Sundance Film Festival 2021: Independent Film Festival Will Screen in Multiple Cities & Online

The 37th iteration of the Sundance Film Festival will take a hybrid approach to presentation

The Sundance Film Festival is taking a different approach to their 2021 edition – one that takes it beyond the snowy confines of Park City, UT.

Tabitha Jackson, the festival’s new director, announced plans to hold a hybrid festival of physical screenings and online events. The 2021 festival will also expand to multiple cities throughout the United States and beyond, holding screenings in collaboration with other film festivals and organizations.

“Although it is fair to say that I had not factored a global pandemic and an international reckoning around racial justice into my job application,” Jackson said in a recent press release, “I did know that as we write the next chapter in the incredible history of the Sundance Film Festival I would want to pose a slightly counterintuitive question: ‘Where do we begin?’”

The Next Step

Part of the restructuring is to provide a safe alternative during the COVID-19 pandemic (of which the U.S. has seen recent spikes in cases over the past couple of weeks). But Jackson also suggests that this is but another step in the evolution of the film festival format and the Sundance brand. She stresses Sundance’s “doubling down” on its values of “access, equity, inclusivity, and independence”, all while fostering global respect for local communities through cinema.

Jackson elaborates:

I began with our founder, Robert Redford, who imagined a different landscape for independent artists, one where the work they wished to make could be developed and supported outside of the studio system. He created a new space for imaginative possibility and creative community. We call that space Sundance.

We spoke about our animating purpose, about the importance he places on gathering together in person, and about the role of art itself. But it was this provocation that I found as profound in its generosity as it was liberating in its effect: “I invite you to think not just outside the box, but as if the box never existed.”

The Specifics

In the press release Jackson stresses the importance of flexibility during this public health crisis, and how nothing official is set in stone. Rather, the press release is an invitation to the public to watch how Sundance adjusts in the coming months. It’s also an invitation to offer feedback to the festival when requested to help shape the outcome of its 37th iteration.

Although, there are some commitments that do seem to be confirmed.

Physical

The festival’s entire slate will continue to screen in Park City in January 2021 as usual. The start date might shift to a date later in the month (possibly January 28) to accommodate a potential U.S. presidential inauguration. However, as of right now, it seems that the initial dates of January 21 – 31, 2021 will continue to stand. The number of screening venues within the city might decline, but every film in the official selection will have a physical, in-person screening.

Jackson says Sundance is in “exploratory discussion” with cinemas throughout the country to host “a bespoke slate from the official selection alongside complementary programming of their own”. This will allow for promotion of independent cinema within local communities, while boosting the “vital role” of the “maker culture” of these specific regions. No cities have been wholeheartedly confirmed as surrogates yet, but the press release says they range “from LA to Louisville, from New York to Nashville, from Austin to Atlanta, from Detroit to Denver, from Minneapolis to Mexico City — with many more to come”.

Digital

The other major commitment is that the film festival will be accessible via an online platform. Jackson describes this portion as the “nucleus of the Festival” that will allow for a much wider range of interaction with the filmmakers and the community at-large.

At the moment it is unclear exactly how this online platform will operate. Will it take the free screening route like the SXSW 2020 Film Festival Collection or the We Are One festival, or will it be a sort of virtual cinema platform with a PVOD set-up? Will the entire line-up be available online, or just a select few titles? Everything is still uncertain, but Jackson assures that it will showcase new work while also allowing for participatory engagement.

Staying Vigilant

Jackson frequently reinforces Sundance’s model of flexibility based on the public health status at the time. She says the festival will be watching others in the coming months (i.e. Venice, Toronto) and incorporating their organizational successes into Sundance’s own structure.

“We look forward to exchanging ideas and improving on the specifics over the coming months,” said Jackson. “Together we can thoughtfully build this special edition of the Sundance Film Festival, perhaps breaking some ‘rules’ as we go.”

Leave your thoughts on the 2021 Sundance Film Festival’s expansion to other cities and to an online platform (via Sundance’s website and The Wrap) and this article below in the comments section. For more Sundance Film Festival news and developments, visit our Sundance Film Festival Page. For more Film Festival news coverage, photos, videos, and information, visit our Film Festival Page. The 37^th iteration of the Sundance Film Festival will (tentatively) take place in Park City, Utah, online, and other locations, from January 21 – 31, 2021. Want up-to-the-minute notifications? FilmBook staff members publish articles by Email, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, Pinterest, and Flipboard.