Sandra Hale Schulman
Special to ICT
A champion and curator of independent stories, the nonprofit Sundance Institute was started in 1981 by Robert Redford and named after his character in the Academy Award-winning film “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.” Redford died Sept. 16 after a lifetime of support for Indigenous films.
The 2026 Sundance Film Festival will honor him but rolls on with 105 films in competition and plans to move the fest from its longtime 40-year home in snowy Park City, Utah, to Boulder, Colorado, in 2027.
The institute’s signature labs, granting, and mentorship programs are dedicated to developing new work, and take place throughout the year in the U.S. and internationally. The Sundance Film Festival and along with other public programs connect audiences and artists, igniting new ideas, discovering original voices, and building a community dedicated to independent storytelling.
The festival will be held from Jan. 22-Feb. 1, 2026, in person in Park City and Salt Lake City, Utah, with the virtual program available online from Jan. 29-Feb. 1, 2026. During the second half of the festival, the Park City Legacy program will celebrate the festival’s rich history through archival screenings of iconic films from previous editions and artist talks with festival alumni. The festival’s jury and audience awards will be presented on Friday, Jan. 30, at a ceremony at The Ray Theatre in Park City.
“As we prepare to gather for this landmark edition of our festival in a cherished locale, we’re also honoring the enduring impact of our beloved founder, Robert Redford, and celebrating what he created: a dynamic home for independent, global storytelling,” said Eugene Hernandez, director of the Sundance Film Festival and Public Programming. “In announcing this year’s selection, we’ve hit a major milestone on the road to the 2026 Sundance Film Festival. With days to go, we’re proud to conclude our survey of submissions from artists around the world, curating a bold selection of new voices and renowned artists alike that we invite audiences to discover next month.”
“The 2026 Sundance Film Festival will be a truly pivotal and memorable moment as we celebrate artists and their visionary works, honor our Sundance Institute founder, Robert Redford, and his transformative vision, and show our gratitude to Utah by commemorating our collective journey,” said Amanda Kelso, Sundance Institute acting CEO, in a statement.
“We are eager to once again foster connection and creativity as we champion and share independent storytelling with audiences. This marks an especially defining year of coming together as a community to uplift independent film and the legacy of the festival.”
The Indigenous feature films include:
“Aanikoobijigan [ancestor/great-grandparent/great-grandchild]” from directors and producers Adam Khalil and Zack Khalil. Ancestors trapped in museum archives bend time and space to find their way home. History, spirituality, and the law collide in this dramatic feature as tribal repatriation specialists fight governments and institutions to return and rebury Indigenous human remains. The film offers a revealing look at the still-pervasive worldviews that justified collecting them in the first place.
The film follows 11 Indigenous repatriation specialists that make up the Michigan Anishinaabek Cultural Preservation and Repatriation Alliance who are fighting to rebury and return ancestors from settler-colonial libraries, archives, and museums. Through an essay approach, the film lays bare the history of Indigenous collections, the laws passed to ensure return of human remains and funerary objects, and portraits of the courageous individuals doing the hard and emotionally draining work of bringing ancestors back home.
Adam Khalil, director, is an Ojibwe filmmaker and artist who lives and works in Brooklyn. His work attempts to subvert traditional forms of image-making through humor, relation, and transgression. Khalil is a co-founder of Cousin Collective and core contributor to the art performance group New Red Order. Zack Khalil, director, is an Ojibwe filmmaker and artist who lives and works in Brooklyn. His work centers Indigenous narratives in the present – and looks toward the future through the use of innovative nonfiction forms.
A similar theme emerges in the World Cinema Documentary Competition with “Kikuyu Land” from Kenya. While investigating a civil land petition against the British Crown and Kenya’s tea industry, a Nairobi journalist stumbles upon her own family’s buried secrets. Directors Andrew Brown and Bea Wangondu.
“Levitating” is a film about a town where pleasure means being possessed by spiritual beings. Bayu aspires to be the shaman of a trance party so he can raise enough money to prevent an impending eviction. Cast: Angga Yunanda, Anggun C Sasmi, Maudy Ayunda, Bryan Domani, Chicco Kurniawan.
“Nuisance Bear” – A polar bear is forced to navigate a human world of tourists, wildlife officers, and hunters when its ancient migration route collides with modern life. After a sacred predator is branded a nuisance, it becomes unclear who truly belongs in this shared landscape.
“Filipanana” is a film about how teen Isabel’s attraction to Dr. Palanca at her country club job turns dark as she uncovers violence beneath the club’s facade and discovers their disturbing connection from the past. Director Rafael Manuel.
Two short films are in competition:
“Mangittatuarjuk” (The Gnawer Of Rocks) is about two young women trapped in the lair of the Mangittatuarjuk, “the Gnawer of Rocks.” The young women and their village use the teachings of the elders to try to defeat the monster.
“Tuktuit: Caribou” is set among Nunavut’s stark terrain. Experimental filmmaking and natural lichen formations become metaphors for human presence and environmental transformation in the Arctic.
Single Film Tickets for in-person and online screenings go on sale Jan. 14 at 10 a.m. MT, and limited quantities of select passes and packages remain on sale. Visit the Sundance Film Festival site for more information at festival.sundance.org.