Inaugural Sundance Institute Latine Program Launched; 2022 Latine Fellows & Collab Scholarship Recipients Announced

Los Angeles, CA - The nonprofit Sundance Institute announced today the launch of a new program, the Latine Fellowship and Collab Scholarship, created to have a meaningful impact on Latinx representation in independent media. The program provides fellowships and scholarships to 11 emerging Latinx artists and offers professional development opportunities, virtual gatherings to connect with like-minded artists and Creator memberships to Sundance Collab, Sundance Institute's digital learning space for artists from around the world.

Latinx talent has always been present at the Sundance Institute but supporting these storytellers across disciplines in a single class of fellows or by providing them with a Sundance Collab scholarship is a way for us to deepen our ties to extraordinary artists telling valuable stories said Carrie Lozano, Director, Documentary Film & Artist Programs. More importantly, this new program is a way for them to build on their craft, move forward with their current projects and build a community with other up-and-coming, diverse creators.

Over the years, we've seen incremental change in industry-wide representation for Latinx creatives. We're thrilled to be partnering with the MacArthur Foundation and Board members Lyn Lear and Cindy Horn in our commitment to continuing and expanding the work that's needed for more substantive change. said Michelle Satter, Founding Senior Director, Artist Programs. It is our hope that by creating opportunities with these two program strands, we can elevate Latinx representation with more visibility, access to resources and meaningful connection with each other, the industry and the larger Sundance ecosystem.

The Sundance Institute Latine Fellowship will provide 6 emerging Latinx artists who have been previously supported by the Institute with a year-long multi-disciplinary fellowship experience beginning in August 2022, offering bespoke creative and tactical support along with unrestricted non-recoupable grants of $10,000.

The second component of the program is the Sundance Institute Latine Scholarship, designed for 5 early career Latinx artists with no prior engagement with Sundance Institute to receive a scholarship so they can attend a live online course on Sundance Collab. The scholarship recipients will get a Creator Sundance Collab membership for access to the Master Classes in the video library and to exclusive networking and community-building events on the platform. In addition to that, they will receive bespoke feedback on their projects and other opportunities to connect with the Sundance staff and artists.

The 2022 Latine Fellowship & Collab Scholarships were developed with leadership funding support from Lyn Lear and Cindy Horn, and additional support from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

The fellows selected for the 2022 Sundance Institute Latine Fellowship are:

Ashley Alvarez (writer) and Michael Le n (co-writer and director) with Crabs in a Barrel (U.S.A): When her talentless frenemy is anointed the future of Latinx voices, a struggling Latina writer sets out to sabotage the unearned opportunity. After failing to recruit her friends to join her crusade, she gets a lucky break when she learns her rival isn't exactly who she says she is.

Ashley Alvarez is a Cuban-American actress, writer, and producer. As an actress, she's worked extensively in theater, film, and television, most recently appearing on Search Party. She is a Sundance Screenwriters Lab fellow and the Sundance Comedy Fellowship recipient. Her short film Crabs in a Barrel won the HBO Latinx Short Film Competition. Screenwriting Fellow, Sundance Institute 2022 Screenwriters Lab.

Michael Le n is a Cuban-American writer/director. His short, Crabs in a Barrel, is an HBO Latinx Short Film Competition winner. His play, The Cubans, had its world premiere at Miami New Drama. He's the co-creator of the virtual play Carla's Quince, which was nominated by the Drama League. 2022 Sundance Institute Comedy Fellow, Directing Fellow at the 2022 Screenwriters and Directors Lab.

Luna X. Moya (director/producer/editor/DP) with What the Pier Gave Us (U.S.A): A visually poetic film about immigrants who fish at a New York City pier. In five vignettes, What the Pier Gave Us lyrically captures the seasonal changes of a pier in a year.

Luna X. Moya is a documentary Director and Editor whose work screened at A E Networks, MoMA, The Shed, BAMcinemaFest, and AFI Docs. Their second directorial film What The Pier Gave Us started off as a short and a feature is in production with support from Sundance (2021 Accessible Futures Intensive) and Catapult Film Fund.

Marilyn Oliva (director/producer) with The Seventh Wave (U.S.A): Timo Espinoza, a second-generation Latino cannabis legacy operator, and survivor of the war on drugs, transitions his family business from the traditional market to the legal market in the upheaval battle of social equity meanwhile competing against wealthy cannabis corporations.

Marilyn Oliva is a first-generation, San Francisco-born, Chicago-based Latina filmmaker. She holds a Bachelor's Degree in Anthropology with an emphasis on Latinx Studies and a Master's Degree in Documentary Media. 2021 Sundance Ignite x Adobe Fellow.

George P rez (creator/writer) with Los Cubanos (U.S.A): Forced to flee Castro's Cuba in 1980, a husband and wife make the gut-wrenching decision to abandon their daughter. Now, in a menacing and uncertain America, they'll do anything to protect their other child; becoming drug traffickers and assassins, echoing the past they left behind.

George P rez assisted on a TV News station's five-part series on child sex-trafficking, leading to the rescue of a teen victim from her pimp. This led George to shine the light of truth on juvenile exploitation/injust

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