#sundance institute

Gregory Nava’s El Norte will be rereleased theatrically for the first time since its original run 35 years ago. Thanks to a brand new restoration conducted by the Academy Film Archive and the Getty Foundation, audiences can see it in theaters on September 15—the first day of Hispanic and Latinx Heritage Month, which coincides with the independence days of Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica and Mexico.

Directed by Nava from a screenplay co-written by Anna Thomas, El Norte tells the story of two indigenous siblings who flee from persecution in their native Guatemala to follow the promise of a better life in the United States. Together Nava and Thomas attended the inaugural 1981 Directors Lab as part of a cohort of filmmakers invited by Robert Redford to develop their screenplays with the newly founded Sundance Institute. At the heart of El Norte is what Redford calls “the pursuit of a sense of place”—a struggle that resonates as deeply today as it did 35 years ago. 

To learn more about El Norte, check out this interview with Gregory Navaandthis essay by Héctor Tobar.

Photos: 1. Film still courtesy of El Norte ; 2. Creative Advisor Waldo Salt and El Norte filmmakers Anna Thomas and Gregory Nava. © 1981 Sharon M. Beard

Today marks 10 years—or 3652 days—since 500 Days of Summer made its theatrical debut. Prior to the release, the film premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival and is notable as director Marc Webb’s first feature film.

Earlier this year, stars Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt sat down with Entertainment Weekly to rewatch and revisit the film in real time. You can read their commentary here.

Above: Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel attending the 500 Days of Summer premiere at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. © 2009 George Pimentel/WireImage

It’sGo Skateboarding Day, and what better way to celebrate than to highlight  films throughout Sundance Film Festival history that feature skateboarding. 

Founded in 2004 by Don Brown and the International Association of Skateboard Companies in California, the holiday gives skateboarders an opportunity to get outside and practice the sport with the help of participating cities worldwide.

Here are just a few films that capture the creativity, passion, drive, and so much more that skateboarding can ignite. 

(Above) 2019 Sundance Film Festival, Hala dir. by Minhal Baig

Hala is her father’s pride and joy. Dutiful and academically gifted, she skillfully navigates both her social life as a teen in Chicago and her obligations as an only child to Pakistani immigrants. When she meets Jesse, a classmate who shares her love for poetry and skateboarding, their romance is complicated by her Muslim faith and a father who is prepared to arrange her marriage according to their family’s cultural tradition. As Hala begins to challenge these customs, her parents’ own lives start to unravel, testing the power of Hala’s flourishing voice.

2018 Sundance Film Festival, Skate Kitchen dir. by Crystal Moselle

Introverted 18-year-old skateboarder Camille lives on Long Island with her single mother. After a startling injury, she promises her mother she’ll hang up her board, but the pull to skate is too strong. On Instagram she discovers “The Skate Kitchen,” a subculture of girls whose lives revolve around skating, and bravely seeks them out… Skate Kitchen precisely captures the experience of women in male-dominated spaces and tells a story of a girl who learns the importance of camaraderie and self-discovery.

2001 Sundance Film Festival, Bones Brigade: An Autobiography dir. by Stacy Peralta

Today skateboarding is omnipresent. Take a walk down any street in any town, and you are destined to see someone riding a skateboard. Well, it wasn’t always like that. In the early ’80s, skateboarding was fading away until Stacy Peralta brought a profoundly talented group of outsiders together and dubbed them the Bones Brigade. This documentary chronicles their epic rise, using awesome archival footage and moving first-person accounts from Brigade members Steve Caballero, Tommy Guerrero, Tony Hawk, Mike McGill, Lance Mountain, and Rodney Mullen, among others.

1999 Sundance Film Festival, Dogtown and Z-Boys dir. by Stacy Peralta

Skateboarding has crossed over into the mainstream population due in large part to the humble beginnings of a group of eight teenagers in an area of Santa Monica called Dogtown. It was there that this mismatched gang of kids from broken homes formed a group known as the Zephyr Team aka Z-Boys… Reuniting the original crew 25 years later enables us to hear in their own words what it was like before x-treme sports existed.

All film stills courtesy of respective film titles. 

A brief history of Parker Posey’s (aka “The Queen of the Indies”) Sundance career in film posters

SubUrbia, 1997 Sundance Festival

Directed by Richard Linklater and written by Eric Bogosian, SubUrbia is an extraordinary blend of the disparate visions of two celebrated observers of pop culture and disaffected youth… SubUrbia seduces you with a cinematic style that captures the dark heart of middle America.

