores her deceased husband's secret life of underground sex clubs and finds comfort in a relationship with a stranger as equally broken as she is.
Co-writer/co-director: Ian Hendrie
Co-writer/co-director: Jyson McLean
Mercy Road (U.S.A.) — Based on true events, Mercy Road traces the spiritual odyssey of a small town housewife and mother, as she becomes willing to commit violence and murder in the name of God.
Writer/director: K’naan
Maanokoobiyo (Somalia/U.S.A.) — In war-torn Somalia, an artistic orphan named Maano joins the mercenary killing squad of a notorious warlord, only to discover his adoptive father and gang leader is responsible for wiping out his family.
Writer/director: Pamela Romanowsky
The Adderall Diaries (U.S.A.) — Writer Stephen Elliott reaches a low point when his estranged father resurfaces, claiming that Stephen has fabricated much of the dark childhood that that fuels his work. Adrift in the precarious grey area of memory, Stephen has to navigate the unstable terrain of truth and identity, led by two sources of inspiration: a new romance, and a murder trial that reminds him more than a little of his own story. Based on the memoir by Stephen Elliott.
Co-writer/director: Eva Weber
Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name (UK/Germany/U.S.A.) — Twenty-eight-year-old Clarissa discovers on the day of her father's funeral that everything she believed about her life was a lie. She flees San Francisco and travels to the Arctic Circle to uncover the secrets of her mother, who mysteriously vanished when Clarissa was fourteen. Based on the novel by Vendela Vida.
Composers
Jongnic Bontemps
Jongnic Bontemps has had the pleasure to score numerous films, including award-winning Daughter of Fortune, A Different Tree, Soaring on Invisible Wings and Saudade. Jongnic's scores incorporate ethnic instruments with organic and synthetic textures to create a unique musical world for a film. This skill has been honed through his music education at Yale University, Berklee School of Music and the University of Southern California and his collaborations with some of the top film composers. Jongnic's scores have been heard at film festivals around the world including Cannes, The Pan African Film Festival, American Black Film Festival and Run & Shoot Martha's Vineyard
Larry Goldings
Larry Goldings is a Grammy-nominated pianist, organist, composer, and arranger, whose talents have been sought-after by an impressive range of artists including James Taylor, Norah Jones, John Mayer, Sia Furler, Madeleine Peyroux, Maceo Parker, Michael Brecker, and John Scofield.
Lucas Lechowski
Based in Los Angeles, Polish born Lucas Lechowski is a violinist/guitarist who creates music, experiments with sounds, improvises and performs. His recent film scoring credits include a 2013 Student Academy Award winner “Un mundo para Raúl” (dir. Mauro Mueller). Currently he is composing music for a two-hour NBC News television special commemorating the 50th anniversary of the death of President Kennedy, entitled "Where Were You?"
Heather McIntosh
Heather McIntosh is a cellist, bassist and composer who got her musical start playing with the Elephant 6 collective in Athens, Georgia and continued on to perform with artists such as Gnarls Barkley and Lil Wayne. Recently relocated to Los Angeles, her film credits include Compliance by Craig Zobel and The Rambler by Calvin Lee Reeder.
Vladimir Podgoretsky
Vladimir Podgoretsky started his professional career as a musical theater composer. His 2007 ballet Snow Maiden (Snegurochka) was a huge success and continues to be regularly performed in theaters throughout Moscow. Vladimir moved to the Us to become a film composer and after graduating from the UCLA film scoring program has been working with leading composers on films such as Rise of the Guardians, A Single Shot, The Eagle, Season Of the Witch and Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters. He has also worked on the acclaimed video game World of Warcraft and the ABC TV series Revenge.
Mac Quayle
A resident of Topanga Canyon, California, Mac Quayle has written music for over 20 films and television shows and accumulated a long list of credits as a music producer, dance remixer and multi-instrumentalist, including a Grammy nomination for producing Donna Summer. His music is heard in films such as the Indian documentary Beyond Grace and the Irish drama A Belfast Story and some of his collaborations as an additional composer appear in Drive, Spring Breakers and Only God Forgives.
The Sundance Institute Music and Sound Design Labs at Skywalker Sound are made possible by Bmi, Time Warner Foundation, and the Film Music Foundation.
Sundance Institute
Founded by Robert Redford in 1981, Sundance Institute is a global, nonprofit cultural organization dedicated to nurturing artistic expression in film and theater, and to supporting intercultural dialogue between artists and audiences. The Institute promotes independent storytelling to unite, inform and inspire, regardless of geo-political, social, religious or cultural differences. Internationally recognized for its annual Sundance Film Festival and its artistic development programs for directors, screenwriters, producers, film composers, playwrights and theatre artists, Sundance Institute has nurtured such projects as Born into Brothels, Trouble the Water, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Amreeka, An Inconvenient Truth, Spring Awakening, Light in the Piazza and Angels in America. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.
Skywalker Sound
Skywalker Sound, a division of Lucasfilm Ltd, is one of the largest, most versatile full-service audio post-production companies in the industry. Skywalker Sound offers comprehensive post-production services and utilizes the talents of Academy Award®-winning sound professionals working on sound design, editorial, Foley and re-recording mixes as a team. This provides filmmakers the most efficient model available for the audio post-production process. More information is available at www.skysound.com.
Lucasfilm Ltd. is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. Skywalker Sound, the Skywalker Sound logo, Star Wars and related properties are trademarks in the United States and/or in other countries of Lucasfilm Ltd. and/or its affiliates. © 2013 Lucasfilm Entertainment Company Ltd. or Lucasfilm Ltd. All rights reserved.
Sundance Institute and Skywalker Sound recently announced that the Sundance Institute Music and Sound Design Labs at Skywalker Sound will take place at Skywalker Ranch in 2013 and 2014 and also listed the artists that will participate in the 2013 Labs. This is the first time the two organizations will collaborate to support independent filmmakers and film composers and marks a significant expansion of the Institute’s existing Composers Labs to include sound design.
The Institute has hosted its Composers Labs at Sundance Resort for fiction feature films since 1999 and documentaries since 2005, allowing composers and independent filmmakers to collaboratively explore the 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.
Keri Putnam, Executive Director of Sundance Institute, said, “Hosting the Composers Labs at Skywalker Ranch allows an expansion of the program to include sound design, giving further insight into the powerful ways that sound and music can impact independent films. We are deeply grateful to the Skywalker team for working with us to provide our Fellows with the tremendous benefit of accessing this legendary facility”
Josh Lowden, General Manager of Skywalker Sound, said, “We’re very excited to formalize this relationship. Sundance Institute is virtually synonymous with independent film, and Keri and her team have done an amazing job to honor the Institute’s legacy. Twenty-five years ago Skywalker was founded by a filmmaker for filmmakers, and we have never forgotten our roots. We continue to believe in independent filmmaking, and are thrilled to deepen our relationship with the Institute by hosting these Labs at Skywalker.”
The Composers Lab for fiction feature films is a joint initiative of the Institute’s Film Music Program and Feature Film Program, and the Composers Lab for documentaries is hosted by the Film Music Program and Documentary Film Program and Fund.
Peter Golub, Director of the Sundance Institute Film Music Program, said, “Skywalker Sound is a leader in the field of post-production and sound design, and their world-class facilities offer the ideal environment for our Composers Labs. Lab fellows will have access to Skywalker’s sound designers and mixers for ongoing collaboration, as well as the state-of-the-art facility during their stay.”
Artists and projects selected for the 2013 Sundance Music And Sound Design Lab – Documentary (June 3-10) are:
Filmmakers
Director: Kirsten Johnson
A Blind Eye (U.S.) — The voice of an American camerawoman explores the nature of cinematography and what she has failed to see while filming in Afghanistan through her encounters with two Afghan teenagers. Najeeb, a one-eyed boy, struggles to hide what really haunts him, while a bold teenage girl must decide how much she will risk to be visible. A U.S. Military surveillance blimp in the sky over Kabul tracks their every move.
Director: Judith Ehrlich
Open (U.S.) — The fight for free speech in the 21st century is being fought in cyberspace, and its most dramatic story may be unfolding in Iceland. Open follows trailblazing Internet revolutionary Birgitta Jónsdóttir and three generations of digital “hacktivists” as their stories converge in the tiny island nation now poised to become the world’s first haven for freedom of information and transparency online and off.
Director: Thomas Allen Harris
Through a Lens Darkly: Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People (U.S.) — A 90-minute documentary film with an innovative companion transmedia project that explores the ways black communities have used the medium of photography to construct political, aesthetic and cultural representations of themselves and their world. This will be the first film to vividly bring to life the individual photographers, photographic collectives, and anonymous and celebrated subjects, whose work has transformed the lives of African Americans through the magic and power of the camera lens.
Director: Mark Grieco
Marmato (Canada/Colombia) — A peaceful gold-mining town in rural Colombia confronts destruction by a Canadian multinational mining company.
Composers
Kathryn Bostic
Kathryn Bostic is a prolific composer, pianist and singer-songwriter. She is a recipient of several awards and fellowships including the Sundance Fellowship for Feature Film Scoring, Bmi Conducting Fellowship and the Ascap Musical Theatre Workshop. She has written for both off-Broadway and Broadway productions. Currently her score can be heard in the Mark Taper production of August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come and Gone.
Omar Fadel
Los Angeles-based composer Omar Fadel has carved out a niche fusing an eclectic palette of musical instruments and styles. He has scored numerous features films, documentaries and television shows, including Walt Disney Studios’ first ever Arabic language feature film, The United.
Miles Jay
Miles Jay is a composer, contrabassist, and multi-instrumentalist with many traditional and cross over artists around the world. Supporting himself as a musician around the Eastern Mediterranean and North Africa for much of the last decade, Miles has re-imagined the contrabass, adapting a wide range of melodic ornamentation to his own technique, as well as having invented and hand-built a new type of contrabass utilizing rawhide for a soundboard. Miles has performed in such venues as Carnegie Hall, the Emirates Palace Abu Dhabi, Ted, and the United Nations.
Todd Reynolds
Todd Reynolds is a long-time New York violinist for Bang on a Can, Steve Reich, Broadway, and founder of the string quartet known as Ethel. His double CD set, Outerborough, rose to "best in classical" on the Amazon classical charts of 2011. A classical violinist 'gone horribly wrong', his genre-defying and technologically savvy music and performances have been called "a charming, multi-mood extravaganza, playful like Milhaud, but hard-edged like Hendrix."
Artists and projects selected for the 2013 Sundance Music And Sound Design Lab – Feature Film (July 10-25) are:
Filmmakers
Writer/director: Miguel Calderón
Zeus (Mexico) — Sporadically employed and still living with his mother, Joel finds his only joy in falconry in the flatlands outside Mexico City, until an encounter with a down-to-earth secretary forces him to face reality.
Writer/director: Meredith Danluck
State Like Sleep (U.S.A.) — Under the surreal cloud cover of northern Europe, a young American widow reluctantly revisits her past when her mother is hospitalized in Brussels. While coping with the bleak reality of parental loss, Katherine explores her deceased husband's secret life of underground sex clubs and finds comfort in a relationship with a stranger as equally broken as she is.
Co-writer/co-director: Ian Hendrie
Co-writer/co-director: Jyson McLean
Mercy Road (U.S.A.) — Based on true events, Mercy Road traces the spiritual odyssey of a small town housewife and mother, as she becomes willing to commit violence and murder in the name of God.
Writer/director: K’naan
Maanokoobiyo (Somalia/U.S.A.) — In war-torn Somalia, an artistic orphan named Maano joins the mercenary killing squad of a notorious warlord, only to discover his adoptive father and gang leader is responsible for wiping out his family.
Writer/director: Pamela Romanowsky
The Adderall Diaries (U.S.A.) — Writer Stephen Elliott reaches a low point when his estranged father resurfaces, claiming that Stephen has fabricated much of the dark childhood that that fuels his work. Adrift in the precarious grey area of memory, Stephen has to navigate the unstable terrain of truth and identity, led by two sources of inspiration: a new romance, and a murder trial that reminds him more than a little of his own story. Based on the memoir by Stephen Elliott.
Co-writer/director: Eva Weber
Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name (UK/Germany/U.S.A.) — Twenty-eight-year-old Clarissa discovers on the day of her father's funeral that everything she believed about her life was a lie. She flees San Francisco and travels to the Arctic Circle to uncover the secrets of her mother, who mysteriously vanished when Clarissa was fourteen. Based on the novel by Vendela Vida.
Composers
Jongnic Bontemps
Jongnic Bontemps has had the pleasure to score numerous films, including award-winning Daughter of Fortune, A Different Tree, Soaring on Invisible Wings and Saudade. Jongnic's scores incorporate ethnic instruments with organic and synthetic textures to create a unique musical world for a film. This skill has been honed through his music education at Yale University, Berklee School of Music and the University of Southern California and his collaborations with some of the top film composers. Jongnic's scores have been heard at film festivals around the world including Cannes, The Pan African Film Festival, American Black Film Festival and Run & Shoot Martha's Vineyard
Larry Goldings
Larry Goldings is a Grammy-nominated pianist, organist, composer, and arranger, whose talents have been sought-after by an impressive range of artists including James Taylor, Norah Jones, John Mayer, Sia Furler, Madeleine Peyroux, Maceo Parker, Michael Brecker, and John Scofield.
Lucas Lechowski
Based in Los Angeles, Polish born Lucas Lechowski is a violinist/guitarist who creates music, experiments with sounds, improvises and performs. His recent film scoring credits include a 2013 Student Academy Award winner “Un mundo para Raúl” (dir. Mauro Mueller). Currently he is composing music for a two-hour NBC News television special commemorating the 50th anniversary of the death of President Kennedy, entitled "Where Were You?"
Heather McIntosh
Heather McIntosh is a cellist, bassist and composer who got her musical start playing with the Elephant 6 collective in Athens, Georgia and continued on to perform with artists such as Gnarls Barkley and Lil Wayne. Recently relocated to Los Angeles, her film credits include Compliance by Craig Zobel and The Rambler by Calvin Lee Reeder.
Vladimir Podgoretsky
Vladimir Podgoretsky started his professional career as a musical theater composer. His 2007 ballet Snow Maiden (Snegurochka) was a huge success and continues to be regularly performed in theaters throughout Moscow. Vladimir moved to the Us to become a film composer and after graduating from the UCLA film scoring program has been working with leading composers on films such as Rise of the Guardians, A Single Shot, The Eagle, Season Of the Witch and Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters. He has also worked on the acclaimed video game World of Warcraft and the ABC TV series Revenge.
Mac Quayle
A resident of Topanga Canyon, California, Mac Quayle has written music for over 20 films and television shows and accumulated a long list of credits as a music producer, dance remixer and multi-instrumentalist, including a Grammy nomination for producing Donna Summer. His music is heard in films such as the Indian documentary Beyond Grace and the Irish drama A Belfast Story and some of his collaborations as an additional composer appear in Drive, Spring Breakers and Only God Forgives.
The Sundance Institute Music and Sound Design Labs at Skywalker Sound are made possible by Bmi, Time Warner Foundation, and the Film Music Foundation.
Sundance Institute
Founded by Robert Redford in 1981, Sundance Institute is a global, nonprofit cultural organization dedicated to nurturing artistic expression in film and theater, and to supporting intercultural dialogue between artists and audiences. The Institute promotes independent storytelling to unite, inform and inspire, regardless of geo-political, social, religious or cultural differences. Internationally recognized for its annual Sundance Film Festival and its artistic development programs for directors, screenwriters, producers, film composers, playwrights and theatre artists, Sundance Institute has nurtured such projects as Born into Brothels, Trouble the Water, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Amreeka, An Inconvenient Truth, Spring Awakening, Light in the Piazza and Angels in America. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.
Skywalker Sound
Skywalker Sound, a division of Lucasfilm Ltd, is one of the largest, most versatile full-service audio post-production companies in the industry. Skywalker Sound offers comprehensive post-production services and utilizes the talents of Academy Award®-winning sound professionals working on sound design, editorial, Foley and re-recording mixes as a team. This provides filmmakers the most efficient model available for the audio post-production process. More information is available at www.skysound.com.
Lucasfilm Ltd. is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. Skywalker Sound, the Skywalker Sound logo, Star Wars and related properties are trademarks in the United States and/or in other countries of Lucasfilm Ltd. and/or its affiliates. © 2013 Lucasfilm Entertainment Company Ltd. or Lucasfilm Ltd. All rights reserved.
- 6/6/2013
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
In the New Yorker this week, journalist Jane Mayer asks if San Francisco-based Itvs was cowed by pressure from a former PBS board member, the incredibly wealthy philanthropist David Koch. The story Mayer tells starts with last fall's airing of Alex Gibney's film "Park Avenue: Money, Power & The American Dream," which implicates many of the so-called 1% who buy political influence. Much of Gibney's film centers on the inhabitants of 740 Park Avenue, including one of the country's richest businesspeople, Koch. Koch has recently gained notoriety for funding many of the super Pac's that have been greatly affecting American politics in recent years. He is also a primary focus in Sundance 2013 film, "Citizen Koch," from "Trouble the Water" filmmakers Tia Lessin and Carl Deal. That film, it turns out, had a deal to receive funding from Itvs, the San Francisco-based funder whose work often end up on PBS. After the screening...
- 5/20/2013
- by Bryce J. Renninger
- Indiewire
Next Weekend, Presented by Sundance Institute will take place Aug. 8-11, 2013 at Sundance Sunset Cinema and additional venues throughout Los Angeles. The event is an extension of the popular Next <=> section at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, which showcases stylistically adventurous films that take a bold approach to storytelling.
Next Weekend will present four days of screenings, parties and artist programs that celebrate the renegade spirit of independent filmmaking. Over one summer weekend film fans will have the chance to choose from eight yet-to-be-released feature films. There will also be a panel discussion deconstructing how these films get made, a shorts program and the annual ShortsLab: Los Angles, a half-day short filmmaking workshop. Next Weekend will include films that have been featured in the Festival’s Next <=> section, as well as new films and films that have premiered elsewhere. Filmmakers, cast and crew will be invited to discuss their work and the creative inspiration driving it.
Next Weekend will kick off with an outdoor screening Aug. 8 at Cinespia at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. The weekend-long festival will be headquartered at Sundance Sunset Cinema in West Hollywood Aug. 9-11. On closing night, Aug. 11, the festival will expand to venues across Los Angeles including the American Cinematheque at the Aero Theatre, Cinefamily, Moca, and the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television at the Billy Wilder Theater at the Hammer Museum.
Robert Redford, President & Founder of Sundance Institute, said, “The best part of independent filmmaking is the freedom to tell your stories your own way, to take risks and not be beholden to convention of any kind. At the core of Next Weekend are artists that are taking risks and pushing boundaries. As such, it’s fitting that Sundance Cinemas will be the home for this festival and these films.”
Keri Putnam, Executive Director of Sundance Institute, said, “The Next <=> section at our Festival in Utah, built under the leadership of Festival Director John Cooper and Director of Programming Trevor Groth, showcases films that marry form and content in a way that pushes boundaries and offers fresh perspectives on storytelling. We look forward to celebrating the energy of this work and these artists and to sharing it with a larger community in collaboration with like-minded cultural institutions.”
Films that have premiered in the Next <=> section at the Festival, launched in 2010, include Bellflower (Director and screenwriter: Evan Glodell), Compliance (Director and screenwriter: Craig Zobel), Sleepwalk With Me (Director: Mike Birbiglia, Screenwriters: Mike Birbiglia, Ira Glass, Joe Birbiglia, Seth Barrish) and sound of my voice (Director: Zal Batmanglij; Screenwriters: Zal Batmanglij and Brit Marling).
For more information about Next Weekend visit www.sundance.org/next. Programming announcements will be made this summer, and tickets will go on sale at that time. Sundance Institute members will have priority access to tickets and events; to join, visit www.sundance.org/membership.
Sundance Institute
Founded by Robert Redford in 1981, Sundance Institute is a global, nonprofit cultural organization dedicated to nurturing artistic expression in film and theater, and to supporting intercultural dialogue between artists and audiences. The Institute promotes independent storytelling to unite, inform and inspire, regardless of geo-political, social, religious or cultural differences. Internationally recognized for its annual Sundance Film Festival and its artistic development programs for directors, screenwriters, producers, film composers, playwrights and theatre artists, Sundance Institute has nurtured such projects as Born into Brothels, Trouble the Water, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Amreeka, An Inconvenient Truth, Spring Awakening, Light in the Piazza and Angels in America.
Next Weekend will present four days of screenings, parties and artist programs that celebrate the renegade spirit of independent filmmaking. Over one summer weekend film fans will have the chance to choose from eight yet-to-be-released feature films. There will also be a panel discussion deconstructing how these films get made, a shorts program and the annual ShortsLab: Los Angles, a half-day short filmmaking workshop. Next Weekend will include films that have been featured in the Festival’s Next <=> section, as well as new films and films that have premiered elsewhere. Filmmakers, cast and crew will be invited to discuss their work and the creative inspiration driving it.
Next Weekend will kick off with an outdoor screening Aug. 8 at Cinespia at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. The weekend-long festival will be headquartered at Sundance Sunset Cinema in West Hollywood Aug. 9-11. On closing night, Aug. 11, the festival will expand to venues across Los Angeles including the American Cinematheque at the Aero Theatre, Cinefamily, Moca, and the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television at the Billy Wilder Theater at the Hammer Museum.
Robert Redford, President & Founder of Sundance Institute, said, “The best part of independent filmmaking is the freedom to tell your stories your own way, to take risks and not be beholden to convention of any kind. At the core of Next Weekend are artists that are taking risks and pushing boundaries. As such, it’s fitting that Sundance Cinemas will be the home for this festival and these films.”
Keri Putnam, Executive Director of Sundance Institute, said, “The Next <=> section at our Festival in Utah, built under the leadership of Festival Director John Cooper and Director of Programming Trevor Groth, showcases films that marry form and content in a way that pushes boundaries and offers fresh perspectives on storytelling. We look forward to celebrating the energy of this work and these artists and to sharing it with a larger community in collaboration with like-minded cultural institutions.”
Films that have premiered in the Next <=> section at the Festival, launched in 2010, include Bellflower (Director and screenwriter: Evan Glodell), Compliance (Director and screenwriter: Craig Zobel), Sleepwalk With Me (Director: Mike Birbiglia, Screenwriters: Mike Birbiglia, Ira Glass, Joe Birbiglia, Seth Barrish) and sound of my voice (Director: Zal Batmanglij; Screenwriters: Zal Batmanglij and Brit Marling).
For more information about Next Weekend visit www.sundance.org/next. Programming announcements will be made this summer, and tickets will go on sale at that time. Sundance Institute members will have priority access to tickets and events; to join, visit www.sundance.org/membership.
Sundance Institute
Founded by Robert Redford in 1981, Sundance Institute is a global, nonprofit cultural organization dedicated to nurturing artistic expression in film and theater, and to supporting intercultural dialogue between artists and audiences. The Institute promotes independent storytelling to unite, inform and inspire, regardless of geo-political, social, religious or cultural differences. Internationally recognized for its annual Sundance Film Festival and its artistic development programs for directors, screenwriters, producers, film composers, playwrights and theatre artists, Sundance Institute has nurtured such projects as Born into Brothels, Trouble the Water, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Amreeka, An Inconvenient Truth, Spring Awakening, Light in the Piazza and Angels in America.
- 3/19/2013
- by Peter Belsito
- Sydney's Buzz
Members of the Sloan Jury at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, chosen by the Sundance Institute and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, also participated in the Science in Film Forum Panel at the Festival. The members of the 2013 Sloan Jury were: Paula Apsell (Senior Executive Producer, Nova and Nova ScienceNow, Director, Wgbh Science Unit), Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan, The Fountain, Pi), Scott Burns (writer, Contagion, Pu-239, The Informant and producer, An Inconvenient Truth), Dr. André Fenton (Professor of Neural Science at the Center for Neural Science at New York University), Dr. Lisa Randall (Frank B. Baird, Jr., Professor of Science, Harvard University, author of Knocking on Heaven’s Door: How Physics and Scientific Thinking Illuminate the Universe and the Modern World).
2013 marks the 10th Anniversary of the Alfred P. Sloan Science in Film initiative, a collaboration between Sundance Institute and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to support the development and presentation of film projects that explore science and technology ideas, or depict scientists, engineers, and mathematicians in engaging new ways. Activities include the Science in Film Forum, the Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship, the Sloan Commissioning Grant, and the Sloan Feature Film Prize at the Sundance Film Festival.
Keri Putnam, Executive Director of Sundance Institute, said, “Scientists, engineers, mathematicians are – like filmmakers - some of the most imaginative and adventurous thinkers of our time, and the Alfred P. Sloan Science in Film initiative has fostered awareness of and engagement with these fascinating themes in independent film for the last 10 years.”
"We are thrilled to celebrate our tenth anniversary with Sundance, which has been such a great partner in our nationwide effort to encourage filmmakers to engage with science and technology themes and characters,” said Doron Weber, Vice President, Programs at the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. “Anyone who looks at the incredible list of winning films, from Shane Carruth's Primer and Werner Herzog’s Grizzly Man to Jake Scheirer’sRobot and Frank and Musa Syeed's Valley of Saints—or at the amazing screenplays that have been developed through the Sloan Fellowship at Sundance Institute Labs and the Sloan Commissioning Grant—will see that science and technology can reveal the human condition in ways previously unseen and undreamt of."
For more information about the Science in Film initiative, along with updated content, a complete list of supported filmmakers, trailers for completed films, and an interview with Jake Schreier (director, Robot and Frank, 2012 Sloan Prize Winner), visit www.sundance.org/science-in-film.
Feature Film Prize Jury
The Sloan Jury determines the recipient of the Sloan Feature Film Prize at the Sundance Film Festival which is presented to an outstanding Festival feature film focusing on science or technology as a theme, or depicting a scientist, engineer or mathematician as a major character. The Prize includes a $20,000 cash award by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.
Previous Alfred P. Sloan Prize Winners include: Jake Schreier and Christopher Ford, Robot & Frank, and Musa Syeed, Valley of Saints (2012); Mike Cahill and Brit Marling, Another Earth (2011); Diane Bell, Obselidia(2010); Max Mayer, Adam (2009); Alex Rivera, Sleep Dealer (2008); Shi-Zheng Chen, Dark Matter (2007); Andrucha Waddington, The House of Sand (2006); Werner Herzog, Grizzly Man (2005), Shane Carruth, Primer(2004) and Marc Decena, Dopamine (2003). Several past winners have also been awarded Jury Awards at the Festival, including the Grand Jury Prize for Primer, the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award for Sleep Dealer and the Excellence in Cinematography Award for Obselidia.
Science in Film Forum Panel
The Science in Film Forum Panel takes place at Sundance Film Festival on January 22 at 2:30 p.m. Mt at the Egyptian Theatre in Park City. Sloan Jurors Aronofsky, Burns, Dr. Fenton and Dr. Randall will engage in conversation with moderator Paula Apsell.
Juror and Panelist Bios
Paula Apsell
As Director of the Wgbh Science Unit and Senior Executive Producer of the PBS science series Nova, Paula Apsell has overseen the production of hundreds of acclaimed science documentaries, including such distinguished miniseries as The Fabric of the Cosmos with Brian Greene, Origins with Neil deGrasse Tyson, Making Stuff with David Pogue and the magazine spin-off Nova scienceNOW. Nova is the nation’s most watched science series, a top site on pbs.org, and recipient of every major broadcasting honor, including the Emmy®, the Peabody®, and the duPont-Columbia Gold Baton. Paula has won numerous individual awards and has served on many boards including the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. She was recently journalist in residence at Uc Santa Barbara’s Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics.
Darren Aronofsky
Academy Award® Nominated Director Darren Aronofsky was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. His most recent film, Black Swan, won Natalie Portman the Academy Award® for Best Actress and received four other nominations, including Best Picture. The film received scores of other accolades, appeared on over 200 critical Top Ten lists, and swept the 2011 Independent Spirit Award with wins for Best Film, Best Director, Best Actress and Best Cinematography. Prior to Black Swan, Darren directed The Wrestler. The film premiered at the Venice Film Festival where it won the esteemed Golden Lion making it only the third American film in history to win this grand prize. He also directed The Fountain, starring Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz, and Requiem for a Dream, which was named to over 150 Top Ten lists. Darren’s first feature, π, won the Director’s Award at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival and an Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay. He is currently at work on Noah, based on the biblical story of Noah’s ark. Among his honors, the American Film Institute gave Darren the prestigious Franklin J. Schaffner Alumni Medal, the Stockholm Film Festival presented him the Golden Horse Visionary Award, and he has won three Independent Spirit Awards.
Scott Z. Burns
Scott Burns is screenwriter, director and producer. He wrote the original screenplay for Contagion, directed by Steven Soderbergh, starring Matt Damon, penned the screen adaptation of Soderbergh's The Informant! and co-wrote the Academy Award® winning Bourne Ultimatum, directed by Paul Greengrass. He was a producer on An Inconvenient Truth, the Academy Award® winning documentary, for which he received the Humanitas Prize and the Stanley Kramer Award from the Producers Guild of America. Scott recently completed production on Side Effects, a psychological thriller, slated for release in early 2013. It stars Jude Law, Rooney Mara, Catherine Zeta Jones and Channing Tatum and is again directed by Steven Soderbergh with Scott writing and producing along with Greg Jacobs and Lorenzo Di Bonaventura. Currently, Scott is writing The Library, a stage play based on the 1999 shootings at Columbine High School with Steven Soderbergh directing and Kennedy/Marshall producing. The play is under development at the Public Theater in New York City. Scott began his career in advertising and was part of the creative team responsible for the original "Got Milk?" campaign. His advertising work has been recognized by the Clio Awards, the Cannes Film Festival, and the New York Film Festival.
Dr. André Fenton
Dr. André Fenton, is a neuroscientist, biomedical engineer and entrepreneur working on three related problems: how brains store information in memory; how brains coordinate knowledge to selectively activate relevant information and suppress irrelevant information; and how to record electrical activity from brain cells in freely-moving subjects. André and colleagues identified PKMzeta as the first memory storage molecule, a discovery identified by Science, the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s journal, as one of the ten most important breakthroughs in all the science reported in 2006. Recordings of electrical brain activity in André’s lab are elucidating the physiology of cognitive dysfunction in schizophrenia. It was recently discovered that preemptive cognitive training during adolescence changes the brain sufficiently to prevent the adult brain dysfunction and cognitive impairments that arises from brain damage during early life in a schizophrenia-related animal model. André is a Professor of Neural Science at New York University’s Center for Neural Science. He founded Bio-Signal Group Corp., which is developing an inexpensive, miniature wireless Eeg system for functional brain monitoring of patients in emergency medicine applications and other clinical scenarios.
Dr. Lisa Randall
Dr. Lisa Randall studies theoretical particle physics and cosmology at Harvard University where she is Frank J. Baird, Jr., Professor of Science. Her research connects theoretical insights addressing puzzles in our current understanding of the properties of matter, the universe, and space. Dr. Randall is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and is the recipient of many awards and honorary degrees. Professor Randall was included in Time Magazine's “100 Most Influential People” of 2007, was among Esquire Magazine's “75 Most Influential People of the 21st Century," and was one of 40 people featured in “The Rolling Stone 40th Anniversary issue" in 2008. Dr. Randall's two books, Warped Passages (2005) and Knocking on Heaven’s Door (2011) were featured on the lists of New York Times 100 Most Influential Books. Her ebook, Higgs Discovery: The Power of Empty Space, was published last summer.
Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
Founded in 1934, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation is a non-profit philanthropy that makes grants in science, technology and economic performance. This Sloan-Sundance partnership forms part of a broader national program by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to stimulate leading artists in film, television, and theater; to create more realistic and compelling stories about science and technology; and to challenge existing stereotypes about scientists, engineers, and mathematicians in the popular imagination. Over the past decade, the Foundation has partnered with some of the top film schools in the country – including AFI, Carnegie Mellon, Columbia, Nyu, UCLA, and USC – and established annual awards in screenwriting and film production and an annual first-feature award for alumni. The Foundation has also started an annual Sloan Feature Film Prize at the Hamptons International Film Festival and initiated new screenwriting and film production workshops at the Hamptons and Tribeca Film Festival and with Film Independent. As more finished films emerge from this developmental pipeline—four features were completed this year, with half a dozen more on deck—the foundation has also partnered with the Coolidge Corner Theater and the Arthouse Convergence to screen science films in up to 40 theaters nationwide. The Foundation also has an active theater program and commissions over a dozen science plays each year from the Ensemble Studio Theater, Manhattan Theatre Club and Playwright Horizons.
The Sundance Film Festival®
A program of the non-profit Sundance Institute®, the Festival has introduced global audiences to some of the most ground-breaking films of the past two decades, including sex, lies, and videotape, Maria Full of Grace, The Cove, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, An Inconvenient Truth, Precious, Trouble the Water, and Napoleon Dynamite, and through its New Frontier initiative, has showcased the cinematic works of media artists including Isaac Julien, Doug Aitken, Pierre Huyghe, Jennifer Steinkamp, and Matthew Barney. The 2013 Sundance Film Festival® sponsors include: Presenting Sponsors – Hp, Acura, Sundance Channel and Chase Sapphire PreferredSM; Leadership Sponsors – Directv, Entertainment Weekly, Focus Forward, a partnership between Ge and Cinelan, Southwest Airlines, Sprint and YouTube; Sustaining Sponsors – Adobe, Canada Goose, Canon U.S.A., Inc., CÎRoc Ultra Premium Vodka, FilterForGood®, a partnership between Brita® and Nalgene®, Hilton HHonors and Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts, Intel Corporation, L'Oréal Paris, Recycled Paper Greetings, Stella Artois® and Time Warner Inc. Sundance Institute recognizes critical support from the Utah Governor's Office of Economic Development, and the State of Utah as Festival Host State. The support of these organizations will defray costs associated with the 10-day Festival and the nonprofit Sundance Institute's year-round programs for independent film and theatre artists. www.sundance.org/festival.
Sundance Institute
Founded by Robert Redford in 1981, Sundance Institute is a global, nonprofit cultural organization dedicated to nurturing artistic expression in film and theater, and to supporting intercultural dialogue between artists and audiences. The Institute promotes independent storytelling to unite, inform and inspire, regardless of geo-political, social, religious or cultural differences. Internationally recognized for its annual Sundance Film Festival and its artistic development programs for directors, screenwriters, producers, film composers, playwrights and theatre artists, Sundance Institute has nurtured such projects as Born into Brothels, Trouble the Water, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Amreeka, An Inconvenient Truth, Spring Awakening, Light in the Piazza and Angels in America. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
2013 marks the 10th Anniversary of the Alfred P. Sloan Science in Film initiative, a collaboration between Sundance Institute and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to support the development and presentation of film projects that explore science and technology ideas, or depict scientists, engineers, and mathematicians in engaging new ways. Activities include the Science in Film Forum, the Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship, the Sloan Commissioning Grant, and the Sloan Feature Film Prize at the Sundance Film Festival.
Keri Putnam, Executive Director of Sundance Institute, said, “Scientists, engineers, mathematicians are – like filmmakers - some of the most imaginative and adventurous thinkers of our time, and the Alfred P. Sloan Science in Film initiative has fostered awareness of and engagement with these fascinating themes in independent film for the last 10 years.”
"We are thrilled to celebrate our tenth anniversary with Sundance, which has been such a great partner in our nationwide effort to encourage filmmakers to engage with science and technology themes and characters,” said Doron Weber, Vice President, Programs at the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. “Anyone who looks at the incredible list of winning films, from Shane Carruth's Primer and Werner Herzog’s Grizzly Man to Jake Scheirer’sRobot and Frank and Musa Syeed's Valley of Saints—or at the amazing screenplays that have been developed through the Sloan Fellowship at Sundance Institute Labs and the Sloan Commissioning Grant—will see that science and technology can reveal the human condition in ways previously unseen and undreamt of."
For more information about the Science in Film initiative, along with updated content, a complete list of supported filmmakers, trailers for completed films, and an interview with Jake Schreier (director, Robot and Frank, 2012 Sloan Prize Winner), visit www.sundance.org/science-in-film.
Feature Film Prize Jury
The Sloan Jury determines the recipient of the Sloan Feature Film Prize at the Sundance Film Festival which is presented to an outstanding Festival feature film focusing on science or technology as a theme, or depicting a scientist, engineer or mathematician as a major character. The Prize includes a $20,000 cash award by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.
Previous Alfred P. Sloan Prize Winners include: Jake Schreier and Christopher Ford, Robot & Frank, and Musa Syeed, Valley of Saints (2012); Mike Cahill and Brit Marling, Another Earth (2011); Diane Bell, Obselidia(2010); Max Mayer, Adam (2009); Alex Rivera, Sleep Dealer (2008); Shi-Zheng Chen, Dark Matter (2007); Andrucha Waddington, The House of Sand (2006); Werner Herzog, Grizzly Man (2005), Shane Carruth, Primer(2004) and Marc Decena, Dopamine (2003). Several past winners have also been awarded Jury Awards at the Festival, including the Grand Jury Prize for Primer, the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award for Sleep Dealer and the Excellence in Cinematography Award for Obselidia.
Science in Film Forum Panel
The Science in Film Forum Panel takes place at Sundance Film Festival on January 22 at 2:30 p.m. Mt at the Egyptian Theatre in Park City. Sloan Jurors Aronofsky, Burns, Dr. Fenton and Dr. Randall will engage in conversation with moderator Paula Apsell.
Juror and Panelist Bios
Paula Apsell
As Director of the Wgbh Science Unit and Senior Executive Producer of the PBS science series Nova, Paula Apsell has overseen the production of hundreds of acclaimed science documentaries, including such distinguished miniseries as The Fabric of the Cosmos with Brian Greene, Origins with Neil deGrasse Tyson, Making Stuff with David Pogue and the magazine spin-off Nova scienceNOW. Nova is the nation’s most watched science series, a top site on pbs.org, and recipient of every major broadcasting honor, including the Emmy®, the Peabody®, and the duPont-Columbia Gold Baton. Paula has won numerous individual awards and has served on many boards including the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. She was recently journalist in residence at Uc Santa Barbara’s Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics.
Darren Aronofsky
Academy Award® Nominated Director Darren Aronofsky was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. His most recent film, Black Swan, won Natalie Portman the Academy Award® for Best Actress and received four other nominations, including Best Picture. The film received scores of other accolades, appeared on over 200 critical Top Ten lists, and swept the 2011 Independent Spirit Award with wins for Best Film, Best Director, Best Actress and Best Cinematography. Prior to Black Swan, Darren directed The Wrestler. The film premiered at the Venice Film Festival where it won the esteemed Golden Lion making it only the third American film in history to win this grand prize. He also directed The Fountain, starring Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz, and Requiem for a Dream, which was named to over 150 Top Ten lists. Darren’s first feature, π, won the Director’s Award at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival and an Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay. He is currently at work on Noah, based on the biblical story of Noah’s ark. Among his honors, the American Film Institute gave Darren the prestigious Franklin J. Schaffner Alumni Medal, the Stockholm Film Festival presented him the Golden Horse Visionary Award, and he has won three Independent Spirit Awards.
Scott Z. Burns
Scott Burns is screenwriter, director and producer. He wrote the original screenplay for Contagion, directed by Steven Soderbergh, starring Matt Damon, penned the screen adaptation of Soderbergh's The Informant! and co-wrote the Academy Award® winning Bourne Ultimatum, directed by Paul Greengrass. He was a producer on An Inconvenient Truth, the Academy Award® winning documentary, for which he received the Humanitas Prize and the Stanley Kramer Award from the Producers Guild of America. Scott recently completed production on Side Effects, a psychological thriller, slated for release in early 2013. It stars Jude Law, Rooney Mara, Catherine Zeta Jones and Channing Tatum and is again directed by Steven Soderbergh with Scott writing and producing along with Greg Jacobs and Lorenzo Di Bonaventura. Currently, Scott is writing The Library, a stage play based on the 1999 shootings at Columbine High School with Steven Soderbergh directing and Kennedy/Marshall producing. The play is under development at the Public Theater in New York City. Scott began his career in advertising and was part of the creative team responsible for the original "Got Milk?" campaign. His advertising work has been recognized by the Clio Awards, the Cannes Film Festival, and the New York Film Festival.
