Asked Thursday if the UTAH conservative political climate made the decision to move the Sundance Film Festival to the Colorado of the Adjacet Blue State after four decades in the Wasatch mountains, EBS Burough, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Sundance Institute, said: “The short response is no.”
“We have been in Utah for 40 years. We are not unusual in politics,” said Burnough in an interview. “We have already dealt with all kinds of politicians, so it is not something that we are never afraid of or keep ourselves away. And it was not an important part of how we addressed this process. ”
But the mayor of Park City, Nann Worerel, was not convinced that politics did not help to switch the balance in favor of relocation.
“I do not know that we will never know what was the impact, but the words count, and the rhetoric that was going on was not useful,” she said in an interview.
In his speech on the state of the city this week, the mayor referred to a bill adopted by the Legislative Assembly and the remarks of certain legislators as “non -useful” to keep the festival.
“I guess this,” she said on Thursday. “I think it is important to choose your words carefully when you discuss different aspects of things, in particular an entity like Sundance who was a friend of Park City and the state of Utah for 40 years.”
Of the three Sundance states considered finalists – Ohio, Colorado and Utah – Boulder stands out as one of the most liberal domains of a progressive state, while UTAH is the most politically conservative.
“I founded Sundance Institute with a commitment to discover and develop independent artists, the Sundance Film Festival serving as a platform for stories to help extend the public and expand the landscape,” said Robert Redford, who is also president of the Institute on Thursday. “This mission remains even more critical today and will continue to be our fundamental principle.”
The actor, whose awarded roles include The Sundance Kid in the “Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid” of 1969, added: “This decision will guarantee that the festival continues its work of risk, to support innovative storytellers, to promote independence and to entertain and clarify audiences.”
And while Sundance closes the Porte de l’Utah, civil servants say they discuss the contribution of a new state festival.
(In relation: Sundance Film Festival leaves Utah. Here’s why and what Utah offered it to stay.))
(In relation: “ Bettrarization ”: Film lovers of Utah cry the loss of Sundance Film Festival))
‘Money talks’
Thursday’s decision to move the festival comes after a deadline earlier this month in which an “Sundance initiate” suggested that a recent bill This would prohibit the flags of pride in schools and government buildings were among the reasons to consider a move, but the officials of Sundance did not confirm the report.
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox has not yet taken any measure on the billHB77, and until midnight Thursday to do it. During a press conference the last night of the legislative session, Cox said he was leaning over to sign the bill: “I don’t know if I will sign that one. I will probably sign that one. I have to look at it.”
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Governor Spencer Cox is organizing a press conference in Salt Lake City, Thursday, March 20, 2025.
Like Burnough, UTAH officials also said that politics was not a factor in Sundance’s decision. During his monthly press conference on PBS Utah last week, Cox said: “The Council told us very clearly that political problems have nothing to do with their decision, and therefore I will take the board of directors.”
In a room to try to keep Sundance in Utah, UTAH legislators have increased their support for the Sundance Institute from $ 1.4 million to $ 3.5 million – a contingent in the festival that stays in the state. Senate president Stuart Adams told journalists earlier this month that the larger figure is the amount that the film festival had requested.
Colorado envisages legislation which would give a similar amount in tax credits, $ 34 million over 10 years, but money would be loaded forward with $ 13 million in the first three years after the state move.
Vicki Varela, who was the director of the Office of Tourism, Cinema and the World brand of the Utah State until last year, said in an interview that the stability of the 10 -year commitment from Colorado to Sundance makes it attractive compared to the offer from year to year of UTAH.
“Money speaks. It is inevitably a large part of that,” she said.
“We also have these debates on public policies that become symbolic of who we are, and what is a more powerful symbol of who we are only what we put on our flags?” Said Varela. “The fact that the discussion on this public symbol occurred at the time is very regrettable, and I am sure that there was a lot of discussions (on this subject).”
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) The main street of Park City is closed to traffic for visitors from Sundance on Thursday, January 23, 2025.
