Robert Redford's Sundance Institute and the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) share the same breadth -- as in latitude: 40.6 degrees in distance from the equator for both Sundance's Park City, Utah and BAM's Brooklyn.
The two institutions have used that common marker to create a name for their new cooperative effort, Creative Latitude: Sundance Institute at BAM, a series of film screenings, performances, panel discussions, and special events bringing the institute's activities and its annual film festival's programming to New York audiences May 11-20.
The series will include a dozen or more of "the best new dramatic and documentary feature films and at least six exciting shorts" from the January 2006 Sundance Film Festival, according to a joint press release from Sundance and BAM. The program "will highlight projects supported by Sundance Institute's programs in filmmaking, theatre, and film music. The exact film selection will be determined following the conclusion of this year's Sundance Film Festival."
Organizers hope the new program will "stimulate dialogue between artists and audiences and... provide insight into the creative -- and practical -- processes of filmmakers, playwrights, and composers," the joint release said.
"We are pleased to bring to New York the spirit of Sundance," Redford, the institute's founder and president, said. "Our collaboration with BAM is the keystone of our 25th anniversary celebration plans during the year. When BAM board member and philanthropist Jonathan Rose and I first discussed a series that includes the art forms that both our organizations support, it made perfect sense: a large number of our filmmakers, playwrights, actors, and advisors from films in our festival and labs live and work here, and both organizations appreciate the creative process and bringing new works to new audiences."
Karen Brooks Hopkins, president of BAM, added, "With our common commitment to discovering and nurturing emerging and original talent, Sundance Institute and BAM have long shared a unique kinship as pioneers within the arts world. We are looking forward to an ongoing collaboration and have enormous gratitude for the host committee's supporters who are helping launch this new partnership."
--Roger Armbrust