“Happy New Year!” The clock just struck midnight and with that brings the end of one year and the beginning of a new one. This is the time when people like to set resolutions – you know things they want to improve on, change about themselves or their lives or try something new they’ve always wanted to do. Research shows that many people only keep their resolutions for less than a month. Well if you are one of those who don’t usually keep your resolution, here is one you can keep because the Sundance Film Festival takes place in mid January.
Deciding to visit the Sundance Film Festival is an excellent choice as you will be able to enjoy films made by filmmakers from all over the world. Sundance Film Festival is the largest independent film festival in the United States and is one of the top five in the entire world. The festival is based in Park City, but movies are shown in Salt Lake, Ogden, at the Sundance Resort as well as in Park City.
There are two myths that surround the Sundance Film Festival that both visitors and many locals buy into. The first myth is that the festival was named after Sundance Resort, which is owned by Robert Redford. That brings up the second myth, which is that Redford started the festival. Redford was a big contributor to the festival, but was not the main reason it began and it did not get its name after the resort. The festival was actually started by Sterling Van Wagenene (a BYU graduate student), the Utah State Film Commission and a small group of associates. The festival was created as a way to hold a national event that would draw filmmakers to Utah, as well as provide a place for film makes outside the Hollywood realm to compete and display their work before a wider audience. Eventually the festival moved to the Sundance Institute, but that was years after its implementation.
Today, the two original goals set by the organizers of the film festival are still very active. Today’s film festival is compromised of competitive sections for dramatic and documentary films that are both feature-length and short films. The festival also has non-competitive sections that allow film makes the opportunity to simply display their work to the world. There are more than 8,000 movies submitted to the ten-day film festival each year.
Not only do moviemakers come from all over the world, but visitors do as well. The Sundance Film Festival draws over 50,000 visitors each year. For those who are coming to visit during the Sundance Festival, Destination Sundance provides the best selection of lodging choices as well as the lowest rates possible. Also when visitors book their lodging through Destination Sundance, visitors also receive two Sundance Film Festival movie vouchers. Also, a portion of all the sales made through Destination Sundance helps support the films as well as the non-profit organization Sundance Institute.
Park City is a beautiful getaway destination any time of the year, but especially during the month of January. Why not come and enjoy the beauty of this place and some excellent films as well?
