2025 SUNDANCE SCREENWRITERS LAB AND SCREENWRITERS INTENSIVE FELLOWS (COURTESY OF SUNDANCE INSTITUTE)
The nonprofit Sundance Institute announced the fellows selected for the 2025 Screenwriters Lab and Screenwriters Intensive programs, which provide emerging artists with a creative and nurturing space to develop their first and second independent features.
Congratulations to UGFTV alum Ward Kamel ('20) on being selected as a 2025 fellow, along with NYU Grad Film alums Chheangkea, Karishma Dev Dube, Bethiael Alemayoh, and Joanne Mony Park. The 10 projects for the Screenwriters Lab were selected from over 3,380 submissions, and 11 fellows will work under the guidance of accomplished creative advisors to develop their scripts.
Ward Kamel - If I Die in America
Logline: After the sudden death of his immigrant husband, a young American man’s tenuous relationship with his foreign Muslim in-laws reaches a breaking point as he tries to fit into the funeral they’ve arranged in the Middle East.
Ward Kamel is a Syrian filmmaker based in Brooklyn. He is an Academy Nicholl fellow. His directing work has screened at SXSW, Palm Springs International ShortFest, Hollyshorts, and NewFest and earned him a Vimeo Breakout Creator title. He is an NYU graduate and was the commencement speaker for his class.
