(L-R) Photo credit: Instagram user @kerfuffleupagus; Photo credit: Instagram user @xebede; Photo credit: Instagram user @danibaum
Park City, UT — Trade your parka for a picnic blanket and join Sundance Institute for screenings of indie favorites under the stars in Salt Lake City and Park City this summer. Sundance Institute today announced 7 of the 8 Sundance Film Festival films that will be featured at the 2016 Sundance Institute Summer Film Series. For the first time ever, the Institute will be screening a 3D version of Under The Electric Sky outdoors at City Park. Additionally, in celebration of the 25th Anniversary of the popular bone-chilling Midnight Sundance Film Festival category, the Utah community can vote online at sundance.org/utah or onsite at screenings through August 12 for The Blair Witch Project, What We Do In The Shadows, Tucker and Dale vs. Evil and Under the Shadow to be the eighth film in the series.
Now in its 19th year, the series kicks off July 6 at Salt Lake City’s Red Butte Garden Amphitheatre and July 15 in Park City at City Park. Films start at dusk (approximately 9:00 p.m.). All screenings are free and open to the public, no ticket needed, with seating on a first-come, first-served basis. Attendees are encouraged to bring picnic baskets and blankets or low-back lawn chairs. All films have screened at the Sundance Film Festival or been supported by the Institute’s other year-round programs for independent artists.
Kara Cody, Senior Manager of Utah Community Programs for Sundance Institute, said, “Our technical exhibition team continually pulls out all the stops to provide the highest-quality viewing experience outdoors and this year will be no different, especially with our first-ever 3D screening. We are excited to bring these Festival favorites back to Utah for our strong community of film lovers, neighbors and friends.”
The Institute will again collaborate with other Utah-based organizations for the Summer Film Series, including the Kimball Arts Festival and Park City Recreation. This year’s screenings are supported by Principal Sponsor – Zions Bank, Major Sponsors – Pop Art Snacks and Utah Governor’s Office of Economic Development, Community Supporters – Salt Lake County Economic Development; Salt Lake County Zoo, Arts and Parks (ZAP) Program; Summit County Recreation, Arts, and Parks (RAP) Tax; Salt Lake City Arts Council; Promontory Foundation; and Red Butte Garden.
For more information about Sundance Institute programming for Utah students and residents and to vote for the Utah Community Choice Film visit sundance.org/utah. Join the conversation on social media with #Sundancelocals. Audience members who share their screening experience on Instagram using #Sundancelocals have the chance to be featured on Visit Salt Lake’s Instagram page or Visit Park City’s Instagram page who have a combined following of nearly 40,000 people.
Wednesday, July 6 • Red Butte Garden Amphitheatre, Salt Lake City
Brooklyn / U.S.A. (Director: John Crowley, Screenwriter: Nick Hornby, based on the book by Colm Tóibín) — 1950s Ireland: Eilis must confront a terrible dilemma — a heartbreaking choice between two men and two countries, between duty and true love. Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Domhnall Gleeson, Emory Cohen, Julie Walters, Jim Broadbent. Screened at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival; Academy Award Nominee.
Friday, July 15 • City Park, Park City
The Way, Way Back / U.S.A. (Directors and screenwriters: Nat Faxon, Jim Rash) — Duncan, an introverted 14-year-old, comes into his own over the course of a comedic summer when he forms unlikely friendships with the gregarious manager of a rundown water park and the misfits who work there. Cast: Steve Carell, Toni Collette, Allison Janney, Sam Rockwell, Maya Rudolph, Liam James. Screened at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. Screening presented in collaboration with Park City Recreation who will host lawn games starting at 7:30 pm.
Wednesday, July 27 • Red Butte Garden Amphitheatre, Salt Lake City
When We Were Kings / U.S.A. (Director: Leon Gast) — A chronicle of the Ali-Foreman heavyweight boxing match from 1974 that uses original footage of the “rumble in the jungle” when it took place in Kineshasa, Zaire. The film is on one level a lost documentary: never-before-seen images of the Fight of the Century between a then relatively unpopular, but fearsome, boxer named George Foreman and his nearly mythical antagonist, the incomparable Muhammad Ali. But its also a riveting story of the drama and significance of the beginning of a new age of black culture and identity. Screened at the 1996 Sundance Film Festival; 1997 Academy Award Winner.
Friday, July 29 • City Park, Park City
Under the Electric Sky (EDC 2013) / U.S.A. (Directors: Dan Cutforth, Jane Lipsitz) — This 3-D film chronicles the love, community, and life of festivalgoers during Electric Daisy Carnival Las Vegas, the largest music festival in the U.S. Behind-the-scenes footage and exclusive interviews with Insomniac’s Pasquale Rotella reveal the magic that makes this three-night, 345,000-person event a global phenomenon. Screened at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival.
Wednesday, August 3 • Red Butte Garden Amphitheatre, Salt Lake City
Kinky Boots / United Kingdom (Director: Julian Jarrold) — With the sudden death of his father, Charlie Price takes up the reins of the family’s Northampton shoe factory. But Charlie quickly discovers it is not business as usual, and without new shoe orders, bankruptcy is imminent. As if in a dream, enter Lola, fresh from London and larger than life: sexy, sassy, cabaret-singing man in a dress. These two unlikely friends become allies in a plan that will change the future of the factory and its workers, and the hearts and minds of anyone who crosses their path. Screened at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival.
Friday, August 12 • City Park, Park City
Sonita / Germany, Iran, Switzerland (Director: Rokhsareh Ghaem Maghami) — If 18-year-old Sonita had a say, Michael Jackson and Rihanna would be her parents and she’d be a rapper who tells the story of Afghan women and their fate as child brides. She finds out that her family plans to sell her to an unknown husband for $9,000. Screened at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival where it won a 2016 Sundance Film Festival Audience Award for World Cinema Documentary and 2016 Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize for World Cinema Documentary.
Tuesday, August 23 • Red Butte Garden Amphitheatre, Salt Lake City
We Are X / United Kingdom, U.S.A., Japan (Director: Stephen Kijak) — As glam rock’s most flamboyant survivors, X Japan ignited a musical revolution in Japan during the late ’80s with their melodic metal. Twenty years after their tragic dissolution, X Japan’s leader, Yoshiki, battles with physical and spiritual demons alongside prejudices of the West to bring their music to the world. Screened at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival.
Wednesday, August 31 • Red Butte Garden Amphitheatre, Salt Lake City
Utah Community Choice Film — Sundance Institute wants YOU to select the last film of the Summer Series. Through August 12 vote for your favorite Midnight classic: The Blair Witch Project, What We Do In The Shadows, Tucker and Dale vs. Evil and Under the Shadow. Vote onsite at screenings or at sundance.org/utah. The winning film will be announced in late August.
Sundance Institute
Founded in 1981 by Robert Redford, Sundance Institute is a nonprofit organization that provides and preserves the space for artists in film, theatre, and new media to create and thrive. The Institute’s signature Labs, granting, and mentorship programs, dedicated to developing new work, take place throughout the year in the U.S. and internationally. The Sundance Film Festival and other public programs connect audiences to artists in igniting new ideas, discovering original voices, and building a community dedicated to independent storytelling. Sundance Institute has supported such projects as Beasts of the Southern Wild, Fruitvale Station, Sin Nombre, The Invisible War, The Square, Dirty Wars, Spring Awakening, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder and Fun Home. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.
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