The festival
Founded in 1978 and held each January in the mountain town of Park City, Utah, Sundance is the foremost showcase for American independent film, run by the nonprofit Sundance Institute. It has launched countless films and filmmakers into wider release.
Worth knowing
Its World Cinema Dramatic and Documentary competitions and the NEXT section regularly premiere work by Asian and Asian diaspora filmmakers, and a Sundance debut can define an independent film's year. Recent editions have paired in-person screenings with an online platform.
How to attend
Sundance sells tickets and passes to the public, with in-person screenings across Park City and, in recent years, an online option for audiences elsewhere.
Awards & submissions
Sundance’s marquee honors are its Grand Jury Prizes, awarded in the U.S. Dramatic and U.S. Documentary competitions, with World Cinema Grand Jury Prizes for the best international dramatic and documentary work and a slate of short-film jury awards across fiction, nonfiction and animation. Its World Cinema competitions and the NEXT section regularly premiere work by Asian and Asian diaspora filmmakers, and a Sundance debut can define an independent film’s year. Run by the nonprofit Sundance Institute, the festival is held each January, with in-person screenings and, in recent years, an online platform for audiences elsewhere. Filmmakers submit through FilmFreeway, delivering online screeners on their project page; categories, eligibility and deadlines are posted on the sundance.org website each year. The public buys tickets and passes through the festival’s site.
Official site →Dates and programs change year to year — check the official site for the current edition.