The Sundance Institute has selected the Australian film project Partisan for the 2012 Directors and Screenwriters Lab. It is among 13 projects included in what will be an intensive, hands-on workshop, where experimentation and risk taking is encouraged.
Partisan is about an 11-year-old boy who is starting to think for himself after being raised to see the world through his parents' eyes; co-writers Ariel Kleiman and Sarah Cynglar have worked together on over 15 productions and closely collaborated throughout.
Ariel Kleiman has already had success at the Sundance Film Festival, with his short film Young Love winning an honorable mention in 2010. Another of his short films, Deeper Than Yesterday, has won over 20 awards at film festivals including a jury prize in international filmmaking at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival.
The labs encourage filmmakers to be innovative and visionary. The projects supported receive financial support through project specific grants and ongoing creative and strategic advice.
Keri Putnam, executive director of Sundance Institute, said, “As our offerings for artists continue to grow our hope is that filmmakers have added incentive to remain true to their visions throughout the creative process.”
The labs are under the direction of Gyula Gazdag, who will work alongside a group of creative advisors including Gregg Araki, Michael Arndt and Andrea Arnold.
The other projects have been selected from Chile, Romania, Argentina, Algeria and other countries. The program takes place at the Sundance Resort in Utah in June.
UPDATE (May 28): Australian writer Sam Voutas was selected for the Sundance Screenwriters Lab for US project White Faced Lies.