Politics was used as a “convenient excuse” by the Sundance Institute when it chose to move its annual film festival from Utah, Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson argues.
The mayor, who worked at the Sundance Film Festival when it was first created by actor Robert Redford in the 1970s, mourned the loss of the festival when it was announced last month, saying the institute's "current leadership has lost sight of the legacy and spirit that has been a staple of the organization for nearly 50 years." She explained her thinking further in a letter published in the Los Angeles Times this week, criticizing leaders of the institute.
"The real story is this: Sundance is facing financial headwinds, brought on by a shifting independent film industry and revenue losses from the COVID-19 pandemic," she wrote. "The new leadership team, instead of working with Utah's public and private partners to rebuild a stronger future, chose to walk away."
Wilson, one of several elected leaders on the Utah Sundance Film Festival Host Committee, said she tried to broker a summit with festival leaders to talk through the challenges on each side, but said her offer was not accepted.
The Sundance Institute did not respond to a request for comment. In its announcement of moving to Boulder, Colorado, beginning in 2027, Sundance officials said "politics was not a part" of the decision.
Utah was one of the three finalists to host the festival for the foreseeable future and state lawmakers even dangled a $3.5 million offer to bolster the state's bid. But rumors began to swirl in the weeks leading up to the decision that the state's bill banning gay pride and other flags from classrooms and public buildings could hurt efforts to retain the festival.
Wilson, however, said she thinks Utah's political environment was used as an excuse for the festival to relocate.
"Let's be honest about what happened here: The current Sundance leadership didn't want to solve problems," she wrote. "They wanted to move on from them. Instead of working within a community that stood by the festival through decades of growth, they opted for a clean break — and used politics as the convenient excuse. But politics are not the real story. If they were, Redford would never have planted his vision in Utah to begin with."
As the highest-ranking elected Democrat in a conservative state, Wilson said she deals with political challenges daily, and said the festival "opened doors for underrepresented communities" and presented "new ideas" to audiences.
“This is a loss for Utah. But it’s also a loss for Sundance,” she added. “This exit leaves behind the environment that gave it its identity, but more importantly the people and the principles that gave it meaning. Sundance forgot its roots, the community that built it and the essence of what made it great in the first place; independent voices aren’t just needed in comfortable places — they’re needed in the places where they can actually make a difference.”