Two ITVS Films Selected to Compete at Sundance

The Sundance Institute has revealed the lineup of films selected to screen in the U.S. and World Cinema Dramatic and Documentary competitions for the 2011 Sundance Film Festival in January. Among the films selected are two ITVS-funded documentaries: If A Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation for the U.S. Documentary competition and Family Portrait in Black and White in the World Cinema Documentary competition. Today’s announcement brings the total number of ITVS-funded films that have screened at Sundance to 71 since we first attended in 1994.

Find out more about the documentaries below and join us in congratulating the filmmakers!

If A Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation 
Filmmaker Marshall Curry takes a behind-the-curtain look at the Earth Liberation Front, the radical environmental organization that the FBI calls the “number one domestic terrorism threat” in America. If a Tree Falls is one of 16 films selected from 841 submissions in the U.S. Documentary competition. The film is slated to air next year on P.O.V.

Family Portrait in Black and White 
Set in a small Ukranian town, filmmaker Julia Ivanova takes a look at Olga Nenya, who raises 16 black orphans amidst a population of Slavic blue-eyed blondes. Their stories expose the harsh realities of growing up as a bi-racial child in Eastern Europe. Family Portrait in Black and White is an ITVS International production and is one of 12 films selected from 796 international documentary submissions for the World Cinema Competition. 

Two additional ITVS-funded films will have their documentary premiere at Sundance: Granito, by filmmaker Pamela Yates and The Interrupters by filmmaker Steve James.

In Pamela Yates’ Granito, a documentary film intertwines with Guatemala’s turbulent history and emerges as an active player in a nation’s struggle to heal itself and serve up justice.

The Interrupters from Academy Award-winning director of Hoop Dreams Steve James, tells a story of ex-gang members who are now protecting their communities from the violence they themselves once employed. Screening dates and times are still pending. You can find up-to-date information online.