I was 15 years old when I attended my first screening at the Sundance Film Festival. With printed tickets and MapQuest instructions in hand, my friend and I made what felt like a very “adult” journey from our Salt Lake suburb to the coolest place in Utah: Park City’s Main Street (a trip made possible by an older sister with a Toyota Corolla).
This experience was formative to me as a middle class, Mormon teenager who possessed a constant creative itch and placed a high value on individuality. The festival made a difference in my life. It should stay in Utah, where its influence remains needed.
The stories told at the Sundance Film Festival are part of what gave me the confidence from a young age to accept nuance and identify as both a Mormon and a feminist — to realize that I could respect my conservative neighbors while also respecting people’s pronouns. And most importantly, these stories unveiled that there are infinite lives being lived beyond the boundaries of my own lived experience. I grew up shaped by indigenous, rural and underrepresented voices who share both nearby and faraway worlds. Eventually, I even learned to hear the voice of the land itself. My own story is richer because I have learned to think independently, to listen deeply and to navigate complexity with tolerance and compassion.
The Sundance Institute’s vision to “spark new levels of empathy and understanding, and even lead to social change” deeply resonates. Expanding into Salt Lake City will make the Festival more accessible and affordable than it’s ever been, including reaching more communities of color and 150,000 college students. Current reporting reflects that 1 in 4 Utahns are a racial/ethnic minority, with 50% of that population residing in Salt Lake County. I have long felt that Salt Lake City screenings were the Sundance Film Festival’s best kept secret, but I’m thrilled to share this secret with more visitors — and especially more locals. I would love to see the Festival better reach a young, multicultural audience. What would it be like to partner with Salt Lake-based entities like the Urban Indian Center, the International Rescue Committee and Equality Utah? And I’d like to have members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and our adjacent rural communities attend screenings, too.
If you’ll allow me to just come out and say it: Boulder, Colorado, is not the land of diversity of thought or race or socioeconomic status. A Boulder High School student, Halie Leland, was critical of “The Boulder Bubble” in an article for her high school newspaper, “I live in a place where approximately 107,000 individuals agree with almost everything I think, say or post.” 107,000 is meant to reference the population of the entire city.
Utah is deeply divided in many ways, but in Salt Lake City — with a populace that is diverse in ways that are distinct from any other city in the world — we are constantly practicing how to have conversations that matter. We are learning to coexist. We are learning how to compromise. We are learning how to listen to other people, to hear their stories. This results in unexpected and sometimes bright outcomes. For example, there’s a reason LGBTQ+ Utahns have more legal protections than any other red state.
The Sundance Institute’s mission to discover and support independent artists aligns seamlessly with Utah’s independent spirit. At this important juncture for Sundance Institute, I would encourage the organization to see the possibilities for innovation right here in Utah and to remember that the Sundance ethos has never been about following the money.
So, I’m asking the Sundance Institute to please stay. Stay here. Stay part of the conversation. Continue to open minds. Continue to challenge, and be willing to be challenged. Keep balancing the scales in this red state with blue cities. Keep telling stories that transcend political affiliation. Keep sharing stories that stem from the magical landscapes surrounding this festival. Keep Utah’s distinct Western cinematic spirit alive. Like Robert Redford discovered, continue to see what’s possible when you combine this place with this community.
Sundance, keep being Sundance.
(Rosie Gochnour Serago) Rosie Gochnour Serago the Marketing Director for Exponent II.
Rosie Gochnour Serago promoted the Sundance Film Festival while working at the Utah Office of Tourism from 2017–2022 as a design and content strategist. Now a freelancer, current clients include several Utah-based nonprofits and government agencies. She is also the Marketing Director for Exponent II.
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