The nonprofit Sundance Institute announced the Park City Legacy program for the 2026 Sundance Film Festival, celebrating the Festival’s rich history and shared experiences in Utah through archival and restoration screenings of iconic films from previous editions, artists talks with notable Festival alumni, and a special event for the community. This year’s Festival will serve as a meaningful tribute to Robert Redford and his vision that has inspired generations of artists and redefined cinema around the world. The Festival will be held from January 22–February 1, 2026, in person in Park City and Salt Lake City, Utah, with the at-home program available online from January 29–February 1, 2026, for audiences across the country. Select talks will take place at the Egyptian Theatre, a landmark venue with a long-standing connection to the Festival.
Robert Redford’s dedication to the power of storytelling shaped independent cinema. Sundance Institute was created to nurture artists while the Sundance Film Festival was built to provide a space for works to find their audiences. In honor of his memory, a commemorative screening of Downhill Racer (released in 1969) will be presented, his first independent film and a passion project that was his catalyst for the creation of Sundance Institute and the Sundance Film Festival. Throughout the Festival, there will be gatherings that uplift the mission he envisioned, including the Celebrating Sundance Institute: A Tribute to Founder Robert Redford event, Salt Lake City Celebration event, and the Directors Brunch at Sundance Mountain Resort where the 2026 filmmakers will convene, among other moments.
The Park City Legacy program will take place from Tuesday, January 27, through Friday, January 30, during the second half of the Festival. This year’s lineup represents a cross section of the stories that reflect the Sundance Film Festival’s tradition of programming bold narratives. The film screenings will include director appearances and select cast members to be revealed, sparking fresh dialogue and connection through storytelling, for brand-new digital restorations of Little Miss Sunshine (Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris), House Party (Reginald Hudlin), Half Nelson (Ryan Fleck), American Dream (Barbara Kopple), and Mysterious Skin (Gregg Araki), as well as a recent restoration of Saw (James Wan). The series will also feature an archival screening of Humpday (Lynn Shelton). Also showing is a retrospective short film program. A full lineup will be announced of world premieres from emerging and established filmmakers that will run throughout the duration of the Festival.
The Park City Legacy program will additionally include special talks — as part of the Beyond Film series offering artist and filmmaker discussions — bringing alumni artists together for conversations reflecting on the meaning and evolution of legacy, with participants to be announced. A selection of talks will be held at the Egyptian Theatre, one of the first venues for the Sundance Film Festival. The Egyptian is where a cinematic community was built and has been home to some of the Festival’s most memorable moments over the years. In 2026, the iconic theater will be celebrating 100 years as “The Jewel of Main Street.” In addition, a culmination event for the public will be held on January 30 to celebrate the many cherished memories of the over 40-year history of the annual Festival founded by Robert Redford and show deep gratitude for the local Utah community, with details and location to follow.
“This will be an especially poignant year for us as we reflect on the vision of our late Founder, Robert Redford, who redefined cinema and provided a home for generations of artists when he created Sundance Institute. In the coming weeks as we announce the projects premiering at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival, we aim to have these compelling new stories in conversation with films from the Festival’s first four decades and also share moments that connect our history as a Festival with the present and future of independent filmmaking,” said Eugene Hernandez, Director, Sundance Film Festival and Public Programming. “We’re looking forward to honoring the Festival’s time in Park City and Robert Redford’s legacy. His fearless support of artistic integrity and risk-taking is at the core of the work we continue to do, and the 2026 Festival will be a celebration of that important mission.”
“The program announced today carries special significance as we mark and honor this year’s Festival in Utah and is the start to a full slate of projects to be unveiled in the coming weeks,” said Kim Yutani, Director of Programming, Sundance Film Festival. “This coming January we’re looking forward to hosting our community of alumni, artists, industry, staff, and volunteers with deep connections to the Festival in Utah as they come together in celebration of a place so meaningful to us all.”
“Over the almost 30 years of Sundance Institute’s collaboration with our partner, the UCLA Film & Television Archive, we’ve not only worked to ensure that the Festival’s legacy endures through film preservation, but we’ve seen that output feed an astonishing resurgence of repertory cinema programming across the country,” said John Nein, Sundance Film Festival Senior Programmer and Director of Strategic Initiatives. “The films we’ve preserved and the newly restored films screening at this year’s Festival, including some big anniversaries, are an important way to keep the independent stories from years past alive in our culture today.”
Starting tomorrow, Wednesday, October 22, at 9 a.m. PT/10 a.m. MT/noon ET. In-Person Ticket Packages and Passes and Online Ticket Packages and Passes will be on sale at festival.sundance.org/tickets. Single Film Tickets will go on sale starting January 14, 2026.
The Sundance Film Festival is an artist program of Sundance Institute, a nonprofit that has supported thousands of artists every year plus thousands more through its public programming. Proceeds earned through Festival ticket sales go to uplifting and developing emerging artists on a year-round basis through focused labs, direct grants, fellowships, residencies, and more.
