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Sundance Institute Announces Projects for 2004 June Filmmakers and Screenwriters Labs

Los Angeles, CA – Sundance Institute has announced the selection of 13 projects for the annual June Filmmakers and Screenwriters Labs, which take place at the Sundance Village in Utah. The Labs offer emerging directors and screenwriters an opportunity to develop new work under the guidance of experienced filmmakers in an environment that encourages collaboration, innovation, and risk-taking.

This year’s Filmmakers Lab runs May 25 – June 24. During the first three weeks of the program, the selected eight filmmakers collaborate with professional actors and video production crews, shooting and editing key scenes from their scripts. Through this hands-on process, the directors can do a "dress rehearsal" of their material in an atmosphere where experimentation is encouraged. Filmmaker Lab participants also take part in the week-long Screenwriters Lab, when writers involved with five additional projects join the group to participate in one-on-one story conferences with established screenwriters.

“The projects selected for the Lab represent the distinctive and innovative voices of an exciting group of emerging filmmakers from the U.S. and around the world,” said Michelle Satter, Director, Sundance Institute Feature Film Program. “Individually, and as a whole, the projects explore the diversity and complexity of our contemporary culture with originality, humor, and emotional truth. During the Lab, the filmmakers will have the opportunity to further develop their talent and projects in a creative community that values risk-taking and bold ideas.”

During the Labs, participants work with a group of accomplished creative advisors as part of a month-long mentoring process. Gyula Gazdag returns for his 8th year as Artistic Director for the Filmmakers Lab. This year's creative advisors include: Jon Amiel, John August, Jon Avnet, Bob Balaban, Walter Bernstein, Antonia Bird, Robert Caswell, Joan Darling, Anthony Drazan, Carol Doyle, Robert Elswit, Scott Frank, Carlin Glynn, Keith Gordon, Stephen Gyllenhaal, Ed Harris, Peter Hedges, Nicole Holofcener, Becky Johnston, Jeremy Kagan, Callie Khouri, Christopher Knopf, Christine Lahti, Michael Lehmann, Malia Scotch Marmo, Peter Masterson, Christopher McQuarrie, Peter Medak, Ron Nyswaner, Steven Poster, Robert Redford, Howard Rodman, Thomas Schlamme, Susan Shilliday, Joan Tewkesbury, Stanley Tucci, Barbara Tulliver, Tyger Williams, and Gary Winick.

"As always, we are grateful to this inspired group of advisors who are willing to lend their time and expertise. It's the combination of their experience and the creative energy of the Lab Fellows that make the Labs so rewarding and inspiring for all who participate," said Satter.

The participants and projects selected for the 2004 June Filmmakers Lab are:

Aditya Assarat (writer/director), HI-SO, Thailand: A coming-of-age love story that captures the music, the mood, and the ethos of modern day Bangkok.

Sterlin Harjo (writer/director), FOUR SHEETS TO THE WIND, U.S.A.: A mythical story that follows an American Indian, Cufe Smallhill, and his family as they come to terms with tragedy in a small town in Oklahoma.

Peter Himmelstein (writer/director), PEEP WORLD, U.S.A.: A darkly comic day in the life of a family tormented by fact, fiction, and mortality.

Zoe Hopkins (writer/director), CHERRY BLOSSOMS, Canada: A young Native girl decides to build a relationship with the father she never knew as part of her ceremonial passage into womanhood.

Orlando “Dito” Montiel (writer/director), A GUIDE TO RECOGNIZING YOUR SAINTS, U.S.A.: A quintessentially American story of a young man’s hunger for experience, his dawning awareness of the bigger world across the bridge, and of the loyalties that bind him to a violent past and to the flawed and desperate saints that have guided him.

Kieran and Michele Mulroney (co-writers/co-directors), PAPER MAN, U.S.A.: A frustrated writer spends a lonely winter on Cape Cod, where he is forced to choose between a world-weary superhero, an extinct bird and a 17-year-old local girl in this coming-of-middle-age story.

Kazuo Ohno (writer/director), MR. CRUMPACKER AND THE MAN FROM THE LETTER, U.S.A.: An overbearing boss who has done everything in his life decides to reconfigure his company as a place of philosophical inquiry.

Richard Press (writer/director), VIRTUAL LOVE, U.S.A.: The true story of Paul Monette’s harrowing friendship with Tony Johnson, a charismatic 15-year-old abuse survivor and cause celebre who became one of the most important people in Paul’s life – until it began to seem that maybe he didn’t actually exist.

These filmmakers will be joined at the 2004 June Screenwriters Lab by the following participants and projects:

Ryan Eslinger (writer/director), WHEN A MAN FALLS IN THE FOREST, U.S.A.: The lives of three lonely men intersect as they struggle to overcome their deepening isolation as they search for connection.

Ryan Fleck (co-writer/co-director) and Anna Boden (co-writer/co-director), HALF NELSON, U.S.A.: An inner-city junior high school teacher with a serious drug addiction forms an unlikely friendship with one of his students after she discovers his secret life.

Juliana Francis (writer), SAINT LATRICE, U.S.A.: A 13-year-old mall worker retreats into her secret world, populated by a trio of divine girl pop stars, to escape the reality of her inappropriate relationship with an unhappy 40-year-old carpet salesman.

