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Summary

Colorado Matters: In-Depth with Sundance Board’s Gigi Pritzker and Director Lulu Wang
Episode Date: May 13, 2026

Episode Overview
This episode of Colorado Matters, hosted at CU Boulder’s Conference on World Affairs by Ryan Warner and co-host Chandra Thomas Whitfield, explores the impact of the Sundance Film Festival’s move from Utah to Boulder, Colorado. It features an insightful conversation about Sundance’s role in the film industry and in filmmakers’ careers, especially highlighting the festival’s accessibility, educational mission, and year-round community engagement. The discussion includes Sundance Institute Board member Gigi Pritzker, celebrated director Lulu Wang (“The Farewell”), and aspiring CU Boulder filmmaker Kate Yezi.

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Main Themes

• The Sundance Film Festival’s relocation to Boulder and its statewide ambitions
• The festival’s inclusivity and accessibility for non-industry people
• Sundance Institute’s year-round work in nurturing new filmmakers through labs and mentorship
• The transformative power of community, mentorship, and persistence in independent filmmaking
• Behind-the-scenes stories from Lulu Wang's process making “The Farewell” and her upcoming film project
• Bridging the gap for aspiring filmmakers and students

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Sundance Film Festival’s Move to Boulder

[01:22–02:47]

• The festival’s move is about planting long-term cultural roots in Colorado, not just a 10-day event.

• Ebbs Brno (Sundance Institute Board Chair) underscored that the festival "will be a statewide partner collaborating on arts and culture, education and community."

  “We are not here to only show up ten days a year in one location... The Sundance Film Festival is here to be a statewide partner collaborating on arts and culture, education, and community.” — Ebbs Brno [01:32]

• Gigi Pritzker elaborates: Boulder will be the anchor, but satellite events and collaboration are expected in cities like Denver, Colorado Springs, Fort Collins, and beyond.

2. Festival Culture, Access, and Atmosphere

[04:55–09:33]

• Pop-up Community: The festival transforms the whole town; venues spring up everywhere, making it “porous” between filmmakers, locals, and visitors.

  “The whole town becomes kind of a giant pop up and people are roaming all over...” — Gigi Pritzker [09:33]

• Inclusivity: Sundance is accessible to everyone, not just industry insiders.

  “It is absolutely for everyone. I have groups of girlfriends from across the country that come... They just enjoy movies.” — Gigi Pritzker [08:12] “Is it like getting Taylor Swift tickets?” — Ryan Warner
  “No, so much easier!” — Gigi Pritzker [08:41–08:50]

• Traditions: “Standing in line is a thing” — both a bonding and anticipation-building activity for festival-goers. [05:22]

3. The Importance of Sundance Institute

[10:55–13:22]

• The Institute’s work goes beyond the festival; it provides a platform, funding, and an educational pipeline for emerging filmmakers via labs and mentorship.

  “We have a number of labs… You’re mentored, basically, and the mentorship is like a pipeline.” — Lulu Wang [11:14]

• The festival’s visibility and revenue drive make it possible for the Institute to support year-round programming for filmmakers.

• Gap in US funding:

  “In this country, we don't have government funding for the arts. So Sundance is so incredible because it's one of the few places that supports artists.” — Lulu Wang [12:37]

  “Sundance is really an important piece of the ecosystem and the evolution for film in this country.” — Gigi Pritzker [13:54]

4. Legacy of Robert Redford

[14:27–14:49]

• Robert Redford’s passing and the festival’s move mark a transition in Sundance’s story.

  “The final festival and the fact that it culminated with the passing of Mr. Redford... pretty impactful experience.” — Gigi Pritzker [14:27]

5. Lulu Wang’s Journey and Process

[15:51–22:34, 26:12–28:19, 40:50–43:31]

• “The Farewell” grew from personal family stories and became “therapy” for Wang.

  “It’s meant everything to be able to tell a story that is about my family. It was therapy for me...” — Lulu Wang [16:56]

• Food scenes were vital and complex, symbolizing love and emotional tension.

  “For Nai Nai, food is an expression of love. But when you are grieving... you don’t have an appetite.” — Lulu Wang [21:06] “Awkwafina is not eating... If she doesn’t eat, Nai Nai is like, what’s wrong?” [21:47–22:27]

• The film’s success and Wang’s career were made possible through the mentorship pipeline of Sundance Labs.

• Creative Process:

  “You remake the film every time you write another draft... When you edit the film, you remake the film. There’s no finish line, you just abandon it at one point.” — Lulu Wang [26:54, repeated at [00:38]]

6. Current and Future Work

[28:56–31:32]

• Wang’s new project is adapting “Audition” with Lucy Liu and Charles Melton, produced by Higher Ground (the Obamas’ company).

  “I read it in 48 hours... and I was like, what the f*** was that?... but I was so drawn to it...” — Lulu Wang [28:56]

7. Sundance’s Educational and Networking Opportunities

[32:18–47:54]

• Student filmmaker Kate Yezi shares her journey. Sundance and the university’s partnership will open new opportunities for hands-on filmmaking experiences.

• Both Pritzker and Wang attribute their career choices to professor encouragement, emphasizing the importance of mentors and seizing unexpected opportunities:

  “Professors matter.” — Gigi Pritzker [40:25]
  “It was the first time I was doing something out of passion, out of love... And then to also be really encouraged by the feedback from my professors as opposed to... trying to please my parents.” — Lulu Wang [37:29]

• Advice for Aspiring Filmmakers:

  • Build a cohort, volunteer at festivals, persistence is everything.

