The Sundance Film Festival is regarded as one of the most prestigious independent film festivals, where filmmakers have been premiering their movies and documentaries since 1984.
The festival was founded in 1978 by Sterling Van Wagenen, the head of Robert Redford’s company Wildwood, and John Earle of the Utah Film Commission under the name Utah/US Film Festival to attract more filmmakers to Utah.
Redford founded the Sundance Institute in 1981 to foster independence, risk-taking, and new voices in American film. That year, 10 emerging filmmakers were invited to the Sundance Resort in the mountains of Utah, where they worked with leading writers, directors and actors to develop their original independent projects.
By 1984, the festival had established itself and was officially renamed the Sundance Film Festival after Redford’s character in his 1969 film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. That year, the Grand Jury Prize in Dramatics was awarded to Old Enough, an...
The festival was founded in 1978 by Sterling Van Wagenen, the head of Robert Redford’s company Wildwood, and John Earle of the Utah Film Commission under the name Utah/US Film Festival to attract more filmmakers to Utah.
Redford founded the Sundance Institute in 1981 to foster independence, risk-taking, and new voices in American film. That year, 10 emerging filmmakers were invited to the Sundance Resort in the mountains of Utah, where they worked with leading writers, directors and actors to develop their original independent projects.
By 1984, the festival had established itself and was officially renamed the Sundance Film Festival after Redford’s character in his 1969 film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. That year, the Grand Jury Prize in Dramatics was awarded to Old Enough, an...
- 1/26/2024
- by Robert Lang
- Deadline Film + TV
For four decades, Sundance has maintained a reputation as one of the most important film festivals in America for independent filmmakers from around the globe. To commemorate its 40th anniversary in 2024 and the enormity (and reciprocity) of that cultural footprint, festival leadership set a series of restoration screenings to highlight many of the most memorable films programmed throughout its history.
“When you look at the way the independent film movement has evolved and changed over the years, from the maturation of an industry and the opportunities that artists have found, to the way that an audience has been built around the work, you see a festival that has evolved alongside it,” says John Nein, senior programmer and director of strategic initiatives.
This year’s festival takes place Jan. 18-28, in person in Park City and Salt Lake City, with a selection of titles available online nationwide from Jan. 25-28. The...
“When you look at the way the independent film movement has evolved and changed over the years, from the maturation of an industry and the opportunities that artists have found, to the way that an audience has been built around the work, you see a festival that has evolved alongside it,” says John Nein, senior programmer and director of strategic initiatives.
This year’s festival takes place Jan. 18-28, in person in Park City and Salt Lake City, with a selection of titles available online nationwide from Jan. 25-28. The...
- 1/16/2024
- by Nick Clement
- Variety Film + TV
Cinematographer Stephen H. Burum will be honored at EnergaCamerimage with the festival’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
Set to run in Torun, Poland, on Nov. 12-19, Camerimage, which focuses on films and cinematography, will celebrate its 30th anniversary this year.
Burum is best known for his collaborations with director Brian De Palma, which yielded such classics as “The Untouchables” (1987), a tale of the battle between good and evil; Vietnam War drama “Casualties of War” (1989); ”Carlito’s Way” (1993), which portrayed deep social divides; the iconic “Mission: Impossible” (1996); “Snake Eyes (1998); and “Mission to Mars” (2000).
His body of work also includes Joel Schumacher’s “St. Elmo’s Fire” (1985), Danny DeVito’s “The War of the Roses (1989), and Ken Kwapis’ and Marisa Silver’s “He Said, She Said” (1991).
Born in rural California in 1939 to a family of that owned and worked on several small newspapers, Burum became interested at an early age in film and shot his...
Set to run in Torun, Poland, on Nov. 12-19, Camerimage, which focuses on films and cinematography, will celebrate its 30th anniversary this year.
Burum is best known for his collaborations with director Brian De Palma, which yielded such classics as “The Untouchables” (1987), a tale of the battle between good and evil; Vietnam War drama “Casualties of War” (1989); ”Carlito’s Way” (1993), which portrayed deep social divides; the iconic “Mission: Impossible” (1996); “Snake Eyes (1998); and “Mission to Mars” (2000).
His body of work also includes Joel Schumacher’s “St. Elmo’s Fire” (1985), Danny DeVito’s “The War of the Roses (1989), and Ken Kwapis’ and Marisa Silver’s “He Said, She Said” (1991).
Born in rural California in 1939 to a family of that owned and worked on several small newspapers, Burum became interested at an early age in film and shot his...
- 5/5/2022
- by Peter Caranicas
- Variety Film + TV
Next month’s Criterion Channel selection is here, and as 2021 winds down further cements their status as our single greatest streaming service. Off the top I took note of their eight-film Jia Zhangke retro as well as the streaming premieres of Center Stage and Malni. And, yes, Margaret has been on HBO Max for a while, but we can hope Criterion Channel’s addition—as part of the 63(!)-film “New York Stories”—opens doors to a more deserving home-video treatment.
