Sundance Institute announced today that actor, writer and director Joseph Gordon-Levitt will host the 2013 Sundance Film Festival feature film Awards Ceremony on January 26 in Park City, Utah and live-streamed at www.sundance.org/festival. The Festival takes place January 17-27 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah.

As an actor, Gordon-Levitt has appeared in seven films at the Festival, including Mysterious Skin, Brick, and (500) Days of Summer. His directing debut, the short film, Sparks, premiered at the 2009 Festival, and his online production company hitRECord had a featured installation in New Frontier the following year as well as a live performance event at the 2012 Festival. Additionally, his feature film directorial debut, Don Jon’s Addiction, will screen in the out-of-competition Premieres section at the 2013 Festival, and Gordon-Levitt is an Artist Trustee of Sundance Institute.

John Cooper, Director of the Sundance Film Festival, said, “Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s accomplished and original artistic perspectives have contributed greatly to Sundance Institute and the independent film community. As host, he is sure to add flair to our Awards Ceremony in similarly exciting ways, and we are thrilled that he will join us in recognizing outstanding achievements at this year’s Festival.”

Awards for short films will be announced at a separate ceremony on January 22 at Park City’s Jupiter Bowl.

The Sundance Film Festival®

A program of the non-profit Sundance Institute®, the Festival has introduced global audiences to some of the most ground-breaking films of the past two decades, including sex, lies, and videotape, Maria Full of Grace, The Cove, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, An Inconvenient Truth, Precious, Trouble the Water, and Napoleon Dynamite, and through its New Frontier initiative, has showcased the cinematic works of media artists including Isaac Julien, Doug Aitken, Pierre Huyghe, Jennifer Steinkamp, and Matthew Barney. The 2013 Sundance Film Festival® sponsors include: Presenting Sponsors – HP, Acura, Sundance Channel and Chase Sapphire PreferredSM; Leadership Sponsors – DIRECTV, Entertainment Weekly, FOCUS FORWARD, a partnership between GE and CINELAN, Southwest Airlines, Sprint and YouTube; Sustaining Sponsors – Adobe, Canada Goose, Canon U.S.A., Inc., CÎROC Ultra Premium Vodka, FilterForGood®, a partnership between Brita® and Nalgene®, Hilton HHonors and Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts, Intel Corporation, L’Oréal Paris, Recycled Paper Greetings, Stella Artois® and Time Warner Inc. Sundance Institute recognizes critical support from the Utah Governor’s Office of Economic Development, and the State of Utah as Festival Host State. The support of these organizations will defray costs associated with the 10-day Festival and the nonprofit Sundance Institute’s year-round programs for independent film and theatre artists. www.sundance.org/festival

Sundance Institute

Founded by Robert Redford in 1981, Sundance Institute is a global, nonprofit cultural organization dedicated to nurturing artistic expression in film and theater, and to supporting intercultural dialogue between artists and audiences. The Institute promotes independent storytelling to unite, inform and inspire, regardless of geo-political, social, religious or cultural differences. Internationally recognized for its annual Sundance Film Festival and its artistic development programs for directors, screenwriters, producers, film composers, playwrights and theatre artists, Sundance Institute has nurtured such projects as Born into Brothels, Trouble the Water, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Amreeka, An Inconvenient Truth, Spring Awakening, Light in the Piazza and Angels in America. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook,