By Lucy Spicer

One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festival is having a front-row seat for the bright future of independent filmmaking. While we can learn a lot about the filmmakers from the 2024 Sundance Film Festival through the art that these storytellers share with us, there’s always more we can learn about them as people. This year, we decided to get to the bottom of those artistic wells with our ongoing series: Give Me the Backstory!

Co-directors Arun Bhattarai and Dorottya Zurbó met the protagonist of their film Agent of Happiness, which premiered in the World Cinema Documentary Competition at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, quite by chance. In fact, they were in the process of filming a different project altogether. “A few years ago while making The Next Guardian, we had an accidental encounter with two happiness surveyors who walked into the house of our characters. One of the agents was Amber,” recounts Bhattarai. “While witnessing him for the first time, we were immediately drawn toward him because of his childlike humor and warm personality. We couldn’t help but stay in touch.”

Amber is an agent whose job is to survey the level of people’s happiness in order to measure the Gross National Happiness index for the government in Bhutan. “We were inspired by this concept and wanted to look behind the happiness index statistics and focus on the people and see what can and can not be measured in life,” explains Zurbó. “Due to its isolation, Bhutan is often exoticized by Western media as the last Shangri-La, a hidden Buddhist kingdom where everyone is happy. Our intention was to dig deeper and get a local insight into GNH through personal stories in order to show the audience a more complex vision about it.”

Agent of Happiness follows Amber as he listens to people from varying lifestyles discuss the ways in which they find contentment. Along the way, Bhattarai and Zurbó see Amber reflect on his own loneliness and personal search for happiness. Read on to gain more insight into the documentary and its co-directors, including how Bhattarai and Zurbó fell in love with cinema and their favorite part of making Agent of Happiness.

Why does this story need to be told now?

In our fast-paced, desire-driven, consumerist world, this film can inspire us to appreciate life with more modesty, to take the everyday struggle with ease, to value our close relationships or the time we spend together — things that we often forget. We hope, through the personal stories of our protagonists, this film can talk to anybody, reaching a wide range of audiences regardless of age, race, nation, and gender, because the film is about a basic human desire — how to be happy. Agent of Happiness is a bittersweet tale that takes place in an environment that is still enigmatic and untouched, disguised from the eyes of a wider world. In times of global crises and wars that are scrambling the world right now, we believe it is also important to produce stories with uplifting, heartwarming potential to give hope. We feel this is one of our responsibilities as artists.

Films are lasting artistic legacies; what do you want yours to say?

Our film is a mosaic of different stories reflecting the themes of happiness and sorrow. We feel it can touch the different sensitivities of the audience. However, what binds these stories together is what we also want our film to say: No matter which part of the world we bel

Diego Luna’s character Beto aims to play professional soccer in Carlos Cuarón’s film “Rudo y Cursi.”

By Lucy Spicer

Can you believe we’re almost at the midpoint of 2024? Before summer arrives (and flies by in what will surely feel like mere moments), why not take some time to look back on what this year has brought into your life so far? Our monthly ritual of commemorating anniversaries for Sundance-supported film releases may leave us feeling old (how has it already been 20 years since Mandy Moore threw a Bible at Jena Malone in Saved!?), but it also reminds us that our favorite films have had a hand in shaping our lives.

This month’s batch of films includes a tale about a persistent (and hilarious) Australian family, a love story set in a small Chinese village, a religious satire that doubles as a teen film, a comedy-drama where two brothers compete on the soccer field, and a documentary about one of the world’s largest parties for electronic dance music.

The Castle (1999) — Tow-truck driver Darryl Kerrigan (Michael Caton) has a distinctly working-class lifestyle with his loving family in their home located directly adjacent to the airport. But to the Kerrigans, their house is their castle and they couldn’t be happier. The family’s unconventional paradise is threatened when the government sends them a notice of compulsory acquisition — their house will be sacrificed so that the airport can expand. Unwilling to relinquish their precious home, the Kerrigans take their claim of unlawful eviction all the way to the highest court in the country. Directed by Rob Sitch and shot in only 11 days on Super 16 mm film, The Castle has become an icon of Aussie cinema. The extremely quotable comedy opened in Australia in 1997 before screening at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival and releasing in U.S. theaters the following year. Check here for viewing options.

