Eugene Hernandez, Kim Yutani, Amanda Kelso and John Nein. (Photo by Gonzalo Marroquin / Shutterstock for Sundance Film Festival)
As the sun was setting on Park City’s Main Street, Filmmaker Lodge was lit up with bright smiles and engaging discussions about all things 2025 Sundance Film Festival. To kick things off right, Amanda Kelso (Sundance Institute Acting CEO), Eugene Hernandez (Director, Sundance Film Festival & Public Programming), Kim Yutani (Sundance Film Festival Director of Programming), and John Nein (Senior Programmer and Director of Strategic Initiatives) walked the warm crowd through the exciting slate of films and episodic projects, tipped a hat to the previous year’s films that were capturing hearts and minds this awards season, and took a moment to ground ourselves in the midst of the ongoing wildfire devastation in Los Angeles.
Below read a few profound quotes from the night as you get ready to set off for all your Day One premieres and events!
So, I want to start by acknowledging that this is a bit of an unusual time for us to come together. I'm really, really glad that we're here, but it has been a pretty trying time for the past few years and even in the past two weeks, given the fires that have happened in Los Angeles, which are still ongoing. It's been a really devastating reminder of how fragile everything can be. I love Los Angeles, and my heart rate weighs really heavy with all the folks who have been impacted, including people who are part of our community here, but also it impacts everybody who lives in Southern California. So it's been a really immeasurable loss. But amidst all of that, what's amazing is how we can come together. And so now, as this is almost a moment of healing for us, it's an opportunity for us to remind ourselves of why it is important for us to be together. So thank you for taking the time.
I know you. I used to be a journalist. And of course, I know there's at least one specific burning question that you probably want to ask me — or that you asked me in the other room — and I'm going to tell you the answer to that question. The answer is no, not yet. Look, nearly a year ago we announced the launch of an RFP process to find a new home for the Sundance Film Festival. Our work continues and we still have two more years anchored here in Park City. Later this winter or early in the spring when we complete our work on this RFP, we will announce the new home of the Sundance Film Festival. But before that, we'll announce the dates for next year's Festival. So for now, let's dig in. Let's enjoy Sundance 2025 together here in Park City and down the mountain in Salt Lake.
I think that this year's program is really incredible and the people behind these films are incredible. I think that the storytelling you are going to see in the next 11 days [is the] type of storytelling [that] this Festival is built on. And it's exactly the kind of storytelling we need in this moment. I also get a lot of questions about who are the filmmakers we should be looking for. I would say there are 150 people that you should check out! What I am probably most excited for these film makers is these moments that you are all going to witness in Eccles, Library, Ray, Egyptian, Redstone — these are the transformative moments that these filmmakers are going to have. And it's producers, directors, writers, production designers, actors, it's the whole team who will leave this Festival different people, and, that is, I think, really extraordinary.
As we are in the thick of awards season, thinking about films like Kneecap, Black Box Diaries, Porcelain War, Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat, which played here last year. And really give these films that early moment of visibility that then we start talking about those films again in the fall.
