What is now known as the Sundance Film Festival was initially created by John Earle and Sterling Van Wagenen, called the Utah/U.S. Film Festival. The very first festival was in 1978 in Salt Lake City. They created this festival as a way to honor independent filmmakers outside of the Hollywood area.
Later in 1981, the executive director at the time Susan Barrell, with help from Sidney Pollock, moved the festival’s operations to Park City; she also changed the operational hours of the festival from September to late January. This was done with the hope that vacationing skiers would also attend the festival.
Then in 1985, the Sundance Institute took total control over the festival naming it the United States Film Festival. This festival showed the debut film of the now world-renowned Coen Brothers. Every year, the festival continued to gain support from filmgoers.
Gaining speed, in 1991 the festival officially changed its name for the last time to The Sundance Film Festival. They featured another future superstar director in 1992. Quentin Tarantino’s debut film Reservoir Dogs was a smashing success blasting the now known director into stardom. That year, the festival reportedly screened 134 films. Continuing to grow quickly in 1999 the festival had a reported 20,014 attendees.
The festival continued to grow year after year until in 2021 the COVID-19 pandemic brought the in-person festival to a halt. Instead, Sundance held an online festival for 2021 and 2022, returning to in-person in 2023.
Now the 2025 Sundance film festival is set to start on Jan. 23. However, looking toward the future, the Sundance Institute’s hosting contract is set to expire after the 2026 festival. The Sundance Institute is considering three options for the festival’s new home: Boulder, CO; Cincinnati, OH; and Salt Lake City/Park City, UT. This new home for the festival will be selected in the late winter 2025 to early spring 2026. While the other areas hold merit in consideration, the Sundance Film Festival leaving Utah would be very detrimental to the strong community of Utah filmmakers.
