Sundance Film Festival, founded in 1981 by Robert Redford, receives tens of thousands of submissions every year and draws in hundreds of thousands of attendees. The annual festival is organized by the Sundance Institute, a nonprofit organization that brings together filmmakers of all backgrounds and connects them with audiences.
In 2027, the Sundance Film Festival will be closer to Fort Collins than ever before. In a virtual conference organized by student-led newsroom FoxTalk, Festival Director Eugene Hernandez and Sundance Institute Managing Director Paula DuPré Pesman came together with reporters from five Colorado college newspapers to discuss Sundance Film Festival’s permanent move from Park City, Utah, to Boulder, Colorado.
Hernandez, a former journalist himself, has served as Sundance Institute’s festival director and head of public programming for the last four years. Pesman is an award-winning film producer who now works for Sundance Institute as the managing director of festival and institute operations. Both have built careers in the film industry, and they continue to make an impact on the broader film community with their work for the 2027 Sundance Film Festival.
Park City was home to Sundance Film Festival for over 40 years, and the Festival’s move comes as a result of the Sundance Institute’s desire to collaborate with the existing art scene active in Boulder.
“The festival isn’t moving to Boulder,” Hernandez said. “We’re starting a new festival there. … In Colorado, we’re concentrating our footprint differently than we did in Utah.”
Hernandez emphasized the importance of community and how the Festival can both benefit from and add to the pre-existing artistic tradition in Boulder, especially with its proximity to University of Colorado Boulder’s campus. This established community will lend a sense of centrality to the Sundance Film Festival that was previously lacking.
In Park City, the festival was spread across three locations. Pesmen said this year’s venues are contained within a walkable area, with the exception of one venue that will be accessible via shuttle.
Pesman said the new location “just feels so authentic to how the Festival has been shaping this footprint around the experience for anyone coming.”
After being asked to dispel any misconceptions new attendees may have about the Sundance Film Festival, Hernandez and Pesmen said they were happy to send an open invitation to anyone considering attending the Festival in January 2027, students included.
Hernandez said the greatest misconception about the Sundance Film Festival is that “that it’s an industry-only event, (and) that it’s closed off. … It’s not true.”
Hernandez noted film festivals are open to anyone who is engaged with art or curious about the experience film festivals cultivate.
“In regard to the students, we also are starting something new with the festival, and we’re going to have student-priced tickets,” Pesmen said. “We want it to be more accessible for students.”
She also described attending the Festival as an opportunity to discover “stories that deserve the world’s eyes and ears,” pointing to award-winning filmmaker Ryan Coogler as an example of Sundance Film Festival’s impact for creative careers.
The 2027 Sundance Film Festival will debut Jan. 21-31 in Boulder.
Reach Emma Pelto at entertainment@collegian.com or on social media @RMCollegian.
