Sundance Senior Programmer Heidi Zwicker is joined by filmmakers Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh (Writing With Fire), Natalia Almada (Users) and Debbie Lum (Try Harder) for a chat about documentary filmmaking. The filmmakers will discuss their experiences making their films, what it meant to launch them into the online festival world and their advice for aspiring non-fiction filmmakers.

Immediately following the filmmaker discussion, Zwicker and Sundance Film Festival Director of Programming Kim Yutani moderate a Q&A session that answers questions about all things Sundance and programming the films.


Moderator
Kim Yutani is the Director of Programming of the Sundance Film Festival; she assumed that role in 2018. She began programming short films for the Festival in 2006, and became a feature film programmer in 2009, focusing on US and international fiction feature films, overseeing short film programming, and working on the Festival’s Offscreen panels and conversations. She was instrumental in creating Sundance Film Festival: Hong Kong, which has since expanded to become Sundance Film Festival: Asia. more...
Moderator
Heidi Zwicker is a Senior Programmer for the Sundance Film Festival, focusing on international and U.S. Narrative Feature Films, Midnight and Shorts. She has been contributing to various Sundance Institute programs for over ten years, beginning with the Feature Film Program, International. Heidi was a Programmer at Palm Springs International Shortfest from 2011-2014 and also programs at the Provincetown International Film Festival. more...
Panelist
Sushmit Ghosh is an award-winning director-cinematographer from India whose work has been supported by the Sundance Institute, Tribeca Institute, Doc Society, SFF Film Fund, IDFA, The Bertha Foundation, Sorfond and the Finnish Film Foundation, among others. In 2009, he co-founded Black Ticket Films, a production company invested in the power of storytelling. With a strong eye on social justice stories, Black Ticket Films’ award-winning slate of films are being used as advocacy, impact and education tools by institutions across the world. more...
Panelist
2012 MacArthur “Genius” fellow and two-time recipient of the Sundance Documentary Directing Award for El General in 2009 and Users in 2021, Natalia Almada's directing credits include–Todo lo demás (New York Film Festival 2016), El Velador (Cannes 2011), Al Otro Lado (Tribeca 2005) and All Water has a Perfect Memory (Sundance 2002). She lives in Mexico City and San Francisco. more...
Panelist
Rintu Thomas is an Academy nominated director-producer from India and the co-founder of Black Ticket Films - a media creative agency invested in the power of non fiction storytelling. Her work is supported by the Sundance Institute, Chicken & Egg Pictures, IDFA, SFF Film Fund, Doc Society and Bertha Foundation, among others. A 2021 IDA Courage Under Fire Award honoree, Rintu is also an IDA Logan Elevate grantee and a Sundance Fellow. Her debut feature documentary, Writing With Fire, is India’s first feature documentary to be nominated for an Academy Award. Writing With Fire premiered at Sundance ‘21 where it won two awards (Audience Award and Special Jury Award: Impact for Change). Described by The Washington Post as “The most inspiring journalism movie – maybe ever”, Writing With Fire has played at over 150 festivals and won over 30 international awards. The film is also an NYT Film Critics Pick, IDA and PGA Awards nominee. Over the last 13 years, Rintu’s films have been used as advocacy tools for social impact, included in the curriculum of universities and exhibited globally – becoming catalysts for new conversations. She lives between New Delhi and a quaint mountain-town in North India. more...
Panelist
Debbie Lum is a San Francisco-based director whose films give voice to the Asian American experience and other unsung stories. Try Harder! her documentary about San Francisco’s iconic Lowell High School premiered at 2021 Sundance Film Festival to rave reviews. It will open in movie theaters in the US this December and will broadcast on PBS’ Independent Lens, alongside a campaign to promote mental health in high school next year. Her previous documentary, Seeking Asian Female, premiered at SXSW, was a “fan favorite” on PBS' Independent Lens, won Best of Fest (Silverdocs) and was featured in This American Life. Lum’s editing credits include A.K.A Don Bonus (POV) and Kelly Loves Tony (POV) among others. She’s also directed two short comedies, A Great Deal! and Chinese Beauty and is currently developing a documentary about “Tiger Moms”. more...

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