Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

The Storytelling We Need

05/12/2024

Dear Sundance Community,

Each year, the Sundance Film Festival team watches and discusses thousands of submissions from around the world to shape the annual program for the upcoming Festival. It's an opportunity to reflect on this moment in independent film, marvel at the immense volume of work produced by some of the world's most talented storytellers, and discover a group of artists as we look to the future.

Having just surveyed the state of filmmaking worldwide, we can confidently say that, despite a brutal climate for film financing and upheaval in the distribution landscape, fiercely independent artists continue to create boldly and with originality. The determination, resilience, and boundless creativity of these filmmakers underscores the urgency of Sundance Institute's core mission: to support artists and ensure that storytellers everywhere can sustain themselves through their work, and connect them with audiences.

We're proud that in the last year alone, through the Sundance Labs, artist granting, fellowships, intensives, and the Festival, the Sundance Institute provided support to a diverse community of nearly 1,500 artists. Of those who voluntarily shared their backgrounds, 64 percent are artists of color, 55 percent are women, 41 percent identify as LGBTQIA, 6 percent as transgender, and 8 percent have a disability. The voices and perspectives of these artists have never been more essential.

When our community gathers in January for the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, we will be coming together in a moment when our country's political divides feel more deeply entrenched than ever, the future of our industry more opaque, and the challenges of creating fiercely independent work perhaps more daunting. Yet, in such moments of uncertainty, we look to the arts and artists to help us find meaning, understand the past, and imagine our future. It's clear 2025 will be a year of electric, meaningful, and deeply personal storytelling - the type of storytelling festivals are made for, and the type of storytelling we need in this moment.

After all, there is nothing quite like the feeling of connection when watching films together and engaging with work that fosters empathy, challenges us, and shines a light on perspectives from across cultures and around the world. We know that spaces dedicated to free expression, authenticity, innovation, inclusivity, and community have a vital and enduring role to play, especially now. We are proud that the Sundance Film Festival is and will always be home for meaningful and respectful dialogue, passionate exchanges of ideas, and a celebration of our shared humanity.

We can't wait to share more about the 2025 Sundance Film Festival program with you in the coming weeks. For now, though, we wanted to let you know how moved we are by this early glimpse of what the coming year holds for independent artists and audiences alike. We look forward to being together in just two months.

Sincerely,

Amanda Kelso, Acting CEO

Eugene Hernandez, Director, Sundance Film Festival & Public Programming

P.S. It's not too late to make plans to join us in January, in person or from home! Passes and packages are still available.
LINK: https://www.sundance.org/blogs/the-storytelling-we-need/...
See more stories from sundance

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

04/08/2026

Dalet Announces Commercial Availability of Dalia, Bringing Media-Aware Agentic AI to Enterprise Productions

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

04/07/2026

Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in Dolby Cinemas Across Japan, Presented in Dolby Atmos and Dolby ...

April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...

01/06/2026

ASG Advances Joe Marchitto to Western Regional CTO

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

01/06/2026

Scripps Stations Go Dark on DirecTV

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

01/06/2026

MARSHALL ELECTRONICS POWERS SEAMLESS AV EXPERIENCES WITH...

Marshall Electronics is showcasing a comprehensive lineup of next-generation POV cameras, purpose-built to power today's connected AV environments, at InfoC...

01/06/2026

Adobe Announces Concept to Vector

Adobe Announces Concept to Vector Deepa Subramaniam June 1, 2026 0 Comments One of the biggest frustrations we hear from designers is how difficult it...

01/06/2026

Vampire Feature Night Patrol Graded with DaVinci Resolve Studio

Vampire Feature Night Patrol Graded with DaVinci Resolve Studio Brie Clayton June 1, 2026 0 Comments Colorist shapes dark, gritty tone for horror thri...

01/06/2026

U.S. Broadcasters Ready for Most Complex FIFA World Cup Ever

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

01/06/2026

Broadcasters Prepare for Nation's 250th Birthday Bash

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

01/06/2026

Broadcasters Reveal What Makes C-Band Alternatives Right for Them

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

01/06/2026

IAMT to Offer New Educational Sessions at InfoComm 2026

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

01/06/2026

NewsNation Launches New Podcasting Studio and Podcasts

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

01/06/2026

Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026

January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026 Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...

31/05/2026

Olivia Prez-Collellmir to Premiere Original Work at Gaud Centennial in Barcelona

Olivia P rez-Collellmir to Premiere Original Work at Gaud Centennial in Barcelona The Berklee graduate and faculty member will debut her choral symphony with...

31/05/2026

Taiwan's Industry Titans Turbocharge World's AI Infrastructure Buildout With NVIDIA

Taiwan is home to more than 500 NVIDIA ecosystem partners. More than 1 million N...

31/05/2026

NVIDIA Factory Operations Blueprint Gives Factories a New AI Brain

As factories move from isolated automation to plant-wide intelligence, manufacturers need AI systems that can connect live machine signals, quality systems, wor...

31/05/2026

NVIDIA AI Cloud Ecosystem Expands Worldwide to Meet Global AI Compute Demand

The NVIDIA AI Cloud ecosystem is accelerating the global buildout of AI factory infrastructure. Partners are expanding capacity to meet growing demand from ente...

30/05/2026

NAB Asks FCC to Shift Regulatory Fee Burden to Big Tech, Broadband

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

30/05/2026

NAB Announces 2026 Board Election Results

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

30/05/2026

IAB Tech Lab Releases Guidance for Managing AI Crawlers and Bots

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

30/05/2026

Zero in on one that says yes (and no)

Zero in on one that says yes (and no) Andy Marken May 29, 2026 0 Comments Hero image courtesy of Deposit Photos For content creators the most difficu...

