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The Sundance Film Festival<\/a> may be a little bittersweet this year. It will be familiar in some ways as it kicks off on Thursday in Park City, Utah. There will be stars, from Natalie Portman to Charli XCX<\/a>, and breakout discoveries, tearjerkers, comedies, thrillers, oddities that defy categorization and maybe even a few future Oscar nominees. The pop ups and