An on-the-ground report from Skoll CEO Sally Osberg and Sandy Herz, who oversees the Skoll Foundation’s film and broadcast partnerships:

Greetings from snowy Park City, Utah, where the Sundance Film Festival is off to an inspiring start! Despite competition from a broad array of powerful and engaging films, Saturday’s panel discussion, “Can’t Be Done!”, drew a sell-out crowd to see Nobel Peace Laureate Muhammad Yunus, educator Geoffrey Canada and environmentalist Lester Brown. Facilitated by Skoll CEO Sally Osberg, the discussion probed how each speaker found the inspiration and the perseverance to tackle problems that the experts said were impossible to solve. By the end, it was clear that solutions to intractable problems such as poverty, climate change and education are within our reach, but we are the ones who need to make change happen. The audience spontaneously rose to their feet at the end and the positive energy was palpable.

One particularly memorable moment: Geoff Canada describing his turning point when he confronted the facts of how well Harlem’s children were doing and the real difference the Rheedlen Foundation’s programs were making - yet realizing that good intentions and even hard, sincere work weren’t doing much. At that point, he knew something more–a deeper, more coordinated cradle to college set of interlocking programs –  was essential, and he began drafting the plan that would become the Harlem Children’s Zone.

Our next stop was the premiere of the first Stories of Change film project - To Catch A Dollar - which we were so pleased to have accepted in the Spotlight section of the festival. The film weaves the life and work of Muhammad Yunus with intimate portraits of women borrowers in Bangladesh and in Queens, New York, where they are the first to benefit from Grameen America’s effort to bring the Grameen micro-lending model to the US. Once again, Yunus received a standing ovation as he joined filmmaker Gayle Ferraro on stage to answer questions after the screening.  Impact Partners’ Geralyn Dreyfous hosted a beautiful post-screening celebration at the Swaner EcoCenter, raising money for the film’s outreach strategy, which includes efforts to establish a Grameen America branch in Utah serving Native Americans.

Finally, Skoll CEO Sally Osberg joined Dr. Yunus, Gayle Ferraro and the Sundance Institute’s Cara Mertes for a press conference Sunday highlighting both the film and the Skoll/Sundance partnership. Sundance board members and Senator Barbara Boxer were among those in the audience. It’s exciting to see this first film under the partnership taking flight, but we are equally excited for the remaining nine Stories of Change projects in the pipeline and the potential of these films to highlight the work of social entrepreneurs around the world.

In a gesture of kindness reminiscent of a similar act two years ago when Skoll social entrepreneur Sebastien Marot of Friends International could not find snow boots in Cambodia only to find a pair waiting for him upon his arrival, Cara Mertes and our Sundance friends came through once again–outfitting Muhammad Yunus with a Sundance Film Festival parka that will keep him toasty in Davos, where he heads next! There he will share his vision for social business–along with many examples of how to build viable ventures that couple doing good and doing well, that are not about maximizing profit but are designed to solve societal problems while generating profits sufficient to scale the business in a sustainable way.

Tomorrow, we launch the next phase of our festival experience with the arrival of social entrepreneurs Bunker Roy (Barefoot College), Quratul Ain Bakhteari (IDSP), Munqeth Mehyar (EcoPeace) and Martin von Hildebrand (Gaia Amazonas), who will spend the next four days developing their own expertise in storytelling and film through workshops, screenings, panels and roundtables with some of the smartest and most creative filmmakers in the industry. Stay tuned for more soon!