29/05/2026

InfoComm 2026: NDI Demos NDI 6.3, Hands-On Presentation About Educational Integrations

With InfoComm 2026 just weeks away, NDI is giving attendees plenty of reasons to...

29/05/2026

Bell Media Inks New Long-Term Media Rights Deal for Broadcast, Streaming of the Canadian Football League

Reaffirming a partnership that has defined Canadian sports broadcasting since 19...

29/05/2026

Spring 2026 TV Survey: Vertical Live Matters. The Bigger Story Is Context

Mobile/tablet is No. 2 device for watching TV, suggesting that the sports-production industry needs to take another look at the format Ring Digital's Sprin...

29/05/2026

Germanys Berliner Ensemble Bolsters Backstage Infrastructure With Riedel Stage Systems

Berliner Ensemble, one of Berlin's five major theater companies, has expande...

29/05/2026

InfoComm 2026: Solid State Logic Spotlights TCA Tour, Live V6.2 Software, New SSL Live Trade-in Program

Solid State Logic will showcase its new compact, fly-away TCA Tour audio product...

29/05/2026

Gerald Jerry Pierce, Architect of Modern Digital Cinema, Passes Away at Age 73

Gerald (Jerry) Pierce, a pioneering technologist who helped shape the digital transformation of the motion picture industry, passed away last month on April 12 ...

29/05/2026

CBS Sports Becomes New Home of Barclays Women's Super League Thorough 2029-2030

Paramount+ will be the English-language U.S. home for Barclays Women's Super...

29/05/2026

Calrec Scales ImPulseV to Empower Broadcasters With Greater Choice in Virtualized Workflows

Further strengthening its virtualisation strategy to fully support broadcasters ...

29/05/2026

Switzerlands Canal Alpha Streamlines Playout to Delivery With Harmonic

Swiss broadcaster Canal Alpha has deployed Harmonic's award-winning, software-based XOS Advanced Media Processor to modernize playout operations across cant...

29/05/2026

InfoComm 2026: PTZOptics Showcases Intelligent Video Ecosystem

PTZOptics will showcase a new generation of intelligent video workflows at InfoComm 2026, June 17-19, Las Vegas. Visitors to booth N8227 will see how PTZOptics ...

29/05/2026

Arizona's Family Sports Debuts Direct-to-Consumer Streaming App

Arizona's Family has launched the Arizona's Family Sports (AZFS) streaming app, a new direct-to-consumer destination for live, local sports. The app is ...

29/05/2026

DAZN Brings The Canadian Football Leagues Saturday Night Football to the Masses in New Media Rights Deal

Starting in 2027, DAZN will be the exclusive home of The Canadian Football Leagu...

29/05/2026

Comcast Business Supports Advanced Technology Infrastructure at Levi's Stadium for Fan Experience, Venue Operations

Comcast Business has detailed the advanced network infrastructure it has deploye...

29/05/2026

College Sports-Production Community Gathers in Atlanta for 2026 SVG College Summit

In two-day event, leaders from academia and industry explored solutions to chall...

29/05/2026

TBT Reaches Two-Year Extension With FOX Sports for New-Look $2 Million Tournament

The Basketball Tournament (TBT), now entering their 13th year of competition, ha...

29/05/2026

Roku Expands Premium Subscriptions Experience with FOX One

Roku has launched FOX One as a Premium Subscription on The Roku Channel in the U.S. Roku customers can now subscribe to FOX One using their Roku account for liv...

29/05/2026

CBS Sports UEFA Champions League Today Studio Show Heads Budapest for Final as Transcontinental Popularity Grows

In its sixth year, the broadcaster's coverage has become a global brand and ...

29/05/2026

Ratings Roundup: NBA, NHL Playoffs and Indy 500 Photo Finish Power a Record-Setting Week

Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent ratings news and is derived from press re...

29/05/2026

Your Summer 2026 Soundtrack? Spotify's Predictions Are In

The days are getting longer, the temperatures are rising, and playlists are filling up for the season. With summer around the corner, Spotify's global edito...

29/05/2026

Akai Pro unveil the MPC Live III Retro

New retro-inspired MPC announced There are few devices that have gained the status held by Akai Pro's MPC range, and in recent years, the company have s...

29/05/2026

Bjooks Beat Gems Kickstarter continues

Save up to 30 on acclaimed titles Following a successful launch at Superbooth 2026, Bjooks have revealed that they will be continuing the Kickstarter campa...

29/05/2026

Genelec update Aural ID

Binaural monitoring application improved Genelec have just released an update that brings some powerful new features to their HRTF-based binaural headphone ...

29/05/2026

IMSTA FESTA 2026

6 June 2026 at SAE Institute, London, UK IMSTA FESTA 2026 is almost upon us, with some of the biggest names in pro-audio set to descend upon SAE Institute i...

29/05/2026

Remembering Gerald Jerry Pierce, Architect of Modern Digital Cinema

Gerald (Jerry) Pierce, a pioneering technologist who helped shape the digital transformation of the motion picture industry, died April 12, 2026, at his home in...

29/05/2026

Roku Unveils Redesigned TV Home Screen

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

29/05/2026

Sinclair and AMP Sports to Launch Style of Play' Podcast

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

29/05/2026

TV Pharma Ads Are Getting Longer, VAB Says

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...