In our Insider Sessions, Sundance Institute staff answer your questions and guide you through the process of applying to our labs, grant opportunities, and the Sundance Film Festival.


For this Insider Session, join programmers Ana Souza and Sudeep Sharma, for an informational session about submitting your feature film (narrative and documentary) to the Sundance Film Festival. Get an inside look into the film selection process, understand how the programming team works, and gain insights about setting your film - and yourself - up for success as you prepare to enter the festival circuit.


The conversation is followed by a Q&A session where Ana and Sudeep answer questions about the submission process, submitting works-in-progress, building press kits, and more.


Click here for more information on festival deadlines and entry fees. Submissions for the 2025 Feature Film program close September 23, 2024.

Programmer, Sundance Film Festival
Sudeep Sharma is a Programmer for the Sundance Film Festival with a focus on documentary feature films. With nearly two decades of experience in film curation, Sudeep started at the Institute as a screener for international documentaries and reader for the Labs and has had several roles including Programming Associate, Associate Programmer and Shorts Programmer. He has worked in programming at many eclectic organizations including major Los Angeles film organizations such as Film Independent, AFI Fest, Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles, and the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. He has also been Director of Programming and Interim Artistic Director for the Palm Springs International ShortFest. He has served on festival juries and film award committees around the world and has led and participated on panels on a variety of industry and cultural topics. He holds a PhD in Cinema and Media Studies from UCLA and has taught film and television history, industry and criticism courses at universities throughout Southern California. more...
Manager, Programming & Programmer, Sundance Film Festival
Born in Brazil, Ana Souza was partially raised in The Netherlands and now resides in Los Angeles. She is the Manager of the Programming department at Sundance and a programmer on the features team, focusing on US and International fiction films across sections. She helped launch Sundance's newest international edition in CDMX in partnership with Cinépolis and regularly contributes to Sundance London. In addition to her work at Sundance, she is the Director of Programming at the Sun Valley Film Festival and the Forum Producer for the Palm Springs International ShortFest. She has also programmed for AFI FEST, Outfest, the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles, and the LA Film Festival in the past, and she has worked in various capacities for LALIFF, Ambulante California, and NALIP’s Latino Media Fest, among others. In 2024 she was named one of Screen International's Future Leaders in Programming and Curation. more...
Moderator | Digital Course & Event Producer
Katherine "Kat" Street is an LA-based award-winning filmmaker and Philadelphia native. A cinephile at heart, she writes female-driven stories with complex (oftentimes damaged) main characters, centered around self-discovery, self-love, and belonging. She has written numerous short-form projects, including original shorts, pilots, and features. She wrote and directed the dramatic short film “Cycles,” which received festival recognition in both acting and best romantic short. She also created her award-winning flagship web series "The New Adult,” which is currently streaming on Kweli TV. more...

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