Dr. André Fenton
Dr. André Fenton, is a neuroscientist, biomedical engineer and entrepreneur working on three related problems: how brains store information in memory; how brains coordinate knowledge to selectively activate relevant information and suppress irrelevant information; and how to record electrical activity from brain cells in freely-moving subjects. André and colleagues identified PKMzeta as the first memory storage molecule, a discovery identified by Science, the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s journal, as one of the ten most important breakthroughs in all the science reported in 2006. Recordings of electrical brain activity in André’s lab are elucidating the physiology of cognitive dysfunction in schizophrenia. It was recently discovered that preemptive cognitive training during adolescence changes the brain sufficiently to prevent the adult brain dysfunction and cognitive impairments that arises from brain damage during early life in a schizophrenia-related animal model. André is a Professor of Neural Science at New York University’s Center for Neural Science. He founded Bio-Signal Group Corp., which is developing an inexpensive, miniature wireless Eeg system for functional brain monitoring of patients in emergency medicine applications and other clinical scenarios.
Dr. Lisa Randall
Dr. Lisa Randall studies theoretical particle physics and cosmology at Harvard University where she is Frank J. Baird, Jr., Professor of Science. Her research connects theoretical insights addressing puzzles in our current understanding of the properties of matter, the universe, and space. Dr. Randall is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and is the recipient of many awards and honorary degrees. Professor Randall was included in Time Magazine's “100 Most Influential People” of 2007, was among Esquire Magazine's “75 Most Influential People of the 21st Century," and was one of 40 people featured in “The Rolling Stone 40th Anniversary issue" in 2008. Dr. Randall's two books, Warped Passages (2005) and Knocking on Heaven’s Door (2011) were featured on the lists of New York Times 100 Most Influential Books. Her ebook, Higgs Discovery: The Power of Empty Space, was published last summer.
Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
Founded in 1934, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation is a non-profit philanthropy that makes grants in science, technology and economic performance. This Sloan-Sundance partnership forms part of a broader national program by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to stimulate leading artists in film, television, and theater; to create more realistic and compelling stories about science and technology; and to challenge existing stereotypes about scientists, engineers, and mathematicians in the popular imagination. Over the past decade, the Foundation has partnered with some of the top film schools in the country – including AFI, Carnegie Mellon, Columbia, Nyu, UCLA, and USC – and established annual awards in screenwriting and film production and an annual first-feature award for alumni. The Foundation has also started an annual Sloan Feature Film Prize at the Hamptons International Film Festival and initiated new screenwriting and film production workshops at the Hamptons and Tribeca Film Festival and with Film Independent. As more finished films emerge from this developmental pipeline—four features were completed this year, with half a dozen more on deck—the foundation has also partnered with the Coolidge Corner Theater and the Arthouse Convergence to screen science films in up to 40 theaters nationwide. The Foundation also has an active theater program and commissions over a dozen science plays each year from the Ensemble Studio Theater, Manhattan Theatre Club and Playwright Horizons.
The Sundance Film Festival®
A program of the non-profit Sundance Institute®, the Festival has introduced global audiences to some of the most ground-breaking films of the past two decades, including sex, lies, and videotape, Maria Full of Grace, The Cove, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, An Inconvenient Truth, Precious, Trouble the Water, and Napoleon Dynamite, and through its New Frontier initiative, has showcased the cinematic works of media artists including Isaac Julien, Doug Aitken, Pierre Huyghe, Jennifer Steinkamp, and Matthew Barney. The 2013 Sundance Film Festival® sponsors include: Presenting Sponsors – Hp, Acura, Sundance Channel and Chase Sapphire PreferredSM; Leadership Sponsors – Directv, Entertainment Weekly, Focus Forward, a partnership between Ge and Cinelan, Southwest Airlines, Sprint and YouTube; Sustaining Sponsors – Adobe, Canada Goose, Canon U.S.A., Inc., CÎRoc Ultra Premium Vodka, FilterForGood®, a partnership between Brita® and Nalgene®, Hilton HHonors and Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts, Intel Corporation, L'Oréal Paris, Recycled Paper Greetings, Stella Artois® and Time Warner Inc. Sundance Institute recognizes critical support from the Utah Governor's Office of Economic Development, and the State of Utah as Festival Host State. The support of these organizations will defray costs associated with the 10-day Festival and the nonprofit Sundance Institute's year-round programs for independent film and theatre artists. www.sundance.org/festival.
Sundance Institute
Founded by Robert Redford in 1981, Sundance Institute is a global, nonprofit cultural organization dedicated to nurturing artistic expression in film and theater, and to supporting intercultural dialogue between artists and audiences. The Institute promotes independent storytelling to unite, inform and inspire, regardless of geo-political, social, religious or cultural differences. Internationally recognized for its annual Sundance Film Festival and its artistic development programs for directors, screenwriters, producers, film composers, playwrights and theatre artists, Sundance Institute has nurtured such projects as Born into Brothels, Trouble the Water, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Amreeka, An Inconvenient Truth, Spring Awakening, Light in the Piazza and Angels in America. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
- 2/2/2013
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Sundance Institute's Artist Services program provides Institute artists with exclusive opportunities for creative self-distribution, marketing and financing solutions for their work. Keri Putnam, Executive Director of Sundance Institute stated, "Now more than ever filmmakers need to be creative and entrepreneurial in order to get their stories to audiences. Sundance Institute embraces cross-organizational collaboration in an effort to increase the collective impact on the field; it is in this spirit that we welcome the input of our colleagues to further help us shape the Artist Services program," said Putnam. ”Our hope is that it contributes to the long-term sustainability of independent film careers and a greater diversity of films reaching audiences each year."
Cinereach, the innovative film and digital projector financier covered in my previous blog which owns NewVideo is The exclusive aggregation partner for distribution participating in the Artist Services program. It is one of the partners of Artist Services, along with other Artist Services partners which now include the digital retailers iTunes, Amazon, hulu, Netflix, SundanceNow, Topspin Media, GoWatchIt, Video Unlimited/ Sony Entertainment Network, vudu, xBoxLive, Tugg, Reelhouse. Other partners include Kickstarter, Tugg, a web-platform that allows filmmakers and fans to create screening events at their local theater, and direct-to-fan platforms Snagfilms for docs which coincidently owns Indiewire, YouTube, Reelhouse, Vhx and Vimeo. All these services will work with Sundance Institute and its interested supported filmmakers to develop opportunities to sell their films and merchandise directly to end users. Sundance Institute is constantly expanding its suite of digital platforms and tools offered by Artist Services.
Since the Artist Services program launched in January 2011, more than $3.2 million has been raised for nearly 100 Institute artists’ projects via Kickstarter and more than 40 films are now accessible by the public on a variety of platforms and storefronts.
The Artist Services initiative is made possible by The Bertha Foundation. These deals were brokered via pro bono legal services generously provided by law firm O’Melveny & Myers Llp, which has built the legal framework for the Artist Services program and participating filmmakers since its inception.
Sundance Institute 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 Born into Brothels, Trouble the Water, Son of Babylon, Amreeka, An Inconvenient Truth, Spring Awakening, I Am My Own Wife, Light in the Piazza and Angels in America. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
Cinereach, the innovative film and digital projector financier covered in my previous blog which owns NewVideo is The exclusive aggregation partner for distribution participating in the Artist Services program. It is one of the partners of Artist Services, along with other Artist Services partners which now include the digital retailers iTunes, Amazon, hulu, Netflix, SundanceNow, Topspin Media, GoWatchIt, Video Unlimited/ Sony Entertainment Network, vudu, xBoxLive, Tugg, Reelhouse. Other partners include Kickstarter, Tugg, a web-platform that allows filmmakers and fans to create screening events at their local theater, and direct-to-fan platforms Snagfilms for docs which coincidently owns Indiewire, YouTube, Reelhouse, Vhx and Vimeo. All these services will work with Sundance Institute and its interested supported filmmakers to develop opportunities to sell their films and merchandise directly to end users. Sundance Institute is constantly expanding its suite of digital platforms and tools offered by Artist Services.
Since the Artist Services program launched in January 2011, more than $3.2 million has been raised for nearly 100 Institute artists’ projects via Kickstarter and more than 40 films are now accessible by the public on a variety of platforms and storefronts.
The Artist Services initiative is made possible by The Bertha Foundation. These deals were brokered via pro bono legal services generously provided by law firm O’Melveny & Myers Llp, which has built the legal framework for the Artist Services program and participating filmmakers since its inception.
Sundance Institute 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 Born into Brothels, Trouble the Water, Son of Babylon, Amreeka, An Inconvenient Truth, Spring Awakening, I Am My Own Wife, Light in the Piazza and Angels in America. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
- 1/25/2013
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
By Joey Magidson
Film Contributor
***
Greetings from Park City, everyone! As I’m writing this piece, I’m in Utah attending the Sundance Film Festival. So far, it has been pretty cool (if a bit overwhelming at times), especially for a first-timer like myself. Being here inspired me to try and tie in the festival to the Oscars, as I’m prone to do with just about everything that I can. I’ve found that I’m on the lookout for what could move from this year’s festival lineup to the next awards season.
When I wrote about which film festivals influence the Oscar race a few weeks ago (found here), I mentioned how Sundance wasn’t the prime destination for awards hopefuls but still functioned as an essential launching pad. That was certainly true this year, and it will remain the case going forward.
It takes a certain...
Film Contributor
***
Greetings from Park City, everyone! As I’m writing this piece, I’m in Utah attending the Sundance Film Festival. So far, it has been pretty cool (if a bit overwhelming at times), especially for a first-timer like myself. Being here inspired me to try and tie in the festival to the Oscars, as I’m prone to do with just about everything that I can. I’ve found that I’m on the lookout for what could move from this year’s festival lineup to the next awards season.
When I wrote about which film festivals influence the Oscar race a few weeks ago (found here), I mentioned how Sundance wasn’t the prime destination for awards hopefuls but still functioned as an essential launching pad. That was certainly true this year, and it will remain the case going forward.
It takes a certain...
- 1/20/2013
- by Joey Magidson
- Scott Feinberg
Check out these twelve short films which at set to premiere at the Sundance 2013 Film Festival in the coming weeks. But if you, like us, aren’t heading out to Park City, you can watch this selection of shorts in full (and legally) thanks to YouTube. Thanks to Blogomatic3000 reader Lord Bronco for the heads up!
Supported by the nonprofit Sundance Institute, the Sundance Festival has introduced global audiences to some of the most ground-breaking films of the past two decades, including sex, lies, and videotape, Maria Full of Grace, The Cove, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, An Inconvenient Truth, Precious, Trouble the Water and Napoleon Dynamite and, through its New Frontier initiative, has brought the cinematic works of media artists including Isaac Julian, Doug Aitken, Pierre Huyghe, Jennifer Steinkamp and Matthew Barney.
Black Metal
Broken Night
Catnip: Egress to Oblivion
Irish Folk Furniture
Marcel, King of Tervuren
Movies Made...
Supported by the nonprofit Sundance Institute, the Sundance Festival has introduced global audiences to some of the most ground-breaking films of the past two decades, including sex, lies, and videotape, Maria Full of Grace, The Cove, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, An Inconvenient Truth, Precious, Trouble the Water and Napoleon Dynamite and, through its New Frontier initiative, has brought the cinematic works of media artists including Isaac Julian, Doug Aitken, Pierre Huyghe, Jennifer Steinkamp and Matthew Barney.
Black Metal
Broken Night
Catnip: Egress to Oblivion
Irish Folk Furniture
Marcel, King of Tervuren
Movies Made...
- 1/19/2013
- by Phil
- Nerdly
The Sundance Institute has 13 independent films available through a variety of platforms to rent, download or stream via the Institute’s Artist Services program. Titles include 2012 Sundance Film Festival films Detropia, I Am Not a Hipster, The Atomic States of America, and We’re Not Broke. For full details on where to access these films, please visit sundance.org/nowplaying. (The complete list of new titles available follows below.)
“With the proliferation of new digital outlets these days, Sundance Institute saw a real need to help filmmakers and producers easily access these platforms and to provide information on how best to navigate and take advantage of independent distribution,” said Keri Putnam, Executive Director, Sundance Institute. “ It's exciting to see these filmmakers charting their own path towards finding audiences.”
In addition, to making it easier for audiences to find Sundance Institute and Film Festival films all year long, this year’s online film guide and mobile app for the 2013 Sundance Film Festival includes a new feature from GoWatchIt.com which creates a universal ‘queue’ so fans can be notified as soon as films they are interested in become available in the marketplace. Sundance Institute has also installed GoWatchIt on the Now Playing page (www.sundance.org/nowplaying) for the titles accessing distribution through its Artist Services.
Look for the Artist Services films on iTunes, Amazon Instant Video, Hulu, Microsoft Xbox, Netflix, SnagFilms, Sony Entertainment Network, SundanceNOW, Vudu and YouTube. Special bonus video content from the Institute’s archives is available for select titles. The Artist Services program provides Institute artists with exclusive opportunities for creative self-distribution, marketing and financing solutions for their work. New Video, a Cinedigm company, is the exclusive aggregation partner for distribution across all portals in the program. The Artist Services initiative is made possible by The Bertha Foundation. These deals were brokered via pro bono legal services generously provided by law firm O’Melveny & Myers, which has built the legal framework for the Artist Services program and participating filmmakers since its inception.
Titles That Are Available:
The American Astronaut (Director and Screenwriter: Cory McAbee) — Sundance Institute Screenwriter’s Lab Fellow Cory McAbee stars in his sci-fi feature film as an interplanetary trader. The film also stars 2012 Independent Spirit Award nominee James Ransone (Starlet, HBO’s Treme and The Wire) as Bodysuit. (2001 Sundance Film Festival)
The Atomic States of America (Directors: Don Argott and Sheena M. Joyce) — Don Argott and Sheena M. Joyce’s provocative documentary takes viewers on a journey to nuclear reactor communities across the country. (2012 Sundance Film Festival)
Budrus (Director: Julia Bachas) — Documentary filmmaker Julia Bacha’s award-winning 2009 documentary follows a Palestinian community organizer who unites local Fatah and Hamas members along with Israeli supporters in an unarmed movement to save the village of Budrus from destruction by Israel's Separation Barrier. Budrus was produced by Just Vision, a nonprofit dedicated to increasing the power and legitimacy of Palestinians and Israelis working nonviolently to end the occupation and resolve the conflict. (2009 Sundance Documentary Film Grant)
Detropia (Directors: Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady) — Winner of the Best Documentary Editing Award at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival and nominated for Gotham and Cinema Eye awards, Detropiachronicles the lives of several Detroiters trying to survive and make sense of what is happening to their city – once an industrial utopia, now on the brink of bankruptcy. (2012 Sundance Documentary Film Grant, 2012 Sundance Film Festival)
High School Record (Director and Screenwriter: Ben Wolfinsohn) — In Ben Wolfinsohn’s semi-improvised 2005 “mock doc,” four exceptionally awkward 17-year-olds struggle through their senior year as moments of humiliation and triumph are caught on tape in a documentary shot by fellow classmates at a performing arts high school. (2005 Sundance Film Festival)
I Am Not A Hipster (Director and Screenwriter: Destin Daniel Cretton) — Featuring music by indie electronic band, Canines, and a break-out performance by Dominic Bogart (Flash Forward), Cretton’s music-focused drama premiered at sold-out screenings at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. (2011 and 2012 Cinereach Project at Sundance Institute Grant, 2012 Sundance Film Festival)
Primer (Director and Screenwriter: Shane Carruth) — Shane Carruth’s cult classic won the Grand Jury Prize and Alfred P. Sloan Prize at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival. Timed to the premiere of the director’s much-anticipated follow-up film, Upstream Color, at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. (2004 Sundance Film Festival)
Pursuit of Loneliness (Director and Screenwriter: Laurence Thrush) — Award-winning director Laurence Thrush’s (Left Handed) 2012 Sundance Film Festival premiere stars a cast of non-professional actors depicted in their own workplace roles. (2012 Sundance Film Festival)
The Slaughter Rule (Directors: Alex Smith and Andrew Smith) — David Morse (Treme) and Ryan Gosling (Drive) star in Alex and Andrew Smith’s feature writing-directorial debut about a fatherless high-school quarterback. Nominated for the Independent Spirit Awards’ John Cassavetes Award.. (2002 Sundance Film Festival)
Stingray Sam (Director and screenwriter: Cory McAbee) — Cory McAbee’s 2009 follow up to The American Astronaut features writer-director McAbee as Stingray Sam and “Crugie” as The Quasar Kid, two space convicts in a series of episodic adventures narrated by David Hyde Pierce (Frasier). (2009 Sundance Film Festival)
to.get.her (Director and screenwriter: Erica Dunton) — Five teenage girls with a shared secret get together for a weekend of “no consequences” in this 2011 Sundance Film Festival premiere that won the Best of Next <=> Audience Award. Actress-model Jazzy De Lisser stars in a “mystery” written and directed by Erica Dunton (The 27 Club). (2011 Sundance Film Festival)
Wave Twisters (Directors: Eric Henry and Syd Garon) — Animators Syd Garon (Superheroes, Last Call at the Oasis) and Eric Henry’s “turntablism-based musical” won the 2001 Midnight Films Audience Award at the 2001 SXSW Film Festival. Scripted to a recording by “scratch” artist DJ Qbert, Wave Twisters follows a group of heroes traveling through inner-space on a quest to save the lost art of Hip Hop. (2001 Sundance Film Festival)
We're Not Broke (Directors: Karin Hayes and Victoria Bruce) — A timely exposé on how the government has allowed U.S. corporations to avoid paying taxes, and the growing wave of discontent that is has fostered. A 2012 Sundance Film Festival premiere from the filmmakers of The Kidnapping of Ingrid Betancourt. (2012 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 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 Born into Brothels, Trouble the Water, Son of Babylon, Amreeka, An Inconvenient Truth, Spring Awakening, I Am My Own Wife, Light in the Piazza and Angels in America. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
“With the proliferation of new digital outlets these days, Sundance Institute saw a real need to help filmmakers and producers easily access these platforms and to provide information on how best to navigate and take advantage of independent distribution,” said Keri Putnam, Executive Director, Sundance Institute. “ It's exciting to see these filmmakers charting their own path towards finding audiences.”
In addition, to making it easier for audiences to find Sundance Institute and Film Festival films all year long, this year’s online film guide and mobile app for the 2013 Sundance Film Festival includes a new feature from GoWatchIt.com which creates a universal ‘queue’ so fans can be notified as soon as films they are interested in become available in the marketplace. Sundance Institute has also installed GoWatchIt on the Now Playing page (www.sundance.org/nowplaying) for the titles accessing distribution through its Artist Services.
Look for the Artist Services films on iTunes, Amazon Instant Video, Hulu, Microsoft Xbox, Netflix, SnagFilms, Sony Entertainment Network, SundanceNOW, Vudu and YouTube. Special bonus video content from the Institute’s archives is available for select titles. The Artist Services program provides Institute artists with exclusive opportunities for creative self-distribution, marketing and financing solutions for their work. New Video, a Cinedigm company, is the exclusive aggregation partner for distribution across all portals in the program. The Artist Services initiative is made possible by The Bertha Foundation. These deals were brokered via pro bono legal services generously provided by law firm O’Melveny & Myers, which has built the legal framework for the Artist Services program and participating filmmakers since its inception.