Frisk, 1996 Sundance Film Festival

Frisk is the much-anticipated adaptation of Dennis Cooper’s infamous novel about homosexuality, sadism, and insanity. Ironically, Dennis is also the name of the main character, whose lead we follow on this path between what is real and what we can only hope is surreal.

Broken English,2007 Sundance Film Festival

Nora isn’t broken; she just acts that way. She is actually sexy, funny, and creative, and her only fault is being cursed with that modern affliction of wanting more out of life than what others want for her. She must suffer quietly her best friend’s “perfect marriage,” a job she has outgrown, and a mother who constantly reminds her of it all.

Fay Grim,2007 Sundance Film Festival

Eight years have passed since the infamous Henry Fool fled the country, abandoning his wife, Fay Grim, and their son, Ned. Played to Hartley-esque perfection by Parker Posey, Fay is falling to pieces. Ned is being expelled from school, and Fay’s brother, Simon (James Urbaniak), the reviled garbageman/poet, is serving a 10-year sentence for aiding Henry’s escape. 

Spring Breakdown,2009 Sundance Film Festival

An outlandish, quick-witted romp that jubilantly leaves none immune to ridicule, Spring Breakdown chews up our geeky gals and spits them out as triumphant powerhouses—confident that being who they truly are is way cooler than fitting in.

Grab,2011 Sundance Film Festival

Each year residents of the Laguna Pueblo in New Mexico honor individual family members by throwing food and gifts from the rooftops of their homes to the community that gathers below. Billy Luther’s film follows three families as they prepare for this ancient tradition, which has taken many modern twists.

Columbus, 2017 Sundance Film Festival

While his father is in a coma, Jin finds himself stuck in an unusual Midwestern city renowned for its modernist buildings. Though not fond of architecture, Jin strikes up a friendship with Casey, a bright girl who works at the city library (avoiding college and her future), and she shows him the local marvels.

-All film posters courtesy of respective film titles-

Following the Satanic Temple’s announcement that the IRS now recognizes it as a church, Penny Lane’s Hail Satan? opens in theaters nationwide this month. “That recognition means the group can now get the same benefits as religious organizations —including tax exemption and protection from discrimination,” reports the Salt Lake Tribune.

One of the less traditional political documentaries to come through the 2019 Festival, the film explores the Satanic Temple and its grassroots political activism, which fluctuates between the rational and the absurd in its efforts to uphold the division between church and state. Lane’s portrait takes their principles seriously and forces audience to challenge their ideas of what a “normal” or “reasonable” religion is. 

Watch a conversation with Director Penny Lane and Satanic Temple Co-Founder Lucien Greaves below, and find Hail Satan? showing at a theater near you!

Film still courtesy of Hail Satan?

First-time feature director Nia DaCosta will see the official release of her film Little Woods tomorrow, April 19. Little Woods is a blend of familial drama, neo-western, and crime thriller with a focus on the perspective of women navigating highly politicized conflicts like the opioid crisis and restricted access to reproductive health care. The film stars Tessa Thompson and Lily James as estranged sisters struggling under the strains of poverty in a North Dakota oil boomtown. Thompson has been involved with the film since the 2015 Sundance Institute Directors Lab, where she volunteered her time to be a resource actress for the project. DaCosta is currently directing the ‘spiritual sequel’ to the 1992 horror classic Candyman.

1, 2, 4, 6, 7: © 2015 Sundance Institute | Photo by Brandon Cruz ; 3: © Sundance Institute | Photo by Fred Hayes ; 5: © 2017 Sundance Institute | Photo by Kate Webber

“The experiment was a success: protomatter exists.”

Written and directed by Chema García Ibarra,Protoparticles premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival in the International Short Films category and took home an Honorable Mention. On today’s Film Poster Friday, we’re highlighting the unique and adorably cross-stitched film poster for Protoparticles. Check out the full short below!

Have you ever wanted to experience the summer labs at Utah’s very own Sundance Resort? While we’ve transitioned these labs to digital platforms, we put together a few beauty shots from over the years as a part of the US National Archives’ #ArchivesVirtualVisit to give you an inside look. 

“Did you know your foot’s as big as your arm from your elbow to your wrist?” That’s a little bit of trivia offered by Julia Roberts’ Vivian in the 1990 film Pretty Woman. Another bit of trivia for you: Pretty Woman actually had its beginnings as a Sundance lab project! In 1988, screenwriter J.F. Lawton (above) attended the Screenwriters and Directors Labs to workshop his script, then titled Three Thousand. 

