2015 Sundance Film Festival

In 1978, Robert Redford's company, Wildwood, founded the Sundance Film Festival, which begins today in Park City, Utah. Redford is pictured here in Utah in 1969, the same year he purchased the land now known as Sundance.

Sundance isn’t just about looking for celebrities, watching new films and guessing which will get picked up by the big distributors, there are also great seminars and panels with filmmakers that dive into the art and craft of making movies.  It’s no surprise that Sundance is one of the most talked about film festivals given the talent that submits work and the films premiered. This year’s lineup is getting a lot of buzz.

The Sundance Film Festival® has introduced global audiences to some of the most groundbreaking films of the past three decades, including Whiplash, Boyhood, Rich Hill, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Fruitvale Station, Little Miss Sunshine, sex, lies, and videotape, Reservoir Dogs, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, An Inconvenient Truth, Precious and Napoleon Dynamite, and through its New Frontier initiative has showcased groundbreaking media works by artists and creative technologists including Chris Milk, Doug Aitken, Palmer Luckey, Klip Collective and Nonny de la Pena. 

The Festival is a program of the non-profit Sundance Institute®. 2015 Festival sponsors to date include: Presenting Sponsors – HP, Acura, SundanceTV and Chase Sapphire Preferred®; Leadership Sponsors – Adobe, Airbnb, Grey Goose® Vodka, LensCrafters, Southwest Airlines and YouTube; Sustaining Sponsors – Blundstone Australia Pty Ltd, Canada Goose, Canon U.S.A., Inc., Chobani, LLC, Omnicom, Stella Artois® and VIZIO. 

Sundance Institute recognizes critical support from the Utah Governor's Office of Economic Development, and the State of Utah as Festival Host State. The support of these organizations helps offset the Festival's costs and sustain the Institute's year-round programs for independent artists. sundance.org/festival

Sundance Institute
Founded in 1981 by Robert Redford, Sundance Institute is a nonprofit organization that provides and preserves the space for artists in film, theatre, and new media to create and thrive. The Institute's signature Labs, granting, and mentorship programs, dedicated to developing new work, take place throughout the year in the U.S. and internationally. The Sundance Film Festival and other public programs connect audiences to artists in igniting new ideas, discovering original voices, and building a community dedicated to independent storytelling. Sundance Institute has supported such projects as Beasts of the Southern Wild, Fruitvale Station, Sin Nombre, The Invisible War, The Square, Dirty Wars, Spring Awakening, A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder and Fun Home. 

Additional Music Programming at the Festival

The Festival will also celebrate music's role in film during its first Art of Film Weekend (January 29-31), with a panel with renowned composer Harry Gregson-Williams (the Shrek series, The Chronicles of Narnia series, The Town, Man on Fire, Kingdom of Heaven and Spy Game). Additional music components of the Festival include daytime performances at the 17th annual Sundance ASCAP Music Café (Jan 23-30, 1:30-6:00 p.m. daily), where featured performers include: Andrew Dost of fun. (from the film The D Train), Jamestown Revival, Joe McGinty of the Psychedellic Furs & The Losers Lounge (from the film What Happened, Miss Simone?), Scott Weiland and more. BMI will host a roundtable discussion about "Music & Film: The Creative Process," (January 27, 4:00-6:00 p.m. at the Festival's Filmmaker Lodge) as well as their annual Music Showcase: BMI Snowball (January 28, 8:00 p.m. at Sundance House Presented by HP), headlined by iTunes breakthrough artist Christina Perri.

With this year's Sundance Film Festival officially underway, check out the most highly anticipated movies in Park City.

Below is a listing of the films edited with Adobe Premiere Pro CC that will premiere in Park City.

Misery Loves Comedy

(Special Events) – Director: Kevin Pollak, Screenwriters: Kevin Pollak, John Varhous

Do you have to be miserable to be funny? Children cry, “Hey, look at me,” but who turns that into a profession? Over 50 funny people, like Tom Hanks, Larry David, Jimmy Fallon, Judd Apatow, and Amy Schumer share pain-filled insights from a life in pursuit of laughter. Cast: Tom Hanks, Larry David, Amy Schumer, Jimmy Fallon, Judd Apatow, Jim Gaffigan. World Premiere

The Stanford Prison Experiment

(US Dramatic Competition) – Director: Kyle Patrick Alvarez, Screenwriter: Tim Talbott

Based on the actual events that took place in 1971, when Stanford professor Dr. Philip Zimbardo created what became one of the most shocking and famous social experiments of all time. Cast: Billy Crudup, Ezra Miller, Michael Angarano, Tye Sheridan, Johnny Simmons, Olivia Thirlby.

Advantageous

(US Dramatic Competition) – Director: Jennifer Phang, Screenwriters: Jacqueline Kim, Jennifer Phang

In a near-future city where soaring opulence overshadows economic hardship, Gwen and her daughter, Jules, do all they can to hold on to their joy, despite the instability surfacing in their world. Cast: Jacqueline Kim, James Urbaniak, Freya Adams, Ken Jeong, Jennifer Ehle, Samantha Kim.

Being Evel

(US Documentary Competition) – Director: Daniel Junge

Millions know the man, but few know his story. Academy Award-winner Daniel Junge (Saving Face) and actor/producer Johnny Knoxville take a candid look at American daredevil and icon Robert “Evel” Knievel while also reflecting on our voracious public appetite for heroes and spectacle.

Fresh Dressed

(Documentary Premieres) – Director: Sacha Jenkins

The history of hip-hop fashion from its birth in the South Bronx to its rise as a billion-dollar global industry,Fresh Dressed is supported by rich archival materials, in-depth interviews with individuals crucial to the evolution, and the outsiders who study and admire them.

Things of the Aimless Wanderer

(New Frontier) – Director and screenwriter: Kivu Ruhorahoza

A white man meets a black girl, then she disappears. The white man tries to understand what happened to her while also trying to finish a travelogue. Things of the Aimless Wanderer is a film about the sensitive topic of relations between “locals” and Westerners, about paranoia, mistrust, and misunderstandings. Cast: Justin Mullikin, Grace Nikuze, Ramadhan Bizimana, Eliane Umuhire, Wesley Ruzibiza, Matt Ray Brown. World Premiere

Cop Car

(Park City at Midnight) – Director Jon Watts, Screenwriters: Christopher D. Ford, Jon Watts

Two 10-year-old boys steal an abandoned cop car. Cast: Kevin Bacon, James Freedson-Jackson, Hays Wellford, Shea Whigham, Camryn Manheim. World Premiere

Short Films:

Every Day, Director Gabe Spitzer

Followers, Director Tim Marshall

Greenland, Director Oren Gerner

Hotel 22, Director Elizabeth Lo

Making it in America, Director Joris Debeij

OM Rider, Director Takeshi Murata

Palm Rot, Director Ryan Gillis

Papa Machette, Director Jonathan David Kane

Russian Roulette, Director Ben Aston

Symphony no.42, Director Réka Bucsi

Storm hits jacket, Director Paul Cabon

The Sun Like a Big Dark Animal, Director Christina Felisgrau, Ronnie Rivera

The Face of Ukraine: Casting Oksana Baiul, Director Kitty Green

The Collectors: Beekeeper, Director Steven Cantor

The Sundance Film Festival takes place January 22 – February 1 in Park City Utah. Check the Sundance Film Festival website for the schedule and theatre listings.