By Kaitlyn Huamani
LOS ANGELES (AP) --The Sundance Institute on Friday announced six finalists in its search for a new host location for the influential film festival.
After 40 years in Park City, Utah, the festival is eyeing locations across the country for festivals starting in 2027 when its existing contract will be up for renewal. The snowy mountain town, along with Salt Lake City, will still be home to the 2025 and 2026 festivals, and the Utah cities are one of the six options for future festivals.
The other five finalists are Atlanta; Cincinnati; Boulder, Colorado; Louisville, Kentucky, and Santa Fe, New Mexico. These cities are moving along in the selection process after a competitive request for proposal phase that started in May and saw submissions from across the country.
The potential host cities were selected for their ability to support the film festival’s growth and they will continue to be evaluated on each city’s infrastructure, accessibility, event venues and logistical capabilities, as well as their alignment with Sundance’s values.
“As we very carefully consider this important decision for our Festival, we believe these six finalists allow us the best opportunity to not only secure a sustainable future for our Festival, but also to build upon its legacy while continuing to support the next generation of storytellers and highlight bold new works of art,” said Ebs Burnough, Sundance Institute board chair, and Amanda Kelso, Sundance Institute acting CEO, in a joint statement.
“We are grateful to all the communities who have expressed interest and been a part of the process, and we have valued the opportunity to learn about the uniqueness of each location,” the statement continued. “We look forward to the site visits in each of the finalist cities.”
Sundance has long been a launching pad for independent filmmakers and has supported the early careers of Christopher Nolan, Quentin Tarantino and more. Festival winners often become some of the year’s most acclaimed films. Last year’s festival produced Celine Song’s “Past Lives,” nominated for best picture and best screenplay. Other Sundance titles to reach the Oscars include 2022 best picture winner “CODA,” “Summer Of Soul (…Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised)” and “Minari.”
The Sundance Institute noted that each of the finalist cities have strong arts communities with varied cultural backgrounds and potential for growth. The Robert Redford-founded festival has grown significantly since its inception.
Redford, who stepped back from the Sundance spotlight years ago, expressed concern in 2016 that the festival as it existed might have outgrown Park City and was thinking about ways to evolve. He and his daughter, Amy Redford, who is on the board, have been involved in the process according to an April announcement about the location search.
Mayors and governors from each of the selected cities have issued statements expressing their enthusiasm for the festival to move to their town (or remain there). Mayors Nann Worel of Park City, Erin Mendenhall of Salt Lake City and Jenny Wilson of Salt Lake County issued a statement that emphasizes the dual city hosting model, likely in response to concerns that Park City was no longer suitable for the ever-expanding festival.
“We are committed to working in partnership on a new vision of ‘Two Cities, One Experience’ with a shared goal of reinvigorating the Festival with an even greater tradition for storytelling over the next 40 years,” the mayor said in their statement.
Members of the Sundance Institute selection committee will visit each of the finalist cities in the coming weeks and a final decision is expected in early 2025.
For Tarana Burke, The Sean “Diddy” Combs Case Is Another Sign Of #MeToo’s Lasting Impact
Tarana Burke says people are always asking "what's next?" for the #MeToo movement, the broad reckoning against sexual misconduct and abuse that she helped launch seven years ago.
This week, Burke, who coined the phrase "me too" decades ago in work with survivors of sexual violence and saw it go viral in 2017 with the Harvey Weinstein case, has two ready answers.
On Tuesday, the organization she leads, called 'me too.' International, announced an initiative to become truly international in scope — a so-called global network to partner with groups in 33 countries across the globe to combat sexual violence.
On the same day in a New York courtroom, the latest high-profile case was unfolding involving an influential man accused of abusing his power and privilege to inflict sexual harm: mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs, who was headed to jail to await trial in his federal sex trafficking case.
In an interview, Burke said the emerging details, in which Combs is accused of a sordid array of sexual crimes, were "horrific." But she took comfort, she said, in the knowledge that it was the cultural shift resulting from #MeToo that helped bring the case to light in the first place.
Burke noted that the original lawsuit filed last November against Combs, by his former girlfriend Cassie, whose legal name is Casandra Ventura, was made possible by a New York "lookback" law, the Adult Survivors Act, enabling people alleging sexual abuse to file civil suits after the statute of limitations had expired.
"The lookback law … was a direct result of survivors organizing as part of the #MeToo movement," Burke said. "All these things are connected. Survivors pushed hard that we need this law. This is directly related to the power of the... Read More