Sundance Institute Announces Boulder, Colorado, as the New Home for the Sundance Film Festival Beginning in 2027

sundanceSundance Institute’s Board of Trustees has announced that Boulder, Colorado, will become the Festival’s home beginning in 2027.

“This decision was informed by a detailed evaluation of the key components essential to creating our Festival. During the process, it became clear that Boulder is the ideal location in which to build our Festival’s future, marking a key strategic step in its natural evolution,” said Ebs Burnough, Sundance Institute Board Chair. “We have a profound appreciation for the finalist cities and their communities — including Boulder, Colorado, Cincinnati, Ohio, and Salt Lake City, Utah — who presented overwhelmingly strong proposals and dedicated their time, passion, and commitment every step of the way. We have deep respect and gratitude to these communities for their hard work and partnership throughout the past year. Additionally, we sincerely value the steadfast support from our staff and board as we have ventured on this exploration together.”

The Sundance Film Festival is the largest artist program of the nonprofit Sundance Institute. Its Artist Programs cultivate a vibrant ecosystem, supporting artists and connecting their work with audiences. The Festival stands as the pre-eminent gathering of original storytellers and audiences seeking new voices, fresh perspectives, and a celebration of independent film and storytelling.

sundance-boulder“The Sundance Film Festival is a catalyst for innovation, creative expression, and the discovery of groundbreaking independent films that inspire and shape the future of storytelling. This process provided the opportunity to imagine how we design the Festival while staying true to our programming and mission. We extend our appreciation to the staff, artists, partners, volunteers, and audiences who have and continue to support that mission,” said Amanda Kelso, Sundance Institute Acting CEO. “Boulder is an art town, tech town, mountain town, and college town. It is a place where the Festival can build and flourish. This is the beginning of a bold, new journey as we invite everyone to be part of our community and to be entertained and inspired. We can’t imagine a better fit than Boulder.”

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Film Feature: “Killer of Sheep” Charles Burnett’s American Independent Masterpiece

killer-sheep“Killer of Sheep”, Charles Burnett’s 1977 debut feature and landmark American independent masterpiece, will run at Film Forum from Friday, April 18 to Thursday, April 24, in a new 4K restoration.

Stan, employed at a slaughterhouse in the neighborhood of Watts, Los Angeles, is suffering from the emotional side effects of his bloody occupation to such a degree that his entire life unhinges. He seeks out tenderness in the face of unending struggle. Focusing on everyday life in Black communities with ingenuity, heart, and meticulous detail–a manner that had rarely been seen in American cinema–Burnett (acting as director, writer, producer, cinematographer, and editor) combines lyrical elements with a starkly neorealist, documentary-like approach that unfolds with kaleidoscopic intimacy.

On a budget of less than $10,000, Burnett shot KILLER OF SHEEP in roughly a year of weekends, filmed on location with a mostly amateur cast, a gritty documentary-style cinematography and much handheld camera work. The film’s soundtrack, which Burnett envisioned as an aural history of African-American popular music, includes songs by Etta James, Paul Robeson, Little Walter, and Earth, Wind & Fire. The new 4K restoration, which has improved picture and sound, marks the first theatrical release with the Dinah Washington song “Unforgettable” recovered in the ending, as was found in Burnett’s original release of the film, since being replaced in 2007 due to copyright issues.

Largely overlooked for decades following its 1977 release, KILLER OF SHEEP is now celebrated as a pivotal work of the LA Rebellion movement and hailed as a masterpiece that brought Black American lives to the screen with an unparalleled, poignant compassion.

“I come from a working-class environment and I wanted to express what the realities were. People were trying to get jobs, and once they found jobs they were fully concerned with keeping them. And they were confronted with other problems, with serious problems at home for example, which made things much more difficult… “[The] real problems lie within the family, trying to make that work and be a human being. You don’t necessarily win battles; you survive.” – Charles Burnett

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Claude Lelouch’s “A Man And A Woman” New Restoration

a-man-and-a-womanClaude Lelouch’s arthouse classic A MAN AND A WOMAN (1966), starring Jean-Louis Trintignant and Anouk Aimée, will run at Film Forum from Friday, April 4 to Thursday, April 17, in a new restoration supervised by the director. Mr. Lelouch will appear in person at screenings on opening weekend, as well as at a special screening of his latest film, the comedy-drama FINALEMENT, on Thursday, April 3.