Titles That Are Available:
The American Astronaut (Director and Screenwriter: Cory McAbee) — Sundance Institute Screenwriter’s Lab Fellow Cory McAbee stars in his sci-fi feature film as an interplanetary trader. The film also stars 2012 Independent Spirit Award nominee James Ransone (Starlet, HBO’s Treme and The Wire) as Bodysuit. (2001 Sundance Film Festival)
The Atomic States of America (Directors: Don Argott and Sheena M. Joyce) — Don Argott and Sheena M. Joyce’s provocative documentary takes viewers on a journey to nuclear reactor communities across the country. (2012 Sundance Film Festival)
Budrus (Director: Julia Bachas) — Documentary filmmaker Julia Bacha’s award-winning 2009 documentary follows a Palestinian community organizer who unites local Fatah and Hamas members along with Israeli supporters in an unarmed movement to save the village of Budrus from destruction by Israel's Separation Barrier. Budrus was produced by Just Vision, a nonprofit dedicated to increasing the power and legitimacy of Palestinians and Israelis working nonviolently to end the occupation and resolve the conflict. (2009 Sundance Documentary Film Grant)
Detropia (Directors: Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady) — Winner of the Best Documentary Editing Award at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival and nominated for Gotham and Cinema Eye awards, Detropiachronicles the lives of several Detroiters trying to survive and make sense of what is happening to their city – once an industrial utopia, now on the brink of bankruptcy. (2012 Sundance Documentary Film Grant, 2012 Sundance Film Festival)
High School Record (Director and Screenwriter: Ben Wolfinsohn) — In Ben Wolfinsohn’s semi-improvised 2005 “mock doc,” four exceptionally awkward 17-year-olds struggle through their senior year as moments of humiliation and triumph are caught on tape in a documentary shot by fellow classmates at a performing arts high school. (2005 Sundance Film Festival)
I Am Not A Hipster (Director and Screenwriter: Destin Daniel Cretton) — Featuring music by indie electronic band, Canines, and a break-out performance by Dominic Bogart (Flash Forward), Cretton’s music-focused drama premiered at sold-out screenings at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. (2011 and 2012 Cinereach Project at Sundance Institute Grant, 2012 Sundance Film Festival)
Primer (Director and Screenwriter: Shane Carruth) — Shane Carruth’s cult classic won the Grand Jury Prize and Alfred P. Sloan Prize at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival. Timed to the premiere of the director’s much-anticipated follow-up film, Upstream Color, at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. (2004 Sundance Film Festival)
Pursuit of Loneliness (Director and Screenwriter: Laurence Thrush) — Award-winning director Laurence Thrush’s (Left Handed) 2012 Sundance Film Festival premiere stars a cast of non-professional actors depicted in their own workplace roles. (2012 Sundance Film Festival)
The Slaughter Rule (Directors: Alex Smith and Andrew Smith) — David Morse (Treme) and Ryan Gosling (Drive) star in Alex and Andrew Smith’s feature writing-directorial debut about a fatherless high-school quarterback. Nominated for the Independent Spirit Awards’ John Cassavetes Award.. (2002 Sundance Film Festival)
Stingray Sam (Director and screenwriter: Cory McAbee) — Cory McAbee’s 2009 follow up to The American Astronaut features writer-director McAbee as Stingray Sam and “Crugie” as The Quasar Kid, two space convicts in a series of episodic adventures narrated by David Hyde Pierce (Frasier). (2009 Sundance Film Festival)
to.get.her (Director and screenwriter: Erica Dunton) — Five teenage girls with a shared secret get together for a weekend of “no consequences” in this 2011 Sundance Film Festival premiere that won the Best of Next <=> Audience Award. Actress-model Jazzy De Lisser stars in a “mystery” written and directed by Erica Dunton (The 27 Club). (2011 Sundance Film Festival)
Wave Twisters (Directors: Eric Henry and Syd Garon) — Animators Syd Garon (Superheroes, Last Call at the Oasis) and Eric Henry’s “turntablism-based musical” won the 2001 Midnight Films Audience Award at the 2001 SXSW Film Festival. Scripted to a recording by “scratch” artist DJ Qbert, Wave Twisters follows a group of heroes traveling through inner-space on a quest to save the lost art of Hip Hop. (2001 Sundance Film Festival)
We're Not Broke (Directors: Karin Hayes and Victoria Bruce) — A timely exposé on how the government has allowed U.S. corporations to avoid paying taxes, and the growing wave of discontent that is has fostered. A 2012 Sundance Film Festival premiere from the filmmakers of The Kidnapping of Ingrid Betancourt. (2012 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 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 Born into Brothels, Trouble the Water, Son of Babylon, Amreeka, An Inconvenient Truth, Spring Awakening, I Am My Own Wife, Light in the Piazza and Angels in America. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
- 1/18/2013
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Robert Redford, President & Founder of Sundance Institute said, “Every great film starts with an idea, and it is a testament to artists that they continually find new ideas, new stories, new points of view and new ways of sharing them, year after year. We look forward to hearing from these artists not just through their words and images onscreen but also through the larger dialogue they create with audiences at our Festival and beyond.”
John Cooper, Director of the Sundance Film Festival, said, “The films, both documentary and narrative, selected for our 2013 Festival have a particular immediacy and fearlessness to them showing us that independent film is as vibrant, creative and relevant as ever. Filmmakers are telling raw, powerful stories that are sure to create new energy in audiences and communities across the globe in the months to come.”
For the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, 113 feature-length films were selected, representing 32 countries and 51 first-time filmmakers, including 27 in competition. These films were selected from 12,146 submissions (429 more than for 2012), including 4,044 feature-length films and 8,102 short films. Of the feature film submissions, 2,070 were from the U.S. and 1,974 were international. 98 feature films at the Festival will be world premieres.
In addition, the Festival presents feature-length films in the Spotlight, Park City at Midnight, New Frontier, Premieres and Documentary Premieres sections. Those announcements, as well as selections for the Short Film section, are forthcoming.
On Day One, January 17, 2013, the Festival will screen one narrative film and one documentary from both the U.S. and World Cinema competitions, as well as one shorts program.
A selection of films from the 2013 Festival will also be presented at the second Sundance London film and music festival, April 25-28 at The O2.
Keri Putnam, Executive Director of Sundance Institute, said, “Each year at this time we look forward with great anticipation and excitement to the discovery of new voices at the Sundance Film Festival. The Festival continues to reflect the spirit of innovation and creativity in independent cinema, not only in the stories themselves but also in how the films are produced and making their way to audiences.”
U.S. Dramatic Competition
The world premieres of 16 American narrative feature films.
Afternoon Delight/ U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Jill Soloway) — In this sexy, dark comedy, a lost L.A. housewife puts her idyllic hipster life in jeopardy when she tries to rescue a stripper by taking her in as a live-in nanny. Cast: Kathryn Hahn, Juno Temple, Josh Radnor, Jane Lynch.
Ain't Them Bodies Saints / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: David Lowery) — The tale of an outlaw who escapes from prison and sets out across the Texas hills to reunite with his wife and the daughter he has never met. Cast: Rooney Mara, Casey Affleck, Ben Foster, Nate Parker, Keith Carradine.
Austenland/ U.S.A., United Kingdom (Director: Jerusha Hess, Screenwriters: Jerusha Hess, Shannon Hale) — Thirtysomething, single Jane is obsessed with Mr. Darcy, as played by Colin Firth in Pride and Prejudice. On a trip to an English resort, her fantasies of meeting the perfect Regency-era gentleman become more real than she ever imagined.Cast: Keri Russell, Jj Feild, Bret McKenzie, Jennifer Coolidge, Georgia King, James Callis.
C.O.G./ U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Kyle Patrick Alvarez) — In the first ever film adaptation of David Sedaris' work, a cocky young man travels to Oregon to work on an apple farm. Out of his element, he finds his lifestyle and notions being picked apart by everyone who crosses his path. Cast: Jonathan Groff, Denis O'Hare, Corey Stoll, Dean Stockwell, Casey Wilson, Troian Bellisario.
Concussion / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Stacie Passon) — After a blow to the head, Abby decides she can't do it anymore. Her life just can't be only about the house, the kids and the wife. She needs more: she needs to be Eleanor.Cast: Robin Weigert, Maggie Siff, Johnathan Tchaikovsky, Julie Fain Lawrence, Emily Kinney, Laila Robins.
Emanuel and the Truth About Fishes/ U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Francesca Gregorini) — Emanuel, a troubled girl, becomes preoccupied with her mysterious, new neighbor, who bears a striking resemblance to her dead mother. In offering to babysit her newborn, Emanuel unwittingly enters a fragile, fictional world, of which she becomes the gatekeeper. Cast: Kaya Scodelario, Jessica Biel, Alfred Molina, Frances O'Connor, Jimmi Simpson, Aneurin Barnard.
Fruitvale/ U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Ryan Coogler) — The true story of Oscar, a 22-year-old Bay Area resident who crosses paths with friends, enemies, family and strangers on the last day of 2008. Cast: Michael B. Jordan, Octavia Spencer, Melonie Diaz, Ahna O'Reilly, Kevin Durand, Chad Michael Murray.
In a World.../ U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Lake Bell) — An underachieving vocal coach is motivated by her father, the king of movie-trailer voice-overs, to pursue her aspirations of becoming a voiceover star. Amidst pride, sexism and family dysfunction, she sets out to change the voice of a generation. Cast: Lake Bell, Demetri Martin, Rob Corddry, Michaela Watkins, Ken Marino, Fred Melamed.
Kill Your Darlings/ U.S.A. (Director: John Krokidas, Screenwriters: Austin Bunn, John Krokidas) — An untold story of murder that brought together a young Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac and William Burroughs at Columbia University in 1944, providing the spark that led to the birth of an entire generation – their Beat revolution. Cast: Daniel Radcliffe, Dane DeHann, Ben Foster, Michael C. Hall, Jack Huston, Elizabeth Olsen.
The Lifeguard / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Liz W. Garcia) — A former valedictorian quits her reporter job in New York and returns to the place she last felt happy: her childhood home in Connecticut. She gets work as a lifeguard and starts a dangerous relationship with a troubled teenager. Cast: Kristen Bell, Mamie Gummer, Martin Starr, Alex Shaffer, Amy Madigan, David Lambert.
May in the Summer/ U.S.A., Qatar, Jordan (Director and screenwriter: Cherien Dabis) — A bride-to-be is forced to reevaluate her life when she reunites with her family in Jordan and finds herself confronted with the aftermath of her parents’ divorce. Cast: Cherien Dabis, Hiam Abbass, Bill Pullman, Alia Shawkat, Nadine Malouf, Alexander Siddig. Day One Film
Mother of George / U.S.A. (Director: Andrew Dosunmu, Screenwriter: Darci Picoult) — A story about a woman willing to do anything and risk everything for her marriage.Cast: Isaach De Bankolé, Danai Gurira, Anthony Okungbowa, Yaya Alafia, Bukky Ajayi.
The Spectacular Now/ U.S.A. (Director: James Ponsoldt, Screenwriters: Scott Neustadter, Michael H. Weber) — Sutter is a high school senior who lives for the moment; Aimee is the introvert he attempts to "save." As their relationship deepens, the lines between right and wrong, friendship and love, and "saving" and corrupting become inextricably blurred. Cast: Miles Teller, Shailene Woodley, Brie Larson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Kyle Chandler.
Touchy Feely/ U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Lynn Shelton) — A massage therapist is unable to do her job when stricken with a mysterious and sudden aversion to bodily contact. Meanwhile, her uptight brother's foundering dental practice receives new life when clients seek out his “healing touch.”Cast: Rosemarie DeWitt, Allison Janney, Ron Livingston, Scoot McNairy, Ellen Page, Josh Pais.
Toy's House/ U.S.A. (Director: Jordan Vogt-Roberts, Screenwriter: Chris Galletta) — Three unhappy teenage boys flee to the wilderness where they build a makeshift house and live off the land as masters of their own destiny. Or at least that’s the plan. Cast: Nick Robinson, Gabriel Basso, Moises Arias, Nick Offerman, Megan Mullally, Alison Brie.
Upstream Color/ U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Shane Carruth) — A man and woman are drawn together, entangled in the life cycle of an ageless organism. Identity becomes an illusion as they struggle to assemble the loose fragments of wrecked lives. Cast: Amy Seimetz, Shane Carruth, Andrew Sensenig, Thiago Martins.
U.S. Documentary Competition
The world premieres of 16 American documentary films.
99% - The Occupy Wall Street Collaborative Film/ U.S.A. (Directors: Audrey Ewell, Aaron Aites, Lucian Read, Nina Kristic) — The Occupy movement erupted in September 2011, propelling economic inequality into the spotlight. In an unprecedented collaboration, filmmakers across America tell its story, digging into big picture issues as organizers, analysts, participants and critics reveal how it happened and why.
After Tiller/ U.S.A. (Directors: Martha Shane, Lana Wilson) — Since the assassination of Dr. George Tiller in 2009, only four doctors in the country provide late-term abortions. With unprecedented access, After Tiller goes inside the lives of these physicians working at the center of the storm.
American Promise / U.S.A. (Directors: Joe Brewster, Michèle Stephenson) — This intimate documentary follows the 12-year journey of two African-American families pursuing the promise of opportunity through the education of their sons.
Blackfish/ U.S.A. (Director: Gabriela Cowperthwaite) — Notorious killer whale Tilikum is responsible for the deaths of three individuals, including a top killer whale trainer.Blackfish shows the sometimes devastating consequences of keeping such intelligent and sentient creatures in captivity.
Blood Brother/ U.S.A. (Director: Steve Hoover) — Rocky went to India as a disillusioned tourist. When he met a group of children with HIV, he decided to stay. He never could have imagined the obstacles he would face, or the love he would find.
Citizen Koch/ U.S.A. (Directors: Carl Deal, Tia Lessin) — Wisconsin – birthplace of the Republican Party, government unions, “cheeseheads” and Paul Ryan – becomes a test market in the campaign to buy Democracy, and ground zero in the battle for the future of the Gop.
Cutie and the Boxer/ U.S.A. (Director: Zachary Heinzerling) — This candid New York love story explores the chaotic 40-year marriage of famed boxing painter Ushio Shinohara and his wife, Noriko. Anxious to shed her role as her overbearing husband's assistant, Noriko finds an identity of her own.
Dirty Wars/ U.S.A. (Director: Richard Rowley) — Investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill chases down the truth behind America’s covert wars.
Gideon's Army / U.S.A. (Director: Dawn Porter) — Gideon’s Army follows three young, committed Public Defenders who are dedicated to working for the people society would rather forget. Long hours, low pay and staggering caseloads are so common that even the most committed often give up.
God Loves Uganda/ U.S.A. (Director: Roger Ross Williams) — A powerful exploration of the evangelical campaign to infuse African culture with values imported from America’s Christian Right. The film follows American and Ugandan religious leaders fighting “sexual immorality” and missionaries trying to convince Ugandans to follow biblical law.
The Good Life/ U.S.A. (Directors: Sean Fine, Andrea Nix Fine) — Dr. Leslie Gordon and Dr. Scott Berns fight to save their only son from Progeria, a rare and fatal disease for which there is no treatment or cure. In less than a decade, their work has led to significant advances.
Inequality for All/ U.S.A. (Director: Jacob Kornbluth) — In this timely and entertaining documentary, noted economic-policy expert Robert Reich distills the topic of widening income inequality, and addresses the question of what effects this increasing gap has on our economy and our democracy.
Manhunt/ U.S.A., United Kingdom (Director: Greg Barker) — This espionage tale goes inside the CIA’s long conflict against Al Qaeda, as revealed by the remarkable women and men whose secret war against Osama bin Laden started nearly a decade before most of us even knew his name.
Narco Cultura / U.S.A. (Director: Shaul Schwarz) — An examination of Mexican drug cartels’ influence in pop culture on both sides of the border as experienced by an La narcocorrido singer dreaming of stardom and a Juarez crime scene investigator on the front line of Mexico’s Drug War.
Twenty Feet From Stardom/ U.S.A. (Director: Morgan Neville) — Backup singers live in a world that lies just beyond the spotlight. Their voices bring harmony to the biggest bands in popular music, but we've had no idea who these singers are or what lives they lead – until now. Day One Film
Valentine Road / U.S.A. (Director: Marta Cunningham) — In 2008, eighth-grader Brandon McInerney shot classmate Larry King at point blank range. Unraveling this tragedy from point of impact, the film reveals the heartbreaking circumstances that led to the shocking crime as well as its startling aftermath.
World Cinema Dramatic Competition
Twelve films from emerging filmmaking talents offer fresh perspectives and inventive styles.
Circles/ Serbia, Germany, France, Croatia, Slovenia (Director: Srdan Golubovic, Screenwriters: Srdjan Koljevic, Melina Pota Koljevic) — Five people are affected by a tragic heroic act. Twenty years later, all of them will confront the past through their own crises. Will they overcome guilt, frustration and their urge for revenge? Will they do the right thing, at all costs? Cast: Aleksandar Bercek, Leon Lucev, Nebojsa Glogovac, Hristina Popovic, Nikola Rakocevic, Vuk Kostic. World Premiere
Crystal Fairy / Chile (Director and screenwriter: Sebastián Silva) — Jamie invites a stranger to join a road trip to Chile. The woman’s free and esoteric nature clashes with Jamie’s acidic, self-absorbed personality as they head into the desert for a Mescaline-fueled psychedelic trip. Cast: Michael Cera, Gabby Hoffmann, Juan Andrés Silva, José Miguel Silva, Agustín Silva. World Premiere. Day One Film
The Future/ Chile, Germany, Italy, Spain (Director and screenwriter: Alicia Scherson) — When their parents die, Bianca starts to smoke and Tomas is still a virgin. The orphans explore the dangerous streets of adulthood until Bianca finds Maciste, a retired Mr. Universe, and enters his dark mansion in search of a future. Cast: Manuela Martelli, Rutger Hauer, Luigi Ciardo, Nicolas Vaporidis, Alessandro Giallocosta. World Premiere
Houston/ Germany (Director and screenwriter: Bastian Günther) — Clemens Trunschka is a corporate headhunter and an alcoholic. Drinking increasingly isolates him from his life and leads him away from reality. While searching for a CEO candidate in Houston, his addiction submerges him into his own darkness. Cast: Ulrich Tukur, Garret Dillahunt, Wolfram Koch, Jenny Schily, Jason Douglas, Jens Münchow. World Premiere
Jiseul / South Korea (Director and screenwriter: Muel O) — In 1948, as the Korean government ordered the Communists’ eviction to Jeju Island, the military invaded a calm and peaceful village. Townsfolk took sanctuary in a cave and debated moving to a higher mountain. Cast: Min-chul Sung, Jung-won Yang, Young-soon Oh, Soon-dong Park, Suk-bum Moon, Kyung-sub Jang. International Premiere
Lasting / Poland, Spain (Director and screenwriter: Jacek Borcuch) — An emotional love story about two Polish students who fall in love with each other while working summer jobs in Spain. An unexpected nightmare interrupts their carefree time in the heavenly landscape and throws their lives into chaos. Cast: Jakub Gierszal, Magdalena Berus, Angela Molina. World Premiere
Metro Manila / United Kingdom, Philippines (Director: Sean Ellis, Screenwriters: Sean Ellis, Frank E. Flowers) — Seeking a better life, Oscar and his family move from the poverty-stricken rice fields to the big city of Manila, where they fall victim to various inhabitants whose manipulative ways are a daily part of city survival. Cast: Jake Macapagal, John Arcilla, Althea Vega. World Premiere
Shopping / New Zealand (Directors: Mark Albiston, Louis Sutherland, Screenwriters: Louis Sutherland, Mark Albiston) — New Zealand, 1981: Seduced by a charismatic career criminal, teenager Willie must choose where his loyalty lies – with a family of shoplifters or his own blood. Cast: Kevin Paulo, Julian Dennison, Jacek Koman, Alistair Browning. World Premiere
Soldate Jeannette/ Austria (Director: Daniel Hoesl) — Fanni has had enough of money and leaves to buy a tent. Anna has had enough of pigs and leaves a needle in the hay. Cars crash and money burns to shape their mutual journey toward a rising liberty. Cast: Johanna Orsini-Rosenberg, Christina Reichsthaler, Josef Kleindienst, Aurelia Burckhardt, Julia Schranz, Ines Rössl. World Premiere
There Will Come a Day/ Italy, France (Director: Giorgio Diritti, Screenwriters: Giorgio Diritti, Fredo Valla, Tania Pedroni) — Painful issues push Augusta, a young Italian woman, to doubt the certainties on which she has built her existence. On a small boat in the immensity of the Amazon rain forest, she faces the adventure of searching for herself. Cast: Jasmine Trinca, Anne Alvaro, Pia Engleberth. World Premiere
Wajma (An Afghan Love Story)/ Afghanistan (Director and screenwriter: Barmak Akram) — A young man in Kabul seduces a girl. When she tells him she’s pregnant, he questions having taken her virginity. Then her father arrives, and a timeless, archaic violence erupts – possibly leading to a crime, and even a sacrifice. Cast: Wajma Bahar, Mustafa Abdulsatar, Haji Gul, Breshna Bahar. World Premiere
What They Don't Talk About When They Talk About Love/ Indonesia (Director and screenwriter: Mouly Surya) — Mouly Surya’s film explores the odds of love and deception among the blind, the deaf and the unlucky sighted people at a high school for the visually impaired. Cast: Nicholas Saputra, Ayushita Nugraha, Karina Salim, Anggun Priambodo, Lupita Jennifer. World Premiere
World Cinema Documentary Competition
Twelve documentaries by some of the most courageous and extraordinary filmmakers working today.
