CA: West Hollywood

Roger Ebert, Melvin Van Peebles and Michael More. Photo by Sandria Miller.
Roger Ebert, Melvin Van Peebles and Michael More. Photo by Sandria Miller.

WHERE: The Lot, 1041 North Formosa Aveune.

WHEN: Wednesday, June 5, 2013.

TITLE: Celebrate Sundance Institute Los Angeles Benefit

BRIEF ABOUT: The benefit will honor the life and work of beloved journalist and film critic Roger Ebert with the Vanguard Leadership Award in Memoriam, in recognition of his advocacy of independent cinema.

     The award will be presented by Sundance Institute President and Founder Robert Redford and accepted by Ebert’s wife, Chaz Ebert.

Ryan Coogler. Photo by Rachel Morrison.
Ryan Coogler. Photo by Rachel Morrison.

     Sundance Institute Executive Director Kerry Washington will present Ryan Coogler with the Vanguard Award, who is a director and alum of the Sundance Institute Feature Film Program. His first feature film, “Fruitvale Station”, was selected for Sundance Institute’s Screenwriters Lab and went on to win both the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival.

MORE DETAILS: www.sundance.org/labenefit.

About: Founded by Robert Redford in 1981, Sundance Institute is a global, nonprofit cultural organization dedicated to nurturing artistic expression in film and theater, and to supporting intercultural dialogue between artists and audiences. The Institute promotes independent storytelling to unite, inform and inspire, regardless of geo-political, social, religious or cultural differences. Internationally recognized for its annual Sundance Film Festival and its artistic development programs for directors, screenwriters, producers, film composers, playwrights and theatre artists, Sundance Institute has nurtured such projects as Born into Brothels, Trouble the Water, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Sin Nombre, Ain’t Them Bodies Saints, An Inconvenient Truth, Spring Awakening, Light in the Piazza and Angels in America.