Sundance Institute to Present Four-Day Festival in Los Angeles

The Sundance Institute will host a four-day summer film festival in Los Angeles from Aug. 8-11, it announced Monday.

our editor recommends

Sundance 2013: Winners of the Sundance Institute | Mahindra Global Filmmaking Awards Announced

Annenberg Foundation Donates $1 Million to Sundance Institute

The event, which will take place at the Sundance Sunset Cinema in West Hollywood and additional venues throughout Los Angeles, will be called Next Weekend after the Next <==> sidebar section that showcases stylistically adventurous films at the Sundance Film Festival. The programming will consist of eight unreleased feature films, drawn from that sidebar as well as other new films, no matter where they premiered.

PHOTOS: 10 Surprising Celebrities at Sundance

The weekend also will include a panel discussion about how the films got made, a shorts program and the annual ShortsLab: Los Angeles, a half-day short filmmaking workshop.

Next Weekend will kick off with an outdoor screening Aug. 8 at Cinespia at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. On closing night, Aug. 11, the festival will expand to venues across Los Angeles including the American Cinematheque at the Aero Theatre, Cinefamily, MOCA, and the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television at the Billy Wilder Theater at the Hammer Museum.

Robert Redford, president and founder of the Sundance Institute, said, “The best part of independent filmmaking is the freedom to tell your stories your own way, to take risks and not be beholden to convention of any kind. At the core of Next Weekend are artists that are taking risks and pushing boundaries. As such, it’s fitting that Sundance Cinemas will be the home for this festival and these films.”

Keri Putnam, executive director of the Sundance Institute, said, “The Next section at our Festival in Utah, built under the leadership of festival director John Cooper and director of programming Trevor Groth, showcases films that marry form and content in a way that pushes boundaries and offers fresh perspectives on storytelling. We look forward to celebrating the energy of this work and these artists and to sharing it with a larger community in collaboration with like-minded cultural institutions.”