Sundance Is Leaving Deep Red Utah for Deep Blue Colorado

Deadline reports that after a few years of growing unease and rumours flying about Sundance leaving Park City for somewhere here (Cincinnati?) or there (LA?), a decision has finally been made to move the US’ most important film festival to Boulder, Colorado in 2027.

Can I say it like it is? It never made sense for a festival that values diversity and creative independence to be, in all places, Utah. Yes, it’s a striking location, but politics has far surpassed the geographic considerations that captivated the festival’s founder, Robert Redford. And this recent god-awful business of a “bill that would ban the Pride Flag from government buildings in the state,” made it too clear that it was time to up and go. Enough is enough with these hate-addicted people. And why should we stick around when they have everything they want? Their president is down with hating anything that isn’t devoted to super-rich white males. Colorado dreaming, here we come.

Dateline: 

With a financially deep and culturally deep proposal, Boulder, which houses of the University of Colorado, put $34 million in tax incentives on the table over the decade of the new deal. Directly facing the challenges and inconvenience that have hobbled Sundance in Park City in recent years

That’s putting it “nice, like.”

I’ve visited the festival twice, once for Police Beat and once for Zoo, and hated every minute of the experience. The baroque drinking laws, the hicks, the sticks, the state’s identification with one religion. Now we can be done with all that and visit a state that has its head in the right place. 

And in the spirit of diversity, which has to be imposed, as it doesn’t come naturally to most Americans, I want to recommend two local film-related events. One is Charles Burnett’s neglected masterpiece The Annihilation of Fish, which was released in 1999 and stars the recently late James Earl Jones. Margot Kidder and Lynn Redgrave are also stars in the film, which is a brilliant examination of love, aging, and mental illness. The Annihilation of Fish stands alone. You will not find another film like it. And that sex scene. Good god. Few filmmakers have surpassed Charles Burnett’s artistic bravery. 

The Annihilation of Fish is running at the Grand Illusion.

Another event is the Post Alley Film Festival, which is a one-and-done on Saturday at the SIFF Fim Center. PAFF is “a day of woman centric & eccentric short films from around the block and around the world. Stories by women for everyone.” Short films, all day. You can just walk in and checkout where the program is, and enter the stream of images.

Both events, Annihilation of Fish and Post Alley Film Festival, are in a very blue city in a very blue state. I never felt safe in Utah.