Fallen City / China (Director: Qi Zhao) — Fallen City spans four years to reveal how three families who survived the 2008 Sichuan earthquake to embark on a journey searching for hope, purpose, identity, and to rebuild their lives in a new China torn between tradition and modernity. North American Premiere
Fire in the Blood/ India (Director: Dylan Mohan Gray) — In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Western governments and pharmaceutical companies blocked low-cost antiretroviral drugs from reaching AIDS-stricken Africa, causing 10 million or more unnecessary deaths. An improbable group of people decided to fight back. North American Premiere
Google and the World Brain/ Spain, United Kingdom (Director: Ben Lewis) — In the most ambitious project ever conceived on the Internet, Google has been scanning the world's books for 10 years. They said the intention was to build a giant digital library, but that involved scanning millions of copyrighted works. World Premiere
The Machine Which Makes Everything Disappear/ Georgia, Germany (Director: Tinatin Gurchiani) — A film director casting a 15-23-year-old protagonist visits villages and cities to meet people who answer her call. She follows those who prove to be interesting enough through various dramatic and funny situations. North American Premiere
The Moo Man/ United Kingdom (Directors: Andy Heathcote, Heike Bachelier) — A year in the life of heroic farmer Steve, scene stealing Ida (queen of the herd), and a supporting cast of 55 cows. When Ida falls ill, Steve’s optimism is challenged and their whole way of life is at stake. World Premiere
Pussy Riot – A Punk Prayer / Russian Federation, United Kingdom (Directors: Mike Lerner, Maxim Pozdorovkin) — Three young women face seven years in a Russian prison for a satirical performance in a Moscow cathedral. But who is really on trial: the three young artists or the society they live in? World Premiere
A River Changes Course/ Cambodia, U.S.A. (Director: Kalyanee Mam) — Three young Cambodians struggle to overcome the crushing effects of deforestation, overfishing, and overwhelming debt in this devastatingly beautiful story of a country reeling from the tragedies of war and rushing to keep pace with a rapidly expanding world. World Premiere
Salma/ United Kingdom, India (Director: Kim Longinotto) — When Salma, a young girl in South India, reached puberty, her parents locked her away. Millions of girls all over the world share the same fate. Twenty-five years later, Salma has fought her way back to the outside world. World Premiere
The Square (El Midan) / Egypt, U.S.A. (Director: Jehane Noujaim) — What does it mean to risk your life for your ideals? How far will five revolutionaries go in defending their beliefs in the fight for their nation? World Premiere
The Stuart Hall Project/ United Kingdom (Director: John Akomfrah) — Antinuclear campaigner, New Left activist and founding father of Cultural Studies, this documentary interweaves 70 years of Stuart Hall’s film, radio and television appearances, and material from his private archive to document a memorable life and construct a portrait of Britain’s foremost radical intellectual. World Premiere
The Summit / Ireland, United Kingdom (Director: Nick Ryan) — Twenty-four climbers converged at the last stop before summiting the most dangerous mountain on Earth. Forty-eight hours later, 11 had been killed or simply vanished. Had one, Ger McDonnell, stuck to the climbers' code, he might still be alive.International Premiere
Who is Dayani Cristal?/ United Kingdom (Director: Marc Silver) — An anonymous body in the Arizona desert sparks the beginning of a real-life human drama. The search for its identity leads us across a continent to seek out the people left behind and the meaning of a mysterious tattoo. World Premiere. Day One Film
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Pure, bold works distinguished by an innovative, forward-thinking approach to storytelling. Digital technology paired with unfettered creativity proves the films selected in this section will inform a “greater” next wave in American cinema.
Blue Caprice/ U.S.A. (Director: Alexandre Moors, Screenwriters: R.F.I Porto, Alexandre Moors) — An abandoned boy is lured to America and drawn into the shadow of a dangerous father figure in this film inspired by the real life events that led to the 2002 Beltway sniper attacks. Cast: Isaiah Washington, Tequan Richmond, Joey Lauren Adams, Tim Blake Nelson, Cassandra Freeman, Leo Fitzpatrick.
Computer Chess /U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Andrew Bujalski) — An existential comedy about the brilliant men who taught machines to play chess – back when the machines seemed clumsy and we seemed smart. Cast: Patrick Riester, Myles Paige, James Curry, Robin Schwartz, Gerald Peary, Wiley Wiggins.
Escape from Tomorrow/ U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Randy Moore) — A postmodern, surreal voyage into the bowels of "family" entertainment; an epic battle begins when an unemployed, middle-aged father loses his sanity during a close encounter with two teenage girls on holiday. Cast: Roy Abramsohn, Elena Schuber, Katelynn Rodriguez, Annet Mahendru, Danielle Safady, Alison Lees-Taylor.
I Used to Be Darker/ U.S.A. (Director: Matthew Porterfield, Screenwriters: Amy Belk, Matthew Porterfield) — A runaway seeks refuge with her aunt and uncle in Baltimore, only to find their marriage ending and her cousin in crisis. In the days that follow, the family struggles to let go while searching for things to sustain them. Cast: Deragh Campbell, Hannah Gross, Kim Taylor, Ned Oldham, Geoff Grace, Nick Petr.
It Felt Like Love / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Eliza Hittman) — On the outskirts of Brooklyn, a 14-year-old girl’s sexual quest takes a dangerous turn when she pursues an older guy and tests the boundaries between obsession and love.Cast: Gina Piersanti, Giovanna Salimeni, Ronen Rubinstein, Jesse Cordasco, Nick Rosen, Case Prime.
Milkshake/ U.S.A. (Director: David Andalman, Screenwriters: David Andalman, Mariko Munro) — In mid-1990's America, we follow the tragic sex life of Jolie Jolson, a wannabe thug (and great-great-grandson of legendary vaudevillian Al Jolson) in suburban DC as he strives to become something he can never be – black. Cast: Tyler Ross, Shareeka Epps, Georgia Ford, Eshan Bay, Leo Fitzpatrick, Danny Burstein.
Newlyweeds/ U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Shaka King) — A Brooklyn repo man and his globetrotting girlfriend forge an unlikely romance. But what should be a match made in stoner heaven turns into a love triangle gone awry in this dark coming-of-age comedy about dependency. Cast: Amari Cheatom, Trae Harris, Tone Tank, Colman Domingo, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Adrian Martinez.
Pit Stop/ U.S.A. (Director: Yen Tan, Screenwriters: Yen Tan, David Lowery) — Two working-class gay men in a small Texas town and a love that isn't quite out of reach. Cast: Bill Heck, Marcus DeAnda, Amy Seimetz, John Merriman, Alfredo Maduro, Corby Sullivan.
A Teacher/ U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Hannah Fidell) — A popular young teacher in a wealthy suburban Texas high school has an affair with one of her students. Her life begins to unravel as the relationship comes to an end. Cast: Lindsay Burdge, Will Brittain, Jennifer Prediger, Jonny Mars, Julie Phillips, Chris Dubeck.
This is Martin Bonner/ U.S.A.(Director and screenwriter: Chad Hartigan) — Martin Bonner has just moved to Reno for a new job in prison rehabilitation. Starting over at age 58, he struggles to adapt until an unlikely friendship with an ex-con blossoms, helping him confront the problems he left behind. Cast: Paul Eenhoorn, Richmond Arquette, Sam Buchanan, Robert Longstreet, Demetrius Grosse.
The Sundance Film Festival®
A program of the non-profit Sundance Institute®, the Festival has introduced global audiences to some of the most ground-breaking films of the past two decades, including sex, lies, and videotape, Maria Full of Grace, The Cove, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, An Inconvenient Truth, Precious, Trouble the Water, and Napoleon Dynamite, and through its New Frontier initiative, has showcased the cinematic works of media artists including Isaac Julien, Doug Aitken, Pierre Huyghe, Jennifer Steinkamp, and Matthew Barney. The 2013 Sundance Film Festival® sponsors include: Presenting Sponsors – Hp, Acura, Sundance Channel and Chase Sapphire PreferredSM; Leadership Sponsors – Directv, Entertainment Weekly, Focus Forward, a partnership between Ge and Cinelan, Southwest Airlines, Sprint and YouTube; Sustaining Sponsors – Adobe, Canada Goose, Canon U.S.A., Inc., CÎRoc Ultra Premium Vodka, FilterForGood®, a partnership between Brita® and Nalgene®, Hilton HHonors and Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts, Intel Corporation, L'Oréal Paris, Recycled Paper Greetings, Stella Artois® and Time Warner Inc. Sundance Institute recognizes critical support from the Utah Governor's Office of Economic Development, and the State of Utah as Festival Host State. The support of these organizations will defray costs associated with the 10-day Festival and the nonprofit Sundance Institute's year-round programs for independent film and theatre artists. www.sundance.org/festival
Sundance Institute
Founded by Robert Redford in 1981, Sundance Institute is a global, nonprofit cultural organization dedicated to nurturing artistic expression in film and theater, and to supporting intercultural dialogue between artists and audiences. The Institute promotes independent storytelling to unite, inform and inspire, regardless of geo-political, social, religious or cultural differences. Internationally recognized for its annual Sundance Film Festival and its artistic development programs for directors, screenwriters, producers, film composers, playwrights and theatre artists, Sundance Institute has nurtured such projects as Born into Brothels, Trouble the Water, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Amreeka, An Inconvenient Truth, Spring Awakening, Light in the Piazza and Angels in America. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
John Cooper, Director of the Sundance Film Festival, said, “The films, both documentary and narrative, selected for our 2013 Festival have a particular immediacy and fearlessness to them showing us that independent film is as vibrant, creative and relevant as ever. Filmmakers are telling raw, powerful stories that are sure to create new energy in audiences and communities across the globe in the months to come.”
For the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, 113 feature-length films were selected, representing 32 countries and 51 first-time filmmakers, including 27 in competition. These films were selected from 12,146 submissions (429 more than for 2012), including 4,044 feature-length films and 8,102 short films. Of the feature film submissions, 2,070 were from the U.S. and 1,974 were international. 98 feature films at the Festival will be world premieres.
In addition, the Festival presents feature-length films in the Spotlight, Park City at Midnight, New Frontier, Premieres and Documentary Premieres sections. Those announcements, as well as selections for the Short Film section, are forthcoming.
On Day One, January 17, 2013, the Festival will screen one narrative film and one documentary from both the U.S. and World Cinema competitions, as well as one shorts program.
A selection of films from the 2013 Festival will also be presented at the second Sundance London film and music festival, April 25-28 at The O2.
Keri Putnam, Executive Director of Sundance Institute, said, “Each year at this time we look forward with great anticipation and excitement to the discovery of new voices at the Sundance Film Festival. The Festival continues to reflect the spirit of innovation and creativity in independent cinema, not only in the stories themselves but also in how the films are produced and making their way to audiences.”
U.S. Dramatic Competition
The world premieres of 16 American narrative feature films.
Afternoon Delight/ U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Jill Soloway) — In this sexy, dark comedy, a lost L.A. housewife puts her idyllic hipster life in jeopardy when she tries to rescue a stripper by taking her in as a live-in nanny. Cast: Kathryn Hahn, Juno Temple, Josh Radnor, Jane Lynch.
Ain't Them Bodies Saints / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: David Lowery) — The tale of an outlaw who escapes from prison and sets out across the Texas hills to reunite with his wife and the daughter he has never met. Cast: Rooney Mara, Casey Affleck, Ben Foster, Nate Parker, Keith Carradine.
Austenland/ U.S.A., United Kingdom (Director: Jerusha Hess, Screenwriters: Jerusha Hess, Shannon Hale) — Thirtysomething, single Jane is obsessed with Mr. Darcy, as played by Colin Firth in Pride and Prejudice. On a trip to an English resort, her fantasies of meeting the perfect Regency-era gentleman become more real than she ever imagined.Cast: Keri Russell, Jj Feild, Bret McKenzie, Jennifer Coolidge, Georgia King, James Callis.
C.O.G./ U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Kyle Patrick Alvarez) — In the first ever film adaptation of David Sedaris' work, a cocky young man travels to Oregon to work on an apple farm. Out of his element, he finds his lifestyle and notions being picked apart by everyone who crosses his path. Cast: Jonathan Groff, Denis O'Hare, Corey Stoll, Dean Stockwell, Casey Wilson, Troian Bellisario.
Concussion / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Stacie Passon) — After a blow to the head, Abby decides she can't do it anymore. Her life just can't be only about the house, the kids and the wife. She needs more: she needs to be Eleanor.Cast: Robin Weigert, Maggie Siff, Johnathan Tchaikovsky, Julie Fain Lawrence, Emily Kinney, Laila Robins.
Emanuel and the Truth About Fishes/ U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Francesca Gregorini) — Emanuel, a troubled girl, becomes preoccupied with her mysterious, new neighbor, who bears a striking resemblance to her dead mother. In offering to babysit her newborn, Emanuel unwittingly enters a fragile, fictional world, of which she becomes the gatekeeper. Cast: Kaya Scodelario, Jessica Biel, Alfred Molina, Frances O'Connor, Jimmi Simpson, Aneurin Barnard.
Fruitvale/ U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Ryan Coogler) — The true story of Oscar, a 22-year-old Bay Area resident who crosses paths with friends, enemies, family and strangers on the last day of 2008. Cast: Michael B. Jordan, Octavia Spencer, Melonie Diaz, Ahna O'Reilly, Kevin Durand, Chad Michael Murray.
In a World.../ U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Lake Bell) — An underachieving vocal coach is motivated by her father, the king of movie-trailer voice-overs, to pursue her aspirations of becoming a voiceover star. Amidst pride, sexism and family dysfunction, she sets out to change the voice of a generation. Cast: Lake Bell, Demetri Martin, Rob Corddry, Michaela Watkins, Ken Marino, Fred Melamed.
Kill Your Darlings/ U.S.A. (Director: John Krokidas, Screenwriters: Austin Bunn, John Krokidas) — An untold story of murder that brought together a young Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac and William Burroughs at Columbia University in 1944, providing the spark that led to the birth of an entire generation – their Beat revolution. Cast: Daniel Radcliffe, Dane DeHann, Ben Foster, Michael C. Hall, Jack Huston, Elizabeth Olsen.
The Lifeguard / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Liz W. Garcia) — A former valedictorian quits her reporter job in New York and returns to the place she last felt happy: her childhood home in Connecticut. She gets work as a lifeguard and starts a dangerous relationship with a troubled teenager. Cast: Kristen Bell, Mamie Gummer, Martin Starr, Alex Shaffer, Amy Madigan, David Lambert.
May in the Summer/ U.S.A., Qatar, Jordan (Director and screenwriter: Cherien Dabis) — A bride-to-be is forced to reevaluate her life when she reunites with her family in Jordan and finds herself confronted with the aftermath of her parents’ divorce. Cast: Cherien Dabis, Hiam Abbass, Bill Pullman, Alia Shawkat, Nadine Malouf, Alexander Siddig. Day One Film
Mother of George / U.S.A. (Director: Andrew Dosunmu, Screenwriter: Darci Picoult) — A story about a woman willing to do anything and risk everything for her marriage.Cast: Isaach De Bankolé, Danai Gurira, Anthony Okungbowa, Yaya Alafia, Bukky Ajayi.
The Spectacular Now/ U.S.A. (Director: James Ponsoldt, Screenwriters: Scott Neustadter, Michael H. Weber) — Sutter is a high school senior who lives for the moment; Aimee is the introvert he attempts to "save." As their relationship deepens, the lines between right and wrong, friendship and love, and "saving" and corrupting become inextricably blurred. Cast: Miles Teller, Shailene Woodley, Brie Larson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Kyle Chandler.
Touchy Feely/ U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Lynn Shelton) — A massage therapist is unable to do her job when stricken with a mysterious and sudden aversion to bodily contact. Meanwhile, her uptight brother's foundering dental practice receives new life when clients seek out his “healing touch.”Cast: Rosemarie DeWitt, Allison Janney, Ron Livingston, Scoot McNairy, Ellen Page, Josh Pais.
Toy's House/ U.S.A. (Director: Jordan Vogt-Roberts, Screenwriter: Chris Galletta) — Three unhappy teenage boys flee to the wilderness where they build a makeshift house and live off the land as masters of their own destiny. Or at least that’s the plan. Cast: Nick Robinson, Gabriel Basso, Moises Arias, Nick Offerman, Megan Mullally, Alison Brie.
Upstream Color/ U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Shane Carruth) — A man and woman are drawn together, entangled in the life cycle of an ageless organism. Identity becomes an illusion as they struggle to assemble the loose fragments of wrecked lives. Cast: Amy Seimetz, Shane Carruth, Andrew Sensenig, Thiago Martins.
U.S. Documentary Competition
The world premieres of 16 American documentary films.
99% - The Occupy Wall Street Collaborative Film/ U.S.A. (Directors: Audrey Ewell, Aaron Aites, Lucian Read, Nina Kristic) — The Occupy movement erupted in September 2011, propelling economic inequality into the spotlight. In an unprecedented collaboration, filmmakers across America tell its story, digging into big picture issues as organizers, analysts, participants and critics reveal how it happened and why.
After Tiller/ U.S.A. (Directors: Martha Shane, Lana Wilson) — Since the assassination of Dr. George Tiller in 2009, only four doctors in the country provide late-term abortions. With unprecedented access, After Tiller goes inside the lives of these physicians working at the center of the storm.
American Promise / U.S.A. (Directors: Joe Brewster, Michèle Stephenson) — This intimate documentary follows the 12-year journey of two African-American families pursuing the promise of opportunity through the education of their sons.
Blackfish/ U.S.A. (Director: Gabriela Cowperthwaite) — Notorious killer whale Tilikum is responsible for the deaths of three individuals, including a top killer whale trainer.Blackfish shows the sometimes devastating consequences of keeping such intelligent and sentient creatures in captivity.
Blood Brother/ U.S.A. (Director: Steve Hoover) — Rocky went to India as a disillusioned tourist. When he met a group of children with HIV, he decided to stay. He never could have imagined the obstacles he would face, or the love he would find.
Citizen Koch/ U.S.A. (Directors: Carl Deal, Tia Lessin) — Wisconsin – birthplace of the Republican Party, government unions, “cheeseheads” and Paul Ryan – becomes a test market in the campaign to buy Democracy, and ground zero in the battle for the future of the Gop.
Cutie and the Boxer/ U.S.A. (Director: Zachary Heinzerling) — This candid New York love story explores the chaotic 40-year marriage of famed boxing painter Ushio Shinohara and his wife, Noriko. Anxious to shed her role as her overbearing husband's assistant, Noriko finds an identity of her own.