Since the film recently celebrated the 30th anniversary of its release, we thought we would share some photos taken on set of the project during the Directors Lab that year.

Resource actors Pamela Gidley and Peter Gallagher work on a scene directed by lab fellow Jim Simpson. © 1988 | John Schaefer 

Portrait of Pamela Gidley in character as Vivian © 1988 | John Schaefer 

Director and screenwriter Gina Prince-Bythewood workshopped her award winning film Love & Basketballat the 1998 Directors Lab and premiered it two years later at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival. 

This month marks 20 years since Love & Basketball’s release and ESPNrecently posted an interview with Prince-Bythewood, along with the cast and crew of the groundbreaking film and it’s definitely worth checking out, ‘Love & Basketball’: An oral history of the film that changed the game.

1. DP Alicia Weber, director/screenwriter Gina Prince-Bythewood, actors Tamala Jones and Richard Jones, and crew chief Craig Sullivan during the 1998 Directors Lab. © 1998 | Photo by Unknown
2. Love & Basketball film still. Courtesy of Love & Basketball.

Longtime alum Roger Ross Williams’ new documentary tells the rich history of the Apollo Theater in Harlem – The Apollo is available to stream for free in April on HBO. 

“It’s 85 years of the history of black music and black entertainment in this country. We used music and art to lift ourselves out of oppression.” 
-Roger Ross Williams

Williams received a 2011 Sundance Documentary Fund Grant for his first feature length documentary God Loves Uganda, attended the Documentary Edit and Story Lab with the film in 2012, and premiered it during the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. Life, Animated, Roger Ross Williams’ second feature documentary, premiered at the 2016 Festival and won the Directing Award: U.S. Documentary.

Most recently Roger Ross Williams attended the 2019 Sundance Film Festival with Traveling While Black, an installation and VR experience at New Frontier.

Stream The ApolloonHBO and check out the trailer below:

Photo of Roger Ross Williams during the Sundance Film Festival premiere of Life, Animated. © 2016 Sundance Institute | Photo by Jonathan Hickerson

In honor of World Theatre Day, we’re highlighting theatre artists and the work they do. 

(pictured above) Director Chay Yew during a rehearsal of There’s Always the Hudsonat the 2017 Theatre Lab.

Andre De Shields participates in a reading of Lemon Andersen’s ToasT at the 2012 Theatre Lab. De Shields was most recently in the 2019 Best Musical Tony Award winner, Hadestown.

Playwright and composer Jeanine Tesori works with Judy Kuhn, Raul Esparza, and Beth Malone on Fun Home at the 2012 Theatre Lab. Fun Home went on to win 5 Tony Awards in 2015, including Best Musical.

The Dreaming Zenzile team during rehearsal at the 2019 Theatre Lab.

Alex Brightman, most recently on Broadway as the titular character in Beetlejuice, rehearses a song from an untitled musical by Jeanine Tesori and David Linsay-Abaire, adapted from the play Kimberly Akimbo at the 2017 Theatre Lab.

Playwright Paula Vogel and director Rebecca Taichman workshop Indecent at the 2013 Theatre Lab. Indecent went on to win 2 Tony Awards in 2017, including Best Play.

1. © 2017 Sundance Institute | Photo by Jonathan Hickerson; 2. © 2012 Sundance Institute | Photo by Fred Hayes; 3. © 2012 Sundance Institute | Photo by Fred Hayes; 4. © 2019 Sundance Institute | Jen Fairchild; 5. © 2017 Sundance Institute | Photo by Jonathan Hickerson 6. © 2013 Sundance Institute | Photo by Fred Hayes

© 2017 Sundance Institute | Photo by Herve Hote

Self-isolating got you down? Take this as an opportunity to finally see all those films you keep moving to your “Watch Later” list. Here are a few feel-good Sundance faves that we love to get you started.

The Farewell (Amazon Prime)

After learning their beloved matriarch has terminal lung cancer, a family opts not to tell her about the diagnosis, instead scheduling an impromptu wedding-reunion back in China. Headstrong and emotional writer Billi rebels against her parents’ directive to stay in New York and joins the family as they awkwardly attempt to rekindle old bonds, throw together a wedding that only grandma is actually looking forward to, and surreptitiously say their goodbyes.

Minding the Gap (Hulu)

Bing, 24, returns home and reconnects with his friends Zack and Keire, whom he’s been skateboarding with since childhood. Archival recordings of their former glory coupled with current interviews and extraordinary skateboard footage tell the story of three young men who banded together to escape their volatile families. As they grow up before our eyes, unexpected revelations threaten to crash their decade-long friendship.

