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AFI Alumni Projects Featured at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival

AFI Conservatory Alumni are once again in the spotlight, with their remarkable projects featured at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival, running January 23–February 2, 2025, in Park City and Salt Lake City, Utah. This year’s slate of features, episodics, and short films highlights the extraordinary creativity and artistry that define the AFI Alumni community and...

Spotlight on the AFI Filmmakers Behind WE WERE MEANT TO

This month, we spoke to the AFI Alumni behind the short film WE WERE MEANT TO, the first AFI Thesis film to be named an official selection at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival in 12 years. A coming-of-age story set in a world where Black men have wings, the film serves as a searing allegory...

Spotlight on Writer/Director Chloe Okuno

Upon graduating from UC Berkeley, writer/director Chloe Okuno (AFI Class of 2014) turned her attention to filmmaking, applying to the AFI Conservatory’s Directing program to help train and prepare her for the road ahead. While at AFI, she thrived, making the award-winning horror film SLUT and receiving the prestigious Franklin J. Shaffner Fellow Award. Inspired...

AFI Spotlight Interview with the Sundance Filmmakers Behind HALLELUJAH

The 38th annual Sundance Film Festival came to a close this past weekend, finishing its 10-day run of celebrating independent film and emerging and established artists. This year’s impressive lineup comprised 33 works by 41 AFI Alumni, including HALLELUJAH, the brainchild of writer/director Victor Gabriel (AFI Class of 2020, Screenwriting) which he made alongside fellow...

2022 Sundance Film Festival Reveals Award-winning AFI Projects

The 2022 Sundance Film Festival officially concluded Sunday, January 30. Despite pivoting to an online festival in light of the Omicron variant, the festival was marked by a new wave of innovative narrative and documentary storytelling, including cutting-edge debuts which tackled a variety of diverse and timely subjects such as political dissent (NAVALNY), racial bias...

Congratulations to the AFI Alumni with Films at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival

The 2022 Sundance Film Festival, which will take place January 20-30, 2022, announced its full lineup this week with both in-person screenings and virtual presentations. This year's program features premieres by talented artists including Eva Longoria Bastón, Phyllis Nagy, Tig Notaro and W. Kamau Bell. Congratulations to the following AFI alumni whose work was selected...

Catching up with MA BELLE, MY BEAUTY Cinematographer Lauren Guiteras (AFI Class of 2017)

MA BELLE, MY BEAUTY, shot by cinematographer and AFI alum Lauren Guiteras (AFI Class of 2017), is a transportive, cross-cultural love story set in the south of France, which follows the polyamorous relationship of Lane (Hannah Pepper), Bertie (Idella Johnson) and Fred (Lucien Guignard). Following its premiere at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, MA BELLE,…

AFI Alumni Siân Heder and Paula Huidobro on their Sundance Award-Winning Film CODA

Sparking a bidding war at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival and selling to Apple for a record-breaking $25 million, CODA chronicles the coming of age of teenager Ruby Rossi (Emilia Jones) – the only hearing individual in her working-class family. While the livelihood of her fishermen parents (Oscar® winner Marlee Matlin and Troy Kotsur) and…

Congratulations to AFI Alums Screening at Sundance 2021

Sundance Film Festival announced their 2021 lineup and we’re proud of the many alumni who will be representing the AFI Conservatory!⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣ Here is the full list of the 17 alumni and their 11 projects that will be screening at Sundance 2021:   AT THE READY Steve Golin (AFI Class of 1981) – Executive Producer  …
Fruitvale Station Film Still - Michael B. Jordan

AFI Movie Club: FRUITVALE STATION

In FRUITVALE STATION, cinematographer and AFI alum Rachel Morrison collaborated with director Ryan Coogler for the first time – later reteaming with him on BLACK PANTHER. An AFI AWARD winner, FRUITVALE STATION was recognized by AFI as one of the 10 outstanding films of 2013 – deeming it culturally and artistically representative of the year’s…

PALM SPRINGS Director and Writer Talk Inspiration, Collaboration and Meeting at the AFI Conservatory

AFI alumni Max Barbakow (Directing, Class of 2015) and Andy Siara (Screenwriting, Class of 2015) just sold their debut feature film, PALM SPRINGS, breaking the record for the biggest sale ever at Sundance – by 69 cents. PALM SPRINGS stars Andy Samberg and Cristin Milioti as two wedding guests stuck in an endless time loop….

Production Designer Yong Ok Lee on her Sundance films MINARI and THE FAREWELL

Following her work on the critically-acclaimed THE FAREWELL – a 2019 AFI AWARDS recipient, AFI alum Yong Ok Lee (Production Design, Class of 2013) returned to Sundance for the second year in a row with MINARI – which won the U.S. dramatic grand jury prize and the dramatic audience award at this year’s festival. The film, inspired by director…
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