Six months before the Sundance Film Festival opens in Boulder, residents now have a clearer idea of what will be screened inside the venues, though details about what it will cost to get through the doors are a bit vague.
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Officials announced on Wednesday that Sundance will bring more competition categories, expanded filmmaker talks and bring back the New Frontier, a showcase for experimental storytelling, when the festival moves to Boulder in January.
Festival organizers are also developing ticket options aimed at Colorado residents and students, though they have not said whether that will mean discounts, reserved tickets, lower-cost passes or another system.
“Everyone is invited to this festival,” Sundance Film Festival Director Eugene Hernandez said in a Tuesday interview. “My biggest concern is that people won’t realize that it’s open to them.”
Ticket and pass details are expected to be announced in September. Passes and packages go on sale in October, followed by the film lineup in December and individual film tickets in early January.
Hernandez said Sundance is still fine-tuning its approach for its first year in Colorado after hearing from Boulder residents and students about the importance of keeping the festival within reach. Since Boulder was announced as Sundance’s new home in March of 2025, festival staff have appeared at community events, public activations and local film industry gatherings across the city.
“We’re hearing that, and we’re listening,” Hernandez said. “When we announce it in a few weeks, you’ll see that we’ve really been listening to the questions, the advocacy, the ideas and creativity around how we can structure this.”
Local access is also influencing how films and events will be scheduled through the final weekend, Hernandez said. The opening days of Sundance tend to draw the largest crowds of distributors, publicists and film professionals, but the festival will continue screening movies after much of that contingent heads out of town.
The 2027 festival will run Jan. 21-31. World premieres will be concentrated during the first six days, with additional screenings continuing through the final weekend. Online screenings will be available nationwide from Jan. 28-31.
Hernandez said Boulder audiences will play an important role for filmmakers showing their work publicly for the first time.
“The vast majority of films we show at our festival have never played anywhere to anyone,” Hernandez said. “These artists are bringing these films for the very first time to get an opportunity to engage an audience.”
Some people in the room may be deciding whether to buy and release a film. Others are watching, staying for the question-and-answer session and giving the filmmaker a first sense of how the work lands outside an editing room.
Hernandez said he believes Boulder audiences are well suited to that exchange.
“What I’ve seen firsthand in watching movies or experiencing other arts and culture in Boulder is — the audience is open, the audience is curious, the audience is willing to engage and get into a conversation and dig deeper,” Hernandez said. “That’s what our artists are looking for.”
For those attending in Boulder, the biggest programming change of the nearly 50-year-old iconic festival is an expansion of Sundance’s four central competition categories.
The U.S. Dramatic, U.S. Documentary, World Cinema Dramatic and World Cinema Documentary sections will each grow from 10 films presented in 2026 to 12 screened in 2027. Together, those sections will increase from 40 films to a total of 48 films, a 20% jump.
Translated from festival language, the four sections cover new American and international fiction films and documentaries. Many films arrive at the festival without a distributor and are screened for the first time for public audiences, critics and potential buyers.
For filmmakers, the eight additional slots mean eight more chances to land one of the most closely watched invitations in independent film. A strong Sundance showing can help a movie find a distributor, generate reviews and reach audiences well beyond the festival.
The expansion does not necessarily mean the entire Boulder festival will be larger than past editions. Sundance screened 90 feature films in 2026, 88 in 2025 and 82 in 2024. Before the pandemic, its lineups were considerably larger, with 128 feature films screening in 2020. Sundance has not announced the total number of films planned to screen in Boulder in 2027.
Other Sundance film sections will also expand. “Premieres” generally include new work from established filmmakers and recognizable actors. “NEXT” focuses on lower-budget movies that experiment with how stories are told. “Midnight” is where horror, thrillers and some of the festival’s stranger offerings tend to live. “Family Matinee” is built for audiences of all ages.
Boulder audiences will also have options beyond sitting through feature films.
Sundance is expanding “Offscreen,” its umbrella for public talks and events involving filmmakers, actors, writers and other guests.
Read more Six months out from planting roots in Boulder, Sundance unveils expanded film lineup
“Offscreen” includes “Cinema Café,” which pairs festival guests for informal conversations, followed by audience questions. The “Big Conversation” uses films as a starting point for broader discussions about art, politics, science and cultural change. “Power of Story” focuses on how stories are made and what happens after they enter the world.
All three of these components will return in Boulder, joined by live podcast recordings and other events. Sundance has not yet announced the speakers, podcast titles or where the programs will be held.
“New Frontier” will also return after a two-year pause under the new name “New Frontier FLUX.”
First launched in 2007, “New Frontier” is Sundance’s showcase for experimental storytelling that stretches beyond a traditional moviegoing setting. Past editions have included virtual-reality experiences, interactive projects, multimedia installations and performances combining film, visual art and technology.
Sundance said Boulder’s history of experimentation and exploration made the city a fitting home for the revived program. Organizers have not announced where “New Frontier FLUX” will take place, what it will include or how the new version will differ from the program that went on pause.
The festival update also included two developments intended to give international filmmakers more attention after their films leave Boulder.
For the first time, the International Federation of Film Critics, known as FIPRESCI, will convene a jury at Sundance. Its critics will recognize a first-time fiction filmmaker and a first-time documentary filmmaker from the festival’s international competitions.
The organization sends critics’ juries to major festivals around the world. Its name may not mean much to someone scanning the Sundance schedule for a good Friday-night movie, but a FIPRESCI prize can help a small international film draw reviews, distributors and invitations from other festivals.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has also designated Sundance as a qualifying festival for the International Feature Film category at the Oscars.
The winners of Sundance’s World Cinema Grand Jury Prizes for fiction and documentary films will automatically qualify for Academy Award consideration. That does not guarantee a nomination. It gives the winners a direct route into the race rather than leaving them entirely dependent on a country’s national selection process.
Sundance is already working with Boulder filmmaker and Boulder County Film Commissioner Bruce Borowsky, the commission’s Schmoozer networking series, CU Boulder student groups and other organizations involved in film production around the state.
More partnerships will be announced, Hernandez said, though he did not identify a Colorado film section, internship or other formal program for local filmmakers.
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The festival will operate across a roughly two-mile area that includes CU Boulder auditoriums, the Boulder Theater, eTown Hall, the Canyon Theater at the Boulder Public Library, Chautauqua Auditorium, the Dairy Arts Center, Boulder High School and Casey Middle School. Cinemark Century Boulder will host screenings reserved for critics and film-industry attendees.
The compact venue map does not necessarily translate into a compact trip for everyone attending. Sundance’s lodging portal includes hotels and rentals outside of Boulder, and the festival is telling some visitors they may stay in Denver or surrounding communities and commute.
Here are all of the Boulder venues hosting Sundance Film Festival in 2027
Organizers have pointed to existing regional buses connecting Boulder with Denver and Denver International Airport. They have not released detailed plans for festival shuttles, late-night service or the trip facing someone whose final screening ends long after dinner.
Sundance also expects to work with more than 2,000 volunteers. Applications open Aug. 31.
“We’re planting and laying the foundation for a festival that will exist in Colorado for at least a decade, hopefully longer,” Hernandez said. “This is the beginning of an ongoing relationship.”
A statement from the Sundance Institute released om Wednesday reads: “We’re upholding the values of our founder, Robert Redford, and building a Festival that will introduce artists and their work to new audiences, uplifting the next wave of independent storytelling, and connecting with our passionate global community and the Coloradans joining us in building our Festival’s new home.”
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