Sundance Film Festival Podcasts

Marco Williams's I Sit Where I Want: The Legacy of Brown vs. Board of Education was the recipient of the 2005 Beacon Award, and his MLK Boulevard: The Concrete Dream won the 2004 National Association of Black Journalists' Salute to Excellence Award. His Two Towns of Jasper, which screened at Sundance in 2002, earned a Peabody Award and the duPont-Columbia Silver Baton in 2004. In 2006, Williams's Freedom Summer was broadcast as part of the Emmy Award-winning History Channel series Ten Days That Unexpectedly Changed America.

A modern day musical set on the streets of Dublin. Featuring Glen Hansard from the Irish band "The Frames," the film tells the story of a street musician and a Czech immigrant during an eventful week as they write, rehearse and record songs that reveal their unique love story. "Once" premiered at Sundance in Park City, Utah in January 2007.

Craig Zobel was raised in Atlanta and graduated from the School of Filmmaking at the North Carolina School of the Arts. Zobel coproduced David Gordon Green's debut feature, George Washington, and was both the second-unit director and production manager on Green's All the Real Girls and Undertow. Zobel is one of the founding creators of the cartoon Web site Homestar Runner. The Great World of Sound is Zobel's debut feature. He lives in New York.

Join the filmmakers behind "Four Sheets to the Wind," "Eagle vs. Shark" and others as they rally at the Festival for Native Films. Filmed in Park City, Utah in January 2007.

War/Dance is Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine's directorial debut at Sundance. The husband and wife team has filmed in more than 30 countries to bring powerful human stories to the screen. They met while directing films for National Geographic and formed Fine Films in 2003. Honors include an Emmy, a Chris Award, and honorable mentions at the New York Film Festival and the Missoula Wildlife Film Festival. The Fines live in the Washington, D.C., area with their two-year-old son.

Join filmmaker Lincoln Ruchti as he takes you into the "Chasing Ghosts" Video Game Lounger from the 2007 Film Festival. Filmed in Park City, Utah in January 2007.

Jason Kohn is a filmmaker from New York. At the age of 23, Kohn left his job working for Errol Morris, sold his car, and moved to Brazil to make Manda Bala (Send a Bullet), his first feature film.

Preview the Shorts Class of 2007 with this montage of interviews shot during the Film Festival. Special Appearance by Robert Redford. Filmed in Park City, Utah in January 2007.

 Change is the only constant, as the saying goes, and in the documentary world, things are changing quickly. How does public-broadcasting funding work? What about private equity? And who is investing in docs to create change? Here to discuss new initiatives and continuing opportunities is a cross section of producers investing in the future of documentary. Moderated by Andrea Meditch of Discovery Docs, panelists include Jason Kliot of HDNet Films, Ted Sarandos from Netflix, Eddie Wong of Democracy Alliance, and Claire Aguilar of Discovery Docs.

Hybrid docs, interactive nonfiction, theatrical docs, mob-isodes and cell phone docs, and commissioned doc/art collaborations: this is not your parents' documentary world. Documentary is breaking all the old rules and heading out into uncharted territory. Hear from leading professionals from across the documentary spectrum talk about what they see for the genre in the new century. Panelists Diane Weyermann of Participant Prodcuctions, Laura Michalchyshyn of Sundance Channel, and filmmaker Jennifer Fox (Flying: Confessions of a Free Woman) join moderator Nancy Buirski of Full Frame Festival for a look at what lies ahead for documentaries. Recorded January 26th at the Filmmaker Lodge.

Video games are growing up, supporting more sophisticated content with each passing year. Like independent film, the "independent games" space is now engaging in provocative approaches to real-world issues that promote social change. Gaming is shaping a new economy for addressing artistic expression and politics. This panel addresses the role of filmmakers and activists in this movement, as well as avenues to new funding and content models. Moderated by Heather Chaplin, author of Smartbomb: The Quest for Art, Entertainment, and Big Bucks in the Videogame Revolution, and featuring panelists Suzanne Seggerman, Eddo Stern, Asi Burak, Eric Zimmerman, and Connie Yowell.

Internet platforms, video-on-demand, mobile devices, and indie film pay-per-view are no longer a dream--they are the reality of the new world of distribution. But complexities abound, creating a need to make sense of revenue models, developing technologies, and evolving methods of exhibition. Hear major players, service providers, and filmmakers tackle the issues that surround today's licensing/distribution opportunities. Moderated by Scott Kirsner of Variety. Recorded January 24th at the Microcinema, New Frontier on Main.

If "movies that matter" really matter, what does it take for them to be change agents in our society? How do you get important issues like genocide, climate change, and the war out of the theatre and into national focus? Can an environment be created that encourages activism and connects film to the tools of change (lawmakers, grass-roots efforts, and popular culture)? Documentary filmmakers Sean Fine (War/Dance), Judith Helfand (Everything's Cool), and Rory Kennedy (Ghosts of Abu Ghraib) and journalist and author Eric Schlosser, Gayle Smith from the Center from American Progress, Brian Steidle, the subject of The Devil Came on Horseback, and Diane Weyermann of Participant Productions join moderator Helene Cooper from the New York Times for a thought-provoking look at the juncture between film and social change. Copresented by the Center for American Progress. Recorded January 22nd at the Prospector Theater.

Social networking and user-generated content are hallmarks of a new interaction between community and technology that is changing the way we organize and define ourselves. Driven by tech-savvy youth and self-promotion, a new computer-based "clip culture" is changing the way we think about media and its role in society. What does that mean for individuals, filmmakers, and businesses? Moderated by Chris Anderson, editor in chief of Wired magazine.

As a growing number of art-world figures explore the potential of moving images and cinematic forms, a vast New Frontier of visual expression is emerging. With energy and vision, these works (innovative films, moving-image installations, and technical innovations) reframe traditional notions of image making and narrative. Take a guided tour of the terrain with its new pioneers. Moderated by Chrissie Iles, curator of the Whitney Museum of American Art, the panel assembles New Frontier artists, including Douglas Gordon (Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait), Pierre Huyghe (A Journey That Wasn't, Streamside Day), Paul Chan (1st Light), Nina Menkes (Phantom Love), and Shu Lea Cheang (MobiOpera) for this informative look at cinema's new cutting edge. Recorded live Sunday, January 21 at the Prospector Theater.