A Brief History of the Sundance Film Festival

Every January droves of people and Hollywood stars descend upon Park City, Utah to attend the Sundance Film Festival. As odd as it seems to have such a well-respected affair in out-of-the-way Utah, the Sundance Film Festival is one of the world’s top five film festivals. It shares company with Cannes, Toronto, Venice, and Berlin. But its origins may surprise you.

Everyone knows that Robert Redford founded the festival, right? Wrong. Despite the myth that makes Redford the instigator of the festival, it was actually started by a film graduate from BYU, Sterling Van Wagenen, and Utah’s Film Commissioner, John Earle. Van Wagenen and Earle created the festival for three reasons:

1.to entice more film makers to Utah
2.to provide a showcase for American films (although the festival has since developed international categories)
3.to recognize films not made in Hollywood.

The festival’s first year was 1978. Redford was there from the beginning, but as a member of the board of directors. Redford has lived in Utah since the 1960s, and it was only natural that he should be invited to participate. Part of the reason that Sundance has garnered so much attention is doubtless due to its association with Redford. And because he was (and is) such a big name, the story that he founded the festival has never been strenuously denied.

Rather than being held in Park City, the first two festivals were held 45 minutes to the west in Salt Lake City. And not during the winter. The change came for the third festival. Sydney Pollack (yes, THAT Sydney Pollack), who was also on the board of directors, insightfully suggested that holding the festival at a ski resort during the winter would set it apart. However, back then the festival was known as the Utah/US Film Festival. The name didn’t change until 1991, when the name was changed to reflect the fact that Redford’s Sundance Institute has sponsored the event since 1985.

The combination of famous patrons, a unique setting, and a growing reputation for high quality independent films has made Sundance a major event. It lasts for ten days, has expanded to include 10 individual sections, and has spawned a variety of activities around it. People even come to screen movies out of the backs of their cars on the streets of Park City, hoping to get noticed – or to just have a good time.

Some of the most revered independent filmmakers of our time have received their big breaks while showing movies at Sundance. Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez, James Wan, Jim Jarmusch, and Kevin Smith all got their entrance into mainstream culture at Sundance. Additionally, movies like Clerks, The Blair Witch Project, and Napoleon Dynamite were all propelled into the mainstream and pop culture by their exposure at Sundance.