This year marks the 40th festival for the Sundance Film Festival. In some ways, it’s hard to believe an event that has such an influence on film and art worldwide could possibly be that old. In other ways, it feels as if the festival has always been a permanent part of Park City and Utah. This 40th year marks Eugene Hernandez’s second as Festival Director, but, for people close to the event, it might feel as if Hernandez has always been a permanent fixture of the festival as well.
Sundance film festival director. Photo courtesy of Sundance
Hernandez started coming to Sundance 30 years ago, as a journalist in the mid-1990s, to build Indiewire. For Joana Vicente, Sundance Institute CEO, bringing in Hernandez is a “full circle” moment. Vicente was a film producer and met Hernandez during those early years. “Many times we would meet at Sundance,” she says, illustrating one of the festival’s primary functions. “Sundance is really a place about discovery. It’s this gathering place where you meet collaborators that you’re going to be working with.”
“The two of us are part of this broader independent film community because of the role that Sundance played in our own lives,” says Hernandez. Within that community he includes industry folks and audiences, particularly locals, who have shown “tremendous enthusiasm for coming back together,” he says. They saw this last year as well, when nearly 87,000 people physically attended the festival. Participants redeemed 138,000 tickets and contributed $118.3 million to Utah’s gross domestic product, according to an economic impact study on the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. “There’s something unique and special about every year coming back to that community,” says Hernandez. And the community is growing. With the accessibility of digital, festival films screenings received more than 285,000 views online.
The Next Sundance
So what will Sundance look like with a longtime participant and professional, like Hernandez, as director? His focus is on connection, specifically connecting to art and to others through art. Forty years in, Hernandez attributes the festival’s longstanding cultural relevance to its support of independent artists. “Sundance plays such a vital part in starting the year with a new class of filmmakers, and that first impression is so essential,” says Hernandez. So the question becomes, “How do we assure that each film and filmmaker and the teams that come to Utah as part of that experience have the best shot at introducing themselves and their work to our various audiences?”
Sundance Institute CEO. Photo courtesy of Sundance Institute.
To that end, the 2024 Sundance Film Festival will carry forward some of the aspects of the 2023 festival—such as the hybrid model, with films available to screen in-person and online—while trying to infuse the event with more meaning and connection by emphasizing the in-person experience. To make those first impressions as special as possible, film premieres will only be screened in-person and competition films will be screened online only during the second half of the festival.
With this new model, the hope, in part, is to make the in-person portion of the festival—well—festive. Like with all anniversaries, expect celebration. Reflecting on 40 years, Sundance plans to honor the past by celebrating the future. “Celebrating the future is about continuing to be curious and to curate and bring the most exciting voices, stories and people who are the future of independent storytelling,” says Hernandez. The festival is also celebrating its legacy of discovering new talent. This year’s Opening Night Gala will celebrate a director who got his start at Sundance with the film Memento, Christopher Nolan.
“It really is unique among other festivals to have that focus on spotlighting and showcasing what’s new while also celebrating that alongside some of the familiar faces,” says Hernandez. “That’s really the work…to continue bringing people together.”
Sundance 2024 At A Glance
- Festival dates: Jan. 18-28, 2024. Opening Night Gala is Jan. 18 at the DeJoria Center. In-person screenings begin around noon on Jan. 18. Online screenings begin Jan. 25.
- The lineup: 90+ feature films, 60+ shorts.
- Park City venues: Eccles Theater, Egyptian Theatre, Holiday Village Cinemas, Library Center Theatre, The Ray Theatre, Redstone Cinemas and Prospector Square Theatre.
- SLC venues: Megaplex Theatres at The Gateway, the Salt Lake Film Society’s Broadway Centre Cinemas and the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center.
Tickets and more information at sundance.org
