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After a one -year search, the Sunday Film Festival He announced on Thursday that his new home will be Boulder, Colorado, keeping Sundance in the mountains, but taking him out of Park City, the city of skiing of Utah that for decades had provided the Premier Film Independent together gathering his picturesque curtain of snowy background.
The organizers said that after 40 years in the mountains, the festival had surpassed Park City and lacked the necessary theaters or affordable homes to continue organizing what has become one of the most extensive movie events in North America. Sunday had reduced options to Lake Salt City (With a minor presence in Park City), Cincinnati and Boulder.
Boulder arose as his choice due to his proximity to nature, his charm of a small town and a compromised community that, according to the organizer, provides the ideal environment for their future.
“Boulder is a technological city, it is a university city, it is a city of arts and it is a mountain city,” said Amanda Kelso, an interim executive director of the Sunday Institute, in an interview on Thursday by Boulder. “To 100,000 people, a city larger than Park City, gives us the space to expand.”
Kelso, president of the Board of the Sunday Institute, EBS Burnough and Eugene Hernández, director of the Festival and Chief of Programming, spoke shortly before announcing the move of the festival in Boulder. Local officials, who helped attract Sundance with $ 34 million in fiscal credits for 10 years, applauded the decision.
“Here in our state we celebrate the artistic and cinematographic industry as a key economic driver, creator of employment and important taxpayer to our prosperous culture,” said Colorado Jared Polis governor (dem.) In a statement.
Reacting to the decision, the governor of Utah Spencer Cox (representative) said Thursday that Sunday will regret to leave Utah.
“As I said from the beginning, we wanted Sundance to stay,” Cox said in a statement. “We make it clear to its leadership and gather a highly competitive package. Ultimately, this decision is yours, but I think it is a mistake and that one day, they will realize that they left behind not only a place, but their inheritance.”
The Egyptian theater tent appears during the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, on January 28, 2020. (Arthur MOLA/INVISION/AP)
A change backed by Sunday founder Robert Redford
A change from Park City to Boulder means that Sunday stays at altitude, but renounces to be located in a expensive ski city. The mile tall Colorado city Located in the foothills of the rocky mountains also maintains a sensation of surrounding nature, something that the organizers stressed as a factor in their decision. The pedestrian shopping center of four Boulder blocks in Pearl Street, with nearby theaters, could also provide a similar central direction such as the main street of Park City. The Macky Auditorium, on the Campus of the University of Colorado, is expected to be a central scenario for Sundance.
The Sundance Institute was founded in 1981 by Robert Redford, who looked for a place far from Hollywood to promote independent voices in the cinema. In 1984, the Institute took over the Sundance Film Festival, but the mission of the non -profit organization to help young filmmakers grow through laboratories and workshops, Redford’s true passion, continued throughout the year far from the festival.
Redford, 88, who attended the University of Colorado in Boulder in his youth, gave his blessing the move.
“The words cannot express the sincere gratitude that I have in Park City, the state of Utah and all of the Utah community that have helped build the organization,” Redford said in a statement. “What we have created is remarkably special and defining. As change is inevitable, we must always evolve and grow, which has been in the center of our survival.”
How Sundance chose his new home
The festival turned “Ethos and Equity Values” into one of their criteria, which caused many to wonder how much local policy would influence the election of Sundance, which emphasizes inclusion. The Governor Cox is currently weighing a bill that would prohibit the flight of certain flags in schools and government buildings, including the LGBTQ pride flag.
The organizers said that Boulder’s welcoming environment aligns with the Sunday’s spirit developed in Park City. “
“This process began 18 months ago and we have been in Utah for 40 years. Therefore, politics really did not guide the process,” Burnaugh said Thursday. “It was really and truly about evolution. That’s where he landed. We did not spend time constantly examining what Bill was in the future or may or may not be signed.”
With its current expiration date of the contract, the search for a new host city seriously began in April 2024. The initial group of six contestants also included Atlanta, Louisville, Kentucky and Santa Fe, New Mexico.
What Sunday has meant for Park City and the world of cinema
Before packing, Sundance will have a last edition in Park City in January 2026.
“The Sundance Film Festival will be the Sundance Film Festival wherever we go. What is consistent is our mission,” said Hernández. “This is a global discovery festival. Boulder’s exciting is that this is a place that we can build.”
Over the years, Sunday in Park City became a main market for American cinema, drawing studio executives and celebrities that take Parka to the Wasatch mountains every January. He helped launch innumerable filmmakers over the years, from Steven Soderbergh (“Sex, Lies and Videope”) to Ryan Coogler (“Fruitvale Station”). Sunday obtained his first best film winner with “Coda” in 2022.
Sunday meant great businesses for Utah and Park City. In 2024, the festival had about 72,840 attendees in person, 24,200 of which came from outside the State. According to the Festival’s economic impact report, visitors outside the state spent an estimated $ 106.4 million in Utah during the festival. Its total economic impact was estimated at $ 132 million, with 1,730 jobs for UTAH residents and $ 69.7 million in Utah salaries.
But the festival had also entered with local ski stations, the other great money manufacturer of Park City, since the festival attendees filled the hotels and left the track practically empty for two weeks during the peak ski season. The festival was a blessing for some local companies, but an obstacle to others. For visitors who fly to the 10 -day festival, rental costs with increasingly factorized balloons to attend.
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The three main contenders budgeted millions to attract the lucrative festival to their city. Cincinnati booked $ 2.5 million for Sundance and another $ 2.5 million to come if it was chosen. Salt Lake City offered $ 3.5 million to stay in Utah.
The relocation of Sundance puts two of the best film festivals in the United States in Colorado. The Telluride Film Festival, which is celebrated further west in the state, runs at the end of August.