  • “You gotta really want to [be a filmmaker] really badly.” — Gigi Pritzker [45:34]

  • “The biggest thing is perseverance... You look for the people who stick around, stick with them... That’s the group.” — Lulu Wang [46:22]

  • Lively encouragement to “wait in line”, “volunteer”, and to get connected with the community for a ‘free education’. Stories of Barry Jenkins (Wang’s partner) starting as a festival volunteer to Oscar-winning director are highlighted.

  “It is a free education and it is so exciting... sleep on a couch, come with your friends, get a place together.” — Lulu Wang [46:22]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments (with Timestamps)

• “We are not here to only show up ten days a year in one location... The Sundance Film Festival is here to be a statewide partner collaborating on arts and culture, education, and community.” — Ebbs Brno [01:22]
• “Standing in line is a thing.” — Gigi Pritzker [05:22]
• “It is absolutely for everyone.” — Gigi Pritzker [08:12]
• “I went to LA not knowing a single person...Sundance would host different kinds of gatherings. Just anybody can come.” — Lulu Wang [13:09]
• "You remake the film every time you write another draft... When you edit the film, you remake the film. There’s no finish line, you just abandon it at one point." — Lulu Wang [00:38], [26:54]
• “In this country, we don't have government funding for the arts. So Sundance is so incredible because it's one of the few places that supports artists.” — Lulu Wang [12:37]
• “Part of the reason we're so thrilled to be in Boulder is because of the relationship with the university and the opportunity to think in a way that we've never been able to about how we can impact students, how students can impact Sundance.” — Gigi Pritzker [43:40]
• “The number of people when I first went to Sundance... who go, ‘Oh, I have an extra ticket, who wants this?’... Just by attending, volunteer...you get to see films as a volunteer.” — Lulu Wang [44:15]

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Advice for Students & Emerging Filmmakers

• Volunteer, attend, and work on as many projects as possible. Participate fully in the festival community.
• Find your collaborative cohort—mutual support will help you all succeed in the long run.
• Be stubborn, passionate, and persistent; success in independent film takes time and resilience.
• Mentorship from professors and encouragement is invaluable.
• “Wait in line, volunteer, and be part of the communal magic.”

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Closing

The conversation masterfully weaves together Sundance’s revolutionary move to Boulder with the very personal and often circuitous paths of filmmakers. The episode leaves listeners with both practical inspiration and creative encouragement—underscoring the notion that festivals like Sundance are more than showcases: they’re incubators of talent, community, and culture.

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Key Segment Timestamps:

• [01:22] – Ebbs Brno on the statewide mission
• [05:19] – Gigi Pritzker on line culture
• [08:12] – Sundance accessibility
• [11:14] – Institute’s lab/mentorship pipeline
• [12:37] – US gap in arts funding
• [15:51] – Lulu Wang on “The Farewell”
• [21:06] – Food as love and tension in “The Farewell”
• [26:54] – The ongoing process of remaking a film
• [28:56] – Upcoming adaptation, “Audition”
• [32:18–47:54] – Student Q&A, advice for young filmmakers

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Speakers:

• Ryan Warner (Host)
• Gigi Pritzker (Producer, Sundance Institute Board)
• Lulu Wang (Director, "The Farewell")
• Kate Yezi (CU Boulder Student Filmmaker)

(Advertisements, intros, and outros are omitted for clarity and focus on content.)

Transcript

[A]

From CPR News in Boulder, this is Colorado Matters.

[B]

Sundance is coming.

[C]

I think the town really gets a chance to kind of be a part of the festival because it's very porous between people coming, the filmmakers, people who have come in maybe to do a panel, people who are promoting their films. There's a variety of people.

[B]

We'll chat with the festival bigwig and

[A]

a big time director who's benefited from Sundance's support. Lou Lulu Wong made the breakout hit the Farewell starring Awkwafina. She's now working with the Obamas.

[D]

You remake the film every time you write another draft. When you shoot the film, you're remaking the film. When you edit the film, you remake the film. There's no finish line. You just abandon it at one point, you know.

[A]

Plus, a student filmmaker at CU has some questions of her own for Sundance.

[B]

This is Colorado Matters From CPR News and krcc, I'm Ryan Warner. It was good news for Colorado, bad news for Utah. Sundance had chosen to pack up its canisters and move to Boulder. Here is filmmaker and Sundance Institute Board chair Ebbs BRNO in front of the Boulder Theater just over a year ago.

[E]

I want to be very, very clear. While the Sundance Film Festival will be anchored in Boulder, we intend for its spirit to be felt throughout the state from. I sincerely mean this. From Denver to Colorado Springs to Fort Collins and beyond, we are not here to only show up 10 days a year in one location. No, the Sundance Film Festival is here to be a statewide partner collaborating on arts and culture, education and community. And we are incredibly excited to get to work with all of you.

[B]

Those 10 days of the festival, though, are still pretty important. What can we expect from January 21st through 31st, 2027? Who is Sundance for? Will there be ample popcorn? We are in Boulder at CU's Conference on World affairs to chat with a Sundance muckety muck, a filmmaker shaped by Sundance, and a little later, a CU sophomore who wants to make movies. We'll see if we can land her a job today. Let's give our guests a warm welcome. Producer and studio founder Gigi Pritzker is on the Sundance Institute board of trustees. Hi, Gigi.

[C]

Hi, Brian.

[B]

And writer and director Lulu Wong gave us the 2019 breakout indie film the Farewell, starring Awkwafina. She is now adapting and directing the critically acclaimed novel Lucy Liu will star. And hi, Lulu.

[D]

Hi, Ryan.

