The Sundance Movie Competition will relocate to Boulder, Colo. in 2027, ending its decades-long run in Park Metropolis, Utah. The pageant reached a ten year-deal with metropolis officers after an in depth seek for a brand new base of operations. The snowy haven prevailed in opposition to two different finalists: Cincinnati, Ohio and Salt Lake Metropolis and Park Metropolis.

In choosing Boulder, the pageant’s management cited the truth that it’s a faculty city in addition to a tech hub. It additionally highlighted the neighborhood’s pure magnificence, one thing that has been a key element of Sundance, which has at all times boasted itself as a possibility to look at nice films in opposition to an alpine backdrop.

“One of many issues that we additionally considered is one in all Robert Redford’s founding rules, which is that this notion of creating certain that the pageant has a way of area and a way of place,” stated Amanda Kelso, Sundance Institute’s performing CEO. “One of many issues that you simply’ll see while you stroll round [Boulder] is we’re surrounded by this breathtaking Flat Iron Mountain Vary, and it’s really an unimaginable vibe. So while you’re strolling from theater to theater, you’ll actually get this chance to form of metabolize what you simply watched whereas convening in nature.”

Town has earned the nickname “Individuals’s Republic of Boulder,” which one well-liked tourism web site attributes to “distinctive character, progressive values and engaged citizenry.” It’s referred to as eco-friendly and open to artists and countercultures.

Nonetheless, the transfer to Boulder begins a brand new and unsure period for the movie pageant. In any case, Park Metropolis has turn out to be synonymous with Sundance, having served as its dwelling since 1985. Through the years, it has hosted the premieres of movies like “Reservoir Canine,” “Napoleon Dynamite,” “Intercourse, Lies and Videotape,” and “Little Miss Sunshine” that ignited the indie revolution of the ’90s and early aughts. This helped redefine moviemaking into one thing edgier, sexier and extra subversive.

However the artwork kind that Sundance celebrates has struggled amid a world pandemic and a chronic field workplace hunch. The 2024 version lacked the sort of buzzy new movies that after used the pageant as a launching floor. Although a number of films just like the horror movie “Collectively” and the historic drama “Prepare Desires” had been bought throughout Sundance, it’s taken months for different movies to seek out distribution. It’s not only a signal of the punishing new economics of releasing these sorts of flicks in theaters. It additionally alerts that streaming providers like Netflix that after was an aggressive purchaser at movie festivals have tightened their acquisitions spending.

On the similar time, the pageant’s relationship with the city has additionally turn out to be strained. Studio executives and brokers have been pissed off by the excessive price of sending folks to Park Metropolis, whereas some locals have grown disenchanted with the inflow of followers and press into their tiny hamlet. The truth that the pageant is held within the top of ski season, the principle income for the neighborhood, has additionally been a supply of pressure.

From Sundance’s perspective, the pageant was struggling to seek out sufficient locations for filmmakers to showcase their work. Throughout COVID, the city misplaced theaters after one venue went bankrupt and one other, the Redstone, was reworked right into a luxurious venue with fewer seats. Even when Sundance had stayed in Utah, Park Metropolis was going to play a a lot smaller function, internet hosting just a few occasions. Beneath that plan, Salt Lake Metropolis would have turn out to be the pageant’s important hub.

In April 2024, The Sundance Institute, the nonprofit behind the pageant, introduced that it was entertaining proposals from “viable areas in the US” to host the pageant when its present contract expired with Park Metropolis in 2026. Over 100 potential cities and city expressed curiosity, 13 of which submitted proposals. After a number of rounds, three finalists emerged. One in every of these was Cincinnati, Ohio and the opposite was a proposal that will preserve Sundance in Utah.

Sundance appointed a job pressure to vet potential new dwelling bases. Amy Redford, the daughter of the pageant’s founder Robert Redford, was a part of that group. As a part of the method, the staff evaluated the assorted areas’ infrastructure and occasion capabilities. The duty pressure supplied its suggestions to Sundance’s board, which voted on Wednesday.

In a press release, Robert Redford expressed his gratitude to the state of Utah, whereas characterizing the group’s choice to maneuver as a mandatory step. “What we’ve created is remarkably particular and defining,” he stated. “As change is inevitable, we should at all times evolve and develop, which has been on the core of our survival. This transfer will be certain that the Competition continues its work of threat taking, supporting modern storytellers, fostering independence, and entertaining and enlightening audiences. I’m grateful to the Boulder neighborhood for its help, and I stay up for seeing what the longer term holds for the pageant there.”

Boulder’s downtown will turn out to be the central hub of the pageant, with the town’s theaters and venues internet hosting screenings and occasions. There’s additionally a pedestrian-only block known as Pearl Avenue that shall be a locus of exercise. The pageant stated it would additionally use choose spots on the College of Colorado Boulder campus. It stated it’s working with the town to boost its infrastructure and lodging choices. Sundance’s leaders anticipate that Boulder can have extra theaters and venues than Park Metropolis.

In a press release, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis stated his state was “thrilled” to welcome Sundance. “Right here in our state we rejoice the humanities and movie business as a key financial driver, job creator, and vital contributor to our thriving tradition,” he stated. “Now, with the addition of the enduring Sundance Movie Competition, we are able to anticipate much more jobs, an enormous profit for our small companies together with shops and eating places.”

The pageant’s management declined to element what tax breaks and different monetary incentives Boulder supplied it to relocate and the way these in comparison with the opposite finalists.

“Every every metropolis and state got here to the desk with an important with unimaginable packages, with unimaginable incentives, but additionally extra extra importantly, with unimaginable ardour,” stated Ebs Burnough, chair of the Sundance Institute’s board. “We had been very diligent in our course of to have the monetary piece of or not it’s simply that — a chunk of it.”

In an interview earlier than the information was introduced, the pageant’s leaders talked excitedly about Boulder, however additionally they acknowledged that there was one thing bittersweet about having just one extra yr left in Park Metropolis.

“The Utah viewers has for 40-plus years, proven up yr after yr and been an extremely enthusiastic and embracing viewers for this pageant,” stated Eugene Hernandez, Sundance Movie Competition Director. “I frankly, can’t wait to be there on day one, on January 22, 2026, to begin unveiling the following program and and in all sincerity, invite that loyal, dedicated viewers of Sundance Movie Competition followers to proceed that relationship with us in 2027 and past.”