Sundance in Boulder: Nearly 15,000 submissions for first Colorado edition
After more than 40 years in Park City, the Sundance Film Festival is moving to Boulder. Programmers are sifting through nearly 15,000 submissions for the Jan. 21-31, 2027, edition.
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The Sundance Film Festival is preparing its first edition in Boulder, Colorado. After more than 40 years in Park City, Utah, the independent film festival run by the Sundance Institute will take place in the college town Jan. 21-31, 2027. Festival Director Eugene Hernandez and Paula DuPré Pesmen, the Sundance Institute's managing director of festival and institute operations, told student journalists that programmers are reviewing nearly 15,000 submissions, with more than 150 films planned across 13 categories. "We're looking for needles in haystacks," Hernandez said.
The four main competitions will grow to 12 films each, and the New Frontier section returns after a two-year break, the festival said. For the first time, the international film critics' federation FIPRESCI will hand out best debut awards in the two World Cinema competitions. Grand Jury Prize winners in the World Cinema dramatic and documentary competitions will also qualify for the Academy Awards' international feature category. Awards will be announced Jan. 29.
Venues include the University of Colorado Boulder's Macky Auditorium, the Boulder Theater and Chautauqua Auditorium, all within about a 2-mile radius, according to the festival. Passes and packages are set to go on sale in October, with single tickets following in early January 2027. The lineup will be announced in December. Online screenings for audiences outside Colorado are planned for Jan. 28-31.