 |
Emerging Indie Filmmakers Head to Sundance for Directors and Screenwriters Labs Sundance Institute Feature Film Program has announced the selection
of 13 projects for the annual June Directors and Screenwriters Labs.
The diverse range of projects join films like Quentin Tarantino’s
Reservoir Dogs, Kimberly Peirce’s Boys
Don’t Cry, Joshua Marston’s Maria
Full of Grace, Miranda July’s Me and
You and Everyone We Know, and David Jacobson’s Down
in the Valley which premieres at the upcoming Cannes Film
Festival – all of which were developed during the Institute’s
Feature Film Program Labs. As in years past, projects at this year’s Labs explore topics that range from hate, race and religion, terrorism, and the immigrant experience. We Can See Today by Los Angeles resident Stew (co-writer/director) and Heidi Rodewald (co-writer), is a story of the deeply intimate and complex relationship between two families – one black, one Jewish – living in the Fairfax district of Los Angeles circa 1973. In a recent interview Stew said, “At Sundance there exists what I’d call an ‘anti-institutional’ vibe that encourages, if not dares, one to go beyond oneself. The only thing artists are better at creating than art is self-imposed limitation, but, come to think of it, you don’t even have to be an artist to pull that trick!” Stew is certainly no stranger to taking risks and overcoming self-imposed limitations – he recently made his Lincoln Center debut, as part of its “American Songbook Series”, and his musical-in-progress, Passing Strange has been invited back for the second year in a row to this year’s Sundance Theatre Lab. “Sundance for me represents two huge artistic challenges: my first work for theatre is being developed at the Theatre Lab and my first shot at filmmaking is taking place at the Directors Lab. And I’ve only got an eleven-day break between them! So, despite the mellow surroundings, Sundance is anything but,” said Stew. Continuing the Sundance Theatre Lab connection is Colorado native Martin Moran, writer of Celestial Navigation, the story of a Roman Catholic boy's sexual relationship with an older man and its effect on the adult he becomes. “A couple of years ago I had the great good fortune to attend the Sundance Theatre Lab. At the time, I was forging a one-man stage play from a memoir about Catholic boyhood and sexual coming of age; a memoir I'd been working on for a long time,” remembers Martin Moran. The resulting one-man play, The Tricky Part, went on to win a 2004 Obie Award and he continues to perform the play all over the country Moran’s memoir, The Tricky Part: One Boy’s Fall From Trespass into Grace, will be released by Beacon Press this June and his book tour will coincide with the Labs. Despite his busy summer, Martin is relishing the prospect of returning to Sundance. “I experienced the extraordinary place and people at Sundance as a kind of crucible that helped me to form a more potent theatrical piece. Now, for the first time, I'm looking at telling the same story in an entirely new way – through the medium of film. What a blessing and an honor to return again to the mountain for guidance.” The participants and projects selected for the 2005 June Filmmakers Lab, May 31 – June 30, are: Taika Waititi (writer/director), Something Beginning with Love, New Zealand: For two awkward misfits, life is the question, and love is the answer. Taika Waititi is of Te Whanau-A-Apanui descent, from the east coast of New Zealand and directed the Academy-Award nominated short Two Cars One Night. Cruz Angeles (co-writer/director) and Maria Topete (co-writer), Don’t Let Me Drown: In a post-September 11th world overflowing with fear and hate, two Latino teens discover that sometimes the only thing that can keep them from drowning is love. Born in Mexico City and raised in Los Angeles, Cruz Angeles is an award-winning student filmmaker from the graduate film program at NYU. A Bay Area native, Maria Topete began her film career while studying at U.C. Berkeley, and has collaborated as co-writer and producer on several award-winning short films. Dante Harper (writer/director), Dreamland: An unflinching portrayal of the origins of domestic terrorism, Dreamland is the tragic story of Tim McVeigh, from his boyhood dreams of being a soldier to his life as a man at war with his own country. Dante Harper is an independent filmmaker, video artist and co-founder of CLC Films and director of the independent film The Delicate Art of the Rifle. Andrew Dosunmu (director) and Darci Picoult (Writer), Mother of George: Torn between her African culture and new life in America, a woman struggles to please her husband and give him the son that will carry on his family's legacy. Originally from Nigeria, Andrew Dosunmu has photographed artists including Outkast, Erykah Badu, and Mos Def, and recently directed several episodes of the highly acclaimed South African television series YIZO YIZO 3. Darci Picoult lives in New York and her one-woman show, My Virginia, was presented in theatres and solo festivals both nationally and internationally. Catherine Stewart (writer/director), Transit Cafe, South Africa: Set in post-apartheid South Africa amid a volatile landscape of fear, hybrid cultures, and shifting identities, three unusual love stories intertwine with startling results on the streets of Johannesburg. Catherine Stewart received and MFA in screenwriting and directing from Columbia University in New York City before returning to Johannesburg to direct documentaries and the thirteen-part dramatic television series Tsha Tsha. Eva Husson (writer/director), Tiny Dancer: In Spanish Harlem, a talented high school girl struggles to find the right balance between her overpowering family, her need for love, and her passion for contemporary dance. Eva Husson attended the Sorbonne-Nouvelle University in Paris before graduating from the American Film Institute in Los Angeles, where she wrote and directed the award-winning short film Hope to Die. Stew (co-writer/director) and Heidi Rodewald (co-writer), We Can See Today: The vibrant and authentic story of the deeply intimate and complex relationship between two families – one black, one Jewish – living in the Fairfax district of Los Angeles circa 1973. Stew is a critically acclaimed singer/songwriter whose releases have won numerous “Album of the Year” accolades. Born in Pomona, California, Heidi Rodewald is the other half of the multi-disciplinary art team known as STEW. Ryan Eslinger (writer/director), When a Man Falls in the Forest: The lives of three lonely men intersect as they struggle to overcome their deepening isolation and search for connection. Los Angeles resident Ryan Eslinger directed his first feature, Madness and Genius, at the age of 23. These filmmakers will be joined at the 2005 June Screenwriters Lab by the following participants and projects: Martin Moran (writer), Celestial Navigation: Celestial Navigation is the story of a Roman Catholic boy's sexual relationship with an older man and its effect on the man he becomes. Martin Moran grew up in Denver and attended Stanford University and The American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. He won a 2004 Obie Award for his one man play, THE TRICKY PART, which was developed at The Sundance Theater Lab. Jake Mahaffy (writer/director), Free in Deed: Three years after attempting to perform a miracle in Oil City, a religious man returns to confront the town's few remaining residents with the reasons for his criminal act. Born in Ohio and currently residing in southwest Virginia, Jake Mahaffy has made award winning short films and the feature-length WAR. Sabiha Sumar (writer/director), Rafina, Pakistan: Rafina is the story of a young woman struggling to define herself in a new, emerging Pakistan - a Pakistan that is steeped in a timeless way of life and, at the same time, is in the throes of cataclysmic change. Born in Karachi, Sabiha Sumar studied filmmaking and political science at Sarah Lawrence College in New York and then studied international relations at the University of Cambridge. Khamosh Pani (Silent Waters), her first feature film premiered at the Locarno International Film Festival in 2003 where it won the Golden Leopard for Best Film, Leopard for Best Actress and three other awards. Annemarie Jacir (writer/director), Salt of the Sea, U.S.A./Palestinian: A Palestinian-American girl, intent on asserting her right of return, travels to the West Bank and meets a dynamic young man who joins her on an adventure journeying across borders. Palestinian-American filmmaker Annemarie Jacir has written, directed and produced both narrative and documentary shorts. Salvatore Stabile (writer/director), Where God Left His Shoes: A struggling ex-boxer and his family, desperate to leave the shelter they've been living in, get a Christmas Eve gift of an apartment to call their own - but only if Dad can find a job by the end of the day. New York native and LA resident Salvatore Stabile made his directing
debut when he was 21 years old with the film Gravesend. |