The Road Home (2001) — When narrator Luo Yusheng (Sun Honglei) hears that his father has died, he departs for the village where he grew up — and where his father served as a teacher for 40 years — to help his mother prepare for the funeral. The film’s present-day black-and-white scenes serve as a frame for the narrator’s parents’ epic love story, recounted in vibrant color. Directed by Zhang Yimou, The Road Home was adapted for the screen by Bao Shi based on his novel Remembrance. The film screened at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the World Cinema Audience Award. Check here for viewing options.

There’s something special about summer. We’re not sure whether it’s the warmer weather, the longer days, or something else a bit more magical, but summer just has that feeling of infinite potential. Maybe it’s because it’s fleeting? There’s only one summer season every year, so you know deep down that you better make the most of it! We’re certainly making the most of ours and we’re inviting you to come along with us.

Below you’ll find a rundown of everything we’ve got planned for this summer. From continuing our international Festivals to screening some Sundance-supported favorites in Utah. And if you’re staying close to home this season, stay tuned to see if our Shorts and Indigenous tours are coming to a theater near you.

Mark your calendars!

Sundance Film Festival: London (June 6–9)

Straight off the heels of our inaugural Sundance Film Festival CDMX, we’ll be heading across the pond for the 11th edition Sundance Film Festival: London at Picturehouse Central. With a curated lineup straight from the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, audiences will be able to hear from the filmmakers, take part in Q&As, watch inspiring talks, and enjoy the best new voices in filmmaking at the jewel in London’s cinema crown. Get tickets here.

Sundance Institute x Chicago (June 28–30)

Hey, Midwesterners! We’re coming for you! Our first ever Sundance Institute x Chicago 2024 will feature three days of film screenings and innovative programming including a short film program and masterclass for emerging filmmakers, Q&As with filmmakers, panel discussions, and more. Stay tuned for more information.

Local Lens Screenings (July 17–21)

If you’re based in Park City or Salt Lake City, Utah, get ready to fill your summer with free screenings! Join us for five days of 2024 Festival favorites showing in Utah for free. This year, we want you to be a part of our programming process. We’ve picked a film per decade of the Festival and we want you to cast your vote by May 14 for the film you’d like to see this summer — the winner will be screened during the weekend!

Sundance Film Festival Asia (August 21–25)

This August we’re back in Taipei, Taiwan, for another edition of the Sundance Film Festival Asia. Full film slate and events coming soon, but you can enter the Fest’s Short Film competition right now.

The 2024 Sundance Film Festival Shorts Tour (Stay tuned for dates)

Coming soon to a theater and a town near you is a carefully curated theatrical program of seven short films straight from the 2024 Festival. Check back for more details!

The 2024 Sundance Film Festival Indigenous Film Tour (June)

Launched in 2021, the Indigenous Film Tour returns this year as an in-person exhibition and a celebration of Native life and art, embodying powerful In

PARK CITY, UTAH – JANUARY 21: (L–R) Actors Kęstutis Cicėnas and Greta Grinevičiūtė, Director Marija Kavtaradze and Producer Marija Razgute attend the 2023 Sundance Film Festival “Slow” Premiere at The Ray Theatre on January 21, 2023 in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)

By Aliese Muhonen

One day, the tall, handsome sign language interpreter Dovydas walks into the pretty, free-spirited modern dancer Elena’s studio. He’s there to work as a translator for a dance class she’s teaching to deaf students, but he immediately finds additional motivation to show up: From the moment guy meets girl, they click. But not in a syrupy, rom-com kind of way. This is a real-feeling slow burn, driven by mutual curiosity.

Their conversations are easy, their chemistry undeniable. They linger after the classes to walk together, talking about everything and nothing. Both suspect they have something special.

While Elena’s dance colleagues are skeptical of her new paramour’s significance — her flings tend to last a month at the most — she rebuffs them. “I have a weird feeling,” she says, “that I’ve known him for ages.” And every time he leaves, she misses it. 

