Category Archives: Sundance 2023

Christopher Nolan to Be Honored with Inaugural Sundance Institute Trailblazer Award at 2024 Sundance Film Festival’s Opening Night Gala

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The nonprofit Sundance Institute today unveiled details for the 2024 Sundance Film Festival’s fundraiser, Opening Night Gala: Celebrating 40 Years Presented by Chase Sapphire® which will take place on January 18, 2024 at the DeJoria Center in Utah. Kicking off the 40th edition of the Sundance Film Festival, the evening will honor trailblazing and breakout storytellers, as well as celebrate 40 years of Sundance’s commitment to elevating independent storytelling. Christopher Nolan will be honored with the first-ever Sundance Institute Trailblazer Award. Celine Song and Maite Alberdi — both of whom premiered films Past Lives and The Eternal Memory, respectively, at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival — will each receive the annual Vanguard Award Presented by Acura.

The annual opening night gala enables the nonprofit to raise critical funds to support independent artists year-round through labs, grants, and public programming that nurture artists globally. The 2024 event is made possible with the generous support of Chase Sapphire. The upcoming Sundance Film Festival will take place January 18–28, 2024 in Park City and Salt Lake City, Utah, as well as online from January 25–28.

“As we step into the 40th edition of the Sundance Film Festival, it is a distinct honor to recognize Christopher Nolan, a prodigious artist whose singular talent and remarkable body of work have made him one of the most respected filmmakers of our time. We are looking forward to spotlighting the unique voices of both Celine and Maite, storytellers we have been supporting and deeply believe in. All three of these storytellers represent Sundance’s values,” said Joana Vicente, Sundance Institute CEO. “From the Festival to our year-round programs, it is artists that have and always will be at the very core of what we do. We look forward to our guests joining us at the Opening Night Gala and, in turn, enabling us to continue championing independent storytellers and their art that adds great value to our culture.”
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2023 Sundance Institute Momentum Fellows Announced

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2023 Sundance Institute Momentum Fellows AnnouncedToday the nonprofit Sundance Institute announced the eight participants selected for the fifth annual Momentum Fellowship, a program designed to support and provide coaching to mid-career artists with a focus on career development during a pivotal moment in their creative practice. Created to support storytellers from historically marginalized communities who have recently achieved a noteworthy accomplishment, such as a highly regarded feature film or series, Momentum provides fellows with a full-year program of deep, customized support around the goals they have identified for themselves to level up in their craft and career. The Momentum Fellowship is a program of Women at Sundance, with support from Equity, Inclusion and Belonging.

The Momentum Fellowship includes an unrestricted artist grant; professional coaching offered by Renee Freedman & Company, supported by The Harnisch Foundation; connection to ELEVATE, Sundance’s professional development initiative; and bespoke year-round support from Sundance Institute staff. Additionally, as part of an ongoing partnership with Universal’s Global Talent Development & Inclusion team (GTDI), the Studio will provide additional support for up to four (4) Momentum fellows working on fiction projects. GTDI is providing select participants access to the Studio’s creative executives and producers to build career momentum and exposure to potential directing opportunities across the Company’s portfolio.

“Over the years, the fellows selected for Momentum have all experienced success with their recently completed projects. This has often been a critical moment for artists to receive creative and tactical support as they focus on a meaningful path forward,” said Michelle Satter, Founding Senior Director, Artist Programs. “This is where Momentum is both aptly named and unique in the industry — the fellowship is customized to the needs of individual filmmakers as they move forward with their next steps, making choices that will ensure they can sustain a career that gives them exciting and timely creative opportunities.”
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All About Documentary Feature: “A House Made Of Splinters”

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All About Documentary Feature A House Made Of SplintersStarting at Sundance last year, where the film won the Directing Award, “A House Made Of Splinters” has gone on to be nominated for: a Film Independent Spirit Award, IDA Awards for Best Documentary, Best Director and Cinematography, Cinema Eye Honors for Production and Cinematography, and a European Film Award for Best Documentary.

The documentary is a poignant and deeply intimate documentary three kids temporarily removed from their parents find friendship and flickers of hope inside the worn walls of a remarkable orphanage in Eastern Ukraine, as a group of dedicated social-workers create moments of joy and respite from childhoods all but lost.

In this war-worn and impoverished corner of Eastern Ukraine where addiction casts a long shadow, there sits a safe haven for children temporarily removed from their parents. A House Made of Splinters follows three kids awaiting their fate: will they go back or move on to a new home, while as a group of dedicated social-workers create small moments of joy and respite from childhoods all but lost.

The film is ffilmmaker Simon Lereng Wilmont’s follow-up to his acclaimed first feature, The Distant Barking of Dogs, offering a unique look into how the long-term consequences of war on a society already under strain impacts the most vulnerable. His is a poignant and deeply intimate portrait of a remarkable way station filled with care, support, and trust for a group of kids who are in desperate need of more.

