Sundance Institute celebrates the 10th Anniversary of its New Frontier program with a series of exhibitions and experiences set to unveil during the 2016 Sundance Film Festival. The exhibition is to include immersive cinematic works, virtual reality installations, and a lineup of curated documentaries with behind the scene looks into the latest innovations. New Frontier at the Festival will feature three films and a live performance throughout multiple venues in Park City including Park City’s historic Claim Jumper, The Gateway, Swede Alley, and the Festival’s Base Camp.
President and Founder of Sundance Institute, Robert Redford said, “For me, New Frontier has always embraced risk and innovation in a way that reflects the heart of Sundance and the ever-evolving nature of film. It champions films, artists and installations that use new media technology to expand, experiment and explode traditional storytelling. Independent artists continue to fuel the broader community with artistic innovation, bold thinking and groundbreaking narratives that can change the art of film forever.”
The New Frontier Program has played host to the advancement of artists and technologists by providing the platform and encouraging the minds to “push the boundaries of storytelling.” Creators such as Jennifer Steinkamp, Aaron Koblin, Pipilotti Rist, James Franco, Nonny de la Peña and Joseph Gordon-Levitt have been exhibited, and relationships across the United States have been fostered to aid in progression of independent artists.
Of the many options available for viewing, I’m most intrigued with 6×9: An Immersive Experience of Solitary Confinement by Francesca Panetta, Lindsay Poulton. Since watching “The Chamber” and “Sleepers” as a child (I was 10!), I’ve been obsessed with the system. How it has worked to fail the people it’s meant to rehabilitate, as well as failed those who are meant to do the rehabilitation. The issues of “the box” or solitary confinement has become more vocalized with the help of technology, so it should be interesting what Panetta and Poulton have done.
10th Anniversary exhibitions will be presented with MoMA in New York in April, before moving on to the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis as part of Northern Spark, in June.