The Sundance Film Festival is saying goodbye to Park City this January, but they aren’t heading to their new home in Colorado without celebrating four decades of groundbreaking cinema in Utah. As previously announced, the in-person festival is scheduled from Thursday, January, 22 to Sunday, February 1 with world premieres and spotlight screenings set beween the 22nd and Tuesday, the 27th. Now, Sundance has revealed a Park City Legacy Program that will run concurrent to the festival from the 27th through Friday, January 30th. It will include panels, anniversary and archive screenings of Sundance classics such as Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris’ “Little Miss Sunshine,” and, in memory of festival founder Robert Redford, a commemorative screening of “Downhill Racer,” an indie passion project that was a catalyst for the creation of Sundance Institute and the festival itself.
READ MORE: Sundance Film Festival Goes Blue To Boulder For 2027 And Beyond
Other Sundance world premieres returning to Park City for special screenings include Reginald Hudlin’s ’90s comedy classic “House Party” (1990), Ryan Fleck’s “Half Nelson” (2006), which launched the career of Ryan Gosling, Barbara Kopple’s Oscar-winning documentary “American Dream” (1990), Gregg Araki’s career pinacle, “Mysterious Skin” (2004), James Wan’s Midnight smash “Saw” (2004), and Lynn Shelton‘s mumblecore wonder “Humpday” (2009). Additional screenings will be announced in the weeks to come.
Additionally, participants for a selection of special talks will also be reveled over the next few months. These panels will be held at the iconic Egyptian Theatre, one of the first venues for the Sundance Film Festival which will be celebrating 100 years as “The Jewel of Main Street.” Also, a “culmination event for the public” will be held on January 30 to thank residents for what the festival refers to “as the many cherished memories of the over 40-year history of the annual Festival” and to “show deep gratitude for the local Utah community, with details and location to follow.” This is a super classy move considering how much the locals have let attendees know they were not thrilled by their presence over the past half decade.
The festival’s full lineup including competition and premiere titles will be unveiled in December.
In a statement, Eugene Hernandez, Director, Sundance Film Festival and Public Programming, noted, “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. 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.”
Director of Programming Kim Yutani added, “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. 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.”
In-Person Ticket Packages and Passes and Online Ticket Packages and Passes will be on sale at festival.sundance.org/tickets beginning Wednesday, October 22, at 9 AM PT/10 AM MT/Noon ET. Single Film Tickets will go on sale starting January 14, 2026.
Here is the current list of films and expected guests for the Legacy Program. Again, more screenings and special events are expected by January.
American Dream / U.S.A. (Director & Producer: Barbara Kopple, Producer: Arthur Cohn) — When workers at the Hormel meatpacking plant in Austin, Minnesota, are asked to take a substantial pay cut in a highly profitable year, the local labor union decides to go on strike and fight for a wage they believe is fair. But as the work stoppage drags on and the strikers face losing everything, friends become enemies, families are divided, and the very future of this typical mid-American town is threatened.
Participants: Lewie Anderson, R.J. Bergstrom, Ron Bergstrom, Wayne Goodnature, Jim Guyette, Jesse Jackson.
- 35th anniversary. American Dream played at the 1991 Sundance Film Festival as part of the U.S. Documentary Competition and took home an Audience Award: Documentary, a Filmmaker Trophy: Documentary, and the Grand Jury Prize: Documentary. It won the 1991 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. Supervised and approved by director Barbara Kopple, this 4K digital restoration was undertaken by Janus Films and the Criterion Collection from a scan of the 16 mm internegative. The original monaural soundtrack was remastered from the 35 mm DME magnetic track.
*In attendance will be Barbara Kopple.
Half Nelson / U.S.A. (Director & Screenwriter: Ryan Fleck, Screenwriter & Producer: Anna Boden, Producers: Lynette Howell Taylor, Rosanne Korenberg, Alex Orlovsky, Jamie Patricof) — A New York City middle school teacher with a drug habit forms an unlikely friendship with one of his students after she discovers his secret. Cast: Shareeka Epps, Ryan Gosling, Tina Holmes, Anthony Mackie, Deborah Rush, Jay O. Sanders.
- 20th anniversary. Half Nelson premiered at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival in the Dramatic Competition after participating in the 2005 Sundance Institute Screenplay Reading Series and the 2004 Sundance Institute June Screenwriters Lab. Ryan Gosling was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor in 2007 for his performance.
*In attendance will be Ryan Fleck, Anna Boden, and others.
House Party / U.S.A. (Director & Screenwriter: Reginald Hudlin, Producer: Warrington Hudlin ) — Kid decides to go to his friend Play’s house party, but neither of them can predict what’s in store for them on what could be the wildest night of their lives. Cast: Tisha Campbell, Full Force, Robin Harris, A.J. Johnson, Martin Lawrence, Kid ‘N Play.
- House Party premiered at the 1990 Sundance Film Festival in the Dramatic Competition, where it won the Excellence in Cinematography Award: Dramatic and the Filmmaker Trophy: Dramatic. Supervised by director of photography Peter Deming and approved by director Reginald Hudlin, this new 4K restoration was undertaken by the Criterion Collection in collaboration with Warner Bros. Discovery using the 35 mm original camera. The original 4.0 surround soundtrack was remastered from the LCRS 35 mm magnetic DME stems.
*In attendance will be Reginald Hudlin and Warrington Hudlin.
Humpday / U.S.A. (Director, Screenwriter, & Producer: Lynn Shelton) — Two guys take their bromance to another level when they participate in an art film project. Cast: Alycia Delmore, Mark Duplass, Joshua Leonard, Lynn Shelton, Trina Willard.
- Humpday premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival in the Dramatic Competition, where it won a Special Jury Prize for Spirit of Independence. It’s being screened at this year’s Festival in memory of all the Festival artists who have passed away but whose work remains with us.
Little Miss Sunshine / U.S.A. (Directors: Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris, Screenwriter: Michael Arndt, Producers: Marc Turtletaub, David T. Friendly, Peter Saraf, Albert Berger, Ron Yerxa) — A family determined to get their young daughter into the finals of a beauty pageant take a cross-country trip in their VW bus. Cast: Alan Arkin, Abigail Breslin, Steve Carell, Toni Collette, Paul Dano, Greg Kinnear.
- 20th anniversary. Little Miss Sunshine premiered at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival as the first feature film for directing duo Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris. After its debut in the Premieres section of the Festival, the film earned four nominations at the Academy Awards, including Best Picture and a Best Supporting Actress nomination for Abigail Breslin. It took home Best Original Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor for Alan Arkin. The film also won multiple awards at the Independent Spirit Awards and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture. The version screening at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival was restored by The Walt Disney Studios using a new 4K 16-bit scan of the original negative at Roundabout Entertainment under the supervision of directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris.
*In attendance will be Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris, Michael Arndt, Abigail Breslin, Paul Dano, and Greg Kinnear.
Mysterious Skin / U.S.A. (Director, Screenwriter, & Producer: Gregg Araki, Producers: Jeffrey Kusama-Hinte, Mary Jane Skalski) — Two preadolescent boys both experienced a strange event and later it affects their lives in different ways. One becomes a reckless, adventurous sex worker, while the other retreats into a reclusive fantasy of alien abduction. Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Brady Corbet, Jeffrey Licon, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Elisabeth Shue, Michelle Trachtenberg.
- Mysterious Skin was in the 2005 Sundance Film Festival as part of the Premieres section after being developed at the 1997 June Screenwriters Lab based off of author Scott Heim’s acclaimed coming-of-age novel of the same title. Mysterious Skin was digitally restored by the Academy Film Archive and UCLA Film & Television Archive in conjunction with Sundance Institute in 4K from the original 35 mm A/B camera negatives and original sound elements. The restoration was supervised by Gregg Araki at Resillion and Monkeyland Audio. The restoration was funded by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, mk2, Frameline, Sundance Institute, and UCLA Film & Television Archive, with additional funding and services by Antidote Films and Strand Releasing.
*In attendance will be Gregg Araki and others.
Saw / U.S.A. (Director & Screenwriter: James Wan, Screenwriter: Leigh Whannell, Producers: Gregg Hoffman, Oren Koules, Mark Burg) — Two men awaken to find themselves on the opposite sides of a dead body, each with specific instructions to kill the other, escape or face the consequences. These two are the latest contestants in Jigsaw’s games. Cast: Cary Elwes, Danny Glover, Monica Potter, Michael Emerson, Ken Leung, Tobin Bell, Leigh Whannell.
- Saw premiered at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival in the Midnight category. A digital restoration from a 4K scan of the 35 mm Interpositive (IP) was supervised and approved by the director.
*In attendance will be James Wan and others.
The 2025 Sundance Film Festival will run from January 27 through February 1.
Follow Gregory Ellwood on Bluesky
Follow Gregory Ellwood on Threads
Follow Gregory Ellwood on Instagram
Sign Up For The Breakdown Newsletter
Editor-at-Large Gregory Ellwood is one of the entertainment industry's most respected journalists and critics. Based in Los Angeles, he's the only current awards expert who previously worked on Oscar campaigns at a major movie studio. Over the years, he has written for the LA Times, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, and Vox, among others. He also co-founded the entertainment news site HitFix, which spawned a legion of influential Emmy and WGA Award-winning alumni.
