The Sundance Institute announced the second half of the 2026 film festival will include a Park City legacy program, with screenings of iconic films from previous editions and artists talks with notable alumni. January’s event will also serve as a tribute to Sundance founder Robert Redford, who died in September at age 89.
The screening lineup for the legacy program beginning Jan. 27 includes Redford’s first independent feature “Downhill Racer,” along with “Little Miss Sunshine” and the horror film “Saw.”
Sundance Film Festival Director Eugene Hernandez told KPCW the program reflects movies that first gained buzz in front of Park City audiences.
“This audience in Utah and in Park City specifically have just been so enthusiastic coming out early in the morning, at midnight, talking about movies on the shuttles,” Hernandez said. “It’s something that is unique to this place.”
Sundance senior programmer John Nein said the slate includes new digital restorations and screenings will involve directors and cast members. Nein said there have been many notable premieres since he first came to Park City in the mid-1990s.
“When we started going to the festival, there were still actual tickets that you had to stand in line to get in the morning,” Nein told KPCW. “If you were willing to stand in line for two hours in the very bitter cold, there has to be something about what the composure of an audience is, and that people are willing to do that… We put together a program that hopefully, really celebrates that history — that idea that we’re all coming together to try to remember these things that have happened over 40 plus years.”
While the Egyptian Theatre will not screen films in January, the Main Street venue will host several artist discussions.
Additionally, there will be a culmination event for the public Jan. 30 celebrating the festival’s decades-long history in the Wasatch Mountains. Details have not yet been announced.
The 2026 Sundance Film Festival runs from Jan. 22 to Feb. 1.
It marks the last edition in Utah before the festival moves to Boulder, Colorado, in 2027.
Ticket packages for the 2026 festival go on sale Wednesday, Oct. 22, at 10 a.m. MT. Single film tickets won’t be available until Jan. 14.