As their attraction grows, the time comes for a define-the-relationship talk. That’s when Dovydas drops a figurative bomb (at least to Elena): He’s asexual, and doesn’t experience physical attraction to anyone. 

A touching romantic drama exploring intimacy (and not just the kind you’re thinking of), Slow is a thoughtful, sensuous meditation on learning to connect in an atypical relationship. The Lithuanian film premiered January 21 in the World Dramatic Competition at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival.

Historically, asexuality has been as misunderstood in the film world as it is in real life. There’s a lack of representation in creative media, and the limited portrayals available are often negative or inaccurate; too many stories feature tropes that the condition isn’t permanent and can be “fixed.” 

Director Marija Kavtaradze hopes to change that. “I had so many questions of my own about their relationship, so I knew that I [could] write it because it was interesting for me to go into that process,” she says at the post-premiere Q&A. “I had to read a lot, and had [conversations] with asexual people who answered questions. … I thought if we overexplained it, maybe it wouldn’t be believable for their story.”

Slow is indeed believable, with naturalistic, compelling performances from the two leads and an artful production. With a minimalist storyline — the couples’ defining (and redefining) their relationship forms the majority of the film’s plot and conflict — there’s additional pressure on the actors to form characters that are intriguing and authentic. And Greta Grinevičiūtė (Elena) and Kęstutis Cicėnas (Dovydas) deliver. 

Elena is the embodiment of sensuality as an intuitive modern dancer. Freewheeling in her movements and love life, she’s doubtful at first that she can be with someone who’s not sexually attracted to her, and Dovydas is unsure he can meet her physical needs. But they&r

PARK CITY, UTAH – JANUARY 18: Jane Schoenbrun introduces the 2024 Sundance Film Festival “I Saw the TV Glow” premiere at the Library Center Theatre in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Chad Salvador/Shutterstock for Sundance Film Festival)

By Annie Lyons

Time blurs at the edges in I Saw the TV Glow, washed away by the neon pink gleam of a television screen, the green tint of a fish tank, and fluorescents casting a chilly light on the produce aisle. Starting in 1996 and spanning decades, the visually striking Midnight film chronicles Owen’s (Justice Smith) shifting connection to Maddy (Brigette Lundy-Paine) and The Pink Opaque, the late-night television show about two demon-fighting teenagers that they mutually obsess over. The years seem to move all too fast. 

“When you’re trans, your perception of time is specific,” writer-director Jane Schoenbrun shares before the film’s January 18 premiere at the Library Center Theatre in Park City, Utah. “I remember when I wrote this film, I had been on hormones, I think for three months, and was dealing with the overwhelming calamity of blowing up your life in such a way that you have to when you come out. [I was] reappraising what reality is, what home is, what family is, and really wanting to put something on the page that could really articulate what I was experiencing in that moment. 

“But by the time we got to production like a year later, I was just walking on sunshine,” they say with a smile. “I was really good in my body and surrounded by amazing people and getting this opportunity to make something, and I remember feeling like I need to honor who I was when I wrote the script but I also need to honor who I am now. A year-plus later, being here in this room with all of you is incredibly moving. This too is part of that journey and change, and the film now will exist.” Schoenbrun’s emotion is met with resounding applause. 

During the film’s post-premiere discussion, Schoenbrun expands on their creative process and how they muse over why something obsesses them for years and then they uncover a new project very fast. “This time, it was something about the TV shows of my youth and growing up in the suburbs, and loving those shows so much, maybe to the detriment of reality,” the writer-director says. “And the way that my understanding of this random place where I had been dropped into existence was so intertwined with what the TV shows were selling me about what youth was supposed to be.” 

That personal inspiration resounds deeply with Owen and Maddy’s own bond with The Pink Opaque. Owen feels increasingly at odds with himself, but finds solace in his near-ritualistic viewings of the VHS tapes that Maddy makes him. One day, Maddy, struggling with an abusive homelife, abruptly disappears. When the pair reconnect years later, there’s something troubling about Owen’s memories. 

Schoenbrun’s directorial debut, We’re All Going to the World’s Fair, premiered at the 2021 Festival in th

Owen (Justice Smith) and Maddy (Brigette Lundy-Paine) develop an eerie connection to a supernatural TV show in Jane Schoebrun’s “I Saw the TV Glow.” 

