Throughout the 2020 Sundance Film Festival and during the run of the Art and Social Justice exhibition (link), Susan Swartz Studios hosted a myriad of impactful events including premiere parties for three incredible films:
Aggie is a portrait of Agnes Gund, the revered art collector and philanthropist who donated over $100 million in proceeds from the sale of her beloved Lichtenstein painting to form the Art for Justice Fund. The fund is dedicated to disrupting mass incarceration and addressing racial biases by providing grants directly to artists and advocates who seek to reform America’s criminal justice system. Read the NYT article here. During the premiere party, Susan Swartz Studios welcomed a wonderful group of visitors including Agnes Gund herself, director of Aggie and founder of Aubin Pictures Cat Gund, contemporary artist Cindy Sherman, Director of the Sundance Film Festival John Cooper, Chief Curator of Film at MOMA Rajendra Roy, Producer at Aubin Pictures Tanya Selvaratnam, Curator of the Agnes Gund Collection Nicole Gallo, and President of the Ford Foundation Darren Walker, to name a few.
The Truffle Hunters documentary tells the story of the world’s most expensive ingredient, the white Alba truffle, and the people who search for it. The small, dwindling enclave of hunters in Northern Italy consists of silver-haired men and their faithful dogs whose mysterious way of life risks disappearance. Susan Swartz was an executive producer on the film and was able to adventure behind the scenes with directors and executive producers Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw through the enchanting forests where the story unfolded. During the premiere party, Chef Fabio Fresia created an incredibly delicious sampling of the white truffle for a full house of guests in conjunction with Done to Your Taste Catering.
Giving Voice, directed by James D. Stern and Fernando Villena, follows six high school students in a monologue competition as the individuals discover their own self power.
John Cooper, director of the Sundance Film Festival, described it as the “next generation of leaders, artists, and change-makers stepping out.”
Other events held at the gallery throughout the run of the festival included:
Impact Partners annual Sundance brunch: Susan Swartz is a founding member of Impact Partners, the documentary film production group that is renowned for igniting social change through storytelling on pressing social issues. Their annual Sundance Film Festival brunch filled the gallery with investors, filmmakers, and friends of the Oscar and Emmy award winning organization. Five films produced by Impact Partners premiered at the 2020 festival: Epicentro (Recipient of the Grand Jury Prize in the World Cinema Documentary category), Spaceship Earth, Us Kids, On the Record, and Giving Voice (recipient of the Festival Favorite Award).
Level Forward video debut: Susan Swartz Studios was proud to welcome back friends from the organization Level Foward to debut their video Gun Neutral Instrument of Hope featuring two Parkland school shooting survivors Andrea and Sawyer and a 71-instrument orchestra accompanying the song Shine. Our guests and passerbys got to hear a special in-person performance as well: Amazing Grace played on a trumpet made of brass bullet casings to bring attention and awareness to the healing power of art therapy for school shooting survivors and their communities. Download and share the song Shine here.
A conversation with Tiffany Schlain: Filmmaker and author Tiffany Schlain presented her insightful theories and thoughts from her new book 24/6 - The Power of Unplugging One Day A Week. In the book, Tiffany explores how turning off screens one day a week can do wonders on a person’s brain, body, and soul.
Rescreening of Born Into Brothels: A celebration of the restoration and rescreening of the documentary Born into Brothels after it was nearly lost in a fire. The film, directed by Zana Briski and Ross Kauffman, chronicles the amazing transformation of children growing up in the red light disctrict of Calcutta (now Kolkata), India, and won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 2005. Briski is also the founder of Kids with Cameras, a non-profit organization that empowers marginalized children through learning the art of photography and was depicted in the film. Briski was present for a book signing of both BROTHEL and Kids with Cameras.
