Past Participants

Since the program’s inception in 2005, the Labs have nurtured over 125 filmmakers’ inaugural films. 70% of alumni projects are complete and have premiered at major U.S. and International film festivals. 60% have had distribution outside of festival play, including theatrical release, television broadcast and DVD, VOD or digital platforms release.

All completed Labs films have played in festivals around the world, and fully half have premiered in the top U.S. and international festivals including at Berlin (Una Noche; Yelling to the Sky; Wild Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russell), IDFA (The Light in Her Eyes; Smokin’ Fish; An Encounter With Simone Weil), Slamdance (Welcome to Pine Hill ; Stranger Things), Sundance (An Oversimplification of Her Beauty; Pariah; Kinyarwanda; Restless City; The Imperialists Are Still Alive!; Tibet In Song), SXSW (Booster, Extracted, Pavilion, Welcome to the Machine, Wildness), Tribeca (Give Up Tomorrow, Our School, Stuck Between Stations), Toronto (The Brooklyn Brothers Beat the Best; The Patron Saints), and Venice (Habibi; Zero Bridge).

Beyond the festival circuit, many Lab alumni secure theatrical distribution, via traditional methods and new models. These include Pariah (Focus Features); Kinyarwanda (AFFRM); Yelling To The Sky (MPI); The Imperialists Are Still Alive (IFC/Sundance Selects); Junkie Nurse (Prescreen.com); Sahkanaga (Southern Circuit Tour); Stuck Between Stations (Wreckin Hill/NECA Films); and Zero Bridge (Film Desk).

Several Lab films were broadcast on television in the U.S. and abroad, including on Al Jazeera English (Burning in the Sun), Arte (Land of Opportunity), Documentary Channel (Our House); The Visitors, HBO (War Don Don), PBS (Give Up Tomorrow; Smokin’ Fish; Mine; Between the Folds), Showtime (Good Intentions), and Sundance Channel (Sorry, Thanks).