In A MAN AND A WOMAN, race car driver Jean-Louis Trintignant and “la scripte-girl” Anouk Aimée meet at their kids’ boarding school, and then the flashbacks and Francis Lai’s can’t-get-it-out-of-your-head main love theme begin, in the undeniably romantic international smash hit – winner of the Cannes Film Festival’s Palme d’Or, two Academy Awards® (Best Foreign Film and Best Original Screenplay), and two nominations (Best Director and Best Actress).

Lelouch’s LA BONNE ANNÉE, CAT AND MOUSE, LES UNS ET LES AUTRES, AND NOW MY LOVE, and LES MISÉRABLES will also be shown during the run of A MAN AND A WOMAN.
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François Ozon’s Thriller “When Fall Is Coming”

when-fall-is-comingFrançois Ozon’s “When Fall Is Coming is set for US theatrical premiere release by Film Forum on Friday, April 4.

Acclaimed French stage actress Hélène Vincent is Michelle, a kindly grandmother who nurtures her garden in a quiet Burgundy village, attends church, and sees her longtime friend, Marie-Claude. But don’t be fooled by the apparent tranquility – WHEN FALL IS COMING is another twisty drama from François Ozon, with a disdainful daughter (Ludivine Sagnier of Ozon’s SWIMMING POOL), wild poisonous mushrooms, and a son who’s recently out of prison stacking up against Michelle’s peaceful retirement.

The film will be featured in the upcoming Rendez-Vous with French Cinema festival, screening at Walter Reade Theater on Friday, March 7, 3:30 PM and Sunday, March 16, 5:45 PM. A limited number of press tickets are available to this screening.

WHEN FALL IS COMING had its world premiere at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival and went on to screen at the San Sebastian International Film Festival where it was awarded the Jury Prize for Best Screenplay and Best Supporting Performance (Pierre Lottin). Hélène Vincent was nominated for the 2025 César Award for Best Actress for her role.

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Cannes Prize-Winner “Holy Cow” Coming-of-Age Drama Opens at Film Forum

holy-cowFilm Forum has set the US theatrical premiere of Louise Courvoisier’s “Holy Cow” on Friday, March 28.

HOLY COW had its world premiere at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard section, where it was awarded the festival’s Youth Prize.

It will be featured in the upcoming Rendez-Vous with French Cinema festival, screening at Walter Reade Theater on Saturday, March 8. A limited number of press tickets are available to this screening.

The film’s synopsis says: Reveling in his youth in the gorgeous rural Jura region of Eastern France, Totone has few worries and is content to party with his friends as the family dairy business hums along. But when calamity strikes, the under-disciplined 18-year-old finds himself in charge of the farm and his 7-year-old sister. A sun-drenched coming-of-age story cast with non-professionals from Jura (filmmaker Courvoisier’s home), HOLY COW follows Totone’s determination to win a local Comté cheesemaking competition (cash prize: €30,000), while he romantically pursues a competing farmer — whose bullying brothers are none-too-pleased — and clumsily steps up to adult responsibilities.

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Berlinale: World Premiere of PUNKU by J.D. Fernández Molero

PUNKUPunku, the latest film by Peruvian Rotterdam Tiger Award-winning writer-director J.D. Fernández Molero [Videophilia (and Other Viral Syndromes)], will have its world premiere in the Forum section of the 75th Berlin International Film Festival, running from February 13 to 23, 2025. This one-of-a-kind, playfully genre-blending film was shot in 16mm, Super 8, and digital formats, and it will be screened on 35mm in its world premiere at the Berlinale.

Set deep in the Peruvian Amazon lowlands and the tropical city of Quillabamba in the Cusco region of Peru, Punku—which means “gateway” in Quechua—follows an unlikely pair on a foreboding journey that artfully threads together the fantasy and Surrealism of fairy tales with the harsh shadow of trauma in a shared search for belonging and safety.

