Today, the nonprofit Sundance Institute announced the 2025 fellows for its highly selective, invitation-only Directors Lab. Diffan Sina Norman, the director of FANGORIA Studios’ first feature film, Sitora, will join a small cohort of filmmakers for an intensive, two-week workshop at the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado (known to horror fans as the inspiration behind the Overlook Hotel in Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining).
“We’re beyond excited to welcome this remarkable group of filmmakers — especially in the 45th year of our Directors Lab,” said Michelle Satter, Founding Senior Director of Artist Programs at the Sundance Institute. “Our labs are a powerful space where bold, original voices are nurtured in a creative, supportive environment. Artists work closely with world-class advisors to sharpen their writing and directing skills and deepen their vision.”
Scheduled for June 2025, the Directors Lab stands as one of the film industry’s most career-defining opportunities for emerging filmmakers. Previous Sundance Institute lab fellows whose early-career work has been fostered at the labs include award-winning filmmakers Paul Thomas Anderson, Gregg Araki, Darren Aronofsky, Miranda July, Boots Riley, Quentin Tarantino, and Taika Waititi.
Diffan Sina Norman has a strong history of collaboration with the Sundance Institute. Three of his short films have premiered at the Sundance Film Festival—”Kekasih” (2014), “Benevolent Ba” (2020), and “Pasture Prime (2024)—and in January, Norman participated in the Sundance Screenwriters Lab, where he also received the Sundance Horror Fellowship. Most recently, he participated in Sundance’s Catalyst Forum, a highly competitive film financing program. Notably, Sitora is the first project to be selected for all three programs within a single year.
“Diffan is such a remarkable talent with a truly unique vision and storytelling approach,” says Tara Ansley, Co-Owner of FANGORIA. “This selection at Sundance’s Directors Lab further validates what the horror community has long recognized – that genre filmmaking can push cinematic boundaries in profound ways, and audiences are increasingly seeking global stories that explore universal themes.”
Armen Aghaeian, Senior Vice President of FANGORIA Studios adds, “The FANGORIA family celebrates Norman’s selection for the prestigious Sundance Directors Lab as genre filmmaking continues its remarkable rise in critical recognition. As horror continues to dominate both creatively and commercially, Norman’s unique perspective represents exactly the kind of visionary talent our community champions.”
Below, you can learn more about Diffan Sina Norman, Sitora, and the other 2025 Sundance Directors Lab fellows:
Leo Aguirre (Writer-director) with Verano (U.S.A.): An unruly teenager’s summer plans are upended when his parents decide to foster an adolescent from Central America who is seeking asylum in the United States. As the two teens realize they must share more than just a bedroom, they are forced to confront their differences amid their harsh realities.
Leo Aguirre is a first-generation Mexican American filmmaker and visual artist. His work has received international recognition through film and photography projects spanning the advertising, music video, and narrative landscapes. Verano is his feature film debut.
Chheangkea (Writer-director) with Little Phnom Penh (Cambodia, U.S.A.): Spanning two ever-changing decades, from post–Khmer Rouge Phnom Penh to early 2000s California, a Cambodian woman grapples with her deep personal desires, untimely love, and shifting family roles amid profound cultural and historical upheavals.
Chheangkea is a Cambodian-born filmmaker based in Brooklyn. He earned an MFA in Filmmaking from the NYU Graduate Film program. His short film Grandma Nai Who Played Favorites won the Short Film Jury Award: International Fiction at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. His previous short film, Skin Can Breathe, streams on Max.
Andrea Ellsworth (Co-writer-director) and Kasey Elise Walker (Co-writer-director) with The Dispute (U.S.A., U.K.): Down on their luck and desperate for more, two best friends from South Central take a chance encounter as an invitation to trade their dead-end lives in Los Angeles for something new. When chaos ensues during their seemingly lucrative adventure, they realize the true cost of their actions.
Andrea Ellsworth is a Black and Filipino actress and filmmaker from Los Angeles. She’s currently in development on her debut feature film, The Dispute, and can be seen starring as Deja in The Vince Staples Show on Netflix.
Kasey Elise Walker is a writer-director-actress best known for co-writing and starring in The Dispute, a short film that is now in development to become a feature. Her directorial debut, Hoop Dreams, premiered at Tribeca Festival after winning the Soho Script Lab.
Kawennáhere Devery Jacobs (Writer-director) with High Steel (Canada, U.S.A.): A Mohawk man splits his time between his reservation with his family and Manhattan, where he ironworks 60 stories above the ground. When he falls in love with a white photographer in the city, his identity is challenged and he must keep his double life a secret or risk losing everything.
Kawennáhere Devery Jacobs is an award-winning actor and filmmaker known for their work in the groundbreaking series Reservation Dogs. Jacobs produced her first feature, Backspot, which premiered at TIFF and SXSW to critical acclaim. Jacobs is currently writing her debut feature film, High Steel.
