Gathering Is a Call to Action: A Letter From Ilyse McKimmie
06/05/2024
Now, more than ever
That's a phrase so often used in the last few years that I've come to dread seeing it in notes like this one. And yet, when asked to reflect on what I'm looking forward to about our upcoming Sundance Labs, and why they are essential, these are the very words that spring to mind.
I always look forward to the summer labs, though this year our Directors Lab is actually happening in late spring. This week, we'll be at the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado - the first time the lab is hosted in a location other than the Sundance Resort. I'm excited by the opportunities that come with a new venue and partners, and also grateful for the spirit of nurturing community that the Sundance Resort has helped us foster over the years. We'll carry that with us to the mountains of Colorado. The lab doesn't work without it, and everyone who makes the lab happen needs that community (here's your cue!) now, more than ever.
The kickoff for the lab is a particularly exciting moment for me, because months of preparation are coming to fruition. We've helped the fellows choose two scenes from their screenplays to rehearse, shoot, and edit that represent key creative issues they want to explore. We've relied on casting directors to find talented actors who are ready to embrace the workshop spirit of the lab, and we've assembled a fantastic crew who will be crucial collaborators in helping the directors make key discoveries. Finally, we're bringing in a stellar group of creative advisors who will embrace each fellow's unique vision, while pushing them to try things they are not yet sure of. All of these people donate their time, for which we are eternally grateful. The two weeks of the lab are always somehow both the fastest and longest two weeks of my year, and I can't wait to get started.
The work of the Directors Lab and the support it provides is especially urgent because of the uncertain moment the independent film ecosystem finds itself in. Although many of the challenges facing us today are cyclical, it also feels like an inflection point, and questions about how we will move forward in a sustainable way abound. I don't dismiss the obstacles, but in this moment of anxiety, we are doubling down on our steadfast belief - in these seminal artists, in the moving, entertaining, unforgettable stories they are telling, and in the power and value of indie film in our culture.
Every time we gather at a Sundance Lab, it's a call to action and a statement of purpose. We cultivate the flame of creativity and freedom of expression. We demand rigorous creative engagement, bold risk-taking, and vulnerability. We celebrate generosity, discovery, and collaboration. We believe these films can connect disparate audiences, provoke necessary conversations, and generate empathy, understanding, and joy. And we do it all as an article of faith - in defiance of doubt - with a relentless conviction that independent film matters, and will continue to matter, but only if we keep showing up and doing the work.
So yes - hell, yes. Now, more than ever.
LINK: | https://www.sundance.org/blogs/gathering-is-a-call-to-action-a-letter-... |
See more stories from sundance |
More from Sundance Institute
16/05/2024
Power Provokes Vital Questions About the Role of Police
PARK CITY, UTAH - JANUARY 18: Director Yance Ford introduces the Power premiere at Library Center Theatre. (Photo by Chad Salvador/Shutterstock for Sundance F...
15/05/2024
Give Me the Backstory: Get to Know Jianjie Lin, the Writer-Director Behind Brief History of a Family
By Bailey Pennick One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festi...
14/05/2024
Give Me the Backstory: Get to Know Stephen Maing, the Co-Director of Union
By Lucy Spicer One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festival is having a front-row seat for the bright future of independent filmmaking. Whi...
13/05/2024
Sundance Film Festival: London 2024 Announces Repertory Shorts Programme, Three Repertory Features And Three Public Talks
Tickets on sale now London, 13 May 2024 - Today Picturehouse and the nonprofit ...
10/05/2024
The Greatest Night in Pop Proves That We're Most Powerful as a Collective
Lionel Richie (Photo by George Pimentel/Shutterstock for Sundance)...
10/05/2024
Give Me the Backstory: Get to Know Arun Bhattarai and Dorottya Zurb, the Filmmakers Behind Agent of Happiness
By Lucy Spicer One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festival...
08/05/2024
Saved! and Rudo y Cursi Among Films With May Anniversaries
Diego Luna's character Beto aims to play professional soccer in Carlos Cuar n's film Rudo y Cursi....
07/05/2024
Your Guide to Having a Jam-Packed Sundance Institute Summer
There's something special about summer. We're not sure whether it's the warmer weather, the longer days, or something else a bit more magical, but s...
06/05/2024
Gathering Is a Call to Action: A Letter From Ilyse McKimmie
By Ilyse McKimmie Now, more than ever That's a phrase so often used in the last few years that I've come to dread seeing it in notes like this one. A...