By Lucy Spicer

There’s a special kind of excitement in the air at Sundance Institute in the lead-up to summertime. Lab season has officially kicked off with this year’s Native Lab (check out the announcement of the 2024 fellows for the Native Lab as well as the Directors and Screenwriters Labs here), and we can’t wait to see the unique stories being developed by these emerging independent artists. But, in the meantime, we’re celebrating the projects at international events like Sundance Film Festival CDMX 2024 and the upcoming edition of Sundance Film Festival: London. And, of course, we’re heading to theaters (or to fire up streaming services from the couch) to check out the newest batch of Sundance-supported releases.

This month’s theater offerings include two creative takes on the horror genre, an atypical love story, and a comedy noir from Richard Linklater based on the unbelievable true tale of a fake hit man. Documentary fans can enjoy three new releases from the comfort of home: an innovative meditation on hearing and sound, a visual essay on the history of policing in the U.S., and a three-part series about the history and impact of the legendary Lollapalooza music festival.

I Saw the TV Glow — Were you obsessed with a certain TV show as a kid? We joke about pieces of media “becoming our whole personality” during our youth, but how often do we consider the identity-shaping consequences of immersing ourselves in a fictional world? The unsettling power of fandom and nostalgia drives writer-director Jane Schoebrun’s new decade-spanning horror film, which premiered in the Midnight section of the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. Owen (portrayed by Ian Foreman and Justice Smith) is trudging through childhood in suburbia when older classmate Maddy (Brigette Lundy-Paine) introduces him to a late-night supernatural TV show that changes his life. In the years that follow, Owen’s and Maddy’s memories of the show bring up questions about what was real and what was fiction. Arriving in theaters May 3.

Slow — When sign language interpreter Dovydas (Kęstutis Cicėnas) meets dancer Elena (Greta Grinevičiūtė), their connection is instant. The pair’s chemistry only grows as they get to know one another. When their relationship approaches new territory, Dovydas reveals that he is asexual, throwing free-spirited Elena for a loop. Unwilling to relinquish their newfound connection, Dovydas and Elena explore what emotional intimacy means for them. Writer-director Marija Kavtaradzė’s poetic and insightful story Read more

Even though we’ve been doing this for over 40 years, a spark of excitement rushes through us whenever we reveal the fellows for this year’s labs. It might be because these fresh fellows are joining the ranks of Paul Thomas Anderson, Lulu Wang, Sterlin Harjo, the Daniels, Ryan Coogler, Taika Watiti, A.V. Rockwell, Quentin Tarantino, Ira Sachs, and so many more iconic storytellers. The rush this year also might be due to the fact that these profound and indescribable forays into the world of the purely creative are happening right now.

The 2024 spring/summer labs season is kicking off this morning in Santa Fe, New Mexico, with the start of the Native Lab. This is directly followed by the Directors Lab at the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado, and then the Screenwriters Lab in early June online.

Below get a brief introduction to each of the 2024 fellows, click here for more information about this year’s labs including the creative advisors for each, and stay tuned for more stories from the labs this spring and summer.

The 2024 Native Lab fellows

Don Josephus Raphael Eblahan (Writer-Director) with Hum (Philippines, U.S.A.): Haunted by the six-year absence of her missing husband, Esther, a single mother who works as a tour guide for mountaineers, embarks on her own treacherous journey of searching for him in the jungle where he had retreated to live with the beasts.

Don Josephus Raphael Eblahan is a filmmaker from the Philippines. Eblahan’s works explore  themes of trauma, spirituality, and nature, told through the cosmic lens of post-colonial spaces and Indigenous identities. His film The Headhunter’s Daughter was awarded the Short Grand Jury Prize at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival.

Ryland Walker Knight (Writer-Director) with The Lip of the World (U.S.A.): When Cassandra discovers a young Indigenous woman washed ashore with no memory, the pair journey into the violent underworld of the Northern California psychedelic culture to uncover her true identity.

Ryland Walker Knight is a Cherokee writer and a filmmaker, and once upon a time he was called a film critic. An avid basketball and audiobook enthusiast, Knight lives and works in Oakland and Los Angeles, California.

