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Monday, May 28-----The Sundance Institute is coming to Brooklyn starting this Thursday to present a lively series of film, theater, music and panel discussions at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), part of an on-going relationship between the two organizations. The core of the event will be the showcasing of feature and short films that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January.

This year’s Sundance Institute at BAM series opens with the New York premiere of Garth Jenning’s SON OF RAMBOW. The breakout hit of the 2007 Sundance Film Festival, the UK film captivated audiences throughout Park City with its portrait of childhood imagination and ingenuity. The film offers a nostalgic trip back to the 1980s and to an era when, for the first time, young minds had access to technology that allowed them to record their own stories while paying homage to the heroes from the movies that inspired them.

Other film highlights include: PADRE NUESTRO, a beautifully directed immigrant drama by Christopher Zalla (Festival Grand Jury Prize); DELIRIOUS, a delicious satire on celebrity, directed by indie stalwart Tom DiCillo and starring Steve Buscemi; THE GREAT WORLD OF SOUND, director Craig Zobel’s telling drama about the music industry; SNOW ANGELS, the latest from indie auteur David Gordon Green; and SWEET MUD, by Israeli director Dror Shaul (World Cinema Grand Jury Prize).

Acclaimed documentaries from the last Festival are certain to be a series highlight, including the New York premieres of BANISHED, Marco Williams’ provocative look at a lost chapter of black history; JOE STRUMMER, a musical portrait of The Clash bassist by UK director Julien Temple; WAR/DANCE, the bracing story of Uganda refugees by Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine; and MANDA BALA, Documentary Grand Jury Prize Winner.

The series will also present a strong lineup of 27 short films from the Festival competition, culminating in a Shorts marathon on Sunday, June 3rd.  This will be bookended with The Documentary Weekend on June 9 and 10, which will include a “work in progress” screening of NERAKHOUN by cinematographer-turned-director Ellen Kuras; as well as screenings of such ground-breaking documentaries as SHUT UP AND SING (Barbara Kopple), LUMUMBA (Raoul Peck) and SOLDIER GIRLS (Nick Broomfield).

The Sundance At BAM series also includes performances of original theater and music works, which have received support from  the Sundance Institute’s theater and film music programs. Highlights will include acclaimed theater troupe Mabou Mines preview of SONG FOR NEW YORK: WHAT WOMEN DO WHILE MEN SIT KNITTING; and a series of musical performances by local Brooklyn musicians.  Sundance and Brooklyn, like bagels and lox, seems like a match made in media heaven. For more information, a full schedule and to purchase tickets, link on to: www.sundance.org/bam or www.bam.org.

Sandy Mandelberger, Film New York Editor