PARK CITY, Utah — The Sundance Movie Pageant could also be just a little bittersweet this yr. Will probably be acquainted in some methods because it kicks off on Thursday in Park Metropolis, Utah. There might be stars, from Natalie Portman to Charli XCX, and breakout discoveries, tearjerkers, comedies, thrillers, oddities that defy categorization and perhaps even a couple of future Oscar nominees. The pop ups and sponsors might be out in full pressure on Predominant Road. The strains to get into the 90 motion pictures premiering throughout 10 days might be lengthy and the volunteers might be endlessly useful and cheery in subfreezing temperatures.
However the nation’s premier showcase for unbiased movie can also be in a time of profound transition after many years of relative stability. The competition is bidding farewell to its longtime house and forging ahead with out its founder, Robert Redford, who died in September. Subsequent yr, it should discover its footing in one other mountain city, Boulder, Colorado.
It’s no shock that legacy might be a through-line at this yr’s closing version in Park Metropolis. There might be screenings of restored Sundance gems like “Little Miss Sunshine,” “Mysterious Pores and skin,” “Home Occasion” and “Humpday” in addition to Redford’s first actually unbiased movie, the 1969 sports activities drama “Downhill Racer.” Many can even pay tribute to Redford on the institute’s fundraising occasion, the place honorees embrace Chloé Zhao, Ed Harris and Nia DaCosta.
“Sundance has at all times been about showcasing and fostering unbiased motion pictures in America. With out that, so many filmmakers wouldn’t have had the careers they’ve,” mentioned “Mysterious Pores and skin” filmmaker Gregg Araki. He first attended the competition in 1992 and has been again many occasions, together with on the labs the place Zhao was considered one of his college students.
Fairly a couple of competition veterans are planning to make the journey, together with “Navalny” filmmaker Daniel Roher. His first Sundance in 2022 may need been a bit unconventional however ended on a excessive be aware with an Oscar. This yr he’s again with two movies, his narrative debut “Tuner,” and the world premiere of “The AI Doc: Or How I Turned an Apocaloptimist,” which he co-directed with Charlie Tyrell.
“We’re going by way of a bizarre second on the planet … There’s one thing that strikes me about an establishment that has been evergreen, that appears so entrenched going by way of its personal transition and rebirth,” Roher advised The Related Press. “I’m selecting to border this yr as a celebration of Sundance and the institute and a future that may make sure the competition goes on without end and ever and ever and stays the important conduit for therefore many filmmakers that it has been.”
Over the previous 4 many years, numerous careers have been formed and boosted by the competition and the Institute. Three of this yr’s presumed Oscar nominees — Paul Thomas Anderson, Ryan Coogler and Zhao — are amongst these the Institute supported early of their careers.
Jay Duplass, who first got here to Sundance in 2003 along with his brother, Mark, with what he calls a “$3 movie” mentioned it was the place the place his profession was made.
“I’d most likely be a psychologist proper now if it wasn’t for Sundance,” Duplass mentioned.
Whereas he’s been to “most likely 15 Sundances” since, it hasn’t misplaced its luster. In actual fact, when a programmer referred to as him to inform him that his new movie “See You Once I See You” was chosen, he cried. The movie is predicated on a memoir during which a younger comedy author makes an attempt to course of the dying of his sister . It is considered one of many movies that finds humor amid grim topics.
As at all times, the lineup is filled with starry movies as effectively, together with Cathy Yan’s artwork world satire, “The Gallerist,” starring Portman, Jenna Ortega, Sterling Okay. Brown, Zach Galifianakis and Da’Vine Pleasure Randolph. The romantic drama “Carousel,” from Rachel Lambert, options Chris Pine and Jenny Slate as highschool exes who rekindle their romance later in life. Araki can also be bringing a brand new movie, “I Need Your Intercourse,” during which Olivia Wilde performs a provocative artist who takes on Cooper Hoffman as her youthful muse.
“It is type of a sex-positive love letter to Gen Z,” Araki mentioned. “It’s a comedy. It has components of thriller, thriller, homicide — just a little little bit of ‘Sundown Boulevard’ … it’s enjoyable, it’s colourful, it is horny. It is a experience.”
Wilde additionally steps behind the digicam for “The Invite,” during which she stars alongside Seth Rogen as a pair whose marriage disintegrates over the course of a night. Olivia Colman is a fisherwoman seeking to make the proper husband in “Wicker,” co-starring Alexander Skarsgård. Zoey Deutch performs a Midwestern bride-to-be in search of out her superstar “free move” within the screwball comedy “Gail Daughtry and the Superstar Intercourse Move.” And Ethan Hawke and Russell Crowe lead the Despair-era crime drama “The Weight.”
Pop star and famous cinephile Charli XCX can even be out and about, starring within the self-referential mockumentary “The Second,” and showing in “The Gallerist” and “I Need Your Intercourse” as effectively.
The 2026 competition includes a strong lineup of documentaries too, which have a superb monitor document of snagging eventual Oscar nominations and wins. There are a handful of movies about well-known faces, together with basketball star Brittney Griner, Courtney Love, Salman Rushdie, Billie Jean King, Nelson Mandela and comic Maria Bamford.
Others delve into newsy topics previous and current, like “When A Witness Recants,” during which writer Ta-Nehisi Coates revisits the case of the 1983 homicide of a boy in his Baltimore center faculty and learns the reality. “American Physician” follows three professionals attempting to assist in Gaza. “Who Killed Alex Odeh” examines the 1985 assassination of a Palestinian American activist in Southern California. “All people To Kenmure Road” is about civil resistance to deportations in Glasgow in 2021. And “Silenced” tracks worldwide human rights lawyer Jennifer Robinson in her combat in opposition to the weaponization of defamation legal guidelines in opposition to victims of gender violence.
And a few do not match into any straightforward class, like “The Historical past of Concrete” during which filmmaker John Wilson takes what he discovered at a “the best way to promote a Hallmark film” seminar and tries to use it to a documentary on concrete.
There is perhaps a little bit of wistfulness within the air too, as everybody takes inventory of the final Sundance in Park Metropolis and tries to think about what Boulder would possibly maintain.
“It feels very particular to be a part of the final one in Park Metropolis,” Duplass mentioned. “It’s only a tremendous particular place the place, there are going to be motion pictures there with large stars and there’s additionally going to be some children there who made motion pictures for a couple of thousand {dollars}. And so they’re all going to combine.”
Araki, like Redford, knew way back that the competition had outgrown Park Metropolis. Will probably be unusual to not have its iconic places like Egyptian Theatre and Eccles and The Ray anymore, but it surely’s additionally only a place.
“The legacy and the custom of Sundance will proceed regardless of the place it’s,” Araki mentioned.
For extra protection of the 2026 Sundance Movie Pageant, go to: /hub/sundance-film-festival
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