See the trailer below for “A House Made Of Splinters”:

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Sundance 2023: “20 Days In Mariupol” Wins Audience Award

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Sundance 2023 20 Days In Mariupol Wins Audience AwardDirected by Ukrainian AP video journalist Mstyslav Chernov, the documentary tells the first hand account of early days of invasion in Mariupol, Ukraine.

Mstyslav Chernov is a Ukrainian war correspondent, filmmaker, photographer, and novelist. He is known for his coverage of the Ukrainian revolution; the Russian invasion in Ukraine; the wars in Iraq, Syria, Nagorno-Karabakh, and Afghanistan; as well as for his art installations and exhibitions. Chernov is an Associated Press journalist, and the President of the Ukrainian Association of Professional Photographers.

The documentary follows a team of Ukrainian journalists enter the strategic eastern port city of Mariupol on the eve of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

During the subsequent siege and assault, as bombs fall, inhabitants flee, and access to electricity, food, water, and medicine are severed, the team – the only international journalists left – struggles to cover the war atrocities and to transmit their footage out. Eventually surrounded by Russian soldiers, they shelter in a hospital, unsure of how they’ll escape.

Ukrainian filmmaker and journalist Mstyslav Chernov offers a window into the practices of conflict zone reporters and an unflinching, anguishing account of the 20 days he and colleagues Evgeniy Maloletka and Vasilisa Stepanenko spent covering Mariupol. Their footage, widely disseminated through news media, not only documents the death and destruction – corpses in the streets and mass graves, the bombing of apartment buildings and a maternity ward, doctors despairing children they couldn’t save – but directly refutes Russian misinformation. Seeing so much death, Chernov wonders how capturing any more could make a difference. But residents implore them to let the world bear witness.

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2023 Sundance Film Festival Awards Announced

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2023 Sundance Film Festival Awards Announced2023 Sundance Film Festival Awards AnnouncedThe Sundance Film Festival, a program of the nonprofit Sundance Institute, returned back in person and across the country online for 2023. Whether you gathered in theaters or are joining us from home, the Festival offers the opportunity to be a part of the discovery of stories and artists that will inspire and entertain us for years to come. The 2023 Sundance Film Festival jurors and audiences have voted with the awards announced today during an event at The Ray Theatre in Park City and updated on Sundance Film Festival’s official social accounts. The award-winning films will screen in person and via the online Festival platform on Saturday, January 28, and Sunday, January 29. Tickets for all award-screening films are available beginning at 1:00 p.m. MT today.

The jury and audience-awarded prizes amplify the fearless and dynamic stories across sections, with Grand Jury Prizes awarded to A Thousand and One (U.S. Dramatic), Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project (U.S. Documentary), Scrapper (World Cinema Dramatic), and The Eternal Memory (World Cinema Documentary), and the NEXT Innovator Award presented by Adobe was awarded to KOKOMO CITY.

Voted on by the audience, Radical was granted the Festival Favorite Award. Audience Awards for films in competition were presented by Acura to The Persian Version (U.S. Dramatic) and Beyond Utopia (U.S. Documentary), and presented by United Airlines to Shayda (World Cinema Dramatic) and 20 Days in Mariupol (World Cinema Documentary). KOKOMO CITY won the audience award for NEXT.

“This year’s Festival has been an extraordinary experience,” said Joana Vicente, Sundance Institute CEO. “The artists that comprise the 2023 Sundance Film Festival have demonstrated a sense of urgency and dedication to excellence in independent film. Today’s award winners highlight our programs’ most impressive achievements in the current moment of cinematic arts. I hope you will join me in congratulating our winners, as well as thanking all artists across sections for sharing their stories with the Sundance community.”

“In addition to acknowledging our artists, I want to thank this year’s jurors for their time and thoughtful consideration,” added Kim Yutani, Sundance Film Festival Director of Programming. “Their efforts help contextualize our artists’ work beyond the Festival program and elevate their stories to new audiences around the globe. The winners themselves represent a diverse mix of bold storytelling, thought-provoking reflections, and critical representations of our world today.”
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2023 Sundance Film Festival Begins Online Programming Over 130 Films Available on the Sundance Online Platform

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The 2023 Sundance Film Festival online program begins today, Tuesday, January 24, with over 130 films available for on demand viewing. Audiences came together in-person in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Sundance Resort with talent including Anne Hathaway, Cynthia Erivo, Jason Momoa, Michael J. Fox, Daisy Ridley, Alexander Skarsgård, Dakota Johnson, Randall Park, Brooke Shields, and more making their way to the snow for their world premieres.

With the Festival online program beginning today, audiences across the country can now join in the action by participating in the discovery of this year’s most impactful independent stories. Tickets can be purchased on https://festival.sundance.org/tickets.

