The Sundance Film Festival

January 17th, 2017 | Park City Community

For 50 weeks out of the year, Park City is a tucked-away mountain haven for avid outdoor enthusiasts. However, for the other 2 weeks, the Sundance Film Festival dominates every conversation, every hotel, and every location on Main Street. Our population explodes from 8,000 to over 30,000 and nature takes a back seat to cinema. We’ve watched this festival grow from a weekend footnote into a major international event and we love every minute of it.

Four Decades of Sundancing
In 1978, Robert Redford, Sterling Van Wagenen, John Earle, and Cirina Hampton Catania founded the Utah/US Film Festival with the goal of creating a cinematic hub near Redford’s Sundance Resort. They wanted to offer a helping hand to up and coming filmmakers who were having a difficult time getting their work in front of the pubic. Sundance Resort became a hotbed of creativity where established Hollywood pros worked side-by-side with new talent, bringing new points-of-view and fresh ideas to the industry. In 1991 the name of the festival was changed to the Sundance Film Festival, and the organization and event has grown exponentially every year since then.

Lights, Camera, Action
With Over 200 movies spanning 14 genres ranging from international documentaries to experimental short films, creativity and artistic expression will be flowing, hopefully inspiring potential filmmakers to one day present their own works to the world of cinema. “When I first moved here, the locals kept saying, ‘Just wait until you experience your first Sundance,’ and I didn’t understand why,” said Steve Chin. “Now that I’m a local, if find myself saying to my clients, ‘Just wait until you experience your first Sundance.’ You have to experience it to believe the excitement of it all.”

Another Park City Tradition
Sundance is now a Park City tradition with roots that seem to just as deep as skiing, the Kimball Arts Festival, or Miner’s Day Parade. Every January we get a big dose of Hollywood glamor, big city bustle, and over-the-top events. All the international media coverage puts our hometown in the spotlight and we’re reminded of what a special place we live in. “Sundance is one of the many reasons why I love this town so much,” said Ann MacQuoid. “It proves that we’re just as comfortable in Gucci as we are in fleece sweats. Whoever comes, stays and plays with us, we welcome them with small-town warmth and metropolitan know-how.”

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