The Sundance Film Festival, a staple of Utah culture for 40 years, recently hosted ten free screenings in the Salt Lake City area as part of its Local Lens summer program from July 17-21.
The annual Local Lens series occurs six months after Sundance’s marquee film festival, which takes place in Park City and parts of Salt Lake City each January. This summer’s screenings spotlighted fan-favorite films that already premiered at Sundance this year — except the audience choice film, a fan favorite from 2013, on the last day.
The 2024 edition of Local Lens also had filmmaking workshops and other forms of audience interactivity.
“One of the things we try to do with Local Lens is give a sampling of what the [main Sundance] festival is all about,” said Basil Tsiokos, lead programmer for the Local Lens series. “I think there is something for everyone [at Local Lens].”
“[The filmmakers] being able to bring their films back to Utah six months later [in July] is really exciting … [they are] able to see where the film has gone in those six months,” Tsiokos added.
Tsiokos said the atmosphere of the Sundance Film Festival can be overwhelming for filmmakers and attendees. Local Lens thus acts as a sample of the main festival by offering a more intimate and less crowded setting.
“To just really be able to have that sort of like one-on-one interaction with the audience, I think it’s something really special,” said Tsiokos.
Something for everyone
Tsiokos said Local Lens always seeks to offer a diverse range of movies that highlight a myriad of different voices, which bolsters the uniquely personal experience for everyone in attendance.
“We love movie-going, we encourage movie-going, we want people to see movies all the time,” Tsiokos explained. “But in terms of these kinds of series that we do, [they are] really trying to serve as [a] conduit between the filmmaker, the film, and the audience.”
“[We want people] to be able to sort of share that experience,” he added.
Local Lens films, which are screened both outdoors at places like City Park and indoors at Salt Lake City cinemas, mostly come from new voices in the film industry.
This year, screenings included the character portrait film, “Layla,” as well as award-winning films such as “Daughters,” which won the Festival Favorite Award and the Audience Award at Sundance 2024, and “Sugarcane,” which won the Directing Award at Sundance 2024.
Besides these honorable mentions, other films shown at Local Lens, including “Eno,” have been called groundbreaking in terms of how stories are told. “Eno” in particular received notoriety for using cutting-edge techniques in its filmmaking, such as generative AI technology.
As part of the Local Lens programming, event organizers from Sundance also held a workshop called “Filmmaking: Deep Dive,” which included a speed pitching event, information on how to connect to the industry, and an “ask me anything” session with Tsiokos and Eugene Hernandez, festival director and head of public programming at the Sundance Institute.
Celebrating tradition
This year’s Local Lens series also served as a celebration for the 40th anniversary of Sundance Film Festival. To pay homage to Sundance history, organizers let fans take charge of some of the programming process.
As stated on the Sundance website, earlier in the summer, select audiences received the opportunity to pick a film from four decades of Sundance premieres to be the final film screened at Local Lens. “20 Feet from Stardom” became the audience’s choice.
A 2013 Sundance documentary premiere, “20 Feet from Stardom” chronicles the talents, lives and tribulations of largely unknown background singers who serve to complement and perfect the performances of popular musical artists like Stevie Wonder, The Rolling Stones, and Sting. The film was shown at Megaplex Luxury Theatres at the Gateway on July 21.
Although the screening was scheduled to begin at 7 p.m., a line of Sundance aficionados, amateur music historians and film buffs started forming in the theatre lobby as early as an hour before.
Susan Grant, who attended the screening with her husband, Ray, said they heard about Local Lens via the Sundance Institute mailing list. The couple appreciates the summer screenings in Salt Lake.
“There’s so many of us that love the festival, but we’re not going to stay in Park City, so the added convenience [of being here] is helpful,” Susan Grant said.
Ray Grant added that they appreciate the kind of storytelling that Local Lens puts forth in their film selection.
“That’s one of the great advantages of the festival is the diversity of the offerings,” Ray Grant said. “It gives you different points of view.”
Tsiokos, who spoke before “20 Feet from Stardom” began, said, “It’s really special for us to show this particular film … this film was a big success at the 2013 festival where it premiered. It went on to win the Oscar for Best Documentary Film as well as the Grammy for Best Music Film.”
“It’s a really beautiful, soulful, unforgettable story about some of the most talented musicians that you’ve never heard of who made careers backing up the singers you have heard of,” Tsiokos added.
The future of Sundance in Utah
Although there has been conversation regarding Sundance leaving Utah, Tsiokos said that the main festival is certain to remain in Utah through 2026, which will bring the summer series back around for at least a few more years as well.
Based on the turnout of attendees for “20 Feet from Stardom” — the large Megaplex theatre filled was to the brim — the popularity of Sundance premieres to local Utahns is still palpable.
Before the film began, at least half of the attendees raised their hands when asked if they’d been to two films throughout the week. When attendees were asked if they’d been to four films throughout the week, the number of raised hands barely dwindled. And one individual kept their hand raised — to scattered applause — when the audience was polled about watching all seven films shown at the theatre.
“People trust Sundance as sort of a space for discovery, whether [they are] a member of the industry or a film lover,” Tsiokos said, referencing the importance that the festival has for locals because of its national and international importance in the film industry.
