Sundance Institute and NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) have announced French writer-director Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre as winner of the 2015 Sundance Institute/NHK Award for her upcoming debut feature film, Mustang. The award will be presented at a private ceremony at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.

Clermont-Tonnerre is currently a screenwriting fellow at the 2015 Sundance Institute January Screenwriters Lab. Her short film Rabbit will premiere at the Festival in competition. Hiroshi Kurosaki (Japan) will receive Special Mention for his project Prometheus’ Fire. Kurosaki, who was selected this past August for the NHK Screenwriters Workshop, will also receive ongoing creative and strategic support from Sundance Institute’s Feature Film Program.

Created in 1996 to celebrate 100 years of cinema, the annual award recognizes and supports a visionary filmmaker on his or her next film. Sundance Institute staff work closely with the winner throughout the year, providing creative and strategic support through the development, financing and production of their films. Films previously supported by this award include Beasts of the Southern Wild, by Benh Zeitlin (USA), Central Station by Walter Salles (Brazil), and Elena by Andrey Zvyagintsev (Russia).

Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre is a French actress, producer, writer and director living in Paris. She was recently selected to participate in Sundance Institute’s 2015 January Screenwriters Lab to work on Mustang. In Mustang, Roman Coleman is halfway through an 11-year sentence for attempted murder when he is offered the chance to participate in a rehabilitation program that trains inmates to break captured wild mustangs. Based on a real-life program, Mustang is a portrait of one man's unique connection to these wild animals that forces him to confront his past.

She has worked as an actress with directors including Raoul Ruiz, Luc Besson, Julian Schnabel, Pascal Thomas, Jean Michel Ribes, Danielle Thompson, and Rani Massalha. Her first short film as writer-director, Atlantic Avenue, won prizes at the Nantucket Film Festival, Milwaukee Film Festival, and the Tenerife International Film Festival, and also screened at the Tribeca Film Festival, Clermont Ferrand, the Palm Springs International Film Festival, among others.  Her second short film, Rabbit, has been bought by Canal Plus and was produced by Charles Gillibert of CG Cinema in co-production with Mact Production.

Sundance Institute
Founded in 1981 by Robert Redford, Sundance Institute is a nonprofit organization that provides and preserves the space for artists in film, theatre, and new media to create and thrive. The Institute's signature Labs, granting, and mentorship programs, dedicated to developing new work, take place throughout the year in the U.S. and internationally. The Sundance Film Festival and other public programs connect audiences to artists in igniting new ideas, discovering original voices, and building a community dedicated to independent storytelling. Sundance Institute has supported such projects as Beasts of the Southern Wild, Fruitvale Station, Sin Nombre, The Invisible War, The Square, Dirty Wars, Spring Awakening, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder and Fun Home. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.