News

Twelve UCLA TFT alumni and a current graduate student have involvement with nine of the films and event series that will be shown in the U.S. Dramatic Competition, Midnight Madness, NEXT, Spotlight and Special Events sections of the upcoming Sundance Film Festival, taking place Jan. 21-31, 2016, in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah. They include:

U.S. DRAMATIC COMPETITION

James Franco (B.A. ’08; UCLA TFT lecturer), producer, Goat
Akin McKenzie (B.A. ’02), production designer, Goat
Gabrielle Union (B.A. ’96), actress, The Birth of a Nation
Elliot Davis (M.F.A. ’09), cinematographer, The Birth of a Nation

MIDNIGHT MADNESS

Nate Bolotin (M.F.A. '07), executive producer, Yoga Hosers
Meredith Koch (B.A. '11), second assistant director, Carnage Park
Moana Sherrill (M.F.A. '13), line producer, Carnage Park
Cinematography graduate student Sandra Stenzel, still photographer, Carnage Park
Aram Tertzakian (M.F.A. '07), executive producer, Yoga Hosers
Anthony Tran (B.A. '10), costume designer, Trash Fire

NEXT

XYZ Films, which is made up of UCLA TFT alums and producers Nate Bolotin, Nick Spicer (M.F.A. ’06) and Aram Tertzakian, has the film Operation Avalanche showing in the Sundance NEXT section.

SPOTLIGHT
Michael Stuhlbarg, actor, Miles Ahead

SPECIAL EVENTS
James Franco, actor, 11.22.63
Sundance will debut the two-hour premiere of this nine-hour Hulu event series, followed by an extended Q&A. (world premiere)

Alex Gibney, director and executive producer, The New Yorker Presents
The festival will premiere the first two episodes of this Amazon Studios series, followed by an extended Q&A. (world premiere)

FROM THE COLLECTION
UCLA Film & Television Archive, in conjunction with the Sundance Institute and others, has digitally preserved and/or has had new prints created for the following films, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and will be shown again in January.

City of Hope
Premiered at the 1991 Sundance Film Festival
Director/screenwriter: John Sayles
Cast: Vincent Spano, Tony Lo Bianco, Joe Morton, Todd Graff, David Strathairn, Anthony John Denison
Digitally preserved by Sony Pictures Entertainment in conjunction with Sundance Institute and UCLA Film & Television Archive

River of Grass
Premiered at the 1994 Sundance Film Festival
Director/screenwriter: Kelly Reichardt
Cast: Lisa Bowman, Larry Fessenden, Dick Russell, Stan Kaplan, Michael Buscemi
Preserved by Sundance Institute, Oscilloscope Laboratories, UCLA Film & Television Archive and TIFF

Walking and Talking
Premiered at the 1996 Sundance Film Festival
Director/screenwriter: Nicole Holofcener
Cast: Catherine Keener, Anne Heche, Todd Field, Liev Schreiber, Kevin Corrigan
New print created by Sundance Institute and UCLA Film & Television Archive. Shown by permission of Miramax

Heading to Park City? UCLA TFT will host its annual reception on Saturday, Jan. 23, at Zoom, 660 Main St., from 12:00 p.m.-2:00 p.m. RSVP to legacy.tft.ucla.edu/sundancereception.

Posted: December 9, 2015

UPDATE: February 1, 2016: The Birth of a Nation won the U.S. Dramatic Grand Jury Prize and the U.S. Dramatic Audience Award.