Why the Sun­dance Film Fes­ti­val should be top of your 2020 trav­el plans

Above Pho­to: © 2019 Sun­dance Insti­tute | Pho­to by Jonathan Hickerson

It’s only the begin­ning of Decem­ber, yet here at LWLies we’re already day­dream­ing about the poten­tial cin­e­mat­ic rich­es that await us next year – and that means think­ing about fes­ti­vals. The 2020 film cal­en­dar kicks off in style on 23 Jan­u­ary with the Sun­dance Film Fes­ti­val, when thou­sands of film­mak­ers, musi­cians, cul­tur­al icons, jour­nal­ists, cinephiles and stars will descend upon the idyl­lic ski resort town of Park City, Utah for 10 days of risk-tak­ing, rule-break­ing movie madness.

The fes­ti­val, found­ed by Robert Red­ford, has grown huge­ly in both size and scope since its first year in 1985, and has gar­nered a rep­u­ta­tion for cham­pi­oning bound­ary-push­ing films while also becom­ing a world-leader in inde­pen­dent film devel­op­ment through the labs, grants, and fel­low­ships avail­able at the non­prof­it Sun­dance Institute.

Some of the biggest names in the film indus­try got their big break at the fes­ti­val – Reser­voir Dogs cat­a­pult­ed Quentin Taran­ti­no in the pub­lic con­scious­ness back in 1992, while Jor­dan Peele’s Get Out pre­miered to crit­i­cal acclaim in 2016. The ele­ment of dis­cov­ery is one of the things that makes the fes­ti­val such a joy for audi­ences: when the house lights go down in the cin­e­ma, you nev­er know if you’re about to stum­ble on the next Christo­pher Nolan or Dee Rees.

For ten days every Jan­u­ary, Park City (pop­u­la­tion about 7,500 peo­ple) becomes a film lovers’ par­adise, with pub­lic spaces such as libraries and recre­ation cen­ters lov­ing­ly trans­formed into screens wor­thy of host­ing world pre­mieres along­side pop­u­lar venues such as the his­toric Egypt­ian The­ater and The Ray (owned by Sun­dance Insti­tute). The momen­tum con­tin­ues right through­out the fes­ti­val, cul­mi­nat­ing in an end-of-fest cer­e­mo­ny where the jury and audi­ence bal­lot prizes are awarded.

On Main Street, every shop, bar and restau­rant gets in on the act – every­where you go, you’ll meet peo­ple keen to share their thoughts on the films they’ve man­aged to catch. The atmos­phere of Sun­dance is one of infec­tious enthu­si­asm and eager inclu­siv­i­ty – whether you’re stand­ing in line for a movie or grab­bing a bite to eat between screen­ings, every­one wants to talk about their expe­ri­ences at the fes­ti­val; a lit­tle like a win­ter camp for film fans.

© 2019 Sun­dance Insti­tute | Pho­to by Dan Campbell

The set­ting def­i­nite­ly feeds into this; much like the Croisette in Cannes or the canals of Venice, the moun­tains of Park City are an unfor­get­table part of the Sun­dance expe­ri­ence. The dri­ve up through the canyons from Salt Lake City (which also plays host to a vari­ety of screen­ings and events!) is par­tic­u­lar­ly breath­tak­ing while wak­ing up to the sight of fresh snow­drifts with a bright win­ter sun beat­ing down is fair­ly hard to beat for fes­ti­val ambiance. Per­haps it’s the high alti­tude or the cold tem­per­a­tures, but the Sun­dance crowd are a pret­ty chilled-out lot; hik­ing boots and thick jumpers are the pre­mière attire of choice, and A‑Listers min­gle on Main Street with reg­u­lar pun­ters, clutch­ing pip­ing-hot cof­fee and often sport­ing fetch­ing Sun­dance-logo parkas.

While many fes­ti­vals aren’t total­ly open to the pub­lic, Sun­dance is unique in that any­one can buy a pass and become part of the action. It allows you to meet peo­ple from all walks of life who are drawn togeth­er by their love of cin­e­ma. It’s a fes­ti­val peo­ple return to year after year; on the Sun­dance shut­tle bus that takes guests to and from dif­fer­ent venues, get ready to hear some gold­en anec­dotes from fes­ti­vals past, or if you’re catch­ing a Lyft, your dri­ver might just have some sto­ries about their recent celebri­ty passengers.

It’s not just about the films, though – Sundance’s com­mit­ment to inno­v­a­tive sto­ry­telling means that they’re always look­ing to new for­mats that expand our ideas of what the medi­um looks like. With strong VR and episod­ic pro­grams, as well as pan­els with fas­ci­nat­ing speak­ers from all walks of life, there’s some­thing to suit every interest.

At last year’s fes­ti­val, Joan­na Hogg’s The Sou­venir, Lulu Wang’s The Farewell and Alma Har’el’s Hon­ey Boy all drew in the crowds, set­ting the tone for the year ahead. If you’re look­ing for a win­ter get­away that com­bines a stun­ning loca­tion with the best that inde­pen­dent cin­e­ma has to offer, you might just want to hop on a plane to Utah this Jan­u­ary, and expe­ri­ence Sun­dance your­self. But be warned: after your first Sun­dance, it’s pret­ty hard to resist mak­ing it an annu­al tradition.

Sun­dance Film Fes­ti­val takes place 23 Jan­u­ary to 2 Feb­ru­ary. Pass­es and pack­ages are on sale now from sun​dance​.org