Sundance 2025 preview: What to see and do in Park City

Sundance 2025 has started in Park City, Utah. Here's what to expect from the event both in Utah and online.

At 11.30 MST today, the 2025 Sundance Film Festival opens with a screening of One to One: John & Yoko. It’s not a global premiere, that happened at the Venice Film festival last year, but Kevin Macdonald and Sam Rice-Edwards’ film is still a significant one in that it weaves restored footage of a charity concert benefiting disabled children, the only full-length performance Lennon gave after leaving The Beatles, together with unseen personal archive footage of the couple in Greenwich Village in the 1970s. It’s a glimpse of another time and possibly another America.

Sundance itself has woven what started off as an agreeably small scale independent film festival firmly into the cultural fabric of America over a 41 year period. It’s big business now, with a host of corporate sponsors, and it's outgrown its Park City, Utah location too. From 2027 it will move on and be located in one of Atlanta, GA; Boulder, CO; Cincinnati, OH; Louisville, KY; Park City/Salt Lake City, UT; and Santa Fe, New Mexico. This will be a blessing if only so that the organisers can stop writing blog posts imploring people to be wary of altitude sickness and to bring cold weather gear and extra socks. But for now this is where a goodly proportion of the US entertainment industry is focused and decamped to for the next 13 days.

What’s hot?

As ever some movies gain traction in the run up to the Festival and create a decent buzz even before audiences get to stampede for tickets to see them. This year the ones to watch out of the 87 on show include:

Atropia

Written and directed by Hailey Gates, who memorably describes it as a ‘Military industrial complex romantic comedy’. An aspiring actress in a military role-playing facility falls for a soldier playing an insurgent.

By Design

A woman swaps bodies with a chair. Honestly, do you need anything more?

Opus

Mark Anthony Green’s feature debut and what is described as a bold, fun, and flashy pop-horror. A young writer is invited to the remote compound of a legendary pop star who mysteriously disappeared 30 years ago. Surrounded by the star’s cult of sycophants and intoxicated journalists, she finds herself in the middle of his twisted plan.

Train Dreams

Adapted from Denis Johnson’s novella, it contrasts Robert Grainier’s experience as a day laborer building America’s railroads at the start of the 20th century in a world transforming before his very eyes with the vast wilderness of the American West.

Zodiac Killer Project

True crime is the genre du jour, so this agreeably meta concept sees filmmaker and multimedia artist Charlie Shackleton detail the movie he would have made about the Zodiac Killer if he’d been given the resources to do it. 

Beyond film alone

Sundance is not just about screening films, it’s also about discussing them and looking in detail at the craft skills that go into them too. 

The Beyond Film program, for example, gives visitors the chance to listen to filmmakers, artists, and changemakers discuss issues surrounding film and filmmaking. People taking part in the informal chats of the Cinema Café this year include Olivia Coleman, ex NZ premier Dame Jacinda Arden, Marlee Martin, and Elijah Wood. Meanwhile there are sessions on breaking down the barriers between cinema and science, and wrap up sessions following the awards presentations.

Beginning January 25, Beyond Film recordings will be available online. Events will continue to be uploaded throughout the Festival).

There’s also a huge range of Partner Events taking place too, which cover an interesting gamut from those intertwined with the creative process to those who just want their brands associated with something cool.

This year, The Adobe House is open on 608 Main Street from 10am to 6pm MT Jan 24-27 and promises an immersive experience crafted for filmmakers and film lovers alike. It’s got a full agenda of speakers and panels lined up, an early highlight of which will be Editors on Editors, a neat concept which pairs two accomplished film editors in conversation as they share their unique perspectives, motivations, and creative journeys.

Adobe, is, of course, on a bit of a roll at Sundance and Premier Pro was used once more in the majority of films being shown. One of the ones speaking on the Editors on Editors panel will be Ernie Gilbert who cut Opus. “We cut Opus in Adobe Premiere Pro using Productions,” he says. “My offline editorial philosophy is to get everything outside the picture edit—sound, VFX, color, etc. as close to final as possible. Premiere Pro and After Effects really allows us to do this seamlessly with a small team, making the process more fun and efficient.” 

We hope to have a few interviews with editors and creatives at the show as the festival progresses.

A lot of sponsor events, such as the Canon Creative Studio (now in its 14th year) are invite only, but one that isn’t is the IMDbPro Presents: Directors in Focus - A Panel of 2025 Sundance Film Festival Filmmakers (Sunday, January 26 at 11 a.m. MST). Featuring Sundance Film Festival filmmakers Katarina Zhu (Writer/Director, Bunnylovr), Rashad Frett (Writer/Director, Ricky), and Sophie Hyde (Writer/Director, Jimpa) and moderated by IMDbPro producer Jeff Luppino-Esposito, the panel will take attendees behind the scenes of these filmmakers’ creative processes and professional journeys, promising a unique glimpse into the world of filmmaking and sharing valuable insights and practical advice for navigating the film industry. This event is free and open to the public at the Acura House of Energy (550 Swede Alley).

Some of all this bounty of content is available online, including movie screenings, some isn’t. Check the festival website for details.