Global Cinema Meetups are free for participants from around the world to attend. A free Sundance Collab account and advanced registration are required in order to receive the Zoom link to join. Due to the nature of the event, a recording will not be provided.


Looking to form new connections and learn from independent filmmakers around the world? 


Join Sundance Collab for our Global Cinema Meetup, a new series in which we invite a filmmaker to discuss financing and making and films outside the U.S. Following this intimate conversation, attendees will have the opportunity to network in small groups to meet other creators as well as discuss their own projects and the challenges they’re encountering.


For our first event, we’ll be joined by Hasan Hadi, writer/director of the upcoming film The President’s Cake, the first ever Iraqi film to be shortlisted for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film. This first feature was developed in the Sundance Institute Feature Film Labs and won the Caméra d’Or when it premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2025. Hadi will discuss the burgeoning Iraqi film industry, the importance of authenticity in his work, and cross-border collaboration. 


How Global Filmmaker Meetups work:

  • The event will start with a 45-minute conversation with the featured filmmaker. 
  • Participants will have the opportunity to submit questions for the audience Q&A. 
  • After the conversation, participants are invited to join a breakout room led by one of Collab’s Community Leaders to meet other creators and discuss the film and each other’s work.
  • The 90-minute event will end with a Community Challenge to flex participants’ creative muscles and give them a chance to win a free Sundance Collab On Demand course.
  • To join the Community Challenge, participants will need to join the Sundance Collab Community Forum, which is also a great way to network with attendees post-event! 


If you would benefit from an accommodation to fully participate in this event, please complete this form, contact us at (435) 776-7790, or email us at accessibility@sundance.org to discuss your specific requests. Every effort will be made to accommodate advance requests; however, requests made within 5 days of the event may not be guaranteed.

Hasan Hadi
Hasan Hadi is an Iraqi writer/director. Hasan grew up in southern Iraq, during wartime, and over the years worked in journalism, production, and as an adjunct professor at NYU's Graduate Film Program. He received the Gotham-Marcie Bloom Fellowship, the Black Family Production Prize and the Sloan Foundation Production Award. He is a 2022 Sundance Lab Fellow and the recipient of the 2022 Sundance/NHK Award, SFFILM Rainin Grant, and Doha Film Institute Grant for his feature debut, THE PRESIDENT’S CAKE. more...
Erica Elson
Moderator | Digital Course & Event Producer
Erica Elson is a Producer, Writer and Educator based in the mountains outside Los Angeles. Her short film, WING NIGHT, premiered at Method Fest in Los Angeles. She is the co-author of the book THE AWKWARD HUMAN SURVIVAL GUIDE and co-hosted a podcast by the same name on the 5by5 network for five years. Elson's articles have been published by HuffPost, Lifehacker, and Reader's Digest. Prior to working in education, she worked in television development and writers’ rooms such as VH1’s HINDSIGHT, where she had the chance to write for the spinoff web series PLANET SEBASTIAN. more...

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