Boulder International Film Festival
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In January, people from all over the world will flock to Boulder for Sundance Film Festival, the nation’s largest indie film event. But it’s not just an event for industry professionals and longtime attendees.
“It’s a festival for Colorado, first and foremost,” says Director of Sundance Film Festival and Public Programming Eugene Hernandez. “Coloradans will have the greatest amount of opportunity to engage the most deeply with this festival, beyond anyone else.”
And today, Sundance is sharing a little more about how people can engage at the festival — from expanded programming to details about venues and key dates.
After being held in Utah since 1978, Hernandez says that Sundance’s move to Boulder “is an opportunity to bring the festival alive in a way that, frankly and candidly, we’ve never been able to before.”
It’s also something of a homecoming: Sundance founder Robert Redford had attended the University of Colorado and even wanted to start a film festival in Boulder back in the ’70s.
When and where will Sundance events take place?
Sundance Film Festival will take place from Jan. 21 to 31 in a 2-mile radius of downtown Boulder, holding screenings and other events at the University of Colorado Boulder’s Macky Auditorium, Boulder Theater, Chautauqua Auditorium, Dairy Arts Center, Cinemark Century and more. See a map of the festival’s footprint here.
“What we hear from artists is the need to have these opportunities to not only have and engage deeply with an audience in a meaningful way, but also in a state-of-the-art setting: Best picture quality, best projection, best sound, seats, audience experience,” Hernandez says. “These are all fundamental components that, all taken together, comprise why we sought to move the festival in the first place and build it in a new city, but also the fundamental requirements of building this festival in Boulder. Boulder is showing up in the most beautiful way in partnership, support, creativity and technological know-how and savvy.”
To ensure state-of-the-art screening experiences, many of the venues are undergoing renovations that will last well beyond the 11 days of the festival. Hernandez lists the ongoing transformation of the Chautauqua, 240 speakers installed in the ceiling at the Macky and work being done at Boulder Theater.
“I believe it can be transformational for a community to have this investment into its arts spaces,” Hernandez says. “These will be world-class arts spaces that will come alive during the festival, for sure, but the investment we’re making in these spaces is that they’re available year-round.”
Sundance receives 16,000 submissions a year. 2027’s film lineup will be announced in December, and world premieres will be held Jan. 21 to 26.
Sundance’s expanded programming
As part of 2027’s expanded programming, Sundance’s four central competition categories — U.S. Dramatic, World Cinema Dramatic, U.S. Documentary and World Cinema Documentary — will grow from 10 to 12 films each.
“It’s a big deal, because that’s two more films in each of those competition sections that wouldn’t have been invited to Sundance otherwise,” Hernandez says. “That’s two more films that have a shot at connecting with an audience, connecting with an industry and getting launched into the world.”
Offscreen, there will also be more signature talks, events with artists, live podcast recordings and more.
Hernandez highlights a refresh of Sundance’s New Frontier, which showcases experimental projects that converge film, art, technology, storytelling, live performances and music through technologies like 3D printing and virtual reality. Coming back next year as New Frontier FLUX, Hernandez says Boulder will be a good place for the program to evolve because of the region’s large tech community.
“We don’t know where it will go yet,” he says. “The audience will help us figure that out. 2027 will be its first step toward the future at our festival.”
Get involved with the Sundance Film Festival
Information on festival passes, ticket packages and single-film tickets will come out in September. Passes will go on sale in October and single-film tickets will be available for purchase in early January.
The festival will also need more than 2,000 volunteers. Volunteer applications will open on Aug. 31.
“There is something magical about experiencing stories with people you don’t know,” Hernandez says. “These experiences bring us together, and being a part of this community creates the memories we take home with us. Our whole team is working hand in hand every day to build the new foundation for our festival with our incredible partners in Boulder.”
Learn more about the 2027 Sundance Film Festival at festival.sundance.org.