Dirty Wars/ U.S.A. (Director: Richard Rowley) — Investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill chases down the truth behind America’s covert wars.
Gideon's Army / U.S.A. (Director: Dawn Porter) — Gideon’s Army follows three young, committed Public Defenders who are dedicated to working for the people society would rather forget. Long hours, low pay and staggering caseloads are so common that even the most committed often give up.
God Loves Uganda/ U.S.A. (Director: Roger Ross Williams) — A powerful exploration of the evangelical campaign to infuse African culture with values imported from America’s Christian Right. The film follows American and Ugandan religious leaders fighting “sexual immorality” and missionaries trying to convince Ugandans to follow biblical law.
The Good Life/ U.S.A. (Directors: Sean Fine, Andrea Nix Fine) — Dr. Leslie Gordon and Dr. Scott Berns fight to save their only son from Progeria, a rare and fatal disease for which there is no treatment or cure. In less than a decade, their work has led to significant advances.
Inequality for All/ U.S.A. (Director: Jacob Kornbluth) — In this timely and entertaining documentary, noted economic-policy expert Robert Reich distills the topic of widening income inequality, and addresses the question of what effects this increasing gap has on our economy and our democracy.
Manhunt/ U.S.A., United Kingdom (Director: Greg Barker) — This espionage tale goes inside the CIA’s long conflict against Al Qaeda, as revealed by the remarkable women and men whose secret war against Osama bin Laden started nearly a decade before most of us even knew his name.
Narco Cultura / U.S.A. (Director: Shaul Schwarz) — An examination of Mexican drug cartels’ influence in pop culture on both sides of the border as experienced by an La narcocorrido singer dreaming of stardom and a Juarez crime scene investigator on the front line of Mexico’s Drug War.
Twenty Feet From Stardom/ U.S.A. (Director: Morgan Neville) — Backup singers live in a world that lies just beyond the spotlight. Their voices bring harmony to the biggest bands in popular music, but we've had no idea who these singers are or what lives they lead – until now. Day One Film
Valentine Road / U.S.A. (Director: Marta Cunningham) — In 2008, eighth-grader Brandon McInerney shot classmate Larry King at point blank range. Unraveling this tragedy from point of impact, the film reveals the heartbreaking circumstances that led to the shocking crime as well as its startling aftermath.
World Cinema Dramatic Competition
Twelve films from emerging filmmaking talents offer fresh perspectives and inventive styles.
Circles/ Serbia, Germany, France, Croatia, Slovenia (Director: Srdan Golubovic, Screenwriters: Srdjan Koljevic, Melina Pota Koljevic) — Five people are affected by a tragic heroic act. Twenty years later, all of them will confront the past through their own crises. Will they overcome guilt, frustration and their urge for revenge? Will they do the right thing, at all costs? Cast: Aleksandar Bercek, Leon Lucev, Nebojsa Glogovac, Hristina Popovic, Nikola Rakocevic, Vuk Kostic. World Premiere
Crystal Fairy / Chile (Director and screenwriter: Sebastián Silva) — Jamie invites a stranger to join a road trip to Chile. The woman’s free and esoteric nature clashes with Jamie’s acidic, self-absorbed personality as they head into the desert for a Mescaline-fueled psychedelic trip. Cast: Michael Cera, Gabby Hoffmann, Juan Andrés Silva, José Miguel Silva, Agustín Silva. World Premiere. Day One Film
The Future/ Chile, Germany, Italy, Spain (Director and screenwriter: Alicia Scherson) — When their parents die, Bianca starts to smoke and Tomas is still a virgin. The orphans explore the dangerous streets of adulthood until Bianca finds Maciste, a retired Mr. Universe, and enters his dark mansion in search of a future. Cast: Manuela Martelli, Rutger Hauer, Luigi Ciardo, Nicolas Vaporidis, Alessandro Giallocosta. World Premiere
Houston/ Germany (Director and screenwriter: Bastian Günther) — Clemens Trunschka is a corporate headhunter and an alcoholic. Drinking increasingly isolates him from his life and leads him away from reality. While searching for a CEO candidate in Houston, his addiction submerges him into his own darkness. Cast: Ulrich Tukur, Garret Dillahunt, Wolfram Koch, Jenny Schily, Jason Douglas, Jens Münchow. World Premiere
Jiseul / South Korea (Director and screenwriter: Muel O) — In 1948, as the Korean government ordered the Communists’ eviction to Jeju Island, the military invaded a calm and peaceful village. Townsfolk took sanctuary in a cave and debated moving to a higher mountain. Cast: Min-chul Sung, Jung-won Yang, Young-soon Oh, Soon-dong Park, Suk-bum Moon, Kyung-sub Jang. International Premiere
Lasting / Poland, Spain (Director and screenwriter: Jacek Borcuch) — An emotional love story about two Polish students who fall in love with each other while working summer jobs in Spain. An unexpected nightmare interrupts their carefree time in the heavenly landscape and throws their lives into chaos. Cast: Jakub Gierszal, Magdalena Berus, Angela Molina. World Premiere
Metro Manila / United Kingdom, Philippines (Director: Sean Ellis, Screenwriters: Sean Ellis, Frank E. Flowers) — Seeking a better life, Oscar and his family move from the poverty-stricken rice fields to the big city of Manila, where they fall victim to various inhabitants whose manipulative ways are a daily part of city survival. Cast: Jake Macapagal, John Arcilla, Althea Vega. World Premiere
Shopping / New Zealand (Directors: Mark Albiston, Louis Sutherland, Screenwriters: Louis Sutherland, Mark Albiston) — New Zealand, 1981: Seduced by a charismatic career criminal, teenager Willie must choose where his loyalty lies – with a family of shoplifters or his own blood. Cast: Kevin Paulo, Julian Dennison, Jacek Koman, Alistair Browning. World Premiere
Soldate Jeannette/ Austria (Director: Daniel Hoesl) — Fanni has had enough of money and leaves to buy a tent. Anna has had enough of pigs and leaves a needle in the hay. Cars crash and money burns to shape their mutual journey toward a rising liberty. Cast: Johanna Orsini-Rosenberg, Christina Reichsthaler, Josef Kleindienst, Aurelia Burckhardt, Julia Schranz, Ines Rössl. World Premiere
There Will Come a Day/ Italy, France (Director: Giorgio Diritti, Screenwriters: Giorgio Diritti, Fredo Valla, Tania Pedroni) — Painful issues push Augusta, a young Italian woman, to doubt the certainties on which she has built her existence. On a small boat in the immensity of the Amazon rain forest, she faces the adventure of searching for herself. Cast: Jasmine Trinca, Anne Alvaro, Pia Engleberth. World Premiere
Wajma (An Afghan Love Story)/ Afghanistan (Director and screenwriter: Barmak Akram) — A young man in Kabul seduces a girl. When she tells him she’s pregnant, he questions having taken her virginity. Then her father arrives, and a timeless, archaic violence erupts – possibly leading to a crime, and even a sacrifice. Cast: Wajma Bahar, Mustafa Abdulsatar, Haji Gul, Breshna Bahar. World Premiere
What They Don't Talk About When They Talk About Love/ Indonesia (Director and screenwriter: Mouly Surya) — Mouly Surya’s film explores the odds of love and deception among the blind, the deaf and the unlucky sighted people at a high school for the visually impaired. Cast: Nicholas Saputra, Ayushita Nugraha, Karina Salim, Anggun Priambodo, Lupita Jennifer. World Premiere
World Cinema Documentary Competition
Twelve documentaries by some of the most courageous and extraordinary filmmakers working today.
Fallen City / China (Director: Qi Zhao) — Fallen City spans four years to reveal how three families who survived the 2008 Sichuan earthquake to embark on a journey searching for hope, purpose, identity, and to rebuild their lives in a new China torn between tradition and modernity. North American Premiere
Fire in the Blood/ India (Director: Dylan Mohan Gray) — In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Western governments and pharmaceutical companies blocked low-cost antiretroviral drugs from reaching AIDS-stricken Africa, causing 10 million or more unnecessary deaths. An improbable group of people decided to fight back. North American Premiere
Google and the World Brain/ Spain, United Kingdom (Director: Ben Lewis) — In the most ambitious project ever conceived on the Internet, Google has been scanning the world's books for 10 years. They said the intention was to build a giant digital library, but that involved scanning millions of copyrighted works. World Premiere
The Machine Which Makes Everything Disappear/ Georgia, Germany (Director: Tinatin Gurchiani) — A film director casting a 15-23-year-old protagonist visits villages and cities to meet people who answer her call. She follows those who prove to be interesting enough through various dramatic and funny situations. North American Premiere
The Moo Man/ United Kingdom (Directors: Andy Heathcote, Heike Bachelier) — A year in the life of heroic farmer Steve, scene stealing Ida (queen of the herd), and a supporting cast of 55 cows. When Ida falls ill, Steve’s optimism is challenged and their whole way of life is at stake. World Premiere
Pussy Riot – A Punk Prayer / Russian Federation, United Kingdom (Directors: Mike Lerner, Maxim Pozdorovkin) — Three young women face seven years in a Russian prison for a satirical performance in a Moscow cathedral. But who is really on trial: the three young artists or the society they live in? World Premiere
A River Changes Course/ Cambodia, U.S.A. (Director: Kalyanee Mam) — Three young Cambodians struggle to overcome the crushing effects of deforestation, overfishing, and overwhelming debt in this devastatingly beautiful story of a country reeling from the tragedies of war and rushing to keep pace with a rapidly expanding world. World Premiere
Salma/ United Kingdom, India (Director: Kim Longinotto) — When Salma, a young girl in South India, reached puberty, her parents locked her away. Millions of girls all over the world share the same fate. Twenty-five years later, Salma has fought her way back to the outside world. World Premiere
The Square (El Midan) / Egypt, U.S.A. (Director: Jehane Noujaim) — What does it mean to risk your life for your ideals? How far will five revolutionaries go in defending their beliefs in the fight for their nation? World Premiere
The Stuart Hall Project/ United Kingdom (Director: John Akomfrah) — Antinuclear campaigner, New Left activist and founding father of Cultural Studies, this documentary interweaves 70 years of Stuart Hall’s film, radio and television appearances, and material from his private archive to document a memorable life and construct a portrait of Britain’s foremost radical intellectual. World Premiere
The Summit / Ireland, United Kingdom (Director: Nick Ryan) — Twenty-four climbers converged at the last stop before summiting the most dangerous mountain on Earth. Forty-eight hours later, 11 had been killed or simply vanished. Had one, Ger McDonnell, stuck to the climbers' code, he might still be alive.International Premiere
Who is Dayani Cristal?/ United Kingdom (Director: Marc Silver) — An anonymous body in the Arizona desert sparks the beginning of a real-life human drama. The search for its identity leads us across a continent to seek out the people left behind and the meaning of a mysterious tattoo. World Premiere. Day One Film
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Pure, bold works distinguished by an innovative, forward-thinking approach to storytelling. Digital technology paired with unfettered creativity proves the films selected in this section will inform a “greater” next wave in American cinema.
Blue Caprice/ U.S.A. (Director: Alexandre Moors, Screenwriters: R.F.I Porto, Alexandre Moors) — An abandoned boy is lured to America and drawn into the shadow of a dangerous father figure in this film inspired by the real life events that led to the 2002 Beltway sniper attacks. Cast: Isaiah Washington, Tequan Richmond, Joey Lauren Adams, Tim Blake Nelson, Cassandra Freeman, Leo Fitzpatrick.
Computer Chess /U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Andrew Bujalski) — An existential comedy about the brilliant men who taught machines to play chess – back when the machines seemed clumsy and we seemed smart. Cast: Patrick Riester, Myles Paige, James Curry, Robin Schwartz, Gerald Peary, Wiley Wiggins.
Escape from Tomorrow/ U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Randy Moore) — A postmodern, surreal voyage into the bowels of "family" entertainment; an epic battle begins when an unemployed, middle-aged father loses his sanity during a close encounter with two teenage girls on holiday. Cast: Roy Abramsohn, Elena Schuber, Katelynn Rodriguez, Annet Mahendru, Danielle Safady, Alison Lees-Taylor.
I Used to Be Darker/ U.S.A. (Director: Matthew Porterfield, Screenwriters: Amy Belk, Matthew Porterfield) — A runaway seeks refuge with her aunt and uncle in Baltimore, only to find their marriage ending and her cousin in crisis. In the days that follow, the family struggles to let go while searching for things to sustain them. Cast: Deragh Campbell, Hannah Gross, Kim Taylor, Ned Oldham, Geoff Grace, Nick Petr.
It Felt Like Love / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Eliza Hittman) — On the outskirts of Brooklyn, a 14-year-old girl’s sexual quest takes a dangerous turn when she pursues an older guy and tests the boundaries between obsession and love.Cast: Gina Piersanti, Giovanna Salimeni, Ronen Rubinstein, Jesse Cordasco, Nick Rosen, Case Prime.
Milkshake/ U.S.A. (Director: David Andalman, Screenwriters: David Andalman, Mariko Munro) — In mid-1990's America, we follow the tragic sex life of Jolie Jolson, a wannabe thug (and great-great-grandson of legendary vaudevillian Al Jolson) in suburban DC as he strives to become something he can never be – black. Cast: Tyler Ross, Shareeka Epps, Georgia Ford, Eshan Bay, Leo Fitzpatrick, Danny Burstein.
Newlyweeds/ U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Shaka King) — A Brooklyn repo man and his globetrotting girlfriend forge an unlikely romance. But what should be a match made in stoner heaven turns into a love triangle gone awry in this dark coming-of-age comedy about dependency. Cast: Amari Cheatom, Trae Harris, Tone Tank, Colman Domingo, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Adrian Martinez.
Pit Stop/ U.S.A. (Director: Yen Tan, Screenwriters: Yen Tan, David Lowery) — Two working-class gay men in a small Texas town and a love that isn't quite out of reach. Cast: Bill Heck, Marcus DeAnda, Amy Seimetz, John Merriman, Alfredo Maduro, Corby Sullivan.
A Teacher/ U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Hannah Fidell) — A popular young teacher in a wealthy suburban Texas high school has an affair with one of her students. Her life begins to unravel as the relationship comes to an end. Cast: Lindsay Burdge, Will Brittain, Jennifer Prediger, Jonny Mars, Julie Phillips, Chris Dubeck.
This is Martin Bonner/ U.S.A.(Director and screenwriter: Chad Hartigan) — Martin Bonner has just moved to Reno for a new job in prison rehabilitation. Starting over at age 58, he struggles to adapt until an unlikely friendship with an ex-con blossoms, helping him confront the problems he left behind. Cast: Paul Eenhoorn, Richmond Arquette, Sam Buchanan, Robert Longstreet, Demetrius Grosse.
The Sundance Film Festival®
A program of the non-profit Sundance Institute®, the Festival has introduced global audiences to some of the most ground-breaking films of the past two decades, including sex, lies, and videotape, Maria Full of Grace, The Cove, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, An Inconvenient Truth, Precious, Trouble the Water, and Napoleon Dynamite, and through its New Frontier initiative, has showcased the cinematic works of media artists including Isaac Julien, Doug Aitken, Pierre Huyghe, Jennifer Steinkamp, and Matthew Barney. The 2013 Sundance Film Festival® sponsors include: Presenting Sponsors – Hp, Acura, Sundance Channel and Chase Sapphire PreferredSM; Leadership Sponsors – Directv, Entertainment Weekly, Focus Forward, a partnership between Ge and Cinelan, Southwest Airlines, Sprint and YouTube; Sustaining Sponsors – Adobe, Canada Goose, Canon U.S.A., Inc., CÎRoc Ultra Premium Vodka, FilterForGood®, a partnership between Brita® and Nalgene®, Hilton HHonors and Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts, Intel Corporation, L'Oréal Paris, Recycled Paper Greetings, Stella Artois® and Time Warner Inc. Sundance Institute recognizes critical support from the Utah Governor's Office of Economic Development, and the State of Utah as Festival Host State. The support of these organizations will defray costs associated with the 10-day Festival and the nonprofit Sundance Institute's year-round programs for independent film and theatre artists. www.sundance.org/festival
Sundance Institute
Founded by Robert Redford in 1981, Sundance Institute is a global, nonprofit cultural organization dedicated to nurturing artistic expression in film and theater, and to supporting intercultural dialogue between artists and audiences. The Institute promotes independent storytelling to unite, inform and inspire, regardless of geo-political, social, religious or cultural differences. Internationally recognized for its annual Sundance Film Festival and its artistic development programs for directors, screenwriters, producers, film composers, playwrights and theatre artists, Sundance Institute has nurtured such projects as Born into Brothels, Trouble the Water, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Amreeka, An Inconvenient Truth, Spring Awakening, Light in the Piazza and Angels in America. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
- 12/27/2012
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Keeping us firmly on the ground, this year’s domestic competition is mostly comprised of the politically charged verity we’ve come to expect to find in Park City. Unsurprisingly coming straight from this summer’s doc labs, Roger Ross Williams’s God Loves Uganda and Dawn Porter’s Gideon’s Army are both making their debut. Sundance award winning directors for Trouble the Water in Carl Deal and Tia Lessin are making their sophomore appearance at the helm and fest with Citizen Koch (see pic above) and so is the dynamic team of Sean and Andrea Nix Fine who return to the fest after triumphing back in 2007 with War/Dance. While last year featured a wide variety of tones and tenors that dabbled in odd-ball character studies and the arts, this year, Morgan Neville’s Twenty Feet From Stardom looks to be the lone picture to dabble in performance,...
- 11/29/2012
- by Jordan M. Smith
- IONCINEMA.com
As a resident of a city whose history of storms — and their concomitant unnatural disasters — is troubled at best, I watched Sandy warily but distantly. Thing always look different outside the "cone of uncertainty." The images coming in from the Northeast this morning put me in a more solemn frame of mind. As the Washington Post quoted AccuWeather meteorologist Steve Wistar in this morning's top story, “Sandy is unfolding as the Northeast’s Katrina in terms of impact.” What that (somewhat hyperbolic) comparison might mean comes through most clearly in a pair of deeply felt documentaries about post-Katrina New Orleans, Spike Lee's magisterial, four-part "When the Levees Broke" (2006) and Tia Lessin and Carl Deal's smaller but no less powerful "Trouble the Water" (2008). Taken together, they form a map of those first and most difficult steps on the way back. (More on "Trouble the Water"...
- 10/30/2012
- by Matt Brennan
- Thompson on Hollywood
Sundance Institute has hired Paul Federbush to become International Director, Feature Film Program (Ffp), a highly sought-after job which Alesia Weston left open when she left in May to become Executive Director of the Jerusalem Film Centre and Fesival. Federbush began September 24 and is reporting to Michelle Satter, Founding Director, Feature Film Program.
Paul is already reaching out into new geographic areas searching for those filmmakers who have the greatest potential for making a brand new mark on the worldwide film business. His responsibility is the planning and execution of the international work of Sundance Institute’s Feature Film Program which includes year round support for International artists through Labs, granting, and ongoing mentorship providing creative and tactical support. Federbush will oversee international Labs in collaboration with local partners in the Middle East and India, outreach and discover new international filmmakers and projects, steward programs such as the Sundance Institute|Mahindra Global Filmmaking Award and Sundance| Nhk Award, and support the international artists participating in the annual Sundance Labs in Utah. In addition he will develop opportunities to further advance and broaden the scope of the Ffp’s International initiative.
We congratulate Paul and are proud to be able to say that we have known him since his early days at Fine Line. Federbush is a seasoned production, acquisition, and distribution executive with eighteen years of experience in the entertainment industry. Most recently Federbush, along with partner Laura Kim, started a distribution company, Red Flag Releasing. Prior to forming Red Flag, Federbush served as Senior Vice President of Production and Acquisitions at Warner Independent Pictures where he oversaw the acquisition, production, and development of projects including Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire, and Hany Abu Assad’s Paradise Now.