03/05/2024
Slow Explores an Unusual Relationship With Sincere Romance
PARK CITY, UTAH - JANUARY 21: (L-R) Actors K stutis Cic nas and Greta Grinevi i t , Director Marija Kavtaradze and Producer Marija Razgute attend the 2023 Sunda...
02/05/2024
Reality Slips Away in the Eerie I Saw the TV Glow
PARK CITY, UTAH - JANUARY 18: Jane Schoenbrun introduces the 2024 Sundance Film Festival I Saw the TV Glow premiere at the Library Center Theatre in Park City...
01/05/2024
Release Rundown: What to Watch in May, From I Saw the TV Glow to Power
Owen (Justice Smith) and Maddy (Brigette Lundy-Paine) develop an eerie connection to a supernatural TV show in Jane Schoebrun's I Saw the TV Glow....
30/04/2024
The Anchor of Our Work at the Native Lab: A Dispatch from Adam Piron
By Adam Piron In anticipation of this edition of the Indigenous Program's Native Lab, it actually dawned on me that this will be our lab's tenth year i...
29/04/2024
Meet the 2024 Sundance Institute Directors, Screenwriters, and Native Lab Fellows
Even though we've been doing this for over 40 years, a spark of excitement r...
26/04/2024
Sundance Film Festival CDMX 2024 kicks off today at Cinpolis
Sundance Film Festival CDMX 2024 kicks-off today with screenings in 5 theaters in Mexico City and the opening-night film, FRIDA, directed by Carla Guti rrez...
26/04/2024
Interview: Lourdes Portillo, Director of Las madres de la Plaza de Mayo, La Ofrenda
[Editor's Note: This interview is part of a larger feature about the women d...
25/04/2024
Inside the Archives: Highlighting the Importance of Preservation for the Festival's 40th Edition
Sundance Institute Founder Robert Redford during a press conference at the 1996 ...
23/04/2024
SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL: LONDON 2024 REVEALS FULL PROGRAMME LINE-UP BURSTING WITH BOLD CINEMATIC VOICES FOR 11TH EDITION
IN ADDITION TO FICTION AND DOCUMENTARY FEATURES, THE SELECTION INCLUDES: PRO...
19/04/2024
Stress Positions Mines Health Anxieties for Comedy
PARK CITY, UTAH - JANUARY 18: (L-R) John Early and Theda Hammel attend the 2024 Sundance Film Festival Stress Positions premiere at Library Center Theatre on ...
19/04/2024
Give Me the Backstory: Get to Know Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie, the Filmmakers Behind Sugarcane
By Lucy Spicer One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festival...
19/04/2024
Mexico City Watchlist: 7 Documentaries About Working in CDMX
Pictured: Midnight Family By Stephanie Ornelas A great way to get to know a city as culturally unique and rich as Mexico City is to listen to the stories tol...
17/04/2024
Sundance Institute Launches RFI and RFP Process to Explore Host Locations for the Sundance Film Festival in 2027 and Beyond
Opening today, the exploration is aimed at selecting a location that will preser...
16/04/2024
Give Me the Backstory: Get to Know Silje Evensmo Jacobsen, the Filmmaker Behind A New Kind of Wilderness
By Lucy Spicer One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festival...
15/04/2024
The Rise and Fall of The Synanon Fix: Like Frogs Boiling Slowly in Water
(Robin Marshall/Shutterstock for Sundance Film Festival)...
12/04/2024
Mexico City Watchlist: 7 Sundance Festival Films Written by Women
[Pictured: A still from Sujo] By Stephanie Ornelas There are so many stories and layers to be told within Ciudad de M xico, Paloma Riojas says over Zoom. T...
10/04/2024
Give Me the Backstory: Get to Know David and Nathan Zellner, the Filmmakers Behind Sasquatch Sunset
By Bailey Pennick One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festi...
09/04/2024
It's Only Life After All, but Indigo Girls Bring It to Life in New Documentary
By Peter Jones Amy Ray shuffles through a rack of clothing to find an unusual s...
08/04/2024
Choose Your Partners Wisely: Highlights From a Discussion With Mira Nair, Director of Mississippi Masala and Monsoon Wedding
By Stephanie Ornelas Mira Nair first aspired to be an actor, but working as a ...