Meshia, a Matsigenka Indigenous teenager, finds a young boy, Ivan, who vanished two years ago and was presumed dead. Determined to rescue him, she leads him on a journey upriver into the mountains toward the city for a surgery urgently needed to stop the infection that is progressively consuming his sight.
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Trailblazing Italian Filmmaker Lina Wertmüller’s Dark Comedy “Swept Away”

swept-awayTrailblazing Italian filmmaker Lina Wertmüller’s dark comedy SWEPT AWAY… BY AN UNUSUAL DESTINY IN THE BLUE SEA OF AUGUST, starring Mariangela Melato and Giancarlo Giannini, will run in a new 4K restoration from Friday, January 31 to Thursday, February 6 at Film Forum.

Set against the backdrop of the beautiful Mediterranean, SWEPT AWAY is Lina Wertmüller’s most famous and controversial film about sex, love and politics. On an elegant yacht cruising off the coast of Sardinia, Raffaella (Melato), a beautiful, haughty bourgeoise, enjoys tormenting Gennarino (Giannini), a Communist sailor. Fate weaves a different scenario and roles become reversed when the two find themselves stranded together on a deserted island.

Raffaella must submit to Gennarino in order to survive, which culminates in a dramatic climax when they are rescued. “A parable in which people’s sexual attitudes are governed by economics and class.” — New York Women in Film and Television`
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A.I. from METROPOLIS to EX MACHINA | 30+ Film Festival Runs January 3-23 at Film Forum

AI-from-Metropolis-to-Ex-Machina-film-forumA.I. FROM METROPOLIS TO EX MACHINA…, a three-week festival of movies that helped introduce the world to the concept of “artificial intelligence” (a term not coined until the 1950s), will run at Film Forum from Friday, January 3 to Thursday, January 23. The series includes more than 30 films, most of them offering a dystopian view of a society run by A.I., along with profound ethical and existential questions.

Fritz Lang’s 1927 silent masterpiece METROPOLIS (written by his wife Thea von Harbou, who adapted it from her own 1925 novel), broke new ground in science fiction storytelling, with the creation of Maria, a robot designed to look human and control the workers in an underground city. Gort, a massive robot that serves as enforcer for an alien peace mission in Robert Wise’s THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL (1951), provided an early example of a machine with a higher purpose.

Five years later, Robby the Robot of FORBIDDEN PLANET (based on Shakespeare’s The Tempest!) both defined what a “robot” looked like for generations and offered a more benign depiction of what would later be called “artificial intelligence.” Later lovable movie robots include Johnny 5 in SHORT CIRCUIT, R2D2 in the Star Wars movies, and Wall-E in the Pixar movie of that name. The “Emerac” computer in the Tracy-Hepburn comedy DESK SET is also less malevolent, merely threatening to take jobs away from humans – probably the first film to raise that possibility.
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Festival Hit “Birdeater” Sets Release Date

birdeaterDark Sky Films has set the upcoming release of BIRDEATER, the psychological thriller from Australian directing duo Jack Clark and Jim Weir.

Written by Jack Clark, the film is set for release in theaters and on digital platforms on January 10.

A bride-to-be is invited to join her own fiancé’s bachelor party on a remote property in the Australian outback. But as the festivities spiral into beer-soaked chaos, uncomfortable details about their relationship are exposed, and the celebration soon becomes a feral nightmare.

The Dark Sky Film thriller stars Mackenzie Fearnley, Shabana Azeez, Ben Hunter, Jack Bannister, Clementine Anderson, Alfie Gledhill, Harley Wilson and Caroline McQuade.

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Frank Capra’s “Mr. Deeds Goes To Town” In 35mm at Film Forum

Mr.-Deeds-Goes-To-TownFrank Capra’s comedy-drama masterpiece “Mr. Deeds Goes To Town” (1936), starring Gary Cooper and Jean Arthur, will be screened in 35mm at Film Forum from Friday, December 27 through Thursday, January 2.

Nominated for five Academy Awards – winning Best Director for Capra – MR. DEEDS is one of eight collaborations between Capra and screenwriter Robert Riskin, who together are often credited with creating both the classic screwball and romantic comedy genres.

Cooper’s “pixilated” tuba-playing, greeting card versifying Vermonter Longfellow Deeds inherits $20 million — and then he’s whisked from Mandrake Falls to Park Avenue, as wisecracking reporter Jean Arthur dubs him the “Cinderella Man.” “Capra and Riskin’s crowning achievement… If I were to choose one film to be both the best and most representative of the decade, this would be it.” – David Shipman

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