Sundance Institute ramps up local live events for the summer

Sundance 2023! Photo: Sundance Film Festival

PARK CITY, Utah. — Sundance Institute has published its roster of summer “For the Locals” events, located in Park City and Salt Lake County to take place the weekend of July 14-17. The Institute describes the series as “an invigoration of their deep local roots.”

Participants will view a diverse set of award-winning films from the 2021 Sundance Film Festival. Additional events announced today include a selection of shorts, virtual reality projects, and films set to be featured at the Park City Latino Arts Festival, Salt Lake City’s Living Traditions Festival, Open Streets, Damn These Heels Queer Film Festival, and the Craft Lake City DIY Festival. Viewing locations include the Utah Olympic Park, the Sugar Space Arts Warehouse, Redwood Drive-In Theater, and the Red Butte Garden Amphitheater.

Sundance 2021 marked a unique year for the film festival as it went entirely virtual in response to Covid-19. However, the “For the Locals” program director, Eva Rinaldi is looking forward to a traditional theater experience again. “We’re eager to gather in-person again, in creative yet safe arrangements that allow us to celebrate independent stories,” said Rinaldi. “Working alongside film teams, our programming team, and our many on-the-ground partners and advocates, it’s been a pleasure to assemble this lineup and devise innovative ways to get these artists’ projects in front of audiences.” Rinaldi directs Sundance Institute’s Utah Community program alongside Senior Manager Mateo B. Ochoa. Their aim is to foster a space where locals can participate in year-round public programs and artist opportunities that open the exchange of ideas while amplifying the work of regional art organizations.

A full slate of events and collaborations include:

June 21–26, 2021: Sundance Institute presents Nuestras Vidas: Latinx Shorts @ the Latino Arts Festival, in collaboration with the Christian Center of Park City and Arts Council Park City + Summit County

At Christian Center of Park City, Park City
10 am – 5 pm| Nuestras Vidas: Latinx Shorts

Nuestras Vidas: Latinx Shorts is a curated selection of short films centering Latinx stories and filmmakers. Confirmed films, with more to be added, include:

• Victor & Isolina / U.S.A. (Director: William Caballero) — Victor and Isolina is an animated short film, featuring 3D printed miniatures of director William D. Caballlero’s bickering and boisterous, Puerto Rican grandparents. It’s a humorous ‘he said, she said’ account of how the elderly couple separated after years of a shaky relationship and cohabitation.
• Dulce / U.S.A., Colombia (Directors: Angello Faccini and Guille Isa) — In coastal Colombia, facing rising tides made worse by climate change, a mother teaches her daughter how to swim so that she may go to the mangroves and harvest piangua shellfish with the other women in the village.
• Yoruga / U.S.A., Colombia (Director: Federico Torrado Tobón) — A lonely old man pays a visit to Yoruga, one of the last animals on Earth.
• GOOD CRAZY / U.S.A. (Director: Rosa Salazar) — A complex chick deals with a vanilla beau, a shitty brunch, and a dead coyote all in a Los Angeles day. There’s batshit crazy and then there’s good crazy—she fits somewhere in between.
• Cuco – Hydrocodone, Director’s Cut / U.S.A. (Director: Jazmin Garcia) — Hydrocodone is a music video for the Mexican American artist Cuco. It’s an abstract journey through a young man’s memories before and after a traumatic accident.
• Pablo / Belgium, Colombia (Director: Sergio Guataquira Sarmiento) — Months after a violent separation, Anouk and Pablo have to meet two members of the Ministry of State at Anouk’s place to have the legal authenticity of their cohabitation validated.

June 24, 2021: Sundance Institute presents For the Locals Screening @ the Latino Arts Festival in collaboration with Park City Film

At the Twilight Drive-In, Utah Olympic Park, Park City
9:30 pm | Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go For It

Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go For It / U.S.A. (Director: Mariem Pérez Riera, Producers: Brent Miller, Mariem Pérez Riera, Ilia J. Vélez-Dávila) — Rita Moreno defied both her humble upbringing and relentless racism to become one of a select group who have won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony Award. Over a seventy-year career, she has paved the way for Hispanic-American performers by refusing to be pigeonholed into one-dimensional stereotypes. World Premiered in the 2021 Sundance Film Festival’s U.S. Documentary section.

June 26, 2021: Sundance Institute presents Nuestras Vidas: Latinx Shorts and New Frontier Projects @ the Living Traditions Festival, in collaboration with Salt Lake City Arts Council

At Washington Square Park, Salt Lake City
Noon – 9 pm | Nuestras Vidas: Latinx Shorts and New Frontier Projects

Nuestras Vidas: Latinx Shorts will be available to watch throughout the day as well as Sundance Institute-supported VR projects that have been a part of our New Frontier lineup.

July 9–10, 2021: Downtown Salt Lake City Open Streets

At Main Street, Downtown Salt Lake City
6 pm – 10 pm | Short Film Program

Presented in partnership with THE BLOCKS and the Downtown Alliance, the program will feature a curated selection of short films centering BIPOC stories and filmmakers. Films can be watched from a mobile LED screen and enjoyed from the steps of the Eccles Theatre.

