The Sundance Institute has picked 16 projects for its Documentary Fund.  Vetted out of 325 applications, the projects will receive creative and financial support for development, production, and post. 

The international selections cover subjects such as democratic efforts in Burma in Nic Dunlop's "Burma Soldier," Amlan Datta's study of Indian elections in "Image: Democracy," and foster care in America via Heather Rae's project "Family: The First Circle."

"From China, Kyrgyzstan, Indonesia, Iran and the United States, this program is considered our most international docket yet," said Cara Mertes, Director of the Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program. 

The Institute also announced two Engagement grants to provide seed money toward a project's distribution efforts.  Grant winners are Pamela Yates' docu on repression in Peru, "State of Fear," and Sundance Grand Prize winner "Trouble the Water," Tia Lessin and Carl Deal's (pictured above) portrait of Katrina survival.

PROJECTS IN DEVELOPMENT

Tomáš Kudrna
ALL THAT GLITTERS (Kyrgyzstan/Czech Republic)

Nic Dunlop
BURMA SOLDIER (Burma/Thailand/U.S.)

Maria Teresa Rodriguez
¿DÓNDE ESTÁN? THE DISAPPEARED CHILDREN OF EL SALVADOR (U.S./El Salvador)

Amlan Datta
IMAGE: DEMOCRACY (India)

Bishnu Dev Halder
A TALE OF THREE SISTERS (India)

Leonard Retel Helmrich
POSITION OF THE STARS (Indonesia/Netherlands)


PROJECTS IN PRODUCTION/POST-PRODUCTION

Carol Dysinger
CAMP VICTORY: AFGHANISTAN (U.S.)

Heather Rae
FAMILY: THE FIRST CIRCLE (U.S./Native American)

Michael Collins
GIVE UP TOMORROW (U.S./Philippines)

Barbara Attie and Janet Goldwater
GOUNDO'S DAUGHTER (U.S.)   

Lixin Fan
LAST TRAIN HOME (China)

Jennifer Maytorena Taylor
NEW MUSLIM COOL (U.S.)   

Orhan Eskiköy and Özgür Dogan
ON THE WAY TO SCHOOL (Turkey)

Laura Poitras
RELEASE (U.S./Yemen)   
 
Jakob Preuss
THE OTHER CHELSEA (Germany)  

Gef Senz
VIRTUAL FREEDOM (Australia)  

Farid Haerinejad and Mohammad Reza Kazemi
WOMEN IN SHROUD (Iran/Canada)


AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT GRANTS

Pamela Yates
STATE OF FEAR (U.S./Peru)

Tia Lessin and Carl Deal
TROUBLE THE WATER (US)

Pamela McClintock and Winter Miller have a primer on the Cannes buying activity, framing it within lackluster activity at Sundance.

The sellers are trying to put a good face on lean times. “At the end of the day this Sundance will have been less profitable than the previous Sundance, but we’ve got more of a 52-week business than we’ve ever had,” says Cinetic’s John Sloss, who had brought a whopping 19 films to sell at the January fest, including “What Just Happened?”

“I debate on a daily basis whether we should have taken it to Sundance. The bloggers and press outlets had it in for the movie. It had a big bull’s eye painted on it.” Cinetic says they sold every film but one, with several on the verge of closing.

Ella Taylor got to sit in during January's Sundance Screenwriters Lab and has this weighty article in this week's LA Weekly.  A must-read for the thousands that apply to the Labs.

The one thing they will not do in this cocooned Shangri-La is write. Though one or two Fellows tell me they’re itching to get back to work after a conference with an adviser or a conversation with a peer, most appear pleased to get a break from the solitude of writing — including the advisers, who are especially happy to be kept busy during the ongoing WGA strike. Over lunch, [Michelle] Satter and her young lieutenant, Illyse McKimmie, lay out the rationale for the informal no-writing rule. “We want them to stay fluid,” says Satter.

 

Karina at Spout pointed to this "Simpson" episode where Lisa's doc, "Capturing the Simpsons" goes to Sundance.

Will the Sundance short filmmakers from 2008 actually do better financially than their feature film colleagues?

After the lackluster sales of features this year, Sundance has put most of their short film selection (including Ken Wardrop's "Farewell Packets of Ten," pictured) for sale on iTunes, Xbox, and Netflix.

As The Circuit reported back in December, short filmmakers stand to make some cash:

According to Sundance online producer Joe Beyer, some veterans of the 2007 short films program have seen revenue in the "tens of thousands of dollars," even after iTunes and the Sundance Institute took their fees. 

Anne T. explores why this kind of distribution hasn't taken off for features yet.