05/04/2024
A Love of Movies Is the Real Star of Kim's Video
Kim's Video premiere at 2023 Sundance Film Festival. Photo by Becca Haydu By Peter Jones What goes around comes around, or at least rewinds back to the be...
04/04/2024
SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL: LONDON 2024 ANNOUNCES OPENING AND CLOSING NIGHT FILMS
KNEECAP WILL OPEN THE 11TH EDITION OF THE FESTIVAL, D DI ( ) SELECTED AS CLOSING NIGHT FILM...
04/04/2024
Go, Sugar, and More Celebrate Anniversaries in April
Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck were inspired to make Sugar after reading about the rising number of Dominican athletes who go to the U.S. to play baseball....
03/04/2024
From the Collection: SLAM Reunion Is a Celebration of Freedom
Richard Stratton, Marc Levin, and Henri Kessler attend the 2023 Sundance Film Festival SLAM Premiere at Egyptian Theatre on January 22, 2023, in Park City, Ut...
02/04/2024
Sundance Film Festival CDMX 2024 by Cinpolis announces the official program for its first edition
The Sundance Film Festival CDMX 2024 will take place from April 25th to 28th at ...
01/04/2024
Release Rundown: Docs on Indigo Girls, Synanon, and Girls State Among Sundance Titles Reaching Wider Audiences in April
2023 Sundance Film Festival documentary Indigo Girls: It's Only Life After ...
29/03/2024
Give Me the Backstory: Get to Know Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss, the Filmmakers Behind Girls State
By Lucy Spicer One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festival...
28/03/2024
Give Me the Backstory: Get to Know 8 Women Filmmakers With Shorts at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival
A still from Jasmin Baumgartner's Bye Bye, Bowser, which screened as part ...
27/03/2024
Inside the Archives: It's Lights, Curtains, Action When Sundance Films Become Stage Productions
By Jen Scott It's time to unwrap those noisy candies and put your phone on ...
26/03/2024
CHOOSE CHICAGO, CITY OF CHICAGO ANNOUNCE SUNDANCE INSTITUTE X CHICAGO 2024 COMING THIS SUMMER
New event championing creative independence will feature three days of screening...
25/03/2024
Give Me the Backstory: Get to Know Mel Eslyn, the Filmmaker Behind Penelope
By Bailey Pennick One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festival is having a front-row seat for the bright future of independent filmmaking. ...
21/03/2024
Give Me the Backstory: Get to Know Brett Story, the Co-Director of Union
By Lucy Spicer One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festival is having a front-row seat for the bright future of independent filmmaking. Whi...
19/03/2024
2025 Sundance Film Festival Taking Place January 23-February 2
PARK CITY, UTAH, March 19, 2024 - Save the date to be the first to see next year's independent films and projects that entertain, spark cultural conversatio...
13/03/2024
Give Me the Backstory: Get to Know Klaudia Reynicke, the Filmmaker Behind Reinas
By Bailey Pennick One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festival is having a front-row seat for the bright future of independent filmmaking. ...
11/03/2024
Give Me the Backstory: Get to Know India Donaldson, the Filmmaker Behind Good One
By Lucy Spicer One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festival...
08/03/2024
Back to the '80s: Women Documentary Filmmakers Remember the Festival's First Decade
Paula de Koenigsberg and Lucy Winer in front of a porn shop while filming Rate I...
07/03/2024
Film Festival Watch: 23 Sundance-Supported Films to See at SXSW
[Pictured: Doppelg ngers ] By Stephanie Ornelas The sun is shining, the brisket is smoking, and cinephiles are making their way to Austin, Texas, for the 202...
05/03/2024
Four Weddings and a Funeral and Sin Nombre Among Films With March Anniversaries
dgar Flores stars in Cary Joji Fukunaga's feature debut, Sin nombre, which won two awards at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival....
04/03/2024
Sundance Film Festival Asia returns to Taiwan in 2024
Submissions Now Open for the 2024 Short Film Competition supporting local artists...
01/03/2024
Inside the Archives: One Degree of Sundance Institute at the 2024 Oscars
Director Mira Nair and cinematographer Edward Lachman on the set of Mississippi Masala. Photo by Mitch Epstein...
01/03/2024
Release Rundown: What to Watch This March, From Love Lies Bleeding to Shayda
(L-R) Katy O'Brian and Kristen Stewart star in Rose Glass' thriller Love Lies Bleeding, which premiered in the Midnight section at the 2024 Sundance F...