The announcement of the Sundance Institute said that among the criteria he considered in the selection process was the “values of ethos and actions”. Each finalist has been invited to demonstrate “how he would welcome and continue to promote the community of festivals and the culture of independent creativity.”
‘There have always been tensions’
Questions about how Sundance could react to UTAH policy have become higher in recent years because the State, alongside a number of other states led by Republicans, has adopted more and more restrictions on the LGBTQ + community – in particular the transgender Utahns.
Utah has Limited transgender girls in the practice of sport in the teams that align themselves with their gender identity, Prohibit young transgender people from access to care affirmed by the sexes And Transgender people prohibited from using changing rooms and toilets In accordance with their gender in buildings belonging to a government.
And this year, the governor signed a bill adopted by the legislator Limit transgender people imprisoned from access to gender transitional care.
In a statement that followed the festival’s announcement, the LGBTQ + Equality Utah advocacy group said that the group had felt a “deep feeling of Spending will no longer call UTAH at home”, and added that the departure “leaves a void in our cultural souls, in particular for the LGBTQ Utahns, which found our struggles and our triumphs Courague du Festival “.
Last week, Cox criticized the possibility that the festival moves to state restrictions on the LGBTQ +community, saying that if the Institute’s board of directors wanted to make a difference in such policies, it would remain and keep “a seat at the table”.
“(Departure) does not change any heart and mind,” said Cox. “So, if it’s a problem that is really close to your heart, you would think you would like to stay and fight for this problem.”
When asked by a journalist from Deseret News in September on how he would react to the “Utahns who are concerned about the State which subsidizes an event that has a lot of explicit sexual content”, said Cox, “it is obviously something that worries me also – it is a fairly small piece of this, and the economic yields of our state are also out of the graphics.”
Certain politicians to the right of the governor, such as the senator of the republican state Dan McCay, of Riverton, expressed their disdain towards the festival and applauded the possibility of his departure.
“Bye Felicia …,” McCay wrote In a position that responded to the Deadline reports on the festival, perhaps leaving a ban on the flag of pride. “Spending promotes porn. Sundance promotes alternative lifestyles. Sundance promotes anti-LDS themes ”, referring to the Church of Jesus Christ of the Holy Days, the greatest faith in Utah.
“Sundance no longer enters Utah,” concluded McCay.
In 2017, the outdoor retailer fair left Utah for Colorado due to political differences, but after five years, he returned to Salt Lake City.
Varela said that the outdoor retailer felt different because Sundance was created and grew up in Utah.
“I think there is a deeper attachment in many ways for all of us that this remarkable thing has come out of Utah and that it reflects our openness to new ideas and an innovative cinema,” she said. “You look how our film industry has grown up during these years … There is almost a deeper attachment that makes it more poignant.”
Adam Brown, professor of political science at Brigham Young University, said that there was always a little gap “between Sundance and the conservative political allegiance of UTAH.
“There have always been tensions. It was not the first time they talked about it,” he said.
The festival was a major economic engine for Utah. According to a 2024 report Compiled by Y2 Analytics, the 2024 Festival contributed $ 132 million to the gross domestic product of the state that year, created more than 1,700 jobs, represented more than $ 69 million in wages and created nearly $ 14 million in tax revenue.
In a statement immediately after the announcement, Cox wrote: “As I said from the start, we wanted Sundance to remain. We have clearly indicated that their leadership and set up a highly competitive package. In the end, this decision belongs to them – but I believe that it is a mistake, and one day, they will realize that they have left not only a place, but but their inheritance. “
Utah has “started to meet partners, stakeholders and creative voices to create a new festival-the one who honors our heritage and writes the next chapter of the independent film of Utah,” he added.
Legislative leaders have echoed these plans in a separate declaration, saying: “We firmly believe that when one door closes, another opens. We will work to create a new opportunity that improves the identity of UTAH as a hub for the arts, culture and film, motivated by the entrepreneurial spirit that feeds our growth, our innovation and our cultural vitality. ”
The deputy editor -in -chief of Salt Lake Tribune, Sean P. means contributing to this story.
This story is in development and can be updated.
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