[B]

I want to break the ice a little bit. Would you each name a movie you loved as a kid? Perhaps one you watched, like, over and over again in your youth, Lulu?

[D]

Well, my parents and I were. Came to the US When I was pretty young, like six years old, and my mother was a huge fan, and still is, of musicals. And so the film we watched was constantly with Sound of Music.

[B]

Sound of Music, Yeah.

[D]

And it had a huge influence on me. I think it's, you know, now that I think back on it, it's about family, but it's also set against this geopolitical, you know, historical time. And it's a very epic story, but also a very intimate story.

[B]

It's interesting. There are some parents who I think don't let the kids watch the second half. But you were allowed to see the whole of Sound of Music?

[D]

Yes, definitely.

[B]

Yes. With all of its.

[D]

I got all the history from my mother.

[B]

Yeah. Okay. Gigi, what was the movie?

[C]

It was terribly different. Dr. Zhivago. So also political and. Yeah, Dr. Zhivago. We watched a lot.

[B]

What influence did it have on you, do you think?

[C]

I remember thinking how cool it was. You know the scene where they're in the horse drawn carriage and it's cold and they go to the palace and it's all frozen. I remember thinking that was incredible because it made me feel cold. And I was amazed by the power of film to do that, to give

[B]

you a feeling through a screen.

[C]

It's one of the reasons I wanted to make films that. And stop Making Sense by the Talking Heads.

[B]

Those were the two, Gigi, as vividly as you can, maybe engaging as many senses as you can. Hot, cold, whatever it is. What will those 10 days in January be like?

[C]

Oh, it's amazing. If you've never been, there's nothing like it. There's excitement, there's fear, there's anticipation. There's so much to do. There are films, but there are lectures and talks and opportunities to gather. I think the thing I like the most is just the standing in line.

[B]

One of your favorite things about Sundance is to stand in line.

[C]

Yeah, the standing in line is a thing.

[B]

What would be pleasant about it?

[C]

Talking to other people, the interaction amongst

[D]

people, Seeing if you might get in or not. Hoping, Hoping you will if you're on the wait list.

[C]

Yeah, that's the anticipation part.

[B]

Lulu, are you big enough now that you get in or do they. They hold you?

[D]

Well, I get on the wait list and I still kind of have to wait, but I do have. I'll be honest, I do get a little bit more leeway. Yeah.

[B]

Okay. Do you want to describe what Sundance has felt like and looked like?

[D]

For you, the actual festival.

[B]

Yeah, exactly. The festival.

[D]

How long do you have? Because I had basically the quintessential Sundance experience. It was a complete dream come true. Every single bit of it, to be brief. Basically, getting into the festival, being left a message by Kim Yutani was the one who called me. I got the voicemail saying, hi, Lulu, this is Kim. Would you give me a call back? And I just started screaming because I knew what that meant to showing up at the festival, not knowing what to expect, having this incredible premiere with my parents there who were watching the film for the very first time, because I didn't want them to see a cut of the film earlier and give me too many notes because I had already shot the film and no, I cannot reshoot the film to make you look nicer, Mom. And then the nerves, the fear, the anticipation of the response, the standing ovation. We got reviews coming in and me going, I can't read it. I can't read it. And my now husband, then boyfriend at the time going, well, I'm going to read it for you, and I'm going to tell you what they're saying to 10pm getting a phone call saying, are you in bed? Well, get out of bed. There's a black car waiting for you outside that's going to take you to a house and there's a bunch of buyers and there's a bidding war, and you're going to go into this house and you're going to listen to them pitch you. So after 10 years of pitching to people who would ignore me, now I'm suddenly in a position where, you know, Amazon and Netflix and all these people, a 24, who we ultimately sold the film to, would come and pitch me. Just a completely disorienting but incredible experience.

[B]

Nice to be fought over is what I'm hearing. Now, you mentioned Kim Yutani, that's director of programming for the festival. And I guess I want to ask Gigi if the festival is a welcoming place for people who aren't in the industry. Because I think the fundamental question of is this for me, probably rests with a lot of Coloradans right now.

[C]

Yeah, it is absolutely for everyone. It is so much fun. I have groups of girlfriends from across the country that come to Sundance every year who have nothing to do with the festival. They just enjoy movies. And honestly, it's really fun when someone like Lulu is standing next to you and her film is in the festival and you get a chance to talk to filmmakers, and the excitement you see from new filmmakers who are having that experience, it's infectious.

[B]

And what is the access to Sundance? I mean, is it like trying to get Taylor Swift tickets?

[C]

No. So much easier.

[B]

So much easier.

[C]

So much easier.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

Yeah, it's a website. You go on it, you buy tickets.

[B]

Done per film.

[C]

There are many ways to buy tickets.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

You can buy per film, you can buy a package, you can buy a number of things.

[B]

All right. And the main reason I brought you here is, do you have a discount code we can plug in into the. I'm kidding. And then, you know, all sorts of venues become cinemas, movie houses. But my understanding, too, is that it's a bit of a pop up feeling that venues around town, you know, a floral shop or something, becomes an unexpected party. Will you just speak briefly to that?

[C]

The whole town becomes kind of a giant pop up and people are roaming all over and going into the local high school that is now a venue. And so I think the town really gets a chance to kind of be a part of the festival because it's very porous between what's going on, between people coming, the filmmakers, people who have come in maybe to do a panel, people who are promoting their films. There's a variety of people that end up converging as a result of the festival.

[B]

I love the adjective porous. So if there's like a dentist who thinks, you know, my lobby would be a fabulous venue, I mean, what's the strangest place you've seen a movie at Sundance?

[C]

Oh, a hotel ballroom.

[B]

Hotel ballroom. Okay. It's not as wacky as I was hoping.

[C]

No, sorry.

[B]

Indeed, there's the film festival, which dates back to 1978. It began as the US Film Film Festival. In 1981, actor and director Robert Redford started the Sundance Institute, which took over ownership of that Utah event. Gigi, I imagine you know this spiel like the back of your hand, but will you boil down what the Institute does in the world for those other 355 days of the year?

[C]

This is the best part of being able to do stuff like this in a new place, because we get to actually explain what a lot of people don't understand, because the festival is the outward facing, you know, shiny consumer thing that people see. It's also the giant revenue driver for the institute. So the festival is what gives us, in large part the money to be able to do the work the other days of the year, which is. We have a number of labs. You probably can speak about labs way more eloquent.

[B]

Oh, yes, let's get a little lulu here. So Lulu, tell me what the Institute has meant to you, because I think that'll help us understand its work.

[D]

You know, many people don't realize the entire process. You know, you see the overnight success of a filmmaker, but it really does take seven years is what they told me when I first moved to la. And I thought, that's never going to happen to me. That's so long. I'm going to do this in three years. It took 10, and that's short, I'm told. The Institute has these labs, like a workshop. There's a writers, screenwriters workshop. There's a director's lab workshop. You're mentored, basically, and the mentorship is like a pipeline. It's not a guarantee that the film will ultimately be in the festival, but a lot of times they are, when they've been through these labs, and it creates careers for so many filmmakers.

[B]

Would you be here today with the resume you have without Sundance?

[D]

I don't think so.

[B]

Okay.

[D]

And I was about to be a little. Well, I'm very ambitious, so I probably still would be.

[B]

No, I love that.

[D]

But the reality, though, is that in this country, we don't have government funding for the arts. So Sundance is so incredible because it's one of the few places that supports artists that provides funding, that provides a platform that provides workshops to grow and to develop. And it's a community, you know, that's what's really important. I went to LA not knowing a single person, and even before I got into the lab, Sundance would host different kinds of gatherings. Just anybody can come, even here, as part of the festival. You know, if you're a filmmaker in this community, attending these gatherings, you start to meet people, you start to hear about different opportunities.

[B]

Your point about government funding for the arts and forest cinema in particular, resonates with me because there are so many films from abroad where one of the first title cards is, you know, paid for by the Lesotho Lee's Film Commission, what have you. So is the Institute, Gigi, filling a role then, in the United States, as Lulu has hinted, that government is not meeting.

[C]

Yeah. And it's not in our history to have government do that, necessarily.

[B]

I mean, that's right.

[C]

Our 501C3 structure and our not for profit structure is how people tend to be able to support art and culture as to opposed. Opposed to the government. So the reality is, yes, Sundance is really an important piece of the ecosystem and the evolution for film in this country. I mean, the Institute gives opportunity to new filmmakers that very few other places

[B]

can do you're the primordial soup of film?

[C]

We are.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

We are the petri dish.

[B]

Gigi, it hasn't been a year since. Since Robert Redford died. How are you doing?

[C]

You know, that was a pretty impactful experience. The final festival and the fact that it culminated with the passing of Mr. Redford and the final festival in Park City.

[B]

Big transition time. My goodness.

[F]

Huge.

[C]

Huge.

[A]

Gigi Pritzker is a Sundance Institute trustee. We're in Boulder at CU's Conference on World affairs along with director Lulu Wang. When we come back, the genesis of Wong's film the Farewell and a seafood snafu on set. This is Colorado Matters from CPR News. Sundance comes to Boulder in January, and we're getting a preview. Lulu Wong developed her movie the Farewell in a Sundance program for directors. She joined me in front of an audience in Boulder along with producer Gigi Pritzker, a Sundance Institute trustee, Lulu Wong.

[B]

I'd like to chat about the Farewell, a little bit semi autobiographical. A Chinese American family rushes back to China when the matriarch receives a terminal diagnosis, only they're keeping that diagnosis from her. To some extent, the film grew out of your this American Life episode, what yout Don't Know.

[D]

My family built on that lie with an even more elaborate one. We realized we had a problem. How are we all going to manage to see Nai Nai before she died, family from three countries needed to say goodbye without letting Nai Nai know we were actually saying goodbye. This would require more than whiteout. My dad had an idea, so I

[B]

said, alright, your uncle. Maybe we can just, you know, stage your son's wedding early. One year early, with five years of distance. What does the movie mean to you? And has that changed?

[D]

I mean, it's meant everything to be able to tell a story that is about my family. It was therapy for me trying to navigate the two cultures. I just felt so compelled to tell the story and then to also have it be met with success and to establish my career. So the first part of it, creatively, spiritually, I would have told it. Whether it's through this American life or through a film, I would have found a way to just tell the story or even just, you know, at parties. You won't believe what happened over and over. Right. Making it as a film obviously had a much wider reach. And then to be able to. It was such a small film. We made it for a little over $3 million in my grandmother's hometown in northern China. And, you know, I cast my grandmother's Sister to play herself. So this was just a very, very grassroots small film. And to have a platform like Sundance to have, you know, have a bidding war like I talked about, and then to. To be able to now have a career because of it. I mean, that all happened because of the festival.

[B]

Well, it's fascinating that you referred to the farewell as therapy. Is there pressure then on your future projects to be therapeutic or cathartic?

[D]

I wouldn't call it pressure. I think that art is just always, I have to go on a journey, you know, and I think that's when the work is best, not when I approach something knowing exactly what I'm going to say. And I embark on a project.

[B]

Because it's your discovery.

[D]

Exactly. That's the only way it's interesting for me.

[B]

I just want to offer a proviso. Do not watch this movie on an empty stomach. There is so much telegenic food eaten throughout the farewell. And I was curious how food complicates a shoot. If the mound of crab is sort of descending throughout a shot, you have this question about continuity. And then I wondered if the food was even real or if it was like plastic set dressing. Will you talk about maybe the challenges of filming a movie with so much good looking cuisine?

[D]

Quite a lot of challenges. You know, you would relate to this, Gigi. A lot of discussions between me and producers of how many crabs, because they are expensive, but you know, it calls for a mountain of crab. And I started feeling like my nai nai and being like, no, but we need a mountain, otherwise you don't get the story across. And they're like, well, this is how much these crabs cost. You don't want knots, fresh crab. So how many can you replace? Can you use the crab from yesterday? So there's a lot of those conversations.

[B]

I love that you said, Gigi, you'll understand the crab problem. Of course. Why would you naturally understand the crab predicament?

[C]

Well, it is a fundamental part of producing to help a director with the logistics and the budget and the pieces of it that go into it. I also did a movie centered around food called Nonna's and when we sold the movie to Netflix, they said it was good, but we need better and they reshot the food. So to your point,

[B]

all real crab?

[D]

Yes.

[B]

Not imitation or plastic crab?

[D]

No. But we did have old crab that should not be eaten, but could be used for, you know, set crab. Yes. And so we had to make sure the actors knew which ones were edible and which ones should not be eaten.

[B]

Trichinosis on the set, everyone.

[D]

Okay.

[B]

I appreciate those details. I think we should speak to the deeper meaning of the food, which is that I think it is so clearly a representation of love.

[D]

Yeah, it's a representation of love. But I was also really intentional, I think, about not making food porn. Right. Because we live in a time where it is so easy to particularly, I think, in other cultures to exoticize the food. Whereas in Chinese culture, it's not exotic. It's just part of the fabric of everyday life. And so a lot of the intentionality around the food was actually to use it as a source of terror. Because for Nai Nai, food is an expression of love. But when you are grieving and when you're stressed out, you don't have an appetite.

[B]

Yes. And Awkwafina is not eating.

[D]

But if she doesn't eat, Nai Nai is like, what's wrong? So in order to properly disguise that everything's okay, she needs to eat. But then it's this forced eating. So a lot of these, like, close up shots of the food. Food, I think, you know, on a subconscious level was to help convey the tension of like, eat, eat more, eat more. Which already is stressful. Like, I know it sounds great, but even when you're not grieving, it's very stressful.

[B]

Yeah. I mean, any visit to an Italian or a Jewish home, it's like, how do you expect me to fit it in my body?

[D]

Yes. Yeah, exactly. Oh, but if she's dying, you better eat all that she's putting in front of you.

[B]

Thanks for unpacking that. Okay, let's backtrack ever so briefly. Producer Gigi Pritzker, you, I understand. Crisscrossed Colorado before Sundance announced Boulder would be the festival's new home. What stood out to you? Compliment us, make us feel pretty.

[C]

It's easy. It's easy to compliment you. We did the funniest road trip. I kind of wish we had a camera with us, but ebs, who you saw speaking, who is our board chair, and I decided that it would be important to his point that the festival wants to be inclusive and be a part of multiple communities in the state. And, you know, when you grow up somewhere, you know, all the relatives, all the things you're used to, all the stuff, and then when you move and you're an adult, kind of like the festival is doing, you have an opportunity to kind of live differently and look differently.

[B]

Sundance is moving out of the house, getting its own apartment.

[C]

Yeah. So we felt it was really important to go and we went to Fort Morgan, and we went to Fort Collins, all the forts. We went to Colorado Springs. We went to Salida.

[B]

Is the idea then that the festival will spill into these communities outside Boulder?

[C]

Is that one of the things is that both Colorado and Sundance get the opportunity to, like, figure out how to live together organically, and it won't all happen in the first year. The festival is here for 10 days, but we live for a whole year. What other things can we do? And how can we be a part of the whole state landscape?

[B]

Now, if I'm correct about this, the institute remains in Utah. Is that correct?

[C]

The institute is all of it.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

The festival is a part of it, which is here.

[B]

Yes.

[C]

And then the labs. One of the labs is currently here in Estes park, the director's lab. But there are other labs that happen at the Sundance Resort, which is outside of Park City, up in the mountains where Mr. Redford bought the land and started off.

[B]

So it's not a complete removal of yourself from Utah. I think it's important to establish that.

[C]

And not only is it not a complete removal, the festival is here, but a number of our labs have been elsewhere. We did labs in the Middle East. We've done labs in ucross in Wyoming. Our native lab has been there. So kind of the historical heartbeat home is the Sundance Resort producer and studio

[A]

founder Gigi Pritzker, a Sundance Institute trustee, along with director Lulu Wong. We spoke at this year's conference on World affairs in Boulder. And Colorado. Matters continues in this next half hour with Lulu's next Film. I'm Ryan Warner. You're with CPR News and krcc. Let's return to CU's conference on World affairs in Boulder, where we previewed next year's Sundance Film Festival. Sundance is also an incubator for directors like Lulu Wang, whose movie the Farewell was featured in 2019. She joined me along with Sundance Institute trustee Gigi Pritzker on stage.

[B]

These labs, which Lulu also participated in, I have this image of you in a white coat with beakers. But can you tell me something you learned in a lab? Like, was there something really practical? Don't do that. Put the camera a different way. That light is really.

[D]

That's what's great about the labs. No one is there to tell you that something is wrong. You get to experiment. There's advisors, of course, and they'll give you suggestions. But the lab. So I did a lab that at the time was called Film 2, and it was for people who are making their second features and this is after

[B]

the success of the Farewell.

[D]

No, this was. The Farewell was my second feature.

[B]

Oh, I see. It. It grew out of this.

[D]

Yes, yes. And so we were working with Joan Tewksbury. She would have us write down. It was like journal exercises. And so it's really trying to open you up to dig deeper. You know, write about your mother, write about your first memory as a child. So there's all of these different exercises. And now, as an advisor, I've realized, too, that you, you know, I'm there to listen to what is the story that you want to tell, and how do I help you best convey it? You know, filmmaking continues to be. You remake the film every time you write another draft. When you shoot the film, you're remaking the film. When you edit the film, you remake the film. So you are. There's no finish line. You just abandon it at one point, you know, and that's the beautiful thing. You have to always stay open. And every step of the process is to just, what do I. Okay, now that I've shot it, what do I do? Forget the script. Forget everything. How do I make the best film with the materials that I have now? And, you know, walking other filmmakers through that process is a reminder for me

[B]

coming full circle to some extent. So really, the Farewell is a 4000th draft is what.

[D]

I'm still rewriting it and still. Still remaking it in my head, you know, if I could remake it now, which I can't because I already abandoned it. But I have edits, I have notes.

[B]

Wow. Can I encourage you to let it go?

[D]

I have not watched it since probably 2020. There's a reason for that.

[B]

Yeah. I so understand that there can be a pain in going back to something that's on tape. Sorry, I didn't mean to turn this into a therapy session for myself, but, Lulu, tell us about your upcoming adaptation of the novel Audition. I want to know why it's a story you want to bring to screen.

[D]

So this is an adaptation of Katie Kitabura's book of the same title. And when I first read it, I think I read it in 48 hours, and I. Am I allowed to curse? I was like, please do. What the was that? And then I read it again, and I think that that's why I wanted to make it, because I read it so quickly. I didn't know what it was that I read, but I was so drawn to it that I read it that quickly. And so I'm early in the process of figuring out what the was or is, but it is about identity. But it's about so much more. It's about the different roles that we play in our lives, the lives we lead, and the lives that we have given up and all of these parallel paths. And it's intriguing. It's sexy. I immediately saw the cast, like, as I was reading the novel, I saw two of the actors that I've been wanting to work with for a long time, Lucy Liu and Charles Melton. And so I reached out. Lucy read the book and said, yes. Charles said, I don't have time to read the book, but I want to work with you, so count me in. And he agreed to do it, not knowing anything about it.

[B]

So do you need a casting director? I guess you are that.

[D]

Yes, usually with this. Because I knew the actors that I wanted to work, work with, and I had a personal relationship, I was able to go that route. So it just came together really quickly. And also it was higher ground who brought me the project. Obama's production company.

[B]

Yes.

[D]

And they have an incredible track record and incredible producers. And I think so much of filmmaking is it's about the material and it's about the people, you know, you want to work with, the people that you respect, the people that you like, the people who. You just want to work with, who. Who are good people.

[B]

So did they come to you to read the book?

[D]

Yes, they had optioned it and came to me. Yeah.

[B]

Did you tell them your first reaction was what the.

[D]

Yes. Yeah, I did. I was like, I don't know what I just read. And I. So they had given it to me before the book came out. So there were no reviews. No one else had read it. I couldn't, like, go and, you know, read, like, other reviews or, you know, New York Times.

[B]

Anything to ground you.

[D]

Exactly.

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

But I just thought, this is so interesting and the characters are so rich and the questions and the themes that are being explored. I have no idea how I'm gonna adapt this for a film, but I was just up for the challenge because I was drawn to it.

[A]

Director Lulu Wong and producer Gigi Pritzker, who's also a Sundance Institute trustee. When we come back, a student filmmaker has questions for our guests. This is Colorado Matters from CPR News in Boulder. Ahead of the Colorado premiere of Sundance, we're getting a glimpse of its year round impact. Now a special co host joins me on stage with questions for producer Gigi Pritzker and director Lulu Wang.

[B]

Well, I wasn't going to host a conversation in the college town of Boulder. During CU's conference on World affairs without including a student voice. So for the remainder of the program, we're going to chat with a budding filmmaker and then let her ask some questions of our two big shots. Please welcome sophomore in Cinema studies and Moving Image Arts at cu, Kate Yezi. Hi, Kate.

[F]

Hello.

[B]

Same first question. What was a film you loved as a kid?

[F]

There is so many I can go back to, but I think one that was important to me as it was my family was It's a Wonderful Life. There's so many times or every Christmas we would all come together and watch that in our basement. And I just think that really started my love for film in a way that I maybe didn't even realize until recently.

[B]

You are a member of an organization called Gutsy. I thought you, Kate, were going to be the first to drop the F bomb, but it was actually Lulu.

[D]

I'm sorry, what is don't tell my mother.

[B]

Don't tell your. What does Gutsy stand for?

[F]

Gutsy stands for Give us the camera

[B]

and give who the camera?

[F]

Yeah. Well, Gutsy is an amazing student organization which is just to help elevate and support underrepresented filmmakers and creatives at the University of Colorado Boulder and just like outside the film industry as well. So, like, a lot of what we do is putting on guest speakers, event workshops, movie nights, just any way we can engage our community and just have a space for all of us to create.

[B]

You helped make a mockumentary that landed in a short film festival. We have a trailer. We want to watch it first. Or do you want to say a few words before we do?

[F]

I think all I'd like to say is it was just an amazing collaborative effort between a lot of got team members and just so many students got to be involved with a production for the first time, including myself. So I think it was just a really wonderful learning experience. So I'm excited.

[B]

And the title of the film, it's called Mango Tango Wango from the crew at Gutsy.

[D]

The show is on. It's Mango Tango Wango.

[F]

How does it feel to be part of the show for so long?

[C]

Don't even get me started with this documentary.

[B]

We're all just one big family, really.

[C]

What the, like, off the record, guy.

[D]

Guys, stop. Omg. It is so exciting. Swear on set it's just pretend.

[B]

Remember Wengo, smile. If I don't help you land a job, I'll never forgive myself. What's your dream job, Kate Yizzy?

[F]

To be a screenwriter and director. That's always Been something, a dream of

[B]

mine okay, let's get you into a lab. Should we get you into a lab? Okay, for the final part of this conversation, I want you to ask the questions of Gigi and Lulu. So take it away, Kate Yesi.

[F]

Okay, Lulu, I'll start with you. So you studied music and literature at Boston College. And I read it wasn't until your senior year where you really began making and producing films. I'm curious, like, where that inspiration for filming came from,

[D]

if I'm totally honest. Because you're a student? It was actually because I was following a boy. But it's interesting because I took a photography class. I was always interested in photography. I was always interested in writing. And I had done music since I was 4 years old. I started playing the piano, and my junior year, I actually made a film. But I was a writer. I wrote the script and I was in it. And I made it much like you guys, just with a group of friends. But I never thought of myself as a director. And now I think back and I wonder why. I mean, I know why, you know, because I hadn't seen a director that looked like me. And so then there was this boy, and he was signing up for a film class, film 101. And I was hoping to hang out with him more. So I signed up for the same class. And then once I got in the class, I completely forgot about him. And he no longer. He does not make films. He never became a filmmaker. Once I got in the class, I was like, this is it. This is, you know, the intersection of everything that I love. And why had I never thought of this before? And I knew, I think also I'm a very stubborn person. And when I got in, it was just all these young men who wanted to be directors. And so there was a part of me that was like, you know, as we were choosing, you could be a cinematographer, you could be an editor. It was like, I am going to be a director. And once I think of something and I'm very stubborn like that, I would never let go.

[F]

That's amazing. And sort of a follow up for that. Like, how did those experiences then at school and in those classes help shape you as, like, an artist and then lead you to pursue a career as a filmmaker?

[D]

Yeah, I made a couple short films in the class. And there was. It's not a big film school. It was just a smaller, a pretty small film program. But they had something at the time called the Baldwin Film Awards, Student Film Awards. And so the first short film I Made wonder award, and then I made a couple more, and they all won awards. And so I think that just being really encouraged by my professors to pursue it. And it was the first time I was doing something out of passion, out of love, out of fun with my friends, and then to also be really encouraged by the feedback from my professors as opposed to doing something because I'm trying to achieve a goal and trying to get into to a school or trying to please my parents. And so I think that the intersection of the passion and really the encouragement of my professors helped me because at the time, my parents definitely did not support me declining my law school acceptance, because it had all been planned out. I was accepted, I got a full scholarship. And I said, no, actually. Actually, I think I'm going to go work in a coffee shop while I start writing scripts.

[F]

That's amazing. And Gigi, kind of a similar question. So you studied anthropology at Stanford University. And then I read. It wasn't until you traveled as an undergraduate to Nepal for a year that you began making documentaries. How did your experience there help shape you Oz Artist and then lead you to pursue a career in film?

[C]

So I actually went to Nepal my junior year of film college, and I wasn't doing films. And I came back my senior year of college, and I had a whole plan to get a master's in anthropology. And for me, it was a professor as well who said, don't do it. And I said, what do you mean? He said, don't get a master's in anthropology. You should go to film school. And it had never crossed my mind. That was like, never a thing. And I was like, I can't go to film school. People have been making films their whole life. And it's my senior year, I can't get into a film school. And he said, don't get a master's in anthropology, go to film school. You're too creative. And no one had ever said that to me. And I was blown away. And it felt great. And I was like, really? And so I said, okay, well, what film school would I go to? And he said, there's an anthropology documentary film program in New Mexico. So I was like, okay, fast forward like 25 years. He retired. I wrote him a letter. I said, you don't remember me, but you changed my life. And it's been unbelievable, the career I've had, and I'm incredibly grateful to you. And he wrote me a letter back, and he said, no, I remember also, you didn't have a prayer of getting into that Film school, I called them. So professors matter.

[F]

Yes, absolutely. That's amazing. And then, Lulu, I have a couple questions about the farewell. So most of the story centers around how the family is dealing with Nai Nai's terminal illness. And it isn't until kind of the end of the film that we get this, like, really wonderful moment of Nai Nai waving goodbye to Billy and her parents. And I'm just wondering if you could talk about that moment and, like, that perspective switch and what that meant capturing it there.

[D]

Wow. Yeah. It's been many years since I've seen the film, so I'm trying to remember. But I think it's just such a universal and honest beat where it wasn't intentional to, like, switch perspectives necessarily. But I think there is this question as you're watching her, of she probably knows, or maybe she doesn't, but maybe she does. But also, as we get older, as parents get older, as grandparents get older, the thought is always there that this could be the last time. So it doesn't really matter. She knows or she doesn't, because every trip, every goodbye could be the last one. And so that's what I was trying to capture is, yes, for Billie, she knows that it likely is. And for Nai Nai, she's likely thought that way for a decade. And that was true of my grandmother. She thought she was going to die starting at 60. She started talking. She would say, you know, my clothes that I want to be buried in are over here. And like, okay, you know, you're 62. But, yeah, and I wanted to keep it that long shot, you know, that was really important to me, just watching her get smaller and smaller. And now every time I say good to my parents, I think of that scene because, you know, every time I get in the car and we're pulling away and they're standing at the door and they won't go into the house until we disappear, which I know many people I'm sure, can relate to.

[F]

The Farewell just deals a lot with a lot of complex familial relationships. Like, given the size of the family, like, how did you decide which relationships to prioritize in the film?

[D]

I think it all comes down to, well, you know, which family members bribed me. No, I'm just kidding. But I did get, you know, some of them were upset. You know, I didn't get as much screen time and how come. But, you know, it comes down to the story and what best serves the. You know, what I like to think of as the monster in the room. So even though it's a family drama, I really approached it like a horror film, that there was this lie, and the lie is the monster that is unseen. You know, if you've seen a quiet place, right, it's about sound, and the monster is somewhere, and it'll appear if the sound is too loud. So for me, it was like keeping the lie in the room at all times, and it might be exposed. The monster might come out at any moment. If you cry too loud, if maybe Billy says something. If. And so choosing the relationships was about which relationships, which characters were best servicing or threatening the exposure of the monster.

[F]

And then, Chiji, I'll bring it back to you as you're on the Sundance board of Trustees. How do you see Sundance acting as a bridge for film students in search of a career in film?

[C]

Part of the reason we're so thrilled to be in Boulder is because of the relationship with the university and the opportunity to really think in a way that we've never been able to able to about how we can impact students, how students can impact Sundance. You know, Sundance has been a place through the labs and through the festival, where we work with young filmmakers or new voices and new filmmakers. But now we get to even go one step before that to talk to people like you and the gutsy folks. So I foresee a lot of different ways that we will intersect with the university, and the university will intersect Sundance.

[D]

Can I recommend something, too? I highly. You know, you guys are young. If you're students and you're young and you have the energy wait in line, you know, like, that is so much the fun of it is don't worry about not being able to get a ticket. Just show up. People are so generous. The number of people, you know, when I first went to Sundance and nobody was giving me a ticket or letting me cut in line or anything, the number of people who go, oh, you know, I have an extra ticket, so and so is sick, and didn't show up. You know, who wants this? And things happen. It's kind of magical. And just by attending volunteer, you know, you get to see films as a volunteer. And one of the most incredible things is I've had so many people over the years go, you know, I was at your screening at the Eccles when the first premiere, and your parents were there, and now look where you are. Now you get to be part of that. You know, you can be at a screening and you don't know where that filmmaker is going to be in three years, they might be Winning an Oscar and you can know that you were at the premiere of their very first film or second film.

[F]

And then kind of the last question for both of you, but for just, for students and like just emerging filmmakers, what is some advice you have on for getting into independent filmmaking?

[D]

Don't do it.

[C]

You gotta really.

[D]

Anthropology I hear is really lucrative. Philosophy I hear is a great track.

[C]

You have to want to, and you clearly do really badly. And then for me, I would say work on your friends films, find a short film, work on as many films as you can pa, do whatever. Because what you'll find is you'll find, find a group that then someone will get a job somewhere and do a thing and then you'll get a job somewhere and you follow your cohort and everybody kind of rises together. And I think Lulu's right, like go to the festival, be around, you'll meet other filmmakers, you'll meet other people who are like you that want to do things. You'll get together, you'll make a short film. That's the way to do it. It's a full contact sport.

[D]

One of the things I regret not doing is not volunteering at film festivals because it is a free education and it is so exciting. And again, when you're young, you don't mind, it's exciting. Sleep on a couch, come with your friends, get a place together. And my partner in life is also a filmmaker, Barry Jenkins, and he volunteered at the Telluride Film Festival and to this day he is still a program. He started for the festival on short films. He started out doing concessions, popcorn, handing out popcorn, and then slowly, little by little, watching other people moderate. He became a moderator and he's now, you know, an Oscar winning director. But he still loves moderating, he still loves mentoring, and he still loves programming and watching all of these short films. And so I think that, you know, as Gigi said, that's how you find your people, your community. And the biggest thing is perseverance. I know you'll hear that a lot, but the reality is, especially now, the industry is tough. And so there's a group and you'll watch people start to fall off. People will go, get other jobs, be more realistic, get married, have kids, want to buy a house. And so you've got to really want it bad. And so you look for the people who stick around, stick with them, you work with them. And then 10 years later, those are the people you turn around, you go, oh, that person I came up with is now an executive. That person just won an Oscar for, you know, cinematography. That's the group. You've got to be really stubborn.

[C]

And there are a lot of good festivals in this area that you can

[B]

volunteer for, including the Boulder International Film Festival, which just wrapped. Here's the thing. I want to know if that boy knows you forgot about him.

[D]

I have no idea. I've told the story a couple times. I don't even know if he knows who he is.

[C]

Oh.

[D]

And I don't think he.

[B]

I'm like, she's too powerful to talk about this rando boy.

[D]

Okay, his name is. No, he lives. Here's his address.

[B]

Kate. Lulu. G.G. thank you.

[D]

Thank you.

[A]

Lulu Wong is a director. Gigi Pritzker is a producer and Sundance Institute trustee. Sophomore Kate Yezi studies film at cu. We spoke at the Conference on World Affairs. The Sundance Film Festival debuts in Boulder January 21st through 31st. Special thanks to producer Sandy Batulga here at CPR and audio engineer Pete Kramer.

[B]

Hi, I'm Ryan Warner.

[A]

This is Colorado Matters from CPR News and krcc.