2018 Sundance Film Festival Announces New Programming, Award, Graphics

With exactly six months until Day One of the 2018 Sundance Film Festival, Sundance Institute today detailed a standalone Episodic section, the return of 'The New Climate' strand of environmental work and a new award. Feature film, short film, episodic and Virtual Reality submissions are now being accepted via Withoutabox, with early deadlines beginning August 7; more information about submissions and deadlines is at sundance.org/submit.

The 2018 Festival takes place January 18-28 in Park City, Salt Lake City and Sundance, Utah. The 2017 Festival showcased 119 feature-length and 68 short films, alongside new episodic work, panels, music and New Frontier. Selections included Patti Cake$, STEP, God's Own Country, A Ghost Story, An Inconvenient Sequel, Beatriz at Dinner, The Big Sick, Call Me By Your Name and Mudbound.

'Indie Episodic' section: After several years of programming episodic content in the 'Special Events' section - where selections included O.J.: Made in America, Transparent, Top of the Lake, The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst, Animals, Gente-fied, The Chances and Strangers - the 2018 Festival will have an 'Indie Episodic' section specifically for stories told in multiple installments, with an emphasis on independent perspectives. In addition to episodic work, the Festival showcases feature films, documentaries, short films and New Frontier storytelling. Episodic creators can submit their work to the Festival now.

'The New Climate' continues: In 2017 the Festival hosted The New Climate strand of feature films, documentaries, Virtual Reality experiences and high-profile panels exploring the environment and climate change, and it will extend this strand through 2018. Creators of new work on these topics can submit to the Festival now.

'Festival Favorite' award: New for 2018, all feature films will be eligible for a 'Festival Favorite' Award to be determined by audience ballots across all Festival screenings. Similar to the Festival's longstanding Audience Awards for each Competition section, the award will designate the feature film from any of the Festival's sections that best connects with audiences.

2018 Graphics Designed with Students at ArtCenter College of Design: The 2018 Festival graphics were developed in collaboration with ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena. The concept was led by a group of students including Andy Gutierrez, Michelle Lee and Charles Lin and came out of a three-day brainstorm and creation session last Spring with 15 students and three faculty members. Their concept reflects the idea that the Festival is a "disruptive celebration of imperfection," using bold color and language to highlight the very human emotions we experience through storytelling. The entirely text-based campaign opens up interactivity with audiences, and the colors signify the heat the Festival brings to Winter.

The Sundance Film Festival® The Sundance Film Festival has introduced global audiences to some of the most groundbreaking films of the past three decades, including Manchester by the Sea, Boyhood, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Fruitvale Station, Whiplash, Brooklyn, Twenty Feet from Stardom, Life Itself, The Cove, The End of the Tour, Blackfish, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, Super Size Me, Dope, Little Miss Sunshine, sex, lies, and videotape, Reservoir Dogs, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, An Inconvenient Truth, Precious and Napoleon Dynamite. The Festival is a program of the non-profit Sundance Institute®. 2018 Festival sponsors to date include: Presenting Sponsors - Acura, SundanceTV, and Chase Sapphire®; Leadership Sponsors - Adobe, DIRECTV, Omnicom, and YouTube; Sustaining Sponsors - Canada Goose, Canon U.S.A., Inc., Dell, Francis Ford Coppola Winery, GEICO, Unity, and the University of Utah Health. Sundance Institute recognizes critical support from the Utah Governor's Office of Economic Development, and the State of Utah as Festival Host State. The support of these organizations helps offset the Festival's costs and sustain the Institute's year-round programs for independent artists. Look for the Official Sponsor seal at their venues at the Festival. sundance.org/festival

Sundance Institute Founded in 1981 by Robert Redford, Sundance Institute is a nonprofit organization that provides and preserves the space for artists in film, theatre, and new media to create and thrive. The Institute's signature Labs, granting, and mentorship programs, dedicated to developing new work, take place throughout the year in the U.S. and internationally. The Sundance Film Festival and other public programs connect audiences to artists in igniting new ideas, discovering original voices, and building a community dedicated to independent storytelling. Sundance Institute has supported such projects as Boyhood, Swiss Army Man, Manchester By the Sea, Brooklyn, Little Miss Sunshine, Life, Animated, Sonita, 20 Feet From Stardom, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Fruitvale Station, Sin Nombre, Spring Awakening, A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder and Fun Home. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.

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