After a forced summer off because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Sundance Institute is bringing back a series of free, in-person screenings for Utah audiences.
For many of the screenings in Sundance’s For the Locals series, the institute will join forces with other established arts organizations and events — including the Latino Arts Festival in Park City and, in Salt Lake City, the Living Traditions Festival, the Open Streets initiative, the Damn These Heels Queer Film Festival and the Craft Lake City DIY Festival.
Here is the lineup of screenings and events:
June 21-26 • For the Latino Arts Festival in Park City, Sundance will show “Nuestras Vidas: Latinx Shorts,” a curated collection of short films featuring Latinx filmmakers and their stories; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Christian Center of Park City, 1283 Deer Valley Drive, Park City.
Also, as part of the festival, Sundance will screen the documentary “Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It,” a profile of the stage and screen legend, on Thursday, June 24, at 9:30 p.m., at the Twilight Drive-In at the Utah Olympic Park, 3419 Olympic Parkway, Park City. The Christian Center, Arts Council Park City + Summit County and Park City Film are the institute’s partners for these screenings.
(Photo courtesy of MGM Media Licensing / Sundance Institute) Rita Moreno, seen here on the set of MGM's 1961 classic "West Side Story," is the subject of "Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go For It," by Mariem Pérez Riera. Sundance Institute will present a free screening of the film on June 24, 2021, at Park City's Utah Olympic Park.
June 26 • Sundance will screen the “Nuestras Vidas” shorts program from noon to 9 p.m., during the Living Traditions Festival, in Washington Square Park, 200 E. 400 South, Salt Lake City. Sundance will also show institute-supported virtual reality projects from the Sundance Film Festival’s New Frontier lineup. Presented in collaboration with Salt Lake City Arts Council.
July 9-10 • As part of Open Streets, Sundance will show a collection of short films featuring filmmakers of color and their stories, from 6 to 10 p.m., on a mobile LED screen near the steps to the Eccles Theatre, 131 S. Main St., Salt Lake City. Presented with The Blocks and the Downtown Alliance.
July 14-17 • The centerpiece of Sundance’s For the Locals series is a weekend of outdoor screenings of films from the 2021 Sundance Film Festival slate:
• “CODA” — which won a record four awards at Sundance 2021, including the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award — is director Sian Heder’s family comedy-drama about a teen girl (Emilia Jones), the only member of her New England fishing family who can hear, who discovers a talent for singing. It screens July 16, 8:30 p.m., at the Utah Olympic Park; and July 17, 8 p.m., at the Sugar Space Arts Warehouse, 132 S. 800 West, Salt Lake City.
(Photo courtesy of Apple TV+) Emilia Jones plays the daughter of deaf parents in "CODA," by Siân Heder. Sundance Institute will host a free screening of the movie, as part of its For the Locals summer series, on July 16, 2021, at the Utah Olympic Park in Park City.
• “Flee,” an animated documentary directed by Jonas Poher Rasmussen, won the Grand Jury Prize in the festival’s World Cinema Documentary category. It’s about an Afghani refugee living in Denmark, a successful academic about to marry his longtime boyfriend — until a secret threatens to ruin the life he has built. It screens July 15, 9:30 p.m., at the Utah Olympic Park; and July 17, 9 p.m., at Liberty Park, 600 East and 900 South, Salt Lake City, as part of the Damn These Heels Queer Film Festival (presented by the Utah Film Center).
• “Jockey,” directed by Clint Bentley, is a drama about an aging jockey (Clifton Collins Jr., who won a special jury prize at Sundance) who is given a chance to ride a horse to a championship. The film screens July 14, 6:30 p.m., at the Utah Olympic Park; and July 15, 9:30 p.m., at the Redwood Drive-In, 3688 S. Redwood Road, Salt Lake City.
• “One for the Road,” directed by Baz Poonpiriya, is a buddy comedy-drama in which a New York bar owner returns home to Thailand to see an estranged friend who is dying of cancer and needs help completing his bucket list. It screens July 14, 9:30 p.m., at the Redwood Drive-In; and July 15, 6 p.m., at the Utah Olympic Park.
• “Summer of Soul (… or When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised),” directed by Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, is a Grand Jury Prize-winning documentary chronicling the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, a series of concerts featuring such acts as Sly and the Family Stone, Stevie Wonder, Mavis Staples, Mahalia Jackson, B.B. King, Nina Simone, The 5th Dimension, Gladys Knight & the Pips, and more. It screens July 14, 9 p.m., at the Utah Olympic Park; and July 16, 9:30 p.m., at the Red Butte Garden Amphitheatre, 300 Wakara Way, Salt Lake City.
• A collection of short films featuring filmmakers of color will screen July 17, 5 p.m., at the Sugar Space Arts Warehouse.
Park City Film and Dragonfli Media are partnering with Sundance for the Park City screenings.
Aug. 13-15 • Sundance will present virtual reality projects from the festival’s New Frontier lineup — including “Animalia Sum” and “The Summation of Force” — at the Craft Lake City DIY Festival, at the Utah State Fairpark, 1000 W. North Temple, Salt Lake City. Hours for the VR exhibit are: Aug. 13, 5-10 p.m.; Aug. 14, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.; and Aug. 15, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