This year, the online Festival experience allows you to watch where you want, when you want. Films will be available starting at 8:00 a.m. MT on January 24, and you can start your screening at any time until 11:55 p.m. MT on January 29. Online Award-Winner screenings will be available starting at 8:00 a.m. MT on January 28 and play until 11:55 p.m. MT on January 29. To access these screenings, purchase an Award-Winners Package.
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“The Pod Generation”: Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and Sundance Institute Award for Science-in-Film Initiative Recipient

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The Pod Generation Sundance Institute AwardToday at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, the Sundance Institute Science-in-Film initiative with the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation celebrated this year’s Feature Film Prize winner The Pod Generation directed by Sophie Barthes and the recipients of three artist grants for three projects in development at a reception following the Appetite for Construction panel at Filmmaker Lodge.

The four filmmakers received a total of $70,000 in funding through the Prize and three artist grants for projects: Benjy Steinberg for The Professor and the Spy received the Sloan Episodic Fellowship, Cynthia Lowen for Light Mass Energy received the Sloan Development Fellowship, and John Lopez for Incompleteness received the Sloan Commissioning Grant.

“We are in a global moment where arts institutions must recognize in actionable ways the importance of science in media and entertainment, and Sundance Institute is deeply appreciative that the Sloan Foundation has partnered with us over two decades to nurture that connection,” said Sundance Institute CEO Joana Vicente.”It’s a pleasure to return to Park City to honor our Feature Film Prize winner and grantees after an engaging chat with our panelists about the bright side of science and the ethical framework scientists and storytellers alike bring to the idea of progress.”
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“Nam June Paik: Moon Is The Oldest TV” Doc Premieres At Sundance

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Nam June Paik Moon Is The Oldest TVThe documentary is set to premiere at this year’s Sundance Festival tomorrow, Sunday January 22.

“The George Washington of Video Art”…“Cultural Terrorist” … “Citizen Zero of the Electronic Superhighway”…But who really was Nam June Paik, pillar of the American avant-garde in the 20th century and arguably the most famous Korean artist in modern history?

Director Amanda Kim tells, for the first time, the story of Paik’s meteoric rise in the New York art scene and his Nostradamus-like visions of a future in which “everybody will have his own TV channel.” Thanks to social media, Paik’s future is now our present, and “Nam June Paik: Moon Is The Oldest TV” shows us how we got here.

Featuring an extensive archive of performance footage, original interviews from Paik’s contemporaries and collaborators, and a voiceover narration of Nam June Paik’s writings read by Executive Producer Steven Yeun ( Minari , Nope ), “Nam June Paik: Moon Is The Oldest TV” is a timely meditation on the contradictory ways in which technology elicits both fascist tendencies and intercultural understanding

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Stephen Curry, Ryan Coogler, & More Premiere “Stephen Curry: Underrated” At Sundance 2023

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Stephen Curry Ryan Coogler Underrated At Sundance 2023Award-winning filmmaker Peter Nicks documentary is an intimate look at NBA superstar Stephen Curry’s improbable coming of age at tiny Davidson College, where, under the wing of coach Bob McKillop, the team made a thrilling run in the 2008 NCAA tournament. With access to Curry throughout the 2021 season, the film also weaves the Golden State Warriors’ attempt to win another NBA championship following one of the worst seasons in franchise history.

The documentary “Stephen Curry: Underrated” is an official selection of the Special Screenings section at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. It is an Apple Original Films along with A24.

The film is a remarkable coming-of-age story of one of the most influential, dynamic and unexpected players in the history of basketball: Stephen Curry.

This feature documentary, blending intimate cinéma vérité, archival footage and on camera interviews, documents Curry’s rise from an undersized college player at a tiny backwater Division I college to a four-time NBA champion, building one of the most dominant sports dynasties in the world.

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“The Accidental Getaway Drive” World Premiere Set At Sundance Film Festival 2023

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The Accidental Getaway Drive World Premiere Set At SundanceBased on a true story, the film is directed by Sing J. Lee and starring Hiệp Trần Nghĩa, Dustin Nguyen, Dali Benssalah, Phi Vũ, and Gabrielle Chan

“The Accidental Getaway Drive” is Written by Sing J. Lee and Christopher Chen, with Kimberly Steward, Basil Iwanyk, Andy Sorgie, Brendon Boyea, and Joseph Hiếu serving as producers.

The film is set to premiere the 2023 Sundance Film Festival as part of the U.S. Narrative Competition at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. Visit the Sundance Festival website for screening times.

Sing J. Lee is an award-winning writer and director of Hong Kong descent, born in Manchester, UK. With a background in music, illustration, and animation, Lee’s early short films have garnered nominations including BBC Best of the North, which led to a decade-long foray in the music video and commercial space; working with artists including Pharrell, Donald Glover, Alicia Keys, Migos, and Halsey, among others. Prevalent through all is Lee’s distinct cultivation of visual language and exploration of themes of duality and human spirit.

Here’s the film’s synopsis:

Long, a Vietnamese driver in Southern California answers a late-night call for a ride. Already in his pajamas, he reluctantly accepts, picking up a man, Tây, and his two companions. But the men, recently escaped convicts from an Orange County jail, take Long hostage at gunpoint, thrusting him into their getaway plan. When complications arise, the fugitives and their hostage hole up at a motel, and a tense waiting game unfolds.

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