Fatima Jebli-Ouazzani (writer/director), HALIMA’S PARADISE, Netherlands: An unconventional love triangle between a Moroccan woman, her husband, and the second wife he brings into their home to bear him a son.

Catherine Stewart (writer/director), THE MOON, UNDER LATE CAPITALISM, South Africa: Set in post-apartheid South Africa, an ensemble of characters from different racial and class backrounds find unexpected fulfillment when their paths cross on the streets of Johannesburg.

The Sundance Institute Feature Film Program receives major underwriting support for its programs from The Annenberg Foundation, George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Foundation, The Charles Engelhard Foundation, Lisabeth Foundation, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts. The Sundance Institute gratefully acknowledges the generous assistance provided by Alan Gordon Entertainment, Alesis Corporation, Britt Allcroft, Anton-Bauer Inc., Apple Computer, Alice Arlen, Arriflex Corporation, Arts International with support from the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art, John August, Avid Technology, Inc., Canon Professional Lenses, Deluxe Laboratories, Digital Projection Inc., Directors Guild of America, Anthony Drazan, Eastman Kodak Company, Jennifer Easton, Fotokem, Fujinon Lenses, James V. Hart, HBO, Hewlett-Packard Company, H.P. Marketing, INTEL Corporation, Hollywood Foreign Press Association, Robert Jacobs, JBL Professional, J. C. Hansen Co., Kino-Flo Lighting, Richard LaGravenese, Leader Instruments, LG Electronics, Mackie, Matthews Studio Equipment, Chris McQuarrie, Microsoft, Walter Mosley, MTV Films, Panavision Digital Imaging, PBS, Rosco Labs, Inc, Sachtler Corporation of America, SAG Indie/Screen Actors Guild, Sennheiser Electronics, Shure Brothers, Inc., Sony Business and Professional Products, Soundcraft, Steadicam, Julie Taymor, Theophilus Foundation, Thrifty Rent a Car, Tiffen Filters, Jon Turteltaub, U.S. Department of State Office of Cultural Exchange, and Writers Guild of America, west for their support of the 2004 Feature Film Labs. The Sundance Institute also recognizes the generous support provided by its Board of Trustees and by contributors to the Sundance Alumni and Filmmaker Fellowship Fund.

The June Filmmakers and Screenwriters Labs are part of the Sundance Institute Feature Film Program, a year-round series of workshops and events. The Feature Film Program also includes the January Screenwriters Lab, a week-long workshop where filmmakers work on their early drafts with the advice and guidance of experienced screenwriters. Throughout the year, Sundance staff members offer ongoing creative and business assistance to Lab alumni. In many cases, the Institute has helped filmmakers find a producer, financing and other significant resources, helping to bring these projects into production. The Feature Film Program also presents the Screenplay Reading Series, in Los Angeles and New York, which provides a valuable opportunity for writers to hear their scripts performed by professional actors.

In the past several years, the Feature Film Program has supported the work of numerous emerging independent filmmakers, including: Joshua Marston’s MARIA FULL OF GRACE, winner of the Dramatic Audience Award at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival, the Silver Bear for Best Actress and the Alfred G. Bauer prize at the 2004 Berlin Film Fest, and six awards at the 2004 Cartagena Film Festival; and Debra Granik’s DOWN TO THE BONE, winner of the Directing Award and a Special Jury Prize for actress Vera Farmiga at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival.

A number of projects supported by the Feature Film Program are currently in various stages of production: DOWN TO THE VALLEY, David Jacobson’s sophomore directorial effort starring Edward Norton and Evan Rachel Wood; WAITING FOR THE CLOUDS, Turkish filmmaker Yesim Ustaoglu's follow up to her widely acclaimed first feature Journey To The Sun; AROUND THE BEND, Jordan Roberts’ feature directorial debut featuring Michael Caine, Josh Lucas, and Christopher Walken; FORTY SHADES OF BLUE, written and directed by Ira Sachs and starring Rip Torn and Dina Korzun; WOMEN WITHOUT MEN, acclaimed visual artist Shirin Neshat’s feature directorial debut.

Two recipients of the Sundance/NHK International Filmmakers Award are screening in the Un Certain Regard section of the 2004 Cannes Film Festival: WHISKY, co-directed by Juan Pablo Rebella and Pablo Stoll: and CRONICAS, directed by Sebastian Cordero.

Founded by Robert Redford in 1981, Sundance Institute is dedicated to the development of artists of independent vision and the exhibition of their new work. Since its inception, the Institute has grown into an internationally recognized resource for filmmakers and other artists. Sundance Institute conducts national and international labs for filmmakers, screenwriters, composers, writers, and theater artists. The annual Sundance Film Festival, a major program of Sundance Institute, is held each January and is considered the premier showcase for American and international independent film. The Institute supports non-fiction filmmakers through the Documentary Film Program by providing year-round support through the Sundance Documentary Fund and a series of programs that nurture their growth, encourage the exploration of innovative nonfiction storytelling, and promote the exhibition of documentary films to a broader audience. Through the Sundance Institute Theatre Program, the Institute is committed to invigorating the national theatre movement with original and creative work and to nurturing the diversity of artistic expression among theatre artists. The Institute also maintains The Sundance Collection at UCLA, a unique archive of independent film.

Updated: 05/10/2004

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