How do documentary filmmakers nurture their artistic voice and cultivate successful creative collaborations?

Join Sundance Institute’s Documentary Film team where we'll discuss building your body of work as a documentary filmmaker with Cecilia Aldarondo, director of MEMORIES OF A PENITENT HEART, and developing productive, healthy relationships with your creative team with Jacqueline Olive, Don Bernier, and Bob Edwards from the documentary ALWAYS IN SEASON.

Part Two of the session will focus on opportunities for nonfiction creators living in the U.S. South. Artist support organizations from across the region will discuss creative and financial resources available to nonfiction filmmakers, confronting the unique challenges of working in the South. 

Organizations represented will include: Austin Film Society, FilmGate Miami, House of Pentacles, Indie Grits, Indie Memphis, New Orleans Film Society, Oolite Arts, Sidewalk Film Center + Cinema, Southern Circuit by South Arts, Southern Documentary Fund, Working Films.

Topics include:

  • How to build a sustainable foundation in nonfiction filmmaking

  • How to develop productive and healthy relationships with your team

  • Unique challenges faced by documentary filmmakers in the U.S. South

  • Resources available to Southern documentary filmmakers

To learn more about Sundance Institute’s Documentary Film Program click here.


THANK YOU TO OUR SUPPORTERS

This program is presented by Sundance Institute and is made possible by generous support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

The John S.and James L. Knight Foundation is a national foundation with strong local roots. We invest in journalism, in the arts, and in the success of cities where brothers John S. and James L. Knight once published newspapers. Our goal is to foster informed and engaged communities, which we believe are essential for a healthy democracy. For more, visit kf.org

Learn more about the Knight Fellows Project and other upcoming events at Sundance.org/Knight.


We thank the Charlotte-based organizations we collaborated with: Charlotte 48 Hour Film Project, Charlotte Black Film Festival, The Charlotte Unconventional Film School, and Cine Casual.


Bob Edwards
Panelist
Bob Edwards is a Sound Designer, Editor and Re-Recording Mixer at Skywalker Sound. In his thirty years at Skywalker, Bob has contributed to narrative feature films, documentaries, TV and film scores. Many of his projects have appeared at Sundance, followed by releases on HBO, PBS, Netflix and in theaters. Bob is currently sound designing and mixing Playing For Keeps for Jamie Redford's KPJR Films. more...
Kristin Feeley
Interim Director, Documentary Film Program
Kristin Feeley is the Director of the Sundance Documentary Film and Artist Programs where her programs support a broad slate of independent, domestic and international nonfiction storytellers focused on human rights, social justice and innovative approaches. She has worked in artist development at the Sundance Institute for over fifteen years, supporting the careers of hundreds of nonfiction directors, editors, producers. During her time at Sundance she launched the Documentary Producers Lab and Fellowship and created the Art of Editing Fellowship as well as the Nonfiction Critics Fellowship. Kristin is committed to supporting artists who contribute to a collaborative, inclusive artistic process in independent nonfiction. Prior to Sundance, Kristin worked in social policy research and arts nonprofits before pursuing a Masters in Film at the University of Glasgow. more...
Cecilia Aldarondo
Panelist
Cecilia Aldarondo makes films at the intersection of poetics and politics. Her features LANDFALL (2020) and MEMORIES OF A PENITENT HEART (2016) were both selected to premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival and air on POV. Aldarondo is a 2019 Guggenheim Fellow, a 2017 Women at Sundance Fellow, and two-time MacDowell Colony Fellow. more...
Hajnal Molnar-Szakacs
Director, Documentary Fund, Documentary Film Program
Hajnal Molnar-Szakacs is the Director of Institute Granting at the Sundance Institute where she heads up development of a comprehensive funding strategy across the Institute and oversees nearly $4M in yearly grants. Hajnal serves as industry advisor for international film festivals, pitch forums and funds and is an active industry panelist and lecturer. more...
Paola Mottura
Manager, Documentary Fund, Documentary Film Program
Paola joined the Sundance Institute DFP team in 2018 to manage the Film Fund and all its activities. For over four years, Paola managed non-fiction programs for the NY based non-profit IFP (Independent Filmmaker Project), including the Documentary Labs and Spotlight On Documentaries, the non-fiction component of the IFP Project Forum. Prior to joining IFP, Paola supported grant-making and productions at Cinereach. Paola started her career in London, working in both festival programming and documentary production. She is currently an adviser for the newly born DocLands (CA Film Institute). Paola holds a dual degree in Social Anthropology and Media from Goldsmiths, University of London.
Don Bernier
Panelist
Don Bernier is an Emmy-nominated documentary film editor. Most recently, he cut "Athlete A," which will premiere on Netflix this summer. Bernier’s editing credits also include the Sundance award-winning "Always in Season," the Oscar shortlisted "Charm City" and "An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power," "Audrie & Daisy" and "The Genius of Marian." Don is also a doc branch member of the Academy. more...
Jacqueline Olive
Panelist
Jacqueline Olive is an independent filmmaker with more than fifteen years of experience in journalism and film. Her award-winning feature documentary, ALWAYS IN SEASON, has received numerous honors including winner of the 2019 Sundance Festival Special Jury Prize for Moral Urgency and the 2020 SIMA Documentary Jury Prize For Ethos, as well as nominations for Best Writing from IDA Documentary Awards 2019 and the Spotlight Award from Cinema Eye Honors 2019. ALWAYS IN SEASON broadcast on PBS on Independent Lens, in February 2020 and was the highest rated film of the season. Jackie recently directed, produced, and wrote the documentary short, DEATH IS OUR BUSINESS, which broadcast on FRONTLINE/PBS and the WORLD Channel in March 2021. A Mississippi native, Jackie teaches film at the University of California, Santa Cruz as a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Social Documentation M.F.A. Program. She is also a 2021 Sundance Momentum Fellow more...
Eva Rinaldi
Operations Director, Artist Programs
Eva Rinaldi serves as director of community programs within the department of Impact, Engagement and Advocacy, focusing on regional artist development and audience engagement. Eva has a master’s in community leadership from Westminster College with a focus on advocacy. She represents her community by serving on local boards and is politically active. more...
Tags:Activism & Social Impact

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