Won’t You Be My Neighbor (HBO)

With his gentle voice and heartfelt words of wisdom, Fred Rogers served as a compassionate surrogate father for generations of American children who tuned in to public television. He believed in love as the essential ingredient in life and was able to assist kids through difficult situations armed merely with handmade puppets suggesting tolerance and acceptance. 

The Fundamentals of Caring(Netflix)

Having suffered a tragedy, Ben becomes a caregiver to earn money. His first client, Trevor, is a hilarious 18-year-old with muscular dystrophy. One paralyzed emotionally, one paralyzed physically, Ben and Trevor hit the road on a trip into the western states. The folks they collect along the way will help them test their skills for surviving outside their calculated existence. Together, they come to understand the importance of hope and the necessity of true friendship.

Brittany Runs a Marathon (Amazon Prime)

Brittany Forgler is a funny, likeable, 27-year-old hot mess of a New Yorker whose trashy nightclub adventures and early-morning walks of shame make her late for work every day. But when she stops by a Yelp-recommended doctor’s office in an attempt to score Adderall, Brittany gets handed a series of diagnoses instead—elevated heart rate, high blood pressure … the list goes on. Suddenly forced to get a grip, Brittany laces up her Converse sneakers and runs one sweaty block. The next day, she runs two. Soon she runs a mile. Brittany finally has direction—but is she on the right path?

Hunt for the Wilderpeople (Hulu)

Raised on hip-hop and foster care, defiant city kid Ricky gets a fresh start in the New Zealand countryside. He quickly finds himself at home with his new foster family: the loving Aunt Bella, the cantankerous Uncle Hec, and dog Tupac. When a tragedy strikes that threatens to ship Ricky to another home, both he and Hec go on the run in the bush. As a national manhunt ensues, the newly branded outlaws must face their options: go out in a blaze of glory or overcome their differences and survive as a family.

Don’t say his name, but do check out the official trailer for Sundance alums director/screenwriter Nia DaCosta, screenwriter/producer Jordan Peele, and screenwriter Win Rosenfeld’s new take on the terrifying urban legend that is Candyman.

Nia DaCosta workshopped her first feature, Little Woods, during the 2015 Directors Lab, Jordan Peele premiered Get Out during a surprise screening at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival, and Win Rosenfeld premiered Lorena alongside Jordan Peele at the 2019 Festival.

Candyman will be unleashed on June 12.

Brrr, it definitely feels like the first day of winter here in Park City, so we’re bundling up for December Archives Hashtag Party: #ArchivesSweaterWeather! Pictured above is Roger Ebert, Melvin Van Peebles, and Michael Moore during the 1990 Sundance Film Festival. 

Short Film Spotlight: Jáaji Approx.

Against landscapes that the artist and his father traversed, audio of the father in the Ho-Chunk language is transcribed using the International Phonetic Alphabet, which tapers off, narrowing the distance between recorder and recordings, new and traditional, memory and song.

Director Sky Hopinka will make an exciting return to Sundance for the 2020 Festival with malni - towards the ocean, towards the shore; a New Frontier film exploring the origin of the death myth of the Chinookan people.

-

Film still courtesy of Jáaji Approx.

#ThrowbackThursday….

Laura Dern, seen above on the set of The Tempter (Yu Waku Sha),attended the 1986 Directors Lab as a resource actor. Other notable resource actors this year included Helen Hunt, Alfre Woodard, Laurie Metcalfe, Isabella Rossellini, and more.

© 1986 | Photo by Unknown

Acclaimed artist and long-time Sundance alum Shirin Neshat just opened her retrospective Shirin Neshat: I Will Greet the Sun AgainatThe Broad in Los Angeles.

Taking its title from a poem by Iranian poet Forugh Farrokhzad, the exhibition (which presents over 230 photographs and eight immersive video installations works) offers a rare glimpse into the evolution of Neshat’s artistic journey as she explores topics of exile, displacement, and identity with beauty, dynamic formal invention, and poetic grace.

The exhibition is open now through February 16, 2020.

1: Shirin Neshat during Women Without Men Festival premiere, © 2010 Sundance Institute | Photo by Brandon Joseph Baker; 2: Shirin Neshat and Creative Advisor Naomi Foner during the January Screenwriters Lab; © 2003 Clayton Chase for Sundance Institute; 3: Artist Trustees Shirin Neshat and Charlayne Woodard (left, right) with Trustee Jeanne Donovan Fisher (center), during the Institute Board Retreat; © 2009 Fred Hayes for Sundance Institute.