Amy Redford, a Sundance Institute board of trustees member, said the 2027 Sundance Film Festival is the only part of the nonprofit moving to Boulder, Colorado, next year.
“This festival has found a new iteration, which will be exciting, and it will be imperfect and might feel like our beginnings over 40 years ago,” she said while addressing a room full of international press during a pre-festival meet-and-greet on Wednesday at The Park. “The Sundance Mountain Resort was the nucleus. … Much of the creative nucleus will remain in Utah to keep growing.”
Redford started her presentation by acknowledging various changes, such as the move out of state and the Sept. 16 death of her father, the late Academy Award-winning actor, director and producer, and Sundance Institute Founder Robert Redford.
“Kicking this off is a privilege, and it also comes with mixed emotions because this is a story of beginnings and endings,” she said. “We will ground our next chapter in the founding values Dad articulated on a single sheet of paper.”
Those values included creating a space and platform for independent voices. Park City, as well as the Sundance Mountain Resort, allowed that to happen, Redford said.
“Let’s talk about this extraordinary place,” she said. “These mountains have a funny way of adding perspective, and (the state) is the bedrock that allowed us to build.”
Throughout the years, the Sundance Institute has provided and developed labs where filmmakers, composers and other artists could hone their skills through an array of programs such as workshops, mentorships and grants.
“Our signature lab programs are always at the forefront, (and) without which, many of the films you will see this year would not have happened, because many of the artists are still stuck behind a much-too-narrow barrier of entry,” Redford said. “Labs are a sneak peek at the artists you might see at the Eccles (Theatre) stage, and then maybe at the Oscar stage in the future.”
In paying tribute to her father, Redford reiterated the theme of this year’s festival — Everyone Has a Story.
“(Those were) words directly out of my dad’s mouth on more than one occasion,” she said. “He’s not the only one who said it, but he’s one of the few who did something about it.”
Redford also thanked Park City for its support over the past four decades.
“My dad loved this place and its people,” she said. “So many (people) in Park City opened their homes, and their hearts, from the beginning, lending their town and time to this crazy idea.”
She also thanked government officials who were “tasked” with hosting the annual festival, which runs through Sunday, Feb. 1.
“(They do the) critical work not often seen and celebrated,” she said. “They keep us safe and relatively legal.”
Redford also thanked the Sundance Institute’s board, the film festival volunteers and staff, specifically Eugene Hernandez, Kim Yutani and John Nein.
“They are the behind-the-scenes magicians — each bringing their lived experiences, knowledge and resilience to the table each day,” she said. “Some have been here for decades; some new to the scene, but all dedicated, all passionate, all keeping to the vision my dad had 40 years ago alive to this day.”
The evening’s presentations continued with Board of Trustees Chair Ebs Burnough and Sundance Institute Founding Senior Director of Artist Programming Michelle Satter, as well as Hernandez, Yutani and Nein.
Hernandez talked about the significance of this year’s festival and its upcoming move.
“So many memories and life-changing moments have occurred right here in Park City,” he said. “The festival will remain true to our mission, no matter where we are.”
He also thanked the press for its ongoing support.
“You’ve helped bring the festival to life, not for just audiences in Park City, but for independent film lovers all over the world,” he said.
Satter, who started to establish the Sundance Institute with Robert Redford from its beginning 44 years ago, gave a shout-out to filmmakers who developed their first and second features in the labs.
Those artists include Lulu Wang, Siân Heder, Wes Anderson, Darren Aronofsky, Miranda July, James Mangold, Ira Sachs, Quentin Tarantino, Charlotte Wells and Guillermo del Toro.
Satter also singled out filmmakers who created their first features with Sundance, and those artists included P.T. Anderson, Ryan Coogler, Chloé Zhao and Nia DaCosta.
She also gave an update about the 2025 labs.
“In this past year, over 1,500 artists have been supported by the institute’s labs, granting, fellowships and intensives,” she said. “Also, over 100,000 more emerging artists from around the world are experiencing change-making workshops, artists conversations and courses through Sundance Institute’s Collab, the digital arm of the Sundance Institute. I wake up every morning and I feel so fortunate that I can continue and support artists.”
Yutani, who began her work with the festival as a short-film programmer in 2007, remembered the first time she attended the festival in 1995 as the assistant to Gregg Araki, whose film, “The Doom Generation,” screened that year.
“One of the fondest memories is being in an overcrowded condo party that was busted up by the police,” she said. “Marsha Gay Harden was pressed up against my back. That was my introduction to Sundance, and it was amazing. It was a life-changing experience.”
Nein talked about the legacy programming that is scheduled during the second half of the festival, and Burnough’s address talked about the festival’s impact on the world.
“What the world sees over these 11 days is only a part of the Sundance Institute’s year-round work to discover, to nurture and to invest in independent artists and their stories,” he said. “As a nonprofit and an arts organization, the work we’re doing today is more critical than ever.”
Burnough said the Sundance Institute and the film festival have given many of these artists breakout moments over the years.
“We’ve been fortunate enough to meet (many of them) at early points of their careers through our artists programs,” he said. “They grow. They develop, thanks to mentorship opportunities to refine their work in the artistic home that the Sundance Institute provides. To this day, artists who get their start at the Sundance Institute and the film festival go on to shape storytelling, independent cinema and our collective culture.”
That has never mattered more than today with the state of the world, according to Burnough.
“We need the empathy, inspiration and new perspectives these independent storytelling provides,” he said.