Charine Pilar Gonzales (Writer-Director) with NDN Time (U.S.A.): A Tewa college student must master her new dimension-bending abilities to expose the nuclear secrets threatening her Pueblo.

Charine Pilar Gonzales wrote and directed the short films River Bank (Pō-Kehgeh) and Our Quiyo: Maria Martinez. She co-produced the 2024 Sundance Film Festival short doc Winding Path. A Tewa filmmaker from San Ildefonso Pueblo and Santa Fe, New Mexico, she aims to intertwine memories, dreams, and truths through story.

Lindsay McIntyre (Writer-Director) with The Words We Can’t Speak (Canada): A terrible Arctic accident leaves an Inuk interpreter unwelcome in her community. She is forced to weather impossible conditions and hateful prejudices, yet still care for her daughter, when she embarks on a dangerous 1,000-mile journey by dog sled with an inexperienced RCMP constable who fancies her for his wife.

Lindsay McIntyre (Inuit/settler) is a filmmaker whose works explores themes of portraiture, place, and personal histories. After 40+ experimental/documentary films and many festival awards, her recent

PARK CITY, UTAH, April 29, 2024 — The nonprofit Sundance Institute announced today the fellows selected for the 2024 Directors, Screenwriters, and Native Labs. The Native Lab in New Mexico will support four fellows and two artists in residence, and the Directors Lab in Colorado will support the development of eight projects with nine fellows, with an additional three fellows also joining for the online Screenwriters Lab held immediately after. 

For over four decades, Sundance Institute’s signature labs have provided burgeoning filmmakers a nurturing, immersive environment to develop their projects and refine their artistic voice under the guidance of accomplished creative advisors. 

The 2024 Native Lab, taking place in person in Santa Fe, New Mexico, from April 29–May 4, is designed for participants of Native and Indigenous backgrounds and focuses on centering Indigeneity in their storytelling. Fellows will build community and refine their feature film and episodic scripts through one-on-one feedback sections and roundtable discussions with advisors. Four fellows were selected: three who are U.S.-based, and another from Canada. Also attending will be two artists in residence, Fox Maxy (Mesa Grande Band of Mission Indians and Payómkawish) and Shea Vassar (Cherokee), experiencing the lab while in script development. This year’s Native Lab creative advisors are Patrick Brice, Tai Leclaire (Mohawk and Mi’kmaq), Kishori Rajan, and Jon Raymond.

“Our Indigenous Program team looks forward to returning to Santa Fe to spend a week supporting some of the best and brightest Indigenous artists working today,” said Adam Piron, Director of Indigenous Program. “This group is diverse in the work they are bringing to develop and in how their Indigeneity shapes it — their differences are their strengths. We can’t wait to see what those combined strengths help them add to each other’s projects as they collaborate with each other and with our creative advisors.”

The 2024 Directors Lab will take place May 7–22 in person at the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado, which is hosting a Sundance Institute program for the very first time with support from the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT). During the Directors Lab, filmmakers will rehearse, shoot, and edit selected scenes from their work-in-progress original screenplays in a workshop environment with support from experienced creative advisors. Directors focus on core elements of filmmaking, including directing actors, workshopping their scripts, and defining their visual language. Led by Artistic Director Gyula Gazdag, the Directors Lab advisor cohort includes Miguel Arteta, Joan Darling, Rick Famuyiwa, Stephen Goldblatt, Keith Gordon, Reinaldo Marcus Green, Andrew Haigh, Randa Haines, Ed Harris, Siân Heder, André Holland, Karyn Kusama, Pam Martin, Estes Tarver, and Dylan Tichenor.

The 2024 Screenwriters Lab will be held online from June 4–7, where fellows will refine their scripts through individual story sessions with screenwriter advisors and group sessions on the art and craft of screenwriting. Led by Artistic Director Howard Rodman, the Screenwriters Lab advisor cohort includes John August, Scott Z. Burns, Reggie Rock Bythewood, Scott Frank, Susannah Grant, Tamara Jenkins, Meg LeFauve, Jenny Lumet, Josh Marston