Remember when Roger Ebert defended Better Luck Tomorrow at the top of his lungs at Sundance 2002 with the novel notion that "Asian American characters have the right to be whoever the hell they want to be -- "? That was awesome. During the recent 2013 Sundance Film Festival, the Sundance Institute announced a new partnership with the Asian American Artist Foundation to make sure filmmakers get a chance to do just that. The deadline for the Sundance/A3 Foundation Feature Film Fellowship is in September, so find out below what you will need to get in your application.   

The recipient of this first-time fellowship will participate in Sundance's longest running lab, the Feature Film Program. Other than the basic application items that you can find here, to apply for this fellowship you will also need 1) a letter of recommendation from somebody in the film community who has worked with you and 2) a completed feature screenplay.

A description of the fellowship from Sundance:

The A3 (Asian American Artists) Foundation Fellowship is part of the Feature Film Program Screenwriters and Directors Labs. This Fellowship aims to support Asian American writers (or writer-directors) through the development of their feature screenplay, as well as screenplay content that is Asian American themed.

Since this is the first year they've offered the fellowship, it's a crapshoot guessing what type of material they are looking for in particular, but we'll find out by October. The deadline to submit to Sundance is September 6, 2013. If you plan on applying to the inaugural fellowship, good luck!

What role do you think festivals and film institutes can play in getting marginalized voices some due time in feature films?

Links:

screenwritingopportunitiesdirectingsundanceinstitute
Grants, Contests, & AwardsScreenwritingDirecting