Kim Yutani
When Hollywood decamps to the Sundance Film Festival each year and strikes deals to bring groundbreaking independent movies to the masses, Kim Yutani is at the center of the action. Yutani, a film programmer for Sundance, is part of the team that chooses the films that make it onto the prestigious festival’s shortlist. “I was really excited and influenced by the films of the New Queer Cinema of the early ’90s. I saw what film festivals were able to do for those filmmakers and those films by providing a showcase and connecting this amazing work with audiences and critics,” she says. “I could see how festivals could have a powerful impact on our culture and I really wanted to be a part of creating that.” She splits her time between Sundance and Outfest: the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, where she is the director of programming; and has assumed programming duties for NewFest: The NYC LGBT Film Festival, as part of a collaboration between Outfest and NewFest. She was recently part of the programming team for RAW CUT Filmfest, a hardcore/punk-inspired festival in Warsaw, working behind the scenes to give marginalized filmmakers a chance to be heard.
