Sundance Film Festival
History
The Sundance Film Festival, a program of the Sundance Institute, is an annual film festival held in Utah, United States. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, showcasing new work from American and international independent filmmakers. The festival comprises competitive sections for American and international dramatic and documentary films, both feature films and short films, and a group of out-of-competition sections, including NEXT, New Frontier, Spotlight, and Park City At Midnight.
The festival began in Salt Lake City in August 1978, as the Utah/US Film Festival in an effort to attract more filmmakers to Utah. It was founded by Sterling Van Wagenen, who is the head of Robert Redford's company Wildwood, and John Earle, who is the director of the Utah Film Commission. The 1978 festival featured films such as Deliverance, A Streetcar Named Desire, Midnight Cowboy, Mean Streets, and The Sweet Smell of Success.
Mission and Impact
The Sundance Film Festival is committed to the discovery and development of independent artists and audiences. Through its programs, the festival seeks to discover, support, and inspire independent film and theatre artists from the United States and around the world, and to introduce audiences to their new work. The festival has changed over the decades from a low-profile venue for small-budget, independent creators from outside the Hollywood system to a media extravaganza for Hollywood celebrity actors, paparazzi, and luxury lounges set up by companies.
Festival Programming
The Sundance Film Festival includes various competitive categories, as well as out-of-competition categories. The competition categories include U.S. Dramatic Competition, U.S. Documentary Competition, World Cinema Dramatic Competition, World Cinema Documentary Competition, and Short Film Competition. The out-of-competition categories include NEXT, Premieres, Documentary Premieres, Spotlight, Park City At Midnight, New Frontier, and others.
Awards
The Sundance Film Festival awards several prizes for feature filmmaking, and includes categories for Short Filmmaking, Global Filmmaking, and others. The Grand Jury Prize is awarded to one film in the Dramatic and Documentary Competitions. The Directing Award is awarded for excellence in directing for dramatic and documentary categories. The Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award is presented to the writer of a film in the dramatic category for outstanding achievement in writing.
Criticism and Controversy
The Sundance Film Festival has been criticized for becoming too commercialized and for favoring style over substance. Some critics argue that the festival's original purpose to promote independent cinema has been overshadowed by its commercial success. However, the festival maintains its commitment to showcasing innovative, thought-provoking films and providing a platform for emerging filmmakers.