The offline edition of the 2022 Sundance Film Festival: Asia is set to be held in Jakarta from Aug. 25 to 28 at ASHTA District 8, SCBD. Yes, you read that right. Soon, you can attend screenings and discussions at one of the most renowned film festivals in the world in person without having to fly to Utah.
The festival is described as an expansion of Sundance Institute’s programs, which aims to “support, connect, promote, and celebrate” the independent film community across Asia by showcasing a selection of films from the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, which was held in Park City, Utah in late January.
The first edition of the festival was announced early last year, held completely online in late September. Just like last year, the 2022 Sundance Film Festival Asia is organized by the Sundance Institute in collaboration with American media technology firm XRM Media, and supported by Indonesian media platform IDN Media.
The event is mainly divided into four categories: Festival Chat, Meet & Greet Day, Film Screenings, and Short Film Competition. Set to take place on Thursday, Aug 25 to Friday, Aug. 26, the Festival Chat is a series of free panel discussions with panelists from entertainment and culture industries.
The Meet & Greet Day is scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 27, where you can discuss and share stories about all things filmmaking and the Sundance Film Festival itself with the festival’s programmers, as well as filmmakers whose films are screened this year, such as Sara Dosa (Fire of Love) and Bradley Rust Gray (Blood), among others.
There will be seven documentary and feature films from the US, UK, and Southeast Asia to be screened at this year’s Sundance Film Festival Asia, with screenings taking place at Flix Cinema at ASHTA District 8. The documentary features are Fire of Love by Sara Dosa, Midwives by Snow Hnin Ei Hlaing, and Riotsville, USA by Sierra Pettengill. On the feature films list are Leonor Will Never Die by Martika Ramirez Escobar, Brian and Charles by Jim Archer, Maika by Ham Tran, and Blood by Bradley Rust Gray.
The winners of the short film competition, which invited Indonesian filmmakers to submit their works, will be announced later at the festival.
Tickets for each film screening are priced at IDR75,000, and you can check out the schedule and purchase yours here. More information about the festival is available on their official website, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok.
Founded by American actor-director Robert Redford in 1981, the non-profit Sundance Institute provides creative and financial support to aspiring independent artists through a series of labs, grant, and mentorship programs, as well as the Sundance Film Festival.
The festival itself, formerly named Utah/US Film Festival and US Film and Video Festival, has become the largest and critically-acclaimed independent film festival in the US since its inception in 1978 — which has since launched the careers of filmmakers such as Quentin Tarantino and Paul Thomas Anderson. At this year’s 94th Academy Awards, CODA (2021) by Sian Heder became the first Sundance film to win an Oscar for Best Picture.
Previously, the Institute has been running spin-off events such as Sundance London, Sundance Hong Kong, and numerous editions of Screenwriters Lab in Mumbai, India.
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