Offscreen at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival: Panels, Music and Events
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Media Contact: January 16, 2020 Spencer Alcorn 310.360.1981 [email protected] Offscreen at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival: Panels, Music and Events Onstage: Ai Weiwei, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Ron Howard, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Viggo Mortensen, Max Richter, Isabella Rossellini, Julie Taymor, Tessa Thompson, Rufus Wainwright, Carrie Mae Weems, Among Many Others Day One Press Conference Goes All-Digital Park City, UT — Sundance Institute will curate dozens of offscreen events, including behind-the-scenes panels on the art of filmmaking, musical performances and – around the theme of Imagined Futures – a public Bonfire and several extended post-screening conversations (known as IF Screenings), at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival taking place in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Sundance, Utah, January 23 through February 2, 2020. “Our offscreen programming provides a powerful cultural temperature check – it is an expression of what is preoccupying artists, both in terms of their own creativity, and also how that intersects with the issues of the day,” said John Nein, Sundance Film Festival Senior Programmer. “This year in addition to a slate of incredible performances, there is a real focus on civic engagement, data justice, disability as a creative force, and the role of art as an indispensable tool in the fight for truth telling and justice making. All of which ties perfectly into our theme of Imagined Futures.” To kick off the Festival, the Institute will evolve its Day One Press Conference into a content-rich digital Day One Press Kit, including video remarks from executive leadership as well as details about the Festival and the Institute’s global year round work; this package will be distributed via email on the morning of Day One (January 23, 2020). That evening, Sundance Institute’s annual fundraising event An Artist at the Table Presented by IMDb Pro begins with the premiere of Crip Camp, followed by a celebratory dinner during which the Institute will honor Darren Walker, President of the Ford Foundation, with the Vanguard Award for Philanthropy. Proceeds from the evening will advance Sundance Institute’s mission and programs that discover, support and amplify risk-taking and exciting independent film, media and theatre artists. Talent Forum will convene for three days during the Festival bringing together a robust slate of artists with projects across all platforms and at varied and pivotal stages from development through completion. Now in its second year, the Forum embodies the year-round work of artist support programs across the Institute. Notes Anne Lai, the Institute’s Director of Creative Producing & Artist Support: “We’re thrilled to welcome an extraordinary collection of artists from 22 countries who bring remarkable voices and work to connect with industry, advocates, and each other as they move their work and careers forward.” A full list of participating Talent Forum projects can be found here. The Festival wraps up with the Awards Night Ceremony & Party on February 1, 2020, with previously announced jurors awarding prizes to films in the U.S. Dramatic, U.S. Documentary, World Cinema Dramatic, World Cinema Documentary, and NEXT categories. IMAGINED FUTURES (IF) SCREENINGS Friday, January 24, 2020 Crip Camp IF Screening 6:00 p.m. Grand Theatre, Salt Lake City With film team and special guest Shandra Benito, Executive Director, Art Access, Salt Lake City. Sunday, January 26, 2020 The Assistant IF Screening 8:15 p.m. The MARC Theatre, Park City With film team and special guest Ai-jen Poo, co-founder and Executive Director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance. Moderated by Shirley Li, The Atlantic. PANELS Power of Story: Just Art Saturday, January 25, 2:30 p.m. Egyptian Theatre, 328 Main St. Ticket required Art is uniquely capable of creating public “encounters” that are transformative and that activate our imagination and empathy in order to engage with issues of social justice. We explore the practice of artists who use art to push boundaries, provoke, inspire, disorient orthodoxy, and reshape culture. In asking what the artistic project of justice is, we have only to look at revolutionary narratives and radical forms of expression. Artists Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ai Weiwei, Julie Taymor, Kerry Washington and Carrie Mae Weems will discuss the nature of artwork as a catalytic cultural and sociopolitical force. Presented by Netflix Power of Story: The People Speak Thursday, January 30, 3:00 p.m. Egyptian Theatre, 328 Main St. Ticket required Inspired by the work of the late historian Howard Zinn (A People’s History of the United States), and on the tenth anniversary of his passing, this event brings to life, through readings and songs, the voices of rebels, dissenters, and visionaries from our past—and present. The live performance features poet Staceyann Chin, Ethan Hawke (Tesla), singer-songwriter Celisse Henderson, Viggo Mortensen (Falling), Ntare Mbaho Guma Mwine (Farewell Amor), singer-songwriter Meshell Ndegeocello with guitarist Christopher Bruce, and Festival juror and actor Isabella Rossellini. Anthony Arnove (co-director of The People Speak with Howard Zinn) narrates. Presented by Netflix Mexico’s New New Wave Friday, January 24, 2:00 p.m.-3:30 p.m. Filmmakers Lodge, 550 Main St. (2nd floor) Open to Festival credential holders Once again this year we are seeing a remarkable explosion of cinematic energy coming from Mexico. Join Los Angeles Times critic Carlos Aguilar, filmmakers Rodrigo Ruiz Patterson (Summer White [Blanco de Verano]), Fernanda Valadez (Identifying Features [Sin Señas Particulares]), Elena Fortes (Vivos), and Edher Campos (I Carry You With Me) from this year’s program to explore where this energy is coming from, how it is expressing itself through form and subject matter, and how it speaks to a wider contemporary Latin American cinema. Truth to Power Saturday, January 25, 2:00 p.m.–3:30 p.m. Filmmaker Lodge, 550 Main St. (2nd floor) Open to Festival credential holders as space allows Filipino journalist and protagonist of A Thousand Cuts Maria Ressa and Russian journalist and New Yorker columnist Masha Gessen (Welcome to Chechnya), in their role as truth tellers, have both taken on autocratic heads of state. In this conversation, Patrick Gaspard, president of Open Society Foundations, and journalist and author Farai Chideya explore what it takes for journalists to go up against powerful regimes—and what is at stake if they don’t. Digital Aerosol and the Re-imaginarium: A Fireside Chat with Kahlil Joseph and Jesse Williams Sunday, January 26, noon–1:30 p.m. The Box at The Ray, 1768 Park Ave. Open to the public What does world-building look like in a society whose attention is trapped inside a matrix of digital platforms? Is there another way to engage the cloud of silicon, coltan, and liquid crystal displays? Join artist and filmmaker Kahlil Joseph (BLKNWS, The Underground Museum, collaborator with Flying Lotus and Kendrick Lamar) and actor and cultural critic Jesse Williams (Grey’s Anatomy, The Advancement Project, Ebroji) in an exploration of imagination, self-determination, and entrepreneurialism that creatively tethers earthly terrain with the digital aerosol. Moderated by Charles D. King (founder and CEO of MACRO). Under Whose AI? Sunday, January 26, 1:30 p.m.–3:00 p.m. Filmmaker Lodge, 550 Main St. (2nd floor) Open to Festival credential holders as space allows Artificial intelligence “learns” from data humans generate—every click, photo, text, post, swipe, and like. Invisible data-selves shadow us, and the consequences are unknown. Pioneering media artist and filmmaker Lynn Hershman Leeson (The Electronic Diaries of Lynn Hershman Leeson) is joined by MIT computer scientist Joy Buolamwini, featured in Coded Bias, to explore machine learning and the future it predicts, the possibility of algorithmic justice, and ways to subvert what Buolamwini calls the “coded gaze.” In conversation with The Atlantic’s executive editor Adrienne LaFrance. Creators’ Union—A Workshop on Content Creators Participating in the Data Economy Monday, January 27, noon–1:30 p.m. The Box at The Ray, 1768 Park Ave. Open to the public Data is more valuable than oil. Digital platforms use storytelling content to engage audiences and then harvest their data. How can creators define terms to ensure their intentions and ethics power this growing data economy? Should their true value warrant financial participation? Join former director of monetization for Facebook Tim Kendall (The Social Dilemma), Karim Amer (Persuasion Machines, The Great Hack), producer Jess Engel, Bethany Haynes (Sloss Eckhouse LawCo), and Jesse Redniss (GM Innovation Lab, executive vice president of data strategy for WarnerMedia) as they illuminate the state of the current ecosystem and brainstorm how creators can get a seat at the table. Moderated by Roya Rastegar (PhD in history of consciousness). Where the Truth Lies Monday, January 27, 2:00 p.m.–3:30 p.m. Filmmaker Lodge, 550 Main St. (2nd floor) Open to Festival credential holders as space allows According to Picasso, “Art is not truth. Art is a lie that makes us realize truth.” Join Bill Ross and Turner Ross (Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets), Kirsten Johnson (Dick Johnson Is Dead),