Sundance takes its final bow in Utah, leaving festivalgoers divided
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As the curtain falls on Utah's final Sundance Film Festival before its move to Boulder, Colorado, the transition has stirred mixed emotions among festivalgoers.
Why it matters: The Robert Redford-founded event elevated independent cinema for more than four decades, launching the careers of many prominent filmmakers and movie stars.
- Locally, Sundance helped transform Park City from a sleepy mining town into an international cultural hub, delivering a long-running economic boost that won't easily be replaced.
The big picture: The loss is especially acute this year. It's the first festival without Redford, who died in his Provo Canyon home last September.
- "This festival has found a new iteration, which will be exciting and it will be imperfect, and it might just feel like our beginnings over 40 years ago," Amy Redford, Robert Redford's daughter and a Sundance Institute Board trustee, told reporters at a welcome event last week.
Zoom out: Starting next year, Boulder will host the festival. Just 30 miles outside Denver, the city is home to the University of Colorado system's flagship campus, which enrolls nearly 40,000 students annually, and has long sought to expand its regional appeal.
- Similar to Salt Lake City, it's known for its tech scene and outdoor culture.
What they're saying: "It's going to be an adjustment," said Barb Fraser, a Denver resident who attended the festival for over a decade. "We'll have to wait and see how Boulder does."
- Fraser acknowledged the move is bittersweet but said she's looking forward to the festival's new life in Colorado.
Carolyn Coufalik, a documentary filmmaker who previously lived in Utah and attended the festival for 20 years, is openly skeptical.
- "I don't think Boulder, as a university town, can handle it, but I wish them the best of luck," she told Axios.
Catch up quick: With Sundance's Park City contract set to expire this year, organizers launched a bidding process in 2024 for a new host city, with the possibility it could remain in the Beehive State.
- Boulder and Cincinnati emerged as finalists, competing against Park City and Salt Lake City's joint bid.
Yes, but: Despite vocal opposition from locals and out-of-state attendees, Boulder was announced as the new host last March.
- Coufalik, who now lives in Ohio, believes Cincinnati would have been the preferred choice to Boulder.
- "It's a smaller Midwestern town, but the people are welcoming. It's much bigger than Boulder," she said, adding she hopes Sundance returns to Utah "as soon as possible."
Alex Astrachan, an executive producer for this year's star-studded Sundance dramedy "The Invite," told Axios he's sad to see the event leave Park City but said it's important for movie fans and entertainment leaders to show up in Boulder.
- "We make the festival — it's not necessarily the place that makes it," Astrachan said.
- He hopes the Boulder chapter will feel more centralized. Screenings in Park City are often miles apart, forcing attendees to trek between venues in subzero temperatures.
Friction point: As the festival evolved from its rustic roots, Park City faced growing pains.
- Parking is scarce and the mountain town's shuttle system is notoriously unreliable. (Even Amy Redford joked that she received a parking ticket a day ahead of the festival.)
- Plus, the soaring cost of lodging has been a constant pain point among attendees, pushing out filmmakers who were just starting in their careers.
- There's also a growing post-pandemic sentiment that the festival's indie spirit eroded amid increased commercialization.
What we're watching: How the Sundance Film Festival reinvents itself in a new setting without losing sight of its mission and whether it can attract a broader, younger audience amid a transforming and risk-averse movie industry.