Sundance boss says "not yet" to question of film festival's future in Utah.
No Spoilers
By Benjamin Wood @BjaminWood
PARK CITY—At a reception Wednesday evening welcoming members of the press on the eve of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, the event's director acknowledged that there was one question on everyone's minds: Does Sundance have a new home?
And as organizers have done since September, when three finalist host cities were announced (Boulder, Colorado; Cincinatti, Ohio; and a joint Salt Lake City/Park City bid), Eugene Hernandez declined to give any hint of an answer.
"The answer is 'no, not yet,'" he said.
Roughly one year ago—and after four decades in The Beehive State—the annual celebration and proving ground for independent film announced that it was accepting new bids for its future festival location. Sundance is contracted for one more edition on the Wasatch Front, after which its plans are unknown.
Hernandez said an announcement is likely to be made later this winter, or in early spring.
"For now lets dig in. Let’s enjoy Sundance 2025 together in Park City."
It's the latest tremor in a series of turbulent years as the festival seeks to reposition itself, which has seen the retirement of founder and longtime driving force Robert Redford, the conversion to a fully-remote festival during the COVID-19 pandemic, followed by a hybrid festival that saw in-person attendance plummet and, this year, a refocused event with a smaller number of films screening wtihin a smaller venue footprint.
This year's edition also opens against the backdrop of devastating wildfires in the Los Angeles area, which Hernandez noted has led to members of the Sundance family losing homes and experiencing displacement. A southern California native, he addressed reporters while sporting an "LA Strong" t-shirt and said that, no matter where the future takes the event, he was grateful for the opportunity to come together at this time to lift up the work of filmmakers and storytellers.
"This year’s films will delight, they will entertain, they will provoke, they will inspire and they will engage," he said.
"We know each of these films in our festival will spark a conversation."This year's program includes roughly 150 selections, including shorts and episodic entries, with 88 feature films, stemming from 16,000 submissions. And roughly one-third of the festival selections were produced internationally, according to senior programmer John Nein.
Director of programming Kim Yutani lauded this year's program, and praised the filmmaking teams whose work is set to connect with, in most cases, its first audiences.
"I think that this type of storytelling is what this festival is built on," she said. "It’s exactly the kind of storytelling we need in this moment."
Yutani also made a point to highlight the filmmakers at this year's festival who are pulling triple duty as writer, director and star, such as James Sweeney with Twinless, Katarina Zhu with Bunnylovr, Eva Victor with Sorry, Baby and Grace Glowicki with Dead Lover.
"These people are clearly show-offs," Yutani said, "but they’re incredibly talented people. We want you to know their names and keep an eye on them."
The 2025 Sundance Film Festival runs from Jan. 23 to Feb. 2. Salt Lake City screenings will be held at the Rose Wagner Center and Broadway Centre Cinemas. Individual tickets are now on sale through festival.sundance.org and the festival app, though availability at most screenings is extremely limited, if not already exhausted. Attendees also have the option of waitlisting for screenings, on a first-come-first-served basis.
About The Author
Benjamin Wood
Lifelong Utahn Benjamin Wood has worn the mantle of City Weekly's news editor since 2021. He studied journalism at Utah State University and previously wrote for The Salt Lake Tribune, the Deseret News and Entertainment Weekly
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