2026 Sundance Institute | Sandbox Fund

The Sundance Institute | Sandbox Fund distributes grants to teams with films in any stage from development to post-production, creating opportunities to explore the intrinsic link between science and culture through innovative nonfiction storytelling. The fund was created in 2017 and has grown significantly since then, redefining the genre of science documentaries through financial and creative support for a global nonfiction artist community.

Themes that have emerged within this year’s granting cohort include: memory’s power in shaping identity; how other species, scientists, storytellers, and traditional Indigenous knowledge holders navigate environmental transformation; and how technological acceleration is forcing reckonings with biological and ecological limits, redefining time and the human condition.

Supported projects have roots in 11 countries: Denmark, Guatemala, Iceland, India, Kazakhstan, Kenya, North Macedonia, Portugal, Russia, United Kingdom, and the United States, with 75% of projects directed by artists from communities that have been traditionally marginalized (e.g., artists who identify as BIPOC, LGBTQ+, women and/or gender nonconforming, and people with disabilities). This year’s submissions included 56% international submissions, with high interest from regions of the world with limited support for independent media. Half of the projects are from first- or second-time feature documentary directors and five projects mark the debut feature for the director.