1978: Utah/US Film Festival Sundance began in
Salt Lake City in August 1978 as the Utah/US Film Festival in an effort to attract more filmmakers to Utah. Robert Redford, who was based in the area, was its main founder, with the festival eventually being named for Redford's "
Sundance" land he purchased in the nearby
Wasatch Mountains; Redford had renamed this land after his character in
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. head of
Robert Redford's company
Wildwood Enterprises, Inc, John Earle and Cirina Hampton-Catania of the
Utah Film Commission. The 1978 festival featured films such as
Deliverance,
A Streetcar Named Desire,
Midnight Cowboy,
Mean Streets, and
Sweet Smell of Success. The goal of the festival was to showcase American-made films, highlight the potential of independent film, and increase visibility for filmmaking in Utah. The main focus of the event was to conduct a competition for independent American films, present a series of retrospective films and filmmaker panel discussions, and celebrate the
Frank Capra Award. The festival also highlighted the work of regional filmmakers who worked outside the
Hollywood system. In 1979, Sterling Van Wagenen left to head up the first-year pilot program of what became the
Sundance Institute, and James W. Ure took over briefly as executive director, followed by Cirina Hampton Catania, who was asked by Governor Matheson to help bring the festival into profitability as the governing board was preparing to disband it due to debts incurred in 1978. Catania generated sponsorships, in-kind contributions, and advertising revenue, and the festival continued. More than 60 films were screened at the festival that year, and panels featured many well-known Hollywood filmmakers. Also that year, the first Frank Capra Award went to
Jimmy Stewart. The festival also made a profit for the first time.
1981: US Film and Video Festival , in
Park City, Utah, is one of the festival's oldest and most recognizable venues. In 1981, the festival moved to Park City, Utah, and changed the dates from September to January. The move from late summer to midwinter was done by the executive director Susan Barrell with the cooperation of Hollywood director
Sydney Pollack, who suggested that running a film festival in a ski resort during winter would draw more attention from Hollywood. It was named the US Film and Video Festival.
1984: Sundance In 1984, the now well-established Sundance Institute, headed by Sterling Van Wagenen, took over management of the US Film Festival. Gary Beer and Van Wagenen spearheaded production of the inaugural US Film Festival presented by Sundance Institute (1985), which included Program Director Tony Safford and Administrative Director Jenny Walz Selby. The branding and marketing transition from the US Film Festival to the Sundance Film Festival was managed under the direction of Colleen Allen, Allen Advertising Inc., by appointment of Robert Redford. In 1991, the festival was officially renamed the Sundance Film Festival, after Redford's Utah
Sundance home, Numerous small festivals sprung up around Sundance in the Park City area, including
Slamdance, Nodance,
Slumdance, It-dance, X-Dance, Lapdance,
Tromadance, The Park City Film Music Festival, etc., though all except Slamdance are no longer held. Included in the Sundance changes made in 2010, a new programming category titled "NEXT" (often denoted simply by the characters "", which mean "less is more") was introduced to showcase innovative films that are able to transcend the confines of an independent budget. Another recent addition was the Sundance Film Festival USA program, in which eight of the festival's films are shown in eight different theaters around the United States. The total economic benefits Sundance brought to Utah were estimated to be $167 million in 2020. The festival went virtual in 2021 and 2022 because of the
COVID-19 pandemic, cancelling on-site activities. During this period Sundance programmed and hosted the world premiere of the documentary film
Jihad Rehab directed by
Meg Smaker. Soon after its premiere, the film would be embroiled in controversy as one of the film's executive producers,
Abigail Disney described the film as "freaking brilliant" in an email to the director before disavowing the film later on. Despite receiving rave reviews from Sundance audiences and critics, the film was unpopular among the Muslim-American and Middle Eastern indie film community. As a result, the film was virtually blacklisted. The festival returned for in-person showings in 2023. Robert Redford died in 2025. according to
Deadline, possibly already when programming director Tabitha Jackson left in June 2022. Its contract to host the festival in Park City will expire following the 2026 festival. Also, the festival is considered to have outgrown the small resort town of Park City. Locals consider the festival bringing in too much traffic, plus the institute's decision to cancel the 2022 festival due to COVID concerns was viewed negatively. Initially, the aim was to announce a winning bid by the 2025 festival, but this was later pushed a month, to the end of April 2025. Out of these, three finalists were selected in September: Park City/Salt Lake City, Boulder, and Cincinnati, which
Deadline characterized as "a bit of the old, a bit of the new, and a bit of
WTF." The decision to remove cars from Main Street in January 2025 was popular with festival-goers, though whether this would be enough for Park City to retain the festival was unclear. At the time,
Deadline considered the bid from Boulder to be the strongest contender. In March 2025, HB77, a proposal to ban the use of the
Pride flag in state government buildings, reached Utah governor
Spencer Cox, decreasing the chances of retaining the festival in Utah since it went against Sundance's expressed values of a "vibrant, inviting and inclusive festival." On March 27, 2025, it was announced that a ten-year deal had been reached for the festival to be held in
Boulder, Colorado, beginning with the 2027 edition. However, despite the festival being transferred to Colorado, the Sundance Institute Labs shall remain at Sundance resort, with the
Sundance Institute also maintaining a presence in Utah and keeping its Utah headquarters in
Park City. • John Cooper – 2009–2020 • Tabitha Jackson – 2020–2022 •
Eugene Hernandez – 2022–present ==Spin-offs in other locations==