By Toni Dabbs

Contrary to popular belief, Robert Redford did not originate the Sundance Film Festival. However, the actor/director has been involved with the event from its creation through its development into one of the top five film festivals in the world (alongside those of Cannes, Venice, Toronto and Berlin).

Festival History

Sundance began life as the Utah/US Film Festival, founded in September 1978 by Sterling van Wagenen, a Brigham Young University film school graduate, and John Earle, Utah State Film Commissioner. They wanted an event that would draw more film makers to Utah, showcase American films, and recognize films produced outside the Hollywood system.

A Utah resident since the late 1960s, Robert Redford signed on as chairman of the fledgling festival’s board of directors. No doubt, having his name associated with the festival attracted more attention to the event and encouraged industry interest.

The first two festivals were held in Salt Lake City. But early in the planning process for the third festival, director Sydney Pollack, also on the festival’s board of directors, suggested moving the festival to Park City and holding it in winter. He said this would make it "the only film festival in the world held in a ski resort during ski season, and Hollywood would beat down the door to attend."

The rest of the board and management agreed, and the third Utah/US Film Festival was scheduled in Park City for the third week of January 1981. The move proved to be beneficial for both the festival and Park City. It increased festival attendance and relieved the town’s post-holiday tourism lull.

A few years earlier, Robert Redford had invited several festival staff members to a planning meeting at his ranch for what became the Sundance Institute, a non-profit organization for independent film development. Not long afterward, John Earle and festival program director Lory Smith proposed that it would be in everyone’s best interest for the institute to take over the festival. It just made sense for the festival to become part of an organization that could provide year-round staffing, financial backing and an extensive network of contacts.

An expanded 1985 festival was the first held under the institute’s sponsorship, and attendance doubled over that of the previous year. However, the annual event was not officially renamed the Sundance Film Festival until 1991.

Over the years, a number of independent film makers have gotten their big break at the festival, including Jim Jarmusch, Robert Rodriguez, Kevin Smith, Quentin Tarantino and James Wan. The festival also is responsible for bringing to light such films as "Clerks," "El Mariachi," "The Blair Witch Project" and "Sex, Lies and Videotape."

Sundance Today

The Sundance Film Festival has grown to include 10 separate sections:

* Independent Feature Film Competition - Considered by many people to be the main event of the festival, this section is restricted to independent American films. Approximately 16 films compete for a variety of awards in each of two categories: dramatic features and documentaries.

* American Spectrum - In keeping with the festival’s focus on independent American films, this non-competitive section offers exposure to the works of some of America’s most promising new independent film makers.

* World Cinema - This competition is open to international films with an independent spirit. A jury prize is awarded in each of two categories: dramatic features and documentaries.

* Shorts - Shorts from all countries are shown either before a main feature or grouped together into feature-length programs.

* Native Forum - Open to dramatic and documentary features and shorts, this section showcases innovative and creative work from indigenous film makers around the world.

* Premieres - New films from respected American and international directors are selected for showings on the basis of their compelling stories or innovative approaches.

* From the Sundance Collection - The Sundance Institute collects and preserves independent films for future generations, housing them at the UCLA Film and Television Archive in Los Angeles. Important works from this collection are presented during the festival.

* Special Screenings - Programs in this section might range from retrospectives of works by influential film makers, to films from countries not well known for their cinematic releases, to interesting films that evade classification.

* Frontier - This section provides a forum for experimental works that push the boundaries of film making. It is open to films of all kinds and lengths from all countries.

* Park City at Midnight - With a reputation for screening films guaranteed to provoke a reaction, this section includes diverse films that cover many genres and subjects. Park City at Midnight is known as "a good place to find a new cult classic."

In all, more than 120 feature-length films and 60 shorts are screened at 21 venues for 20,000 viewers during the 11-day Sundance Film Festival. Although Park City is the hub of activity, festival events also take place in Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance Village.

Attending Events

The Sundance Film Festival is open to everyone, so theoretically, an average movie fan has the same chance as a studio head of seeing any particular film. Anyone who wants to attend a festival screening or other event just needs to purchase a ticket, a package or a pass.

* Individual Tickets - When sales open (usually the first week of January), a ticket for a particular film or forum may be purchased online through the Sundance website, over the phone by calling the festival ticket line, or in person at one of the official festival box offices (Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance Village).

* Ticket Packages - Multi-ticket packages are available for people who plan to see more than a handful of films. Packages provide access to a fixed number of screenings for a specified date range.

* Festival Passes - Passes simplify festival attendance for people who want to maximize their Sundance experience or who want to put off deciding which films to see until later. To guarantee entry to a screening, though, pass holders should be at the venue at least 30 minutes prior to the scheduled start time.

Because quantities of tickets, packages and passes are limited, Sundance has initiated a pre-registration system that randomly assigns a date and time for people to make their purchases. Information about how to pre-register is available through the Sundance website or the ticket information line.

Future dates for the Sundance Film Festival are: January 19 to 29, 2006; January 18 to 28, 2007; January 17 to 27, 2008; January 15 to 25, 2009; and January 21 to 31, 2010.

Park City

Against its winter background of snow, Park City appears to have been built as a ski village. Its quaint and colorful buildings contain art galleries, book stores, specialty shops and restaurants where skiers can unwind after an exhilarating day on the surrounding Wasatch Mountains.

But Park City was founded on silver, not snow. And its painted wood and red brick structures originally were boarding houses, banks, general stores, saloons and other businesses associated with a booming circa 1900 mine town.

Skiing was always a popular recreation, though. So perhaps it seemed only natural for citizens to take the sport more seriously when the mines began to play out. In 1963, Park City qualified for a US$1.25 million government loan, installed a gondola, a chairlift and two J-bars, and transformed itself into a ski town.

Today, Park City is the first choice of many North American and international skiers, partly because of its historic character and partly because of its three distinct ski areas: Deer Valley Resort, Park City Mountain Resort and The Canyons Resort.

However, unlike some ski towns, Park City itself has things to interest non-skiers and even non-shoppers.

Visitors curious about the town's past should go to jail... or what was the combination jail, police station, fire station and city hall. Now the Park City Museum, it has comprehensive exhibits about early settlers, mining, skiing and law enforcement.

A Main Street walking tour brochure available at the museum identifies historic buildings (the town has 65 listed on the National Register), describes their architectural details, and reveals stories about the people who lived and worked in them.

For those who want a deeper understanding of the town's mining operations, the Park City Silver Mine Adventure tour packs visitors into an elevator not much bigger than a telephone booth and drops them 1,500 feet into the old Ontario Mine. At the bottom, a mining train transports them through a half-mile horizontal tunnel to a point beneath Deer Valley Resort, where a guide explains mining equipment and activities.

Park City has a wide range of accommodations, from the Washington School Inn (an 1889 school adapted as a bed and breakfast), to the traditional Scandinavian styled Stein Eriksen Lodge, to a wide selection of fully furnished condominiums.

Many accommodations are convenient to stops on the town's free bus system, which also provides access to historic Main Street, Deer Valley Resort, Park City Mountain Resort and The Canyons Resort.

Park City is a 45-minute drive southeast of Salt Lake City International Airport on six-lane Interstate 80.

www.sundance.org  (801-924-0882).