Sundance
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Sundance Institute Artist Services Program Expands Self-Distribution Opportunities
Keri Putnam, Executive Director of Sundance Institute, announced today that the Institute’s Artist Services program – which provides Institute artists with exclusive opportunities for creative self-distribution, marketing and financing solutions for their work –has expanded to include selected films supported by one foundation and five nonprofit organizations. Additionally, these organizations will join with Sundance Institute in continuing to shape the program and the services it offers. The Bertha Foundation, BRITDOC, Cinereach, Film Independent, the Independent Filmmaker Project and the San Francisco Film Society will each select films that they have supported to receive access to best-in-class digital distribution arrangements that […]
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Toy’s House | Director Jordan Vogt-Roberts
[PREMIERE SCREENING: Saturday, Jan. 19, 8:30pm — Library Center Theatre, Park City] What did I sacrifice to make this film? Well for starters, I promise you I will die at least 10 years younger than my body had naturally intended because of this movie, but one of my producers keeps reassuring me that the last 10 years of your life are the least productive, so I guess it all works out in the end. That initially sounds like a bunch of tortured-artist-nonsense but this isn’t some woe-is-me ennui filled sob story. Making Toy’s House was the most gratifying and rewarding […]
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Valentine Road | Director Marta Cunningham
[PREMIERE SCREENING: Saturday, Jan. 19, Noon — Temple Theatre, Park City] In the spring of 2008, I read about the murder of Lawrence “Larry” King, a multiracial 15-year-old student who was reported as being gay. It was a story I just couldn’t get out of my mind. I first imagined exploring the issues in a fictional film, but once I attended a pretrial hearing for Larry’s accused murderer, Brandon McInerney, just 14-years-old, I immediately realized that a bigger story was just developing. It needed to be a documentary. So began my education as a first-time director, flying by the seat […]
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What They Don’t Talk About When They Talk About Love | Director Mouly Surya
[PREMIERE SCREENING; Saturday, Jan. 19, 11:30am — Prospector Square Theatre, Park City] Aside from the usual sacrifices of time and energy, in making this film I’ve lost friends. That’s the weirdest thing about producing or directing. When you make a film, it is different than when you write or paint. You surround yourself with a lot of people, but it still feels lonely. But at the end of the day, everything is for the film. Instead of the usual “art imitates life” maybe “art defeats life” is more befitting. Thinking back, when you do fall in love with a film […]
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Inequality for All | Director Jacob Kornbluth
[PREMIERE SCREENING: Saturday, Jan. 19, 2:30pm — Prospector Square Theatre, Park City] As I was growing up, I was always told that anything worth doing would take sacrifice. As an independent narrative filmmaker, which was my background before making this documentary, I was accustomed to working from a script and shooting over an intense but short period. It’s an exhausting and unsustainable month or two where you sacrifice your life, but then it ends, and you sort of remake yourself from the rubble… go for a walk, read a book, and begin to feel like some version of yourself after […]
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Five Questions with Newlyweeds Director Shaka King
The stoner comedy niche is one the Sundance Film Festival too rarely fills, but as if to remedy this lack we now have Shaka King’s debut feature Newlyweeds. Equal parts absurd and emotionally grounded, the film follows Lyle (Amari Cheatom) and Nina (Trae Harris), two young lovers with a shared passion for weed. But just as much as the drug provides a stabilizing force in their relationship, it also proves to be the thing holding them back. Newlyweeds premieres today in Sundance’s NEXT section. Filmmaker: Where did the idea for Newlyweeds come from? Forgive me for asking, but are you […]
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Jiseul | Director Muel O
[PREMIERE SCREENING: Saturday, Jan. 19, 3:00 — Sundance Resort Screening Room, Sundance Resort] Since the tragedy of the Jeju 4.3 Uprising, more than 60 years have been passed without any opportunity to reconsider due to the ignorance from Korea and the world. To bring the terrible memories up into the film caused huge pressure in regards to many things. As well as getting the financial support, the biggest pressure was that I had a duty to make a great enough film to satisfy the local residents in Jeju Island. This tragedy is still ineffaceable pain to them and the period […]
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Mud | Director Jeff Nichols
[PREMIERE SCREENING: Saturday, Jan. 19, 8:30pm — The MARC, Park City] When I first read this question I was immediately struck by how different my answers would be for each of the three films I’ve made. Each answer really shows where I was at in my life during these productions. For Mud, the biggest sacrifice I made was being away from my family. At the time, our son was one, and I missed roughly four months of his life. Despite a few occasional visits during production, I mostly had to block out the fact that I wasn’t getting to be […]
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Dave Grohl on Directing Sound City
Dave Grohl has a history of fruitfully redefining himself. After Nirvana self-destructed, he went from being the former drummer for one the most momentous rock bands of the 20th century to being the frontman for one of the biggest acts of the 21st, Foo Fighters. So it shouldn’t seem too surprising to find him making a successful broad jump from musician to documentarian, especially with a project is as close to his heart as Sound City. Opening its doors in 1969, L.A.’s Sound City Studios was low on frills and gloss, but boasted an almost magical live-room ambience and a […]
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Five Questions with Kill Your Darlings Director John Krokidas
After premiering his short film at the Sundance Film Festival in 2002, director John Krokidas vowed to be back two years later with his first feature film. Krokidas found that it took a bit longer than anticipated to get his film to Park City, but eleven long years later, Kill Your Darlings premieres in competition today at Sundance. The Beat generation has been a popular subject of films lately, but rather than adapt a Kerouac book or Ginsberg poem, Krokidas follows the nascent writers during their days at Columbia University and one particular event that shaped their future work and careers. In 1944, […]