July 14, 2021: Sundance Institute presents For the Locals Screenings

At Utah Olympic Park, Park City | Thank you to our partners at Park City Film and Dragonfli Media 6:30 pm | Jockey

Jockey / U.S.A. (Director: Clint Bentley, Screenwriters: Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar, Producers: Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar, Nancy Schafer) — An aging jockey is determined to win one last championship, but his dream is complicated when a young rookie shows up claiming to be his son. Cast: Clifton Collins Jr., Molly Parker, Moises Arias. World Premiered in the 2021 Sundance Film Festival’s U.S. Dramatic Competition section; Collins, Jr. won a U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Best Actor.

9:00 pm | Summer Of Soul  (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) 

Summer Of Soul (…Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised) / U.S.A. (Director: Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, Producers: David Dinerstein, Robert Fyvolent, Joseph Patel) — During the same summer as Woodstock, over 300,000 people attended the Harlem Cultural Festival, celebrating African American music and culture, and promoting Black pride and unity. The footage from the festival sat in a basement, unseen for over 50 years, keeping this incredible event in America’s history lost – until now. World Premiered in the 2021 Sundance Film Festival’s U.S. Documentary Competition section, where it won the U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Documentary and the Audience Award: U.S. Documentary. (trailer)

At Redwood Drive-In, West Valley City
9:30 pm | One for the Road

One for the Road / China, Hong Kong, Thailand (Director: Baz Poonpiriya, Screenwriters: Baz Poonpiriya, Nottapon Boonprakob, Puangsoi Aksornsawang, Producer: Wong Kar Wai) — Boss is a consummate ladies’ man, a free spirit, and a bar owner in NYC. One day, he gets a surprise call from Aood, an estranged friend who has returned home to Thailand. Dying of cancer, Aood enlists Boss’ help to complete a bucket list – but both are hiding something. Cast: Tor Thanapob, Ice Natara, Violette Wautier, Aokbab Chutimon, Ploi Horwang, Noon Siraphun. World Premiered in the 2021 Sundance Film Festival’s World Cinema Dramatic Competition section; Poonpiriya won a World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Creative Vision.

July 15, 2021: Sundance Institute Presents For the Locals Screenings

At Utah Olympic Park, Park City | Thank you to our partners at Park City Film and Dragonfli Media
6:30 pm | One for the Road
9:30 pm | Flee 

Flee / Denmark, France, Sweden, Norway (Director: Jonas Poher Rasmussen, Producers: Monica Hellström, Signe Byrge Sørensen) — Amin arrived as an unaccompanied minor in Denmark from Afghanistan. Today, he is a successful academic and is getting married to his long-time boyfriend. A secret he has been hiding for 20 years threatens to ruin the life he has built. World Premiered in the 2021 Sundance Film Festival’s World Cinema Dramatic Competition section, where it won the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Documentary. (trailer)

At Redwood Drive-In, West Valley City:
9:30 pm | Jockey

July 16, 2021: Sundance Institute Presents For the Locals Screenings

At Utah Olympic Park, Park City | Thank you to our partners at Park City Film and Dragonfli Media
8:30 pm | CODA

CODA / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Siân Heder, Producers: Philippe Rousselet, Fabrice Gianfermi, Patrick Wachsberger) — As a CODA – Child of Deaf Adults – Ruby is the only hearing person in her deaf family. When the family’s fishing business is threatened, Ruby finds herself torn between pursuing her love of music and her fear of abandoning her parents. Cast: Emilia Jones, Eugenio Derbez, Troy Kotsur, Ferdia Walsh-Peelo, Daniel Durant, and Marlee Matlin. World Premiered in the 2021 Sundance Film Festival’s U.S. Dramatic Competition section, where it won the U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic, the Audience Award: U.S. Dramatic, and a U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Ensemble Cast; Heder won the Directing Award: U.S. Dramatic.

At Red Butte Garden Amphitheatre, Salt Lake City
9:30 pm | Summer Of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) 

July 17, 2021: Sundance Institute Presents For the Locals Screenings

At Sugar Space Arts Warehouse, Salt Lake City 
5 pm
Join us for an evening of short films centering BIPOC stories and filmmakers, aSundance Institute event for artists, and a feature film screening of CODA from the 2021 Sundance Film Festival at 8 pm

At Utah Film Center’s Damn These Heels Queer Film Festival, Liberty Park, Salt Lake City
9 pm | Flee

August 13–15, 2021: Craft Lake City DIY Festival

At Utah State Fairpark, Salt Lake City
8/13: 5 pm–10 pm; 8/14: 10 a.m.–8 pm; 8/15: 10 am – 6 pm | New Frontier Projects

New Frontier identifies and celebrates creators who explore the opportunities within the newest technologies to push the edges of story conception and craft, and to invite the audience to experience stories as never before. VR projects that have been a part of our New Frontier lineup can be found in the STEM Building and available to experience throughout the DIY Festival. Projects include:

ANIMALIA SUM / Germany, Brazil, Iceland (Directors: Bianca Kennedy & The Swan Collective)
A riff on the classic British nature documentary, this optimistic interactive VR experience takes on the future of evolution and the apparent inevitability of insects becoming humanity’s main food source.

The Summation Of Force / Australia (Directors: Narelle Autio, Trent Parke, Matthew Bate)
In a moonlit suburban backyard, two brothers battle one another in an otherworldly game of cricket in this stunning black and white live-action study of the motion, physics, and psychology of sport.