The Sundance Film Festival is an American film festival that takes place annually in Park City, Utah, and it is also known to be the largest independent film festival in the United States. The festival comprises competitive sections for American and international dramatic and documentary films, along with other genres of film.
The festival lasts for ten days, each day having a unique perspective for each place of the festival. Whether it is a movie theater where an independent dramatic film is being premiered, Sundance TV interviewing the top celebrity that is staring in a movie that is being premiered at the festival, or even just tourists looking to party at top-notch promoters.
This year, many records were broken behind the scenes of the film festival. More than a thousand locals volunteered their time and talents to make sure the Festival ran smoothly. Four films that were shot in Utah had their world premieres here in Park City. Almost 7,300 Utah students and teachers engaged in thoughtful dialogue around independent film through their free student outreach programs.
There was also charity involved within the entire festival! More than seven hundred complimentary tickets were given to nonprofit groups such as Big Brothers Big Sisters of Utah, the Utah Department of Veterans and Military Affairs, and the Utah Refugee Center, to connect with the film festival through their Utah community ticket giveaway program! Sundance does such good to everyone.
Overall, over 2,500 residents in Utah, Salt Lake, and Summit Counties attended free curated screenings, and more than 10,000 tourists attended the festival in general! Park City really felt like LA again.
I encountered Friday and Saturday of the opening weekend of Sundance and I had an unbelievable experience with different areas.
On Friday (the second day), I got a chance to see, “Short Programs 2”, which was six sets of short films all combined together. The films had different storylines, but they all shared the same “theme”. I had no clue what the whole theme was (because Sundance films can get pretty interesting), but I always love the vibe of independent films. No straight storyline or theme, just different perspectives. At the end of the program, the sponsors of the films brought out the directors for a Q&A section. I always like listening to the questions and answers because the questions are always so vibrant and there are always going to be interesting answers and they always make you laugh because of the quirky film crew.
Besides the films, if you ever walk out on Main Street during Sundance, it is always a complete ZOO no matter what time you are walking on. On Saturday (the third day), my best friend and I walked around Main Street and all you can see is sponsors trying to promote their big company to the famous people who visit the festival. Later in the night, we got invited to a Sundance TV pre-party with an open bar and music. There were so many known directors and producers in there so it was definitely an experience talking to all of them and discussing their work and future goals.
Overall, I had an amazing experience with the Sundance Film Festival this year. If you are a film geek, celebrity stalker, all of the above, etc. it is never too late to check out Sundance’s website and learn more about what they do around the world. And don’t forget to check out next year’s film festival in Park City!