The Sundance Film Festival has received more than 14,200 submissions for its upcoming 2019 edition — a record high. According to a press release, the fest is ramping up its inclusion and transparency efforts so its curation process and press coverage will also feature a wide cross section of voices and perspectives. Sundance has brought on new programmers, made its submissions data transparent for a research project with inclusion rider co-creator Dr. Stacy L. Smith, and is working to ensure more critics are able to attend the festival.
“This year’s record-breaking number of submissions are phenomenally strong: we’re invigorated and inspired by the work we’ve been seeing,” said Director of Programming Kim Yutani. “Our incredible — and growing! — programming team has refined our curation processes, ensuring that the conversations we have as we program continue to center, as always, on a Festival that represents a wide range of filmmakers and on-screen experiences. We’re also continually evolving our process to incorporate data and research findings.”
Committed to working with people boasting “fresh perspectives and varied decision-making voices,” Yutani and the programming team have hired programmer Dilcia Barrera and associate programmer Stephanie Owens, among others. Former programming coordinator Ana Souza has been promoted to Manager, Programming/associate programmer. With these new hires, women represent half of Sundance’s programming department.
Smith will use Sundance’s submissions and acceptance stats for a study examining gender and race among festival filmmakers as well as participants in the Sundance Institute’s Labs and other programs. The research findings will be presented at the 2019 festival “as a way to deepen understanding of barriers and opportunities and to better serve and represent diverse storytellers.”
Sundance aims to welcome a more inclusive critics pool by allocating at least 20 percent of top-tier press passes to underrepresented writers, including women, people of color, members of the LGBTQIA+ community, and people with disabilities. The fest will offer these critics support before and during their attendance, too. “Recognizing that quantitative matters alone aren’t a complete solution, the team will also deepen the qualitative experience for press at Festival, ensuring that new applicants, who may be covering the Festival for the first time, can best navigate accreditation, attendance, and reporting.”
This Sundance Institute will grant travel and lodging stipends for more than 50 freelance critics and journalists via its new Press Inclusion Initiative. The participants will attend a panel and welcome reception on the fest’s opening day. TIME’S UP, USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, Women In Film, African American Film Critics Association, The Black List, Center for Asian American Media, Easterseals Southern California, MACRO, Muslim Public Affairs Council – Hollywood Bureau, National Association of Latino Independent Producers, and NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ Journalists are among the Press Inclusion Initiative’s supporters.
Critics can apply for stipends by emailing press@sundance.org. More information about the fest’s new transparency and inclusion initiatives can be found on Sundance’s website.
Sundance Film Festival will take place January 24-February 3 in Park City, Utah. The 2019 lineup will be announced in the coming weeks.
