Robert Machoian Graham has seen four of his past films make it to Sundance. The latest marks the first time one of his full-length films has been accepted.
Even though the first semester in 2020 is less than a month old, one BYU professor won’t be teaching or holding office hours this week. Instead, Robert Machoian Graham will be 45 miles north of Provo in Park City to watch the debut of his first full-length feature debut at the Sundance Film Festival. The festival received 15,100 submissions this year (a record high), including 3,853 feature-length films. Graham’s film, “The Killing of Two Lovers” is one of only 118 accepted feature-length films, representing 27 countries. “There is such a low percentage of submissions that get accepted,” Graham said. “If you get one in, it’s like you’ve been validated. It’s really exciting.” But Graham, a photography professor at BYU, is no stranger to the Sundance Film Festival. “The Killing of Two Lovers” marks his fifth accepted film to the prestigious festival. In addition to being accepted and shown at last year’s event, his short film “THE MINORS” also won a Special Jury Award for Directing. Read the full story by Aaron Sorenson at news.byu.edu.