With 2025’s Sundance Film Festival wrapping up, the Institute responsible for the yearly indie forum is already cooking up plans for next year’s gathering. Dates have been set, with in-person events in Park City and Salt Lake City, Utah, stretching from January 22 to February 1, 2026.
In a statement shared with IndieWire, Acting CEO of Sundance Institute Amanda Kelso said, “The past 11 days of the Festival have been a meaningful opportunity to connect as a community in support of independent storytelling. We look forward to being reunited with audiences, artists, industry, and press next January for another edition of the Festival.”
Adding his excitement, Director of Sundance Film Festival and Public Programming Eugene Hernandez said, “As this year’s Festival comes to a close, we’re already looking ahead to 2026 and what will no doubt be an unforgettable experience! We invite you to save the date and get ready to join us in Park City and Salt Lake City one year from now at Sundance 2026; it will be a Festival you won’t want to miss!”
2026 may be the last year Sundance is hosted in the Beehive State, as bids are currently on the table from Boulder, Colorado, and Cincinnati, Ohio, to take over in 2027. Salt Lake City is still in the running to keep Sundance in Utah, but IndieWire’s polling at this year’s festival showed many are split on where the new home should land. To make matters more complicated, Sundance’s virtual platform, which has been in place since 2021 and allows those unable to attend in person to view select titles at home, is now under threat thanks to some viewers recording clips and posting them on social media.
Also announced was 2025’s Festival Favorite Award, which went to the touching documentary “Come See Me in the Good Light.” The film follows poets and partners Andrea Gibson and Megan Falley as they face the former’s harrowing battle against ovarian cancer. Directed by Ryan White and produced by Tig Notaro, Brandi Carlile, and Sara Bareilles, the project comes at an essential moment for queer and trans lives in America.
“Throughout the Festival we saw audiences moved by Andrea Gibson’s and Megan Falley’s journeys in ‘Come See Me in the Good Light,’” said Kim Yutani, Sundance Film Festival Director of Programming. “Festival goers embraced the humor and heartbreak of this intimate documentary directed by Ryan White, as it speaks to art and love and reminds us what it means to be alive as we face mortality.”
The Festival Favorite Award is decided by votes directly from audience members. The top five runners-up for the award this year were “Deaf President Now!,” “The Alabama Solution,” “The Ballad of Wallis Island,” “Andre Is an Idiot,” and “Prime Minister.”