Aki Kaurismäki’s Finland Trilogy, Bruno Dumont’s Joan of Arc duology, and Criterion’s editions of Irma Vep and Flowers of Shanghai also mark major inclusions—just a few years ago the thought of Hou’s masterpiece streaming in HD was absurd.
I could implore you not to sleep on The Hottest August and Point Blank and Variety and In the Cut or, look, so many Ernst Lubitsch movies,...
Aki Kaurismäki’s Finland Trilogy, Bruno Dumont’s Joan of Arc duology, and Criterion’s editions of Irma Vep and Flowers of Shanghai also mark major inclusions—just a few years ago the thought of Hou’s masterpiece streaming in HD was absurd.
I could implore you not to sleep on The Hottest August and Point Blank and Variety and In the Cut or, look, so many Ernst Lubitsch movies,...
- 8/25/2021
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
Metrograph Launches New TV App to Serve Movie-Loving Patrons, Readies to Reopen Theater in September
New York City’s Metrograph has today announced the launch of the Metrograph TV App, designed to allow its members nationwide access to all Metrograph live streams and on-demand programming directly via their TV remote. The Metrograph TV App is available starting today at no cost on Apple TV, Fire TV, and Roku, with an Android TV launch coming soon.
Like most other NYC theaters, the Metrograph closed its doors in March 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but is now readying for a September re-opening. The two-screen theater, located on Ludlow Street on the Lower East Side, has yet to announce its full release plans as other NYC-area theaters continue to reopen, but today’s launch of the app makes it clear that a digital component will be part of its plans moving forward.
“Metrograph’s digital expansion this past year has brought our programming to a nationwide audience, and...
Like most other NYC theaters, the Metrograph closed its doors in March 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but is now readying for a September re-opening. The two-screen theater, located on Ludlow Street on the Lower East Side, has yet to announce its full release plans as other NYC-area theaters continue to reopen, but today’s launch of the app makes it clear that a digital component will be part of its plans moving forward.
“Metrograph’s digital expansion this past year has brought our programming to a nationwide audience, and...
- 6/2/2021
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
Joan Micklin Silver, a film director who broke several barriers for female filmmakers, died Thursday at her Manhattan home. She was 85 and her death was attributed to vascular dementia by her daughter.
Silver’s 1975 film Hester Street, the story of an immigrant Jewish couple on the Lower East Side of Manhattan set in the 1890s, was turned down by various studios as “too ethnic.” Silver also faced discrimination as a female film director. So backed by family members, she made the movie on a low budget in 34 days. The black and white film was in Yiddish with English subtitles.
Ms. Silver’s husband, Raphael D. Silver, was a tireless supporter. A commercial real estate developer, he financed the film and even worked to get it distribution. The film went on to earn $5 million after its October 1975 debut, a massive increase from its $370,000 budget. Actress Carol Kane was nominated for a Best Actress Academy Award.
Silver’s 1975 film Hester Street, the story of an immigrant Jewish couple on the Lower East Side of Manhattan set in the 1890s, was turned down by various studios as “too ethnic.” Silver also faced discrimination as a female film director. So backed by family members, she made the movie on a low budget in 34 days. The black and white film was in Yiddish with English subtitles.
Ms. Silver’s husband, Raphael D. Silver, was a tireless supporter. A commercial real estate developer, he financed the film and even worked to get it distribution. The film went on to earn $5 million after its October 1975 debut, a massive increase from its $370,000 budget. Actress Carol Kane was nominated for a Best Actress Academy Award.
- 1/2/2021
- by Bruce Haring
- Deadline Film + TV
Joan Micklin Silver, the director of films like “Crossing Delancy,” “Hester Street,” and “Between the Lines” died on Thursday at the age of 85, The New York Times reports. Her daughter, Claudia Silver, told the paper that the cause of death was vascular dementia. In addition to Claudia, Silver’s survivors include two other daughters, Dina and Marisa Silver; a sister, Renee; and five grandchildren. Her long-time husband, Raphael D. Silver, died at age 83 in 2013 after a skiing accident in Park City, Utah.
An indie pioneer who first got her start writing a series of educational films for companies like Encyclopedia Britannica and the Learning Corporation of America in the 1970s, Silver was long aware of the barriers that would likely prevent her from entering into the male-dominated filmmaking milieu.
And yet the Omaha native soon made her own opportunities, including writing and directing her first film, the low-budget drama 1975 “Hester Street.
An indie pioneer who first got her start writing a series of educational films for companies like Encyclopedia Britannica and the Learning Corporation of America in the 1970s, Silver was long aware of the barriers that would likely prevent her from entering into the male-dominated filmmaking milieu.
And yet the Omaha native soon made her own opportunities, including writing and directing her first film, the low-budget drama 1975 “Hester Street.
