The inaugural cohort will include 11 Latino and 12 Asian American creators.
Sundance Institute has partnered with The Asian American Foundation (TAAF) to launch a new fellowship and scholarship to provide Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) artists with creative and tactical support to develop their skills and grow professionally.
‘Sundance Institute | The Asian American Foundation Fellowship and Collab Scholarship’ aims to improve AAPI representation in the film and television industries over the long-term by cultivating AAPI talent and elevating their stories.
It is made possible by support from TAAF, through a $400,000 grant provided by its AAPI Giving Challenge partner Panda Express, as well as The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation which will also contribute $140,000 to support the programme. Over two years, the funding will provide artists with grants and year-round resources to support the artists and program activities.
Norman Chen, CEO at TAAF, said: “TAAF is helping build the infrastructure needed to increase AAPI representation and storytelling so that our communities can feel a broader sense of belonging in this country. Investing in and empowering AAPI artists is a powerful way of ensuring our stories are seen as part of the fabric of American life and culture. That’s why we are thrilled to collaborate with the Sundance Institute and our philanthropic partners to support AAPI artists who deserve the resources and opportunities they need to be leading storytellers in their fields.”
The fellowship will offer six AAPI artists per year a year-round learning experience to advance their professional development in the arts. Through the fellowship, each artist will receive a $20,000 unrestricted grant to support their individual projects, as well as customised support from the institute based on their goals. TAAF’s support will also fund the Sundance scholarships for six emerging AAPI creatives per year. Scholarship recipients will be able to enrol in a live online course focused on their discipline of choice, receive a Creator+ Sundance Collab membership to access the master classes in the video library, participate in exclusive networking and community-building events, and receive feedback from Sundance Collab Advisors on their projects
Carrie Lozano, Director, Documentary Film and Artist Programmes, Sundance Institute, added: “Asian American and Pacific Islander experiences are diverse and multifaceted, and creative industries have a significant role to play in properly highlighting these stories through investing in AAPI artists. Our Fellowship in collaboration with TAAF was created for this purpose. The scholarships for Sundance Collab also enable us to further support AAPI artists. The Sundance Institute is grateful for the support of TAAF for helping fuel the creative development of diverse artists in our network.”
The artists selected for the inaugural cohort of fellows are Vera Brunner-Sung, Desdemona Chiang, Shayok Misha Chowdhury, Tadashi Nakamura, Neo Sora, and Sean Wang.
Additionally, Sundance also announced its scholarship recipients for this year which include Georgia Fu, Leomax (Ziyuan) He, Jenna Lam, Simi Prasad, Norbert Shieh, and Nicole Solis-Sison.
