What Sundance & TIFF Programmers Are Really Looking For
Tue Jan 20 2026
Ever wondered how festival programmers decide which films make the cut? For our first episode of 2026, I'm joined by two incredible women who've been shaping the landscape of independent cinema for over a decade.
Ana Souza has been with Sundance Film Festival for 10 years, working alongside some of the most exciting independent filmmakers in the world. Diana Cadavid is currently Director of Industry Programs for the Latino Film Institute (LFI) in Los Angeles, and International Programmer for the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) She helped build IFF Panama's programming department from scratch.
In this conversation, we break down:
→ The REAL selection process (spoiler: it's not about who you know)
→ How to map your premiere status strategy BEFORE you finish your film
→ The big film/small film balance that keeps festivals alive (and why you should stop resenting those studio movies)
→ Distribution in the post-COVID era: why the all-night bidding wars are gone, but deals are still happening
→ Why attending festivals WITHOUT a film might be the smartest career move you can make
🔗 READ MY SUBSTACK - The History of Film Festivals: [https://angleonproducers.substack.com/]
🎙️ LISTEN TO THE SHOW
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6UBux9R...
iTunes: https://apple.co/3FDyhmC
JOIN THE AOP COMMUNITY / carolinagroppa | / angleonproducers 📱 TikTok: / / carolina_groppa 👩🏻💻 LinkedIn: / bit.ly/2BqHs8L
More
Ever wondered how festival programmers decide which films make the cut? For our first episode of 2026, I'm joined by two incredible women who've been shaping the landscape of independent cinema for over a decade. Ana Souza has been with Sundance Film Festival for 10 years, working alongside some of the most exciting independent filmmakers in the world. Diana Cadavid is currently Director of Industry Programs for the Latino Film Institute (LFI) in Los Angeles, and International Programmer for the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) She helped build IFF Panama's programming department from scratch. In this conversation, we break down: → The REAL selection process (spoiler: it's not about who you know) → How to map your premiere status strategy BEFORE you finish your film → The big film/small film balance that keeps festivals alive (and why you should stop resenting those studio movies) → Distribution in the post-COVID era: why the all-night bidding wars are gone, but deals are still happening → Why attending festivals WITHOUT a film might be the smartest career move you can make 🔗 READ MY SUBSTACK - The History of Film Festivals: [https://angleonproducers.substack.com/] 🎙️ LISTEN TO THE SHOW Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6UBux9R... iTunes: https://apple.co/3FDyhmC JOIN THE AOP COMMUNITY / carolinagroppa | / angleonproducers 📱 TikTok: / / carolina_groppa 👩🏻💻 LinkedIn: / bit.ly/2BqHs8L