- 1/1/2021
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
Interview conducted by Gabe Sheets
Master Class: Directing with Ken Kwapis is part of this year’s St. Louis International Film Festival. This Master Class presentation will be Saturday Nov 14th at 1:00pm. Register and Watch for free by clicking Here
Ken Kwapis, who grew up in Belleville, Ill., and attended Saint Louis University High, is a former Cinema St. Louis Award winner. This master class on directing will draw on material from his terrific new book, “But What I Really Want to Do Is Direct: Lessons from a Life Behind the Camera.” The Library Journal hails it as “an enjoyable memoir that offers lessons of filmmaking, what counts as success in Hollywood, and the magic of film.” Kwapis is an award-winning director who has moved easily between the worlds of feature filmmaking and television directing. He made his feature debut with “Sesame Street Presents: Follow That Bird,” and...
Master Class: Directing with Ken Kwapis is part of this year’s St. Louis International Film Festival. This Master Class presentation will be Saturday Nov 14th at 1:00pm. Register and Watch for free by clicking Here
Ken Kwapis, who grew up in Belleville, Ill., and attended Saint Louis University High, is a former Cinema St. Louis Award winner. This master class on directing will draw on material from his terrific new book, “But What I Really Want to Do Is Direct: Lessons from a Life Behind the Camera.” The Library Journal hails it as “an enjoyable memoir that offers lessons of filmmaking, what counts as success in Hollywood, and the magic of film.” Kwapis is an award-winning director who has moved easily between the worlds of feature filmmaking and television directing. He made his feature debut with “Sesame Street Presents: Follow That Bird,” and...
- 11/13/2020
- by Movie Geeks
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Early on, the Sundance Film Festival's awards ceremonies (originally called the U.S. Film Festival, it was renamed by Robert Redford after the Sundance Institute took over in 1984) were held in a cafeteria. There were no paparazzi or gifting lounges or activations. “Everyone either went skiing or they wandered around during the day. No one was hobnobbing,” says Marisa Silver, who, at the age of 23, won the grand jury prize for her film debut, Old Enough, in 1984.
America's top independent film festival — now a branded behemoth with nearly 125,000 attendees ...
America's top independent film festival — now a branded behemoth with nearly 125,000 attendees ...
- 1/25/2019
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
Early on, the Sundance Film Festival's awards ceremonies (originally called the U.S. Film Festival, it was renamed by Robert Redford after the Sundance Institute took over in 1984) were held in a cafeteria. There were no paparazzi or gifting lounges or activations. “Everyone either went skiing or they wandered around during the day. No one was hobnobbing,” says Marisa Silver, who, at the age of 23, won the grand jury prize for her film debut, Old Enough, in 1984.
America's top independent film festival — now a branded behemoth with nearly 125,000 attendees ...
America's top independent film festival — now a branded behemoth with nearly 125,000 attendees ...
- 1/25/2019
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
As June is the month of the Sundance Directors Lab, the writers of The Film Stage saw this as being an appropriate moment to reflect back upon the early days of all things Sundance.The Sundance Film Festival occupies an interesting space in history, as it was the first film festival to focus specifically on American film, and it helped to escalate the American independent film movement. In 2009, the Sundance Festival celebrated its 25th anniversary, showcasing reflective trailers with images dating back to 1985. What is interesting about this is that the festival had actually started in 1978, and 1985 simply reflects the year in which the Sundance Institute took over its management. One might assume that in this take over was also a name change, and that 1985 reflects when it became known as Sundance. However, it was not actually renamed the Sundance Film Festival until after the 1990 festival, so the fact that...
- 6/12/2010
- by Kristen Coates
- The Film Stage
Man, it has been a long time since I've heard anyone even mention the movie Silent Scream. It seems as if it's been lost a good long time. Thankfully a new DVD label known as Scorpion Releasing is changing all that, and the DVD will be hitting home in November! Hell yeah!
From the Press Release
A new DVD label, Scorpion Releasing, announces the 11/24/09 DVD release of one of the highest grossing slasher films from the golden age of the slasher genre, reaching number one at the box office in February of 1980. For the first time on DVD anywhere in the world, Scorpion Releasing is proud to present Silent Scream, the classic slasher film featuring Barbara Steele in one of her most terrifying roles. Out of circulation for decades, the film has recently been mastered in HiDefinition by Scorpion Releasing, and will be sure to shock a whole new generation of horror fans.
From the Press Release
A new DVD label, Scorpion Releasing, announces the 11/24/09 DVD release of one of the highest grossing slasher films from the golden age of the slasher genre, reaching number one at the box office in February of 1980. For the first time on DVD anywhere in the world, Scorpion Releasing is proud to present Silent Scream, the classic slasher film featuring Barbara Steele in one of her most terrifying roles. Out of circulation for decades, the film has recently been mastered in HiDefinition by Scorpion Releasing, and will be sure to shock a whole new generation of horror fans.
- 9/24/2009
- by Uncle Creepy
- DreadCentral.com
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.