Sundance Film Festival to Feature Three Pace University Performing Arts Actors

This week two Pace University acting students and one professor will appear in films at the Sundance Film Festival which runs January 17 - 27. Lecturer Julie Fain Lawrence is appearing in a film that is among the 16 films chosen for the US Dramatic Competition. In all, 119 films were chosen for the festival out of 12,146 submissions.

Anna Friedman, a BFA Acting major at Pace, has a supporting role in the feature film "Milkshake," accepted for the NEXT category of films at Sundance with a forward-thinking approach to storytelling.
In "Milkshake," directed by David Andalman, we follow the tragic sex life of Jolie Jolson, a wannabe thug (and great-great-grandson of legendary vaudevillian Al Jolson) in suburban DC as he strives to become something he can never be - black.

Pace BFA Acting Lecturer Julie Fain Lawrence has a leading role in "Concussion" a film directed by Stacie Passon in the US Dramatic category at Sundance. Lawrence received her BA from the UCLA Department of Theatre, Film & Television, training at the British American Drama Academy, and graduated with an MFA from the Yale School of Drama. In "Concussion," a woman decides her life can't be only about the house and the kids. She needs more. She needs an alter ego, "Eleanor."

Also appearing at Sundance in "Interior. Leather Bar" in the New Frontier category is Pace BA Acting student Jake Robbins. Robbins has also studied at the Stella Adler Acting Studio and was recently in an award-winning short film "Teens Like Phil" among other projects. In "Interior. Leather Bar," filmmakers James Franco and Travis Mathews were inspired by rumored-to-be-lost gay S&M footage from William Friedkin's 1980 thriller "Cruising," and explore the limits of sexual and creative freedom.

Since 1981, Sundance Institute has evolved to an internationally-recognized nonprofit that advances the work of risk-taking storytellers worldwide. Founded by Robert Redford in the mountains of Sundance, Utah, Sundance Institute provides a space for independent artists to explore stories free from commercial and political pressures. Sundance Institute is committed to discovering and developing independent artists and provides year-round creative and financial support for the development of original stories for the screen and stage. Read the press release for the 2013 film festival here.