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The Sundance Film Festival gets underway on Thursday, Jan. 24 in Park City, Utah. As it has for the past two decades, UCLA TFT will host its annual Main Street reception, this year on Saturday, Jan. 26, to celebrate the cinematic accomplishments of its filmmaking community. Dean Teri Schwartz will welcome guests, including Professor Phyllis Nagy, who has been named one of the jury members in the U.S. Dramatic Competition, and Professor Nancy Richardson, who edited the festival’s Surprise Screening, MGM’s Fighting With My Family. Dwayne Johnson’s film about a family of wrestlers will have its world premiere on Monday, Jan. 28. Other UCLA TFT individuals with ties to the festival this year include:

U.S. DRAMATIC COMPETITION
Lisa Aragona (B.A. ’14), art department coordinator, Clemency
Blake Berris (B.A. ’06), actor, Before You Know It
Shannon Bradley-Colleary (M.F.A. ’98), screenwriter, To the Stars
Akin McKenzie (B.A. ’02), production designer, Native Son

NEXT
Aldo Velasco (M.F.A. ’98), screenwriter, co-editor, The Infiltrators

MIDNIGHT
Jonathan Snipes (Faculty), composer, Mope

PREMIERES
Eleanor Infante (B.A. ’98), film editor, Late Night

DOCUMENTARY PREMIERES
James Egan (M.F.A. ’85), producer, Raise Hell: The Life & Times of Molly Ivins
Alex Gibney, director, producer, The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley

SPECIAL EVENTS
Taran Killam, actor, Documentary Now! Season 52 Preview

U.S. NARRATIVE SHORT FILMS
Garrett Bradley (M.F.A. ’12), director, screenwriter, America

In 1997, UCLA Film & Television Archive and Sundance partnered to create the Sundance Collection at UCLA, established to preserve long-term access to independent film production. This important initiative is annually celebrated at the festival, highlighting important works protected as part of the landmark collaboration. Two films from the ’90s are featured in this year’s From the Collection screenings: The Blair Witch Project (1999), directed by Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez; and The Hours and Times (1991), directed by Christopher Munch.

Posted: January 24, 2019