For nearly three decades, Sundance Institute has promoted independent storytelling to inform and inspire audiences across political, social, religious and cultural differences. Through Labs, direct artist granting, special projects with key partners and the Sundance Film Festival, the Institute serves as the leading advocate for independent artists worldwide. Sundance Institute Feature Film Program Over its 30-year history, the Sundance Institute Feature Film Program has supported an extensive list of award-winning and groundbreaking independent films.
Ffp films currently in the marketplace include Benh Zeitlin and Lucy Alibar’s Beasts of the Southern Wild (winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival), Craig Zobel’s Compliance, Mike Birbiglia and Seth Barrish’s Sleepwalk With Me, Todd Louiso and Sarah Koskoff’s Hello I Must Be Going, and Ira Sachs’ Keep the Lights On. Recent international Ffp films include Sally El Hosaini’s My Brother the Devil, Andrei Zyvagintsev’s Elena, Edwin’s Postcards from the Zoo, Alejandro Landes’ Porfirio, and the festival films Haifaa Al Mansour’s Wadjda and Ziad Douieri’s L’Attack.Additional notable films supported over the program’s history include Sean Durkin’s Martha Marcy May Marlene, Dee Rees’ Pariah, Maryam Keshavarz’s Circumstance, Cherien Dabis' Amreeka, Cary Fukunaga's Sin Nombre, Fernando Eimbcke's Lake Tahoe, Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden’s Half Nelson, Andrea Arnold's Red Road, Miranda July’s Me and You and Everyone We Know, Hany Abu-Assad’s Paradise Now, Debra Granik’s Down to the Bone, Josh Marston’s Maria Page 2 Full of Grace, Lisa Cholodenko’s Laurel Canyon, Peter Sollett’s Raising Victor Vargas, John Cameron Mitchell’s Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Darren Aronofsky’s Requiem for a Dream, Kimberly Peirce’s Boys Don't Cry, Lucrecia Martel’s La Cienaga, Walter Salles’ Central Station, Chris Eyre and Sherman Alexie’s Smoke Signals, Nicole Holofcener’s Walking and Talking, Allison Anders' Mi Vida Loca, Paul Thomas Anderson’s Hard Eight, Tamara Jenkins’ Slums of Beverly Hills, and Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs.
Sundance Institute Sundance Institute is a global nonprofit organization founded by Robert Redford in 1981. Through its 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 Born into Brothels, Trouble the Water, Son of Babylon, Amreeka, An Inconvenient Truth, Spring Awakening, Light in the Piazza and Angels in America, and through its New Frontier initiative, has brought the cinematic works of media artists including Pipilotti Rist, Doug Aitken, Pierre Huyghe, Jennifer Steinkamp, and Matthew Barney . Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. # # #...
Paul is already reaching out into new geographic areas searching for those filmmakers who have the greatest potential for making a brand new mark on the worldwide film business. His responsibility is the planning and execution of the international work of Sundance Institute’s Feature Film Program which includes year round support for International artists through Labs, granting, and ongoing mentorship providing creative and tactical support. Federbush will oversee international Labs in collaboration with local partners in the Middle East and India, outreach and discover new international filmmakers and projects, steward programs such as the Sundance Institute|Mahindra Global Filmmaking Award and Sundance| Nhk Award, and support the international artists participating in the annual Sundance Labs in Utah. In addition he will develop opportunities to further advance and broaden the scope of the Ffp’s International initiative.
We congratulate Paul and are proud to be able to say that we have known him since his early days at Fine Line. Federbush is a seasoned production, acquisition, and distribution executive with eighteen years of experience in the entertainment industry. Most recently Federbush, along with partner Laura Kim, started a distribution company, Red Flag Releasing. Prior to forming Red Flag, Federbush served as Senior Vice President of Production and Acquisitions at Warner Independent Pictures where he oversaw the acquisition, production, and development of projects including Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire, and Hany Abu Assad’s Paradise Now.
For nearly three decades, Sundance Institute has promoted independent storytelling to inform and inspire audiences across political, social, religious and cultural differences. Through Labs, direct artist granting, special projects with key partners and the Sundance Film Festival, the Institute serves as the leading advocate for independent artists worldwide. Sundance Institute Feature Film Program Over its 30-year history, the Sundance Institute Feature Film Program has supported an extensive list of award-winning and groundbreaking independent films.
Ffp films currently in the marketplace include Benh Zeitlin and Lucy Alibar’s Beasts of the Southern Wild (winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival), Craig Zobel’s Compliance, Mike Birbiglia and Seth Barrish’s Sleepwalk With Me, Todd Louiso and Sarah Koskoff’s Hello I Must Be Going, and Ira Sachs’ Keep the Lights On. Recent international Ffp films include Sally El Hosaini’s My Brother the Devil, Andrei Zyvagintsev’s Elena, Edwin’s Postcards from the Zoo, Alejandro Landes’ Porfirio, and the festival films Haifaa Al Mansour’s Wadjda and Ziad Douieri’s L’Attack.Additional notable films supported over the program’s history include Sean Durkin’s Martha Marcy May Marlene, Dee Rees’ Pariah, Maryam Keshavarz’s Circumstance, Cherien Dabis' Amreeka, Cary Fukunaga's Sin Nombre, Fernando Eimbcke's Lake Tahoe, Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden’s Half Nelson, Andrea Arnold's Red Road, Miranda July’s Me and You and Everyone We Know, Hany Abu-Assad’s Paradise Now, Debra Granik’s Down to the Bone, Josh Marston’s Maria Page 2 Full of Grace, Lisa Cholodenko’s Laurel Canyon, Peter Sollett’s Raising Victor Vargas, John Cameron Mitchell’s Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Darren Aronofsky’s Requiem for a Dream, Kimberly Peirce’s Boys Don't Cry, Lucrecia Martel’s La Cienaga, Walter Salles’ Central Station, Chris Eyre and Sherman Alexie’s Smoke Signals, Nicole Holofcener’s Walking and Talking, Allison Anders' Mi Vida Loca, Paul Thomas Anderson’s Hard Eight, Tamara Jenkins’ Slums of Beverly Hills, and Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs.
Sundance Institute Sundance Institute is a global nonprofit organization founded by Robert Redford in 1981. Through its 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 Born into Brothels, Trouble the Water, Son of Babylon, Amreeka, An Inconvenient Truth, Spring Awakening, Light in the Piazza and Angels in America, and through its New Frontier initiative, has brought the cinematic works of media artists including Pipilotti Rist, Doug Aitken, Pierre Huyghe, Jennifer Steinkamp, and Matthew Barney . Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. # # #...
- 10/9/2012
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
The Narrative and Documentary Competition feature films for the 23rd annual New Orleans Film Festival were announced today by the New Orleans Film Society. The festival (October 11-18) chose their lineup from a record 1,250 submissions. Of the fifteen competing feature films, ten are directed by women. All the films are having Louisiana premieres and winning filmmakers will get a $10,000 value camera package courtesy of Panavision. A jury will determine each winner and the jury includes Michelle Satter (founder, Feature Film Program at the Sundance Institute), Neal Block (head of distribution, Magnolia Pictures), Tia Lessin (Academy Award-nominated director, "Trouble the Water"); Lois Vossen (founding and Emmy Award-winning series producer, "Independent Lens"); and Michael Lumpkin (executive director, International Documentary Association). Jolene Pinder, Executive Director of the New Orleans Film Society, expressed her excitement over this...
- 8/23/2012
- by Srimathi Sridhar
- Indiewire
Halo sounds a certain way to longtime fans of the series. If you ask anyone who's played through the campaigns of the main titles in the series, composer Marty O'Donnell's score has been integral to the Master Chief and Cortana's galaxy-spanning adventures (to the degree that even O'Donnell's own jazzier compositions for Odst were met with doubt and confusion by fans).
But with 343 Industries taking over the franchise from Bungie, the Kirkland, Wa-based developer had to think about what was next sonically for the series, vetting several candidates to give the first game in a new trilogy its own sound. And as Neil Davidge, the man who would eventually get the gig tells it, they didn't want to do the usual film composer doing games things.
Davidge is the longtime producer and writer with the British electronic outfit, Massive Attack, and he knows something about wedding music to action,...
But with 343 Industries taking over the franchise from Bungie, the Kirkland, Wa-based developer had to think about what was next sonically for the series, vetting several candidates to give the first game in a new trilogy its own sound. And as Neil Davidge, the man who would eventually get the gig tells it, they didn't want to do the usual film composer doing games things.
Davidge is the longtime producer and writer with the British electronic outfit, Massive Attack, and he knows something about wedding music to action,...
- 8/22/2012
- by Charles Webb
- MTV Multiplayer
Founded by actor and director Robert Redford in 1981, the nonprofit organization Sundance Institute is not only recognized internationally for its annual film festival in Park City, Utah, but also for its artistic development programs for directors, screenwriters, producers, film composers, playwrights and theatre artists. The organization has supported critically acclaimed film projects including Born into Brothels, Amreeka, An Inconvenient Truth, Angels in America and many more.
Eleven projects were selected for the Sundance Creative Producing Labs this year, held from July 30 - August 3. The selected producers receive creative and strategic support through the year as well as fellowships for direct funding of development and production. Two of the Fellows selected are in Austin, Texas -- producer Kelly Williams (Hellion, Cinema Six), former Austin Film Festival Program Director and Director of Programming of Forth Worth's Lone Star International Film Festival; and producer/director/cinematographer Pj Raval (Trouble the Water, Trinidad). Find out more after the jump.
Eleven projects were selected for the Sundance Creative Producing Labs this year, held from July 30 - August 3. The selected producers receive creative and strategic support through the year as well as fellowships for direct funding of development and production. Two of the Fellows selected are in Austin, Texas -- producer Kelly Williams (Hellion, Cinema Six), former Austin Film Festival Program Director and Director of Programming of Forth Worth's Lone Star International Film Festival; and producer/director/cinematographer Pj Raval (Trouble the Water, Trinidad). Find out more after the jump.
- 7/19/2012
- by Debbie Cerda
- Slackerwood
At SXSW a panel titled “The Great Cinematography Shootout” gathered a group of directors and cinematographers to discuss independent film lensing in an age of proliferating formats and lower-cost, high-quality cameras, like the Canon 5D. The directors of photography were Jody Lee Lipes (Girls, Tiny Furniture, and also the director of Opus Jazz), James Laxton (Medicine for Melancholy, Leave Me Like You Found Me), Clay Lifford (Gayby, and also the director of such films as Wuss and Earthling), Pj Raval (Trouble the Water, Sunset Stories, and also the director of Trinidad); and filmmaker, editor and d.p. David Lowery (Pioneer, and, as d.p. Audrey the Trainwreck). Here, from the d.p.’s, are ten tips for those looking to shoot smart-looking films on a low budget.
1. Let the camera create the atmosphere. The small form factor of the Dslr “changes everything, including the mood on the set and the performances,...
1. Let the camera create the atmosphere. The small form factor of the Dslr “changes everything, including the mood on the set and the performances,...
- 3/14/2012
- by Scott Macaulay
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Beasts of the Southern Wild
The House I Live In, Beasts of the Southern Wild, The Law in These Parts and Violeta Went to Heaven Earn Grand Jury Prizes
Audience Favorites Include The Invisible War, The Surrogate, Searching For Sugar Man and Valley of Saints
Sleepwalk With Me Receives Best of Audience Award
Park City, Ut . Sundance Institute this evening announced the Jury, Audience, and other special awards of the 2012 Sundance Film Festival at the Festival.s Awards Ceremony, hosted by Parker Posey in Park City, Utah. An archived video of the ceremony in its entirety is available at www.sundance.org/live.
.Every year the Sundance Film Festival brings to light exciting new directions and fresh voices in independent film, and this year is no different,. said John Cooper, Director of the Sundance Film Festival. .While these awards further distinguish those that have had the most impact on audiences and our jury,...
The House I Live In, Beasts of the Southern Wild, The Law in These Parts and Violeta Went to Heaven Earn Grand Jury Prizes
Audience Favorites Include The Invisible War, The Surrogate, Searching For Sugar Man and Valley of Saints
Sleepwalk With Me Receives Best of Audience Award
Park City, Ut . Sundance Institute this evening announced the Jury, Audience, and other special awards of the 2012 Sundance Film Festival at the Festival.s Awards Ceremony, hosted by Parker Posey in Park City, Utah. An archived video of the ceremony in its entirety is available at www.sundance.org/live.
.Every year the Sundance Film Festival brings to light exciting new directions and fresh voices in independent film, and this year is no different,. said John Cooper, Director of the Sundance Film Festival. .While these awards further distinguish those that have had the most impact on audiences and our jury,...
- 1/29/2012
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Sundance Institute and Mahindra announced the winners of the 2012 Sundance Institute/ Mahindra Global Filmmaking Award, in recognition and support of emerging independent filmmakers from around the world at a private ceremony on January 24 at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.
The winners:
Etienne Kallos for Free State (Vrystaat) from South Africa. This Greek/ South African filmmaker with an Mfa in film directing from Nyu has screened his work at festivals worldwide. His film Eersgeborene was the first Afrikaans-language film to be awarded a Lion for Best Short Film at the 2009 Venice Film Festival. Vrystaat was developed at the Cannes Cinefondation Residence program in Paris.
Set during the annual corn harvest in the Free State, Vrystaat explores the rites of passage into manhood for a new generation as they navigate identity and sexuality within the fractured realm of post-Colonial Africa.
Ariel Kleiman / Partisan (Australia): In an undisclosed commune cut-off from the outside world, a guarded criminal named Gregori controls a group of women and children who not only assist him on the farm but also carry out dangerous assassinations in the neighboring towns. His authority is undisputed until one child, Alexander, decides to quietly undermine his plans.
Ariel Kleiman last appeared at Sundance with his short film Deeper than Yesterday, which received the Jury Prize in International Filmmaking. The year prior, his student film Young Love received Honorable Mention in Short Filmmaking.
Dominga Sotomayor / Tarde Para Morir Joven (Late To Die Young) (Chile): In an isolated community far from the city, three women face a forest fire that threatens their sense of belonging and their lives. Dominga, born in Santiago de Chile in 1985 finisher her Direction studies at the Universidad Catolica de Chile and recevied a scholarship for her Masters in Film Direction at the Escac, Barcelona. Her first feature, De Jueves a Domingo (Thursday to Sunday) was part of the Cannes Cinefondation and was supported by the Hubert Bals Fund and shows at Rotterdam Film Festival this February. Tarde Para Morir Joven is her second feature, developed at Binger Filmlab and the Jerusalem International Film Lab.
Shonali Bose / Margarita. With a Straw (India): She falls repeatedly in love, yearns to have sex and wants to be a Bollywood songwriter. Laila. A brilliant mind trapped in a disobedient body. Shonali received her Ma in Political Science at Columbia University followed by an Mfa in Directing from the UCLA School of theater, Film and Televisionn where she won a number of awards inncludin the Ely Award for Best Documetary, Wasserman Award, Jack Sauter Award, Hollywood Radio and Television Society International Broadcasting Award, Motion Picture Association of America Award. After graduating she taught at Nyfa, Universal Studios for a year before starting to write her debut feature film.
Each of the four winning filmmakers receive a cash award of $10,000, attendance at the Sundance Film Festival for targeted industry and creative meetings, year-round mentoring from Institute staff and creative advisors, and participation in one of the Sundance Institute Labs.
The Sundance Institute/ Mahindra Global Filmmaking Award is part of a multifaceted agreement that exemplifies the commitment to and support of world cinema by the Mahindra Group, one of the largest companies in India known throughout the world for its dedication to excellence and social responsibility, and the nonprofit Sundance Institute, one of the world’s leading cultural organizations.
The collaboration, which also includes the establishment of the Mumbai Mantra | Sundance Institute Screenwriters Lab in India, extends over a three-year period. The Lab will provide an opportunity for eight screenwriters from India to develop their feature scripts under the guidance of accomplished international screenwriters and filmmakers in an environment that encourages storytelling at the highest level.
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 Born into Brothels, Trouble the Water, Sin Nombre, Martha Marcy May Marlene,, Amreeka, An Inconvenient Truth, Spring Awakening, I Am My Own Wife, Light in the Piazza and Angels in America. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
About Mahindra
Mahindra embarked on its journey in 1945 by assembling the Willys Jeep in India and is now a Us $14.4 billion Indian multinational. It employs over 1,44,000 people across the globe and enjoys a leadership position in utility vehicles, tractors and information technology, with a significant and growing presence in financial services, tourism, infrastructure development, trade logistics and, recently, the entertainment industry.
Its media and entertainment company, Mumbai Mantra Media Ltd, presented Indian National Award-winning Best Feature Film, ‘Antaheen’ in 2009, and has recently co-produced ‘The Tempest’ directed by Julie Taymor . It is evaluating various opportunities in the media and entertainment space in India as well as internationally.
The Mahindra Group has a long standing commitment to the arts and humanities. The Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Awards (Meta) were created to encourage both emerging and established theatre and celebrated its Sixth Anniversary in 2011. The Group’s encouragement and support to world music will be at its fore at the second annual Mahindra Blues Festival in Mumbai in February 2012 – the largest festival of its kind in Asia, showcasing the best international Blues artists and providing a common platform for emerging Indian Blues bands.
Mr. Anand Mahindra, Vice Chairman & Managing Director of the Mahindra Group, recently gave an endowment of $10 million to the Humanities Centre at the Harvard University, his alma mater.
To encourage and support the ‘young and the unknown’ and to give back to the communities it operates in, has been the core of the Mahindra Group’s involvement in art and culture.
www.mahindra.com www.mumbaimantra.com.
# # #
Emily Davis
B|W|RPublic Relations
9100 Wilshire Blvd.
5th Floor, West Tower
Beverly Hills, CA 90212
( 310-248-6100 |2 310-550-1701
* edavis@bwr-la.com...
The winners:
Etienne Kallos for Free State (Vrystaat) from South Africa. This Greek/ South African filmmaker with an Mfa in film directing from Nyu has screened his work at festivals worldwide. His film Eersgeborene was the first Afrikaans-language film to be awarded a Lion for Best Short Film at the 2009 Venice Film Festival. Vrystaat was developed at the Cannes Cinefondation Residence program in Paris.
Set during the annual corn harvest in the Free State, Vrystaat explores the rites of passage into manhood for a new generation as they navigate identity and sexuality within the fractured realm of post-Colonial Africa.
Ariel Kleiman / Partisan (Australia): In an undisclosed commune cut-off from the outside world, a guarded criminal named Gregori controls a group of women and children who not only assist him on the farm but also carry out dangerous assassinations in the neighboring towns. His authority is undisputed until one child, Alexander, decides to quietly undermine his plans.
Ariel Kleiman last appeared at Sundance with his short film Deeper than Yesterday, which received the Jury Prize in International Filmmaking. The year prior, his student film Young Love received Honorable Mention in Short Filmmaking.
Dominga Sotomayor / Tarde Para Morir Joven (Late To Die Young) (Chile): In an isolated community far from the city, three women face a forest fire that threatens their sense of belonging and their lives. Dominga, born in Santiago de Chile in 1985 finisher her Direction studies at the Universidad Catolica de Chile and recevied a scholarship for her Masters in Film Direction at the Escac, Barcelona. Her first feature, De Jueves a Domingo (Thursday to Sunday) was part of the Cannes Cinefondation and was supported by the Hubert Bals Fund and shows at Rotterdam Film Festival this February. Tarde Para Morir Joven is her second feature, developed at Binger Filmlab and the Jerusalem International Film Lab.
Shonali Bose / Margarita. With a Straw (India): She falls repeatedly in love, yearns to have sex and wants to be a Bollywood songwriter. Laila. A brilliant mind trapped in a disobedient body. Shonali received her Ma in Political Science at Columbia University followed by an Mfa in Directing from the UCLA School of theater, Film and Televisionn where she won a number of awards inncludin the Ely Award for Best Documetary, Wasserman Award, Jack Sauter Award, Hollywood Radio and Television Society International Broadcasting Award, Motion Picture Association of America Award. After graduating she taught at Nyfa, Universal Studios for a year before starting to write her debut feature film.
Each of the four winning filmmakers receive a cash award of $10,000, attendance at the Sundance Film Festival for targeted industry and creative meetings, year-round mentoring from Institute staff and creative advisors, and participation in one of the Sundance Institute Labs.
The Sundance Institute/ Mahindra Global Filmmaking Award is part of a multifaceted agreement that exemplifies the commitment to and support of world cinema by the Mahindra Group, one of the largest companies in India known throughout the world for its dedication to excellence and social responsibility, and the nonprofit Sundance Institute, one of the world’s leading cultural organizations.
The collaboration, which also includes the establishment of the Mumbai Mantra | Sundance Institute Screenwriters Lab in India, extends over a three-year period. The Lab will provide an opportunity for eight screenwriters from India to develop their feature scripts under the guidance of accomplished international screenwriters and filmmakers in an environment that encourages storytelling at the highest level.
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 Born into Brothels, Trouble the Water, Sin Nombre, Martha Marcy May Marlene,, Amreeka, An Inconvenient Truth, Spring Awakening, I Am My Own Wife, Light in the Piazza and Angels in America. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
About Mahindra
Mahindra embarked on its journey in 1945 by assembling the Willys Jeep in India and is now a Us $14.4 billion Indian multinational. It employs over 1,44,000 people across the globe and enjoys a leadership position in utility vehicles, tractors and information technology, with a significant and growing presence in financial services, tourism, infrastructure development, trade logistics and, recently, the entertainment industry.
Its media and entertainment company, Mumbai Mantra Media Ltd, presented Indian National Award-winning Best Feature Film, ‘Antaheen’ in 2009, and has recently co-produced ‘The Tempest’ directed by Julie Taymor . It is evaluating various opportunities in the media and entertainment space in India as well as internationally.
The Mahindra Group has a long standing commitment to the arts and humanities. The Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Awards (Meta) were created to encourage both emerging and established theatre and celebrated its Sixth Anniversary in 2011. The Group’s encouragement and support to world music will be at its fore at the second annual Mahindra Blues Festival in Mumbai in February 2012 – the largest festival of its kind in Asia, showcasing the best international Blues artists and providing a common platform for emerging Indian Blues bands.
Mr. Anand Mahindra, Vice Chairman & Managing Director of the Mahindra Group, recently gave an endowment of $10 million to the Humanities Centre at the Harvard University, his alma mater.
To encourage and support the ‘young and the unknown’ and to give back to the communities it operates in, has been the core of the Mahindra Group’s involvement in art and culture.
www.mahindra.com www.mumbaimantra.com.
# # #
Emily Davis
B|W|RPublic Relations
9100 Wilshire Blvd.
5th Floor, West Tower
Beverly Hills, CA 90212
( 310-248-6100 |2 310-550-1701
* edavis@bwr-la.com...
- 1/25/2012
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Skoll Foundation And Sundance Institute Present
Celebrating .Stories Of Change. Panel
At 2012 Sundance Film Festival
Fifth Stories of Change Convening for Filmmakers and Social Entrepreneurs
The Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program and the Skoll Foundation today announced a special Celebrating .Stories of Change. panel to be held at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. The panel celebrates the fifth anniversary of the Stories of Change: Social Entrepreneurship in Focus Through Documentary initiative, dedicated to exploring film’s role in advancing knowledge about social entrepreneurship.
At this special event on Tuesday, January 24, 3:00 p.m. at the Egyptian Theatre, Skoll Foundation President and CEO Sally Osberg will moderate a thought-provoking dialogue between award-winning filmmakers (including clips from their work) and innovators who are impacting millions. Panelists include Joia Mukherjee (Partners in Health), Jehane Noujaim (Director, Control Room), Bunker Roy (Founder, Barefoot College) and Kief Davidson (Director, The Devil.s Miner). Ticket information is available atwww.
Celebrating .Stories Of Change. Panel
At 2012 Sundance Film Festival
Fifth Stories of Change Convening for Filmmakers and Social Entrepreneurs
The Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program and the Skoll Foundation today announced a special Celebrating .Stories of Change. panel to be held at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. The panel celebrates the fifth anniversary of the Stories of Change: Social Entrepreneurship in Focus Through Documentary initiative, dedicated to exploring film’s role in advancing knowledge about social entrepreneurship.
At this special event on Tuesday, January 24, 3:00 p.m. at the Egyptian Theatre, Skoll Foundation President and CEO Sally Osberg will moderate a thought-provoking dialogue between award-winning filmmakers (including clips from their work) and innovators who are impacting millions. Panelists include Joia Mukherjee (Partners in Health), Jehane Noujaim (Director, Control Room), Bunker Roy (Founder, Barefoot College) and Kief Davidson (Director, The Devil.s Miner). Ticket information is available atwww.
- 1/23/2012
- by Melissa Howland
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Keri Putnam, Executive Director, Sundance Institute, and Cathy Schulman, President of Women In Film Los Angeles, announced today that the two organizations will collaborate to support independent women filmmakers working in both narrative and documentary feature film. The announcement was made at a joint event at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival hosted by Putnam, Schulman, Sundance Institute trustee Pat Mitchell, and Women Moving Millions Co-Chair Jacki Zehner.
Putnam noted, .Sundance Institute has long believed in the value of diverse storytellers contributing to a vibrant culture. Looking at representation of women filmmakers is an important activity in that context, and we wanted to start our inquiry in our own organization. What we.ve already found is that if statistics tell us a story, the story being told about women filmmakers today needs work..
16.9% of the 3,879 feature films in both narrative and documentary categories submitted to the 2012 Sundance Film Festival were directed by women.
Putnam noted, .Sundance Institute has long believed in the value of diverse storytellers contributing to a vibrant culture. Looking at representation of women filmmakers is an important activity in that context, and we wanted to start our inquiry in our own organization. What we.ve already found is that if statistics tell us a story, the story being told about women filmmakers today needs work..
16.9% of the 3,879 feature films in both narrative and documentary categories submitted to the 2012 Sundance Film Festival were directed by women.
- 1/23/2012
- by Melissa Howland
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Ice-T To Headline .A Celebration Of Music In Film.
At 2012 Sundance Film Festival
Free Tickets to be Distributed via Twitter @sundancefestnow and @finallevel
Event Hosted By Sundance Institute Film Music Program
Sundance Institute today announced that Ice-t and hip hop icons Chuck D (Public Enemy) and Grandmaster Caz will perform at .A Celebration of Music in Film. on January 21 at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. .A Celebration of Music in Film,. one of the most anticipated music events at the annual Festival, this year celebrates Something From Nothing: The Art Of Rap, by director Ice-t, co-director Andy Baybutt and producer Paul Toogood.
The event takes place Saturday, January 21, 8:30 p.m. at the Sundance Music Café. A limited number of free tickets to the event will be available to Festival credential holders (21 and up) via Twitter @sundancefestnow and Ice-t.s feed @finallevel. Additionally, the event will be live streamed at www.
At 2012 Sundance Film Festival
Free Tickets to be Distributed via Twitter @sundancefestnow and @finallevel
Event Hosted By Sundance Institute Film Music Program
Sundance Institute today announced that Ice-t and hip hop icons Chuck D (Public Enemy) and Grandmaster Caz will perform at .A Celebration of Music in Film. on January 21 at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. .A Celebration of Music in Film,. one of the most anticipated music events at the annual Festival, this year celebrates Something From Nothing: The Art Of Rap, by director Ice-t, co-director Andy Baybutt and producer Paul Toogood.
The event takes place Saturday, January 21, 8:30 p.m. at the Sundance Music Café. A limited number of free tickets to the event will be available to Festival credential holders (21 and up) via Twitter @sundancefestnow and Ice-t.s feed @finallevel. Additionally, the event will be live streamed at www.
- 1/20/2012
- by Melissa Howland
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
The Sundance Film Festival is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, the festival is a showcase for new work from American and international independent filmmakers. The Festival has changed over the decades from a low-profile venue for small-budget, independent creators from outside the Hollywood system to a media extravaganza for Hollywood celebrity actors, paparazzi, and luxury lounges set up by companies that are not affiliated with Sundance.
Now the festival is getting ready for the 2012 edition and today they announced the jury members for this year’s Festival. They include Shari Berman, Scott Burns, Charles Ferguson, Nick Fraser, Mike Judge, Justin Lin, Anthony Mackie, Cliff Martinez, Julia Ormond, Dee Rees and Lynn Shelton.
Here is the official press release:
Park City, Ut — Sundance Institute announced today the 22 members of the six juries awarding prizes at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival,...
Now the festival is getting ready for the 2012 edition and today they announced the jury members for this year’s Festival. They include Shari Berman, Scott Burns, Charles Ferguson, Nick Fraser, Mike Judge, Justin Lin, Anthony Mackie, Cliff Martinez, Julia Ormond, Dee Rees and Lynn Shelton.
Here is the official press release:
Park City, Ut — Sundance Institute announced today the 22 members of the six juries awarding prizes at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival,...
- 1/10/2012
- by Ricky
- SoundOnSight
West Of Memphis/Credit: Olivia Hamel
Special Event with Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s hitRECord on Jan. 26
Sundance Institute announced today the films selected to screen in the out-of-competition Premieres and Documentary Premieres sections of the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. The Festival will be held January 19 through 29 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah. The complete list of films is available at www.sundance.org/festival.
John Cooper, Director of the Sundance Film Festival, said, “The fact that most of the Premieres have been produced completely independently further underscores the resourcefulness and tenacity of filmmakers in this climate. That drive and entrepreneurial spirit has pushed narrative and documentary filmmakers alike to create rich stories which will entertain and inspire audiences at the festival and in the year to come.”
Trevor Groth, Director of Programming for the Sundance Film Festival, said, “Featuring one of the most influential directors of all time...
Special Event with Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s hitRECord on Jan. 26
Sundance Institute announced today the films selected to screen in the out-of-competition Premieres and Documentary Premieres sections of the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. The Festival will be held January 19 through 29 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah. The complete list of films is available at www.sundance.org/festival.
John Cooper, Director of the Sundance Film Festival, said, “The fact that most of the Premieres have been produced completely independently further underscores the resourcefulness and tenacity of filmmakers in this climate. That drive and entrepreneurial spirit has pushed narrative and documentary filmmakers alike to create rich stories which will entertain and inspire audiences at the festival and in the year to come.”
Trevor Groth, Director of Programming for the Sundance Film Festival, said, “Featuring one of the most influential directors of all time...
- 12/5/2011
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Yesterday The Sundance Film Festival released their list of In-Competition films, today they have released their line-up of Non-Competition films. I've had a blast every year that I've attended The Sundance Film Festival, it's always a surprise! You never know what movie you are going to see until you see it. If you ever get a chance to go I highly recommend that you do. Each film on the list has a little description next to it. The festival will take place January 19th to the 29th.
Check out the list of movies below and let us know of any that you are interested in watching or hearing about so that we can get it covered for you. Some of the films might look familiar to you such as The Raid, Grabbers and Tim and Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie, and Wuthering Heights. The Raid is at the top of...
Check out the list of movies below and let us know of any that you are interested in watching or hearing about so that we can get it covered for you. Some of the films might look familiar to you such as The Raid, Grabbers and Tim and Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie, and Wuthering Heights. The Raid is at the top of...
- 12/1/2011
- by Venkman
- GeekTyrant
Park City, Ut – Sundance Institute announced today the films selected for the U.S. and World Cinema Dramatic and Documentary Competitions of the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. The Sundance Film Festival will take place January 19 through 29 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah. The complete list of films is available at www.sundance.org/festival.
Robert Redford, Founder and President of Sundance Institute remarked, “We are, and always have been, a festival about the filmmakers. So what are they doing? What are they saying? They are making statements about the changing world we are living in. Some are straight-forward, some novel and some offbeat but always interesting. One can never predict. We know only at the end, and I love that.”
John Cooper, Director of the Sundance Film Festival, said, “In these challenging economic times, filmmakers have had to be more resourceful and truly independent in their approaches to filmmaking.
Robert Redford, Founder and President of Sundance Institute remarked, “We are, and always have been, a festival about the filmmakers. So what are they doing? What are they saying? They are making statements about the changing world we are living in. Some are straight-forward, some novel and some offbeat but always interesting. One can never predict. We know only at the end, and I love that.”
John Cooper, Director of the Sundance Film Festival, said, “In these challenging economic times, filmmakers have had to be more resourceful and truly independent in their approaches to filmmaking.
- 11/30/2011
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
It seems like we are only just diving into the awards season, but the 2012 film year is right around the corner. There is no better place to get a tast of what is to come than Park City Utah in late January. We’ll be attending the fest again (read last year’s round-up) and today we have the first competition titles. This is the same group from last year which titles include Martha Marcy May Marlene, Like Crazy, Another Earth, Pariah, Being Elmo, Take Shelter and many more. Are there more great films to be found this year? I have no doubt the line-up below will include break-out titles, so lets get to it.
At first glance, the most notable film is Antonio Campos’ Simon Killer, who last directed Afterschool and is in the Martha Marcy trio. It is easily my most-anticipated from this group, along with Quentin Dupieux‘s Rubber follow-up Wrong.
At first glance, the most notable film is Antonio Campos’ Simon Killer, who last directed Afterschool and is in the Martha Marcy trio. It is easily my most-anticipated from this group, along with Quentin Dupieux‘s Rubber follow-up Wrong.
- 11/30/2011
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
The heavy awards onslaught is gearing up and it is a good year to be Fox Searchlight. The 21st Gotham Independent Film Award Nominations have been announced and two of the studio’s films happen to lead the pack. Alexander Payne‘s The Descendants picked up nominations for Best Feature, Best Ensemble Performance and Best Breakthrough Actor. Their Sundance hit (and one of my personal favorites of the year) Martha Marcy May Marlene picked up Ensemble, Breakthrough Actor and Breakthrough Director for Sean Durkin.
That latter award is a great pack including Mike Cahill for Another Earth, Vera Farmiga for Higher Ground, Evan Glodell for Bellflower and Dee Rees for Pariah. It is also great to see my frontrunner for #1 film of 2011, Terrence Malick‘s The Tree of Life get a Best Feature nomination. Check out the noms below via indieWIRE.
New York, NY (October 20, 2011) – The Independent Filmmaker Project (Ifp...
That latter award is a great pack including Mike Cahill for Another Earth, Vera Farmiga for Higher Ground, Evan Glodell for Bellflower and Dee Rees for Pariah. It is also great to see my frontrunner for #1 film of 2011, Terrence Malick‘s The Tree of Life get a Best Feature nomination. Check out the noms below via indieWIRE.
New York, NY (October 20, 2011) – The Independent Filmmaker Project (Ifp...
- 10/20/2011
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
New York, NY (October 20, 2011) – The Independent Filmmaker Project (Ifp), the nation’s oldest and largest organization of independent filmmakers announced today the nominees for the Gotham Independent Film Awards™. Signaling the kick-off to the film awards season, Ifp’s Gotham Independent Film Awards™ nominations were given to a total of 24 films across six competitive categories for Best Feature, Best Documentary, Breakthrough Director, Breakthrough Actor, Best Ensemble Performance, and Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You. The Gotham Awards’ ceremony will be held on Monday, November 28th at Cipriani Wall Street. In addition to the competitive awards, Charlize Theron, Gary Oldman, David Cronenberg and Tom Rothman will each be presented with a career tribute. As the first major awards ceremony of the film season, the Gotham Independent Film Awards™ provide critical early recognition and media attention to worthy independent films. Previous winners for Best Feature and Best Documentary include...
- 10/20/2011
- by MIKE FLEMING
- Deadline
In celebration of Slacker's 20th anniversary, local filmmakers are re-creating scenes from the Richard Linklater movie for Slacker 2011, a fundraising project benefitting the Texas Filmmakers Production Fund (Tfpf). As we await the August 31 premiere, we're chatting with some of the filmmakers participating in one or more of the short films that will comprise the project -- check out our interviews so far.
Today's interview is with Austin cinematographer and filmmaker Pj Raval. He's directed several short films as well as the feature documentary Trinidad, about the "sex-change capital of the world." His cinematography credits include local movies such as Room and Gretchen, as well as the Academy-Award nominated documentary Trouble the Water and Kyle Henry's Fourplay shorts.
Slackerwood: Which scene from the film did you re-shoot?
Pj Raval: The scene I directed is lovingly referred to as "Rantings" or Scene 22, which originally featured a young woman...
Today's interview is with Austin cinematographer and filmmaker Pj Raval. He's directed several short films as well as the feature documentary Trinidad, about the "sex-change capital of the world." His cinematography credits include local movies such as Room and Gretchen, as well as the Academy-Award nominated documentary Trouble the Water and Kyle Henry's Fourplay shorts.
Slackerwood: Which scene from the film did you re-shoot?
Pj Raval: The scene I directed is lovingly referred to as "Rantings" or Scene 22, which originally featured a young woman...
- 8/17/2011
- by Jette Kernion
- Slackerwood
One of Pete Postlethwaite's final films has been nominated for a best documentary award.
The late Oscar-nominated actor starred in futuristic movie The Age of Stupid, which focuses on a man looking back at footage of the world in 2008 and asking why more wasn't done to stop climate change.
The film, which was directed by Franny Armstrong, was shortlisted for the Impact Award, which honours films for their influence on society.
The Age of Stupid is in the running for the $72,000 (£44,000) cash prize, and is up against Burma VJ, The End of the Line, The Reckoning: The Battle for the International Criminal Court, and Trouble the Water.
Crash star Thandie Newton and documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock will help pick the winner, who will be announced at a London ceremony in October.
Postlethwaite died from pancreatic cancer in January.
The late Oscar-nominated actor starred in futuristic movie The Age of Stupid, which focuses on a man looking back at footage of the world in 2008 and asking why more wasn't done to stop climate change.
The film, which was directed by Franny Armstrong, was shortlisted for the Impact Award, which honours films for their influence on society.
The Age of Stupid is in the running for the $72,000 (£44,000) cash prize, and is up against Burma VJ, The End of the Line, The Reckoning: The Battle for the International Criminal Court, and Trouble the Water.
Crash star Thandie Newton and documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock will help pick the winner, who will be announced at a London ceremony in October.
Postlethwaite died from pancreatic cancer in January.
- 7/26/2011
- WENN
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has released its annual list of invited new members, and it’s clear they’re continuing to try to make their membership younger. On the list alongside veterans like John Hawkes and David Duchovny are a slew of twentysomethings, including Mia Wasikowska, Ellen Page, Jesse Eisenberg, Mila Kunis, Beyonce Knowles, Jennifer Lawrence, and Rooney Mara. The Board of Governors also decided to extend an invitation to Restrepo codirector Tim Hetherington, the first time Academy membership has been bestowed posthumously. As a side note, it’s also a hoot to now say the phrase Oscar voter Russell Brand.
- 6/17/2011
- by Dave Karger
- EW - Inside Movies
Beverly Hills, CA . The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is extending invitations to join the organization to 178 artists and executives who have distinguished themselves by their contributions to theatrical motion pictures. Those who accept the invitation will be the only additions in 2011 to the Academy.s roster of members.
.These individuals are among the best filmmakers working in the industry today,. said Academy President Tom Sherak. .Their talent and creativity have entertained moviegoers around the world, and I welcome each of them to our ranks..
The Academy.s membership policies would have allowed a maximum of 211 new members in 2011, but as in other recent years, several branch committees endorsed fewer candidates than were proposed to them. Voting membership in the organization has now held steady at just under 6,000 members since 2003.
In an unprecedented gesture, the list of new members includes documentary filmmaker Tim Hetherington, who was killed in action in Libya in April.
.These individuals are among the best filmmakers working in the industry today,. said Academy President Tom Sherak. .Their talent and creativity have entertained moviegoers around the world, and I welcome each of them to our ranks..
The Academy.s membership policies would have allowed a maximum of 211 new members in 2011, but as in other recent years, several branch committees endorsed fewer candidates than were proposed to them. Voting membership in the organization has now held steady at just under 6,000 members since 2003.
In an unprecedented gesture, the list of new members includes documentary filmmaker Tim Hetherington, who was killed in action in Libya in April.
- 6/17/2011
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
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