Sundance Institute Launches New Initiative to Support Inventive Artistic Practice in Nonfiction Film

January 19, 2016 Patrick Hickey Jr. Film 0

Robert Greene, Margaret Brown, Omar Mullick and Bassam Tariq
Selected as First ‘Art of Nonfiction’ Fellows

Los Angeles, CA — Sundance Institute, one of the world’s largest grantmakers to documentary film announced the ‘Art of Nonfiction’ initiative, which will expand the Institute’s existing support for documentaries exploring contemporary social issues to include targeted creative and financial support for documentary filmmakers exploring inventive artistic practice in story, craft and form. As part of the initiative, the Institute has selected Robert Greene (Kate Plays Christine), Margaret Brown (The Order of Myths), and Omar Mullick and Bassam Tariq (These Birds Walk) as the first Art of Nonfiction fellows. The initiative launches with editorial and financial support from Cinereach.

The Art of Nonfiction includes both a Fellowship for filmmakers and resources to help them build sustainable creative practices. Tabitha Jackson, Director of the Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program, developed this initiative in response to the lack of support for many exciting artists working today who take a bold, inventive cinematic approach to their documentary work (The Act of Killing, Man on Wire,20,000 Days on Earth, Leviathan) as well as those pushing the boundaries of the form with elements including animation and performance (Stories We Tell, Exit Through the Gift Shop, Cutie and the Boxer, The Arbor).

Robert Redford, President & Founder of Sundance Institute, said, “Our new Art of Nonfiction initiative allows us to discover, celebrate and support the creative pioneers of this advancing documentary art form that has always been so important to Sundance Institute.”

Jackson said, “This initiative represents our renewed thinking about how we, as a funder and creative resource, can experiment with our programs to better serve the needs of filmmakers who are experimenting with their own work. We hope this more robust infrastructure of support will bring the community together as we look to advance the understanding and practice of nonfiction film.”

Sundance Institute has a long history and firm commitment to championing documentaries, including awarding over $2 million to documentary projects in 2015. The Art of Nonfiction seeks to bring focus to the creative practice of artists as a complement to the current range of Grants, Labs, Fellowships and strategic advice from development through distribution offered by the DFP. Recent documentary projects supported by the Institute include The Look of Silence, Cartel Land,Citizenfour, Rich Hill, The Hunting Ground and The Pearl Button.

Applications for the Art of Nonfiction Fellowship are accepted by invitation only. More information about the Institute’s Documentary Film Program is available at sundance.org/documentary.

The Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program is made possible by founding support from Open Society Foundations. Generous additional support is provided by Skoll Foundation; the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation; Ford Foundation; The Charles Engelhard Foundation; Arcus Foundation; Cinereach; Discovery Channel; Liminal Fund; City Drive Films; Time Warner Foundation; CNN Films; ESPN Films; the Joan and Lewis Platt Foundation; National Geographic; Anonymous (2); Compton Foundation; SundanceNow Doc Club; Threshold Foundation; the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation; Code Blue Foundation; The Fledgling Fund; Joy Family Foundation; Kenneth Cole Productions; PBS; Signal Media Project; and WNET New York Public Media.

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 Beasts of the Southern Wild, Fruitvale Station, Sin Nombre, The Invisible War, The Square, Dirty Wars, 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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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13873 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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