Screenwriters Lab participants announced

Many of the films shown at Sundance get their start in the Sundance Institute's Screenwriters Lab, and this year's participants have just been announced. They are:

Beasts of the Southern Wild -- Benh Zeitlin (co-writer/director) and Lucy Alibar (co-writer), U.S.

Fuga Mortis -- Kirill Mikhanovsky (writer/director), U.S./Russia

Howl -- Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman (co-writers/co-directors), U.S.

I'm Down -- Mishna Wolff (writer), U.S.

My Brother the Devil -- Sally El Hosaini (co-writer/director), U.K./Egypt

Porfirio -- Alejandro Landes (writer/director), Brazil/Ecuador

On the Ice -- Andrew Okpeaha MacLean (writer/director), U.S.

On Speaking Terms -- Carlos Contreras (writer), Mexico

Scoutmasters -- Todd Rohal (writer/director), U.S.

The Story of Ram -- Ritesh Batra (writer/director), U.S./India

Untitled Elgin James Project -- Elgin James (writer), U.S.

Zeroes and Ones -- Avi Zev Weider (writer/director), U.S.

Last year's "Sleep Dealer" by Alex Rivera and other favorites like Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden’s "Half Nelson," Josh Marston’s "Maria Full of Grace," John Cameron Mitchell’s "Hedwig and the Angry Inch," Kimberly Peirce’s "Boys Don't Cry" and Quentin Tarantino’s "Reservoir Dogs" are just a few of the films that have been developed through the program.

The writers will be working with a group of mentors that include Lab Artistic Director Scott Frank, Marcos Bernstein, Naomi Foner, Nelson George, Michael Goldenberg, Deena Goldstone, Erik Jendresen, Etgar Keret, Kasi Lemmons, Doug McGrath, Walter Mosley, Ron Nyswaner, Tom Rickman, Susan Shilliday, Zach Sklar, Dana Stevens and Bill Wheeler.

-- Jevon Phillips