Sundance Institute announces fellows for 2024 Directors, Screenwriters, and Native Labs

The fellows selected for the Sundance Institute's 2024 Directors, Screenwriters, and Native Labs. Photo: Courtesy of the Sundance Institute

The Sundance Institute’s labs have given developing filmmakers a space to work on their projects and connect with creative advisors for the past four decades

PARK CITY, Utah — On April 29 the Sundance Institute announced the selection of the fellows, screenwriters, and artists in residence for its 2024 Directors, Screenwriters and Native Labs.

The 2024 Native Lab, which will take place in Santa Fe, New Mexico, from April 29-May 4, will support four fellows and two artists in residence, and will focus on centering Indigeneity in storytelling. The program will provide one-on-one feedback sessions and roundtable discussions with advisors for the development of feature film and episodic scripts.

“Our Indigenous Program team looks forward to returning to Santa Fe to spend a week supporting some of the best and brightest Indigenous artists working today,” said Adam Piron, director of the Sundance Institute’s Indigenous Program. “This group is diverse in the work they are bringing to develop and in how their Indigeneity shapes it — their differences are their strengths. We can’t wait to see what those combined strengths help them add to each other’s projects as they collaborate with each other and with our creativeadvisors.”

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The 2024 Directors Lab will take place May 7-22 at the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado, and will support the development of eight projects with nine fellows. The fellows will have the opportunity to work with experienced creative advisors on the core elements of filmmaking: directing actors, workshopping scripts and defining visual language.

Three additional fellows will  join the cohort of the Directors Lab for the online Screenwriters Lab, which will be held June 4-7. This lab is intended to support the development of scripts through individual story sessions with screenwriter advisors and group sessions on the art and craft of screenwriting.

The Sundance Institute’s director of Artist Programs, Michelle Satter, said that the institute believes that these labs remain essential to the vitality of the independent filmmaking community, and that the program allows filmmakers to grow as storytellers, hone their craft and see their vision come to life.

“For over four decades since their conception, the labs remain critical to the vitality of the independent filmmaking community. It has never been more important to invest in the growth of independent storytellers,” Satter said. “While our Directors and Screenwriters Labs take place over several weeks, our commitment to these emerging artists and their creative and career journey to making their films is far more enduring and meaningful.”

The 2024 Sundance Institute Native Lab fellows are:

• Don Josephus Raphael Eblahan (Writer-Director) with “Hum” (Philippines, U.S.A.)
• Ryland Walker Knight (Writer-Director) with “The Lip of the World” (U.S.A.)
• Charine Pilar Gonzales (Writer-Director) with “NDN Time” (U.S.A.)
• Lindsay McIntyre (Writer-Director) with “The Words We Can’t Speak” (Canada)

The 2024 Sundance Institute Directors and Screenwriters Labs fellows are:

• Keisha Rae Witherspoon (Co-Writer, Director) and Jason Fitzroy Jeffers (Co-Writer) with “Arc” (U.S.A.)
• Jane Casey Modderno (Writer-Director) with “Here for the Weekend” (U.S.A.)
• Sylvia Khoury (Writer-Director) with “I’m Heather” (U.S.A.)
• Kristine Gerolaga (Writer-Director) with “Lamok” (Philippines / U.S.A.)
• Diana Peralta (Writer-Director) with “No Love Lost” (U.S.A.)
• Hanna Gray Organschi (Writer-Director) with “Rubber Hut” (U.S.A.)
• Sara Crow (Co-Writer, Co-Director) and David Rafailedes (Co-Writer, Co-Director) with “Satoshi”
  (U.S.A.)
• Urvashi Pathania (Writer-Director) with “Skin” (U.S.A.)
• Claire Fowler (Writer-Director) with “Toad” (U.K.)
• Ramzi Bashour (Writer-Director) with “Tomahawk Springs” (U.S.A.)