This story is a partnership between the Nashville Banner and the Nashville Scene. The Nashville Banner is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization focused on civic news. Visit nashvillebanner.com for more information.
Nashville is one of more than a dozen cities aiming to lure the iconic Sundance Film Festival from its longtime home in Park City, Utah.
The film festival, held in the mountain resort town since 1981, announced earlier this year it was considering moving.
Multiple cities have confirmed their interest in the event, with Boulder, Colo., among those offering financial incentives to attract it. Atlanta is another contender, while Park City remains a candidate to retain the festival. Atlanta has “pledged $2 million in support as well as a robust array of concessions and in-kind support to the festival,” according to the mayor’s office, while the Colorado Economic Development Commission is pledging $1.5 million on behalf of Boulder.
Nashville’s pitch is being led by the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp, multiple sources confirmed. A host committee includes actors with Nashville ties, including Reese Witherspoon, Rita Wilson and Nicole Kidman. An NCVC representative declined to comment, and specific details about Nashville’s proposal could not be verified.
Belcourt executive director Stephanie Silverman in 2016
“I’ve been very aware of Nashville’s connections to Sundance for a long time, from the Belcourt as a satellite screen to movies like Columbus, which premiered at Sundance but had a Nashville-based production,” Mayor Freddie O’Connell tells the Nashville Banner. “I think our film and TV production community and cinematic audience both would love to have an experience like Sundance based here.”
Submissions were due on June 21, with a decision expected around the end of the year. The event would not move until the 2027 edition.
“We’d of course welcome them to Nashville,” says Stephanie Silverman, executive director of the Belcourt Theatre and a member of the Nashville Music, Film and Entertainment Commission. “I think there are a lot of opportunities for the city and artists who work in the city to partner with Sundance over the course of the year once there’s a relationship established. I think that it opens a lot of doors across the creative sector, because the films that play at Sundance are made by these big, beautiful teams of creative humans, and that in and of itself is a real benefit.”
Silverman says the Belcourt has partnered on programming for years, including hosting screenings during the 2021 festival held in satellite locations due to the pandemic.
One stumbling block for Nashville’s pitch could be Tennessee’s politics, and specifically the state’s recent legislation aimed at transgender people. Sundance says it seeks a host “that reflects the Festival’s values of inclusion, racial equity, accessibility and belonging at every level for artists, audiences, staff, and volunteers.”
