Yuan Yuan (left), Hasan Hadi
The Sundance Institute has announced that of 16 writers invited to develop 12 original projects at Screenwriters Lab 2022, MFA nominees Yuan Yuan and Hasan Hadi have been selected.
Here are their projects, selected from 3,200 submissions:
Yuan Yuan (writer/director) with late spring (USA, China): A Chinese factory worker travels to New York for her daughter’s long-awaited college graduation, only to be thrust into a desperate search into uncharted territory when she learns that the daughter has disappeared.
Hasan Hadi (writer/director) with The President’s Cake (Iraq, USA): As ordinary people struggle daily to survive under sanctions in Saddam’s Iraq, nine-year-old Saeed must use his wits to gather the ingredients for the cake required to celebrate President Saddam Hussein’s birthday or face the consequences alongside his family. . (The project recently received the 2022 NHK Sundance Award.)
“These sixteen writers, selected for their distinctive vision and voices, will form a community of filmmakers for life,” said Michelle Satter, Founding Director of Artist Programs at Sundance Institute. “We are excited to see the results of the collaboration between lab fellows and their mentors for years to come.”
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