Sundance Institute
The 2023 Sundance Film Festival featured premieres from over a dozen alumni, faculty, and current MFA candidates, with many bringing home awards.
FEATURE AWARDS:
'A THOUSAND AND ONE'
A Thousand and One, written and directed by alum A.V. Rockwell follows Inez as she moves from shelter to shelter in mid 1990’s New York City. With her 6-year-old son Terry in foster care and unable to leave him again, she kidnaps him so they can build their life together. As the years go by, their family grows and Terry becomes a smart yet quiet teenager, but the secret that has defined their lives threatens to destroy the home they have so improbably built. As Rockwell’s feature-length directorial debut, this film is set for a theatrical release with Focus Features on March 31st, 2023.
A Thousand and One received the U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic.
'THE PERSIAN VERSION'
The Persian Version, written and directed by alum Maryam Keshavarz follows Iranian-American Leila and her large family. When they gather in NYC for the patriarch’s heart transplant, a family secret is uncovered and catapults the estranged mother and daughter into an exploration of the past.
The Persian Version received the Audience Award: U.S. Dramatic and The Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award: U.S. Dramatic.
'THE STARLING GIRL'
The Starling Girl, written and directed by alum Laurel Parmet with cinematography by alum Brian Lannin, follows seventeen-year-old Jem Starling as she struggles to define her place within her fundamentalist Christian community in rural Kentucky.
For The Starling Girl, the Sundance Institute Amazon Studios Producers Award for Fiction went to producer Kara Durrett (U.S. Dramatic Competition).
SHORT AWARDS:
'WILL YOU LOOK AT ME'
Will You Look at Me is a documentary short-film directed by MFA Candidate Shuli Huang. As a young Chinese filmmaker returns to his hometown in search of himself, a long-overdue conversation with his mother drives them into a quest for acceptance and love. The film won Huang a Queer Palm at the 61st La Semaine De La Critique Cannes Film Festival 2022 and the Golden Horse Award for Best Documentary Short Film.
Will You Look at Me received the Short Film Jury Award: Non-Fiction presented by Shutterstock.
'THE VACATION'
The Vacation, written and directed by alum Jarreau Carrillo and produced by alumni Julius Pryor and Marttise Hill, follows a Black man as he attempts to take a vacation. The film was also shown at the 2022 Queens International Film Festival and the 2022 Charlotte Film Festival.
The Vacation received the Short Film Special Jury Award, U.S: Directing presented by Shutterstock.
'REST STOP'
Rest Stop, featuring cinematography by alum Kris Kouke, follows Meyi, a young Ugandan-American girl, who realizes her place in the world through her mother’s ambitious effort to reunite their family on a bus ride from New York to Oklahoma.
Rest Stop received the Short Film Jury Award: US Fiction.
Congratulations to all of the films from the Grad Film community that premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival:
'ALL DIRT ROADS TASTE OF SALT'
All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt, written and directed by alum Raven Jackson, produced by alum Maria Altamirano, and cinematography by alum Jomo Fray, is the story of Mack, a black woman living in Mississippi. Winding through the anticipation, love, and heartbreak she experiences from childhood to adulthood, the expressionist journey is an ode to connection — with loved ones and with place.
'INVISIBLE BEAUTY'
Invisible Beauty, featuring cinematography by Grad Film Faculty member Mia Cioffi Henry, is the story of fashion revolutionary, model turned agent, and activist Bethann Hardison. From walking runway shows alongside Iman to discovering supermodels like Tyson Beckford and mentoring icons like Naomi Campbell, Hardison has been at the epicenter of major representational shifts in fashion. Catalyzing change requires continuous championing, and as the next generation takes the reins, Hardison reflects on her personal journey and the cost of being a pioneer, recognizing that black is beautiful well before the fashion industry did.
'MURDER IN BIGHORN'
Murder in Big Horn is a documentary directed and produced by MFA candidate Razelle Benally. The deaths of a group of Native American women in rural Montana are the focus of this film as Native families, journalists, and local law enforcement reveal a violent crisis set in motion almost 200 years ago.
'PASSAGES'
Passages, written by Grad Film Adjunct Faculty Mauricio Zacharias, follows German filmmaker Tomas as he embraces his sexuality through a torrid love affair with a young woman named Agathe. When Martin, Tomas’ husband, begins an extramarital affair of his own, he successfully gains back his husband’s attention while simultaneously unearthing Tomas’ jealousy. Grappling with contradicting emotions, Tomas must either embrace the confines of his marriage or come to terms with the relationship having run its course.
'FREMONT'
Fremont, featuring cinematography by alum Laura Valladao, is the story of Donya who works for a Chinese fortune cookie factory in San Francisco. Formerly a translator for the U.S. military in Afghanistan, she struggles to put her life back in order. In a moment of sudden revelation, she decides to send out a special message in a cookie.
'BIRTH/REBIRTH'
birth/rebirth, written and directed by alum Laura Moss, follows the story of a single mother and a childless morgue technician who are bound together by their relationship to a little girl they have reanimated from the dead.
'THE DALLES'
The Dalles, written and directed by MFA candidate Angalis Field, follows Cam, who is used to seeing the same customers while working at his family’s cherry stand. After a handsome cyclist passes through and asks for directions to a local cruising site, Cam takes it as an invitation to follow him.
'RICKY'
Ricky, written and directed by Rashad Frett and cinematography by MFA candidate Sam Motamedi, follows an ex-offender struggling with new freedom who pursues redemption at all costs when given a job from his neighbor.
Find the full list at Sundance.