Behind every Sundance Film Festival is a team most people never see. Here, in their own words, are a few of the women who help bring it all to life.
Heidi Zwicker - Senior Programmer, Feature Films and Short Films
On getting a front-row seat to filmmakers' big moments
“It was actually somewhat late in the Festival, and I was just sitting with a filmmaking team between the intro and the Q&A of their film. And they got the call that their film was selling, and I realized that I was getting a front-row seat to the best moment of their professional lives. And that’s really the hook to realize that you get to be there in a moment that is so impactful in an artist's life and be a teeny little part of it.”
Kristin Nolan - Director, Production and Operations
On rebuilding the Festival in Boulder
“We're not just moving the Festival; we're very much so building it anew in Boulder. And that's really, sometimes I say brick by brick, but sometimes it very much feels like grain of sand by grain of sand. So every venue, every system, our relationship to the community in the region, how we engage and operate, is brand new. And it's kind of a massive, daunting, and spectacular endeavor.”
Ana Souza - Programmer and Manager, Programming Department
On taking your time
“I think when you come in as a new person in this industry, it's so easy to get caught up wanting to make everything perfect or know everything right away…. I would have liked to have heard… Actually, it's fine. You don't need to have everything figured out right away. You can just take your time, get to know the people around you, get to know the Festival, get to know what everything looks like in your own time, and trust that if you put in good work, and you're kind to people, everything that's meant to happen is going to happen anyway.”
Ania Trzebiatowska - Programmer
On why this work is so personal
“I don't know if people understand just how much heart, soul, and effort goes into what we do and how we program. It's very personal in so many ways. This is all we do for weeks and weeks. We watch so many films, and we really, really pour ourselves into this. And I don't think that people think about it this way because everyone always talks about the numbers and how difficult it is to get in. It's all true. But all human beings are behind this process.”
Paula DuPré Pesmen - Managing Director, Festival and Institute Operations
On the industry's built-in community
“It's constantly evolving because so many things in this industry are production-related. A film, for example, or a festival, has a beginning and an end. It's not a career that continues permanently in the same cycle. You might be on a film or a project or a festival with a certain group of people, and then the next year, it looks different. It's also a pretty small community, very supportive. There may be people that you work with now, whose paths you'll cross again on the next journey…. We all really help each other. So that's that sense of community that the industry has that makes it really special, and it's just in our DNA to help each other.”