Inside the 2024 Directors Brunch

Bringing together hundreds of filmmakers at the picturesque Sundance Resort, the Directors Brunch offered the Sundance Class of 2024 a platform for conversation and congratulations. Kinetic energy filled the room as the creative community gathered to eat and to meet.

At the Sundance Film Festival, where the entertainment world gathers to view the future of filmmaking, the event provides artists with a sense of respite. Artists espoused a collective appreciation for the Festival’s ability to consistently center artists and storytelling even amidst the hectic scheduling of premieres and the rumors of film sales. Able to relive the processes and paths that brought them here, filmmakers expressed gratitude for the work of the Sundance Institute in supporting their journeys. Sean Wang, director of Dìdi (弟弟), said, “In the chaos of the noise of the industry and business, it is easy to get lost in what your project needs to be and what it should be,” Wang continued. “What the Institute did for me was allow [me] the permission to ignore all of that…and listen to [myself].” 

Wang is a veteran of both the Screenwriting and Director’s Labs. He took the opportunity to praise the Institute for providing him with a “community of people, filmmakers, artists, and staff who care about you in an industry that can often feel so lonely…it is really, really special.”

First time filmmakers and veterans alike commemorated the influence of the Institute on their works. “I would not be the filmmaker I am today without [Sundance], and the movie would not be the movie it is today without them,” Wang noted. Ross Kaufman, the director of Winding Path and a veteran of the first Composer Labs in 2003, echoed that sentiment: “I would not be here without Sundance, and I would not be making the films I am making without them.”

Once the filmmakers had all settled down in their seats with a refreshing breakfast spread, the music and discussions dimmed as the artists got to hear from leading members of the Sundance Institute. Eugene Hernandez, Festival Director, kicked off the celebrations commemorating the restorative nature of coming together as artists. Sundance’s CEO Joana Vicente followed, taking a moment to celebrate the audience’s “transformative” achievements in the visual arts during a period where the film industry lacked any sense of stability. Despite a reality for filmmakers that threatened to shut down productions and diminish the cultural value of the arts, the artists assembled here rose above that, Vicente proclaimed, creating cutting works that reflected society’s need for new perspectives. With the willpower to realize stories that have never before been told, the filmmakers assembled in this room had one collective idea: “take risks, share truth without compromise, and create work that entertains and sparks conversation.” 

Vicente then invited Institute board member Amy Redford on stage. Motivated to share the story of her father, the Sundance Institute founder Robert Redford, and the impact seeing Sundance thrive imparted on him, the younger Redford repeated what filmmakers had long praised Sundance for helping them do: “Don’t let the fire breathing dragon of acquisition, representation and sales burn you. Ride it.” Redford further reflected on what it means to her to continue the legacy that her father set out, over 40 years ago, of supporting independent filmmaking. “What I am most proud of is that when my dad could have created an empire, he created a nest.” An incubator, an Eden, an artists’ utopia dedicated solely to independent film and filmmakers; that is what Sundance is and forever will be. She ended with  touching words that her father asked her to share on his behalf with Sundance’s class of 2024 directors. “Welcome to this mountain. We want you to not only see this place but perhaps even feel it… Continue to persevere — bring your voice, your vision, your point of view, about the world you are living in. This is about your work and getting it seen, and we thank you for sharing it with us.”