2021 Sundance Film Festival Is Happening - Here's What You Need To Know
2020 has seen the landscape of the film industry change dramatically and film festivals have had to quickly adapt. Sundance Film Festival is embracing change, and in 2021 - as they say - they’re going to meet audiences where they are. Plans have been announced for how the Sundance Institute will execute the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, is a lot to be excited about! If you’re wanting to attend the festival this year, here’s what you need to know:
The Sundance Film Festival will run from January 28 through February 3, 2021 - a 7 day extravaganza packed with feature films, short films, immersive virtual interactivities, and more. Sundance has a custom-designed platform (festival.sundance.org) that will host many of the festival’s events. Additionally, Sundance is coordinating with select drive-ins, independent arthouses, and a network of local community partnerships to make this year’s film festival experience even more accessible. The list of Satellite Screens can be found below, with venues in many major cities including Seattle planning to participate.
The lineup of films will be available in the United States with select titles available globally. Tickets for the festival will go on sale to the general public on January 7th, with passes available for the full festival, single day access, and single screenings.
On the platform, there will be multiple sections for visitors and attendees. The Festival Village is a free space where Satellite Screens, partners, and Festival sponsors will host a variety of events meant to compliment the festival’s program. The Main Street part of the platform is meant to act as “an homage to the iconic Park City thoroughfare,” while also being an extension of the Sundance programming, hosting interviews, performances, and more. Then, the Artist Lounge will be a prime networking space for creators, artists, and the Festival’s Class of ‘21 with private events.
This is the first year that Tabitha Jackson, former director of the documentary film program at Sundance, is heading this event as festival director. “Even under these impossible circumstances artists are still finding paths to make bold and vital work in whatever ways they can,” she says in a press release. “So Sundance, as a festival of discovery, will bring that work to its first audiences in whatever ways we can. The core of our Festival in the form of an online platform and socially distanced cinematic experiences is responsive to the pandemic and gives us the opportunity to reach new audiences, safely, where they are. And thanks to a constellation of independent cinema communities across the U.S. we are not putting on our Festival alone. At the heart of all this is a belief in the power of coming together, and the desire to preserve what makes a festival unique -- a collaborative spirit, a collective energy, and a celebration of the art, artists, and ideas that leave us changed.”
Sundance’s commitment to art and discovery is evident in all of their plans for the upcoming festival. 2021 is a new year, and we’re excited to see the Sundance Film Festival start it off in spectacular fashion.
SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL SATALLITE SCREENS
Alabama: Birmingham with Sidewalk Film Festival
Sidewalk Film Center, Sidewalk Drive-In
Arizona: Tucson with The Loft Cinema
The Loft Open Air Cinema
California:
Montclair with American Cinematheque
Mission Tiki Drive-In
Pasadena with the Rose Bowl
Rose Bowl Drive-In
San Francisco with The Roxie Theater
Roxie Theater, Fort Mason Drive-In
Colorado: Denver with Denver Film
Sie FilmCenter
Florida:
Key West with Tropic Cinema
Tropic Cinema, The Key West Lighthouse, The Truman Little White House, The Ernest Hemingway House and Museum
Miami with Third Horizon and O Cinema
New World Symphony SoundScape Park and South Miami-Dade Cultural Arts Center
Georgia:
Atlanta with Atlanta Film Society
The Plaza Theater, Plaza Drive-In, Dad’s Garage Drive-In
Macon with Macon Film Festival
Douglass Theatre
Hawaii: Honolulu with Doris Duke Theatre at the Honolulu Museum of Art (HoMA)
Iowa: Iowa City with FilmScene
FilmScene at The Chauncey
Kansas: Wichita with mama.film
mama.film microcinema, Wichita Art Museum, Groover Labs
Kentucky: Louisville with The Speed Art Museum
Speed Art Museum
Louisiana: New Orleans with New Orleans Film Society
The Broad Theater
Maryland: Baltimore with Maryland Film Festival
Stavros Niarchos Foundation Parkway Theater
Massachusetts: Brookline with Coolidge Corner Theatre
Coolidge Corner Theatre
Michigan: Detroit with Cinema Detroit
Minnesota: Minneapolis-St. Paul with FilmNorth
Riverview Theater
New York: Pleasantville with Jacob Burns Film Center
Jacob Burns Film Center & Media Arts Lab
Ohio: Columbus with Gateway Film Center
Gateway Film Center
Oklahoma: Tulsa with Circle Cinema
Circle Cinema, Circle Cinema Drive-In, Admiral Twin Drive-In, Philbrook Museum, OSU-Tulsa, Tulsa University, Gilcrease Museum
Pennsylvania: Philadelphia with BlackStar Film Festival
Puerto Rico: San Juan with Asociación de Documentalistas de Puerto Rico (AdocPR)
Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico (MAPR)
South Carolina: Columbia with The Luminal Theater
Spotlight Cinemas Capitol 8
Tennessee:
Memphis with Indie Memphis
Malco Summer Drive-In
Nashville with Belcourt Theatre
Belcourt Theatre
Texas:
Austin with Austin Film Society
AFS Cinema
Dallas with Aviation Cinemas
Texas Theatre
Houston with Houston Cinema Arts Society
MoonStruck Drive-In, DeLUXE Theater
Utah:
Park City
The Ray
Salt Lake City with Salt Lake Film Society
Washington: Seattle with Northwest Film Forum