The Sundance Film Festival is in the process of selecting programming for the festival’s final run in Utah — which means Eugene Hernandez is watching a lot of movies right now.
The film lineup for the upcoming festival, which runs Jan. 22–Feb. 1 in Park City and Salt Lake City, will come in December.
But for now, Hernandez is taking a brief break from his movie marathon to share the festival’s first program announcement, which officially went live Tuesday morning.
On Monday, in a Zoom interview with the Deseret News, the director of the Sundance Film Festival and public programming revealed a few early highlights of the 2026 festival — which include tributes to late founder Robert Redford, screenings of significant Sundance films over the years and the inclusion of an iconic venue.
Sundance will screen a pivotal Robert Redford movie
Since Redford’s death on Sept. 16, the classic films from his repertoire have been spotlighted by fans, media and theaters — including a monthlong retrospective from the Salt Lake Film Society.
The 2026 Sundance Film Festival will screen a Redford film Hernandez said is important when it comes to understanding the late actor as an artist, and his mission in creating the Sundance Institute.
It’s not “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” which lent its name to the festival that has become a pillar in independent film. But it did come out that same year, in 1969, about a month later.
“Downhill Racer,” a sports drama that features Redford as an ambitious skier and antihero of sorts, embodied the actor’s criticisms of Hollywood — both in his character and off-screen, per The Guardian.
It also marked the actor’s first independent film and became a passion project, Hernandez said.
“The struggle to make that film was really a catalyst for the institute and the festival itself,” the festival director said. “That experience of struggling to make that film ... I think was an important window and a real grounding moment for Robert Redford, as he looked at how you work independent outside of a traditional, big studio system.”
It’s a story Redford would often tell at the Sundance Film Festival’s directors brunch — one of the actor’s favorite parts of the festival as he got to engage directly with the filmmakers, Hernandez said.
“It became this real connection point between Mr. Redford and the artists of the festival, and he would tell that story often, year after year, to kind of remind the other artists and even himself, sort of the fundamental aspects of being an independent storyteller today.”
Several gatherings throughout the 2026 festival — including the directors brunch at Sundance Mountain Resort and “Celebrating Sundance Institute: A Tribute to Founder Robert Redford” — will honor the late actor.
“The impact that he and his family have had — not only on the entertainment industry and business, with his work in the arts and in film, but the creation of the institute itself and the founding of the festival and the impact on Utah — all of that, I think, is all very clarifying for us as we continue this work of building a festival that will honor and celebrate that legacy," Hernandez said.
The festival is also planning a culmination event on Jan. 30 to celebrate Park City and the local Utah community for supporting and appreciating independent film over the last four decades.
“It will be even more profound, and I think more emotional, knowing that we have an opportunity to come together as a community in honor of our founder,” Hernandez said. “I think that’s going to be really special.”
7 significant films from festivals past
The Sundance Film Festival also announced it will screen seven defining films from years past as part of its Park City Legacy program, which runs Jan. 27-30.
Hernandez said these films provide a “snapshot” of Sundance’s 40-plus-year history, highlighting artists past and present who have a long connection with the festival.
Cast and crew members from each of these films will be in attendance for their respective screenings.
The legacy films include:
- “Little Miss Sunshine” (R) — The first feature film from directing duo Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris premiered 20 years ago at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival and earned four Oscar nominations — including for best picture. The film about a family determined to get their young daughter into the finals of a beauty pageant won best original screenplay and best supporting actor for Alan Arkin, per a news release shared with the Deseret News.
- “Half Nelson” (R) — This film from Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden — the duo behind “Captain Marvel” — premiered at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival and gave Ryan Gosling an Academy Award nomination for his performance as a New York City middle school teacher with a drug habit.
- “Saw” (R) — James Wan’s horror film about a serial killer named Jigsaw, starring Cary Elwes and Danny Glover, among others, premiered at the festival in 2004.
- “American Dream” (PG-13) — Barbara Kopple’s documentary about workers at the Hormel meatpacking plant in Austin, Minnesota, and their fight for fair wages, played 35 years ago at the 1991 Sundance Film Festival. The film was a hit at the festival, winning the Audience Award in the documentary category and the Grand Jury Prize for documentary. It went on to win the 1991 Oscar for best documentary feature.
- “House Party” (R) — This comedy starring the hip-hop duo Kid ‘n Play premiered at the 1990 Sundance Film Festival and won the Excellence in Cinematography Award and the Filmmaker Trophy in the Dramatic category.
- “Humpday” (R) — This film from the late Lynn Shelton premiered at the 2009 festival and won a Special Jury Prize for Spirit of Independence. It is featured this year “in memory of all the festival artists who have passed away but whose work remains with us,” per a statement in the news release.
- “Mysterious Skin” (NC-17) — Based off of Scott Heim’s coming-of-age novel, “Mysterious Skin,” starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and the late Michelle Trachtenberg, among others, played at the 2005 festival.
The Egyptian Theatre returns for final festival in Utah
The Egyptian Theatre, one of the first venues for Sundance, wasn’t included when the festival announced a brief overview for 2026 this past summer, the Deseret News previously reported.
Hernandez said it’s a big ask every year for the storied theater — which celebrates a century next year — to transform its live performance venue into a movie theater for the festival.
But the Park City venue will now be a part of the final festival in Utah.
Throughout the upcoming festival, the Egyptian Theatre will host select talks and events from filmmakers, with more details to be announced in the coming weeks and months.
“It’s such a beautiful theater. It’s a really great venue, ... and that marquee is just such an iconic part of Sundance,” Hernandez told the Deseret News. “A hat tip to Randy Barton (theater manager) and everybody at the Egyptian for finding some creative ways to work with us so we can have some special moments together in the Egyptian one more time.”
Tickets, passes and packages for the 2026 Sundance Film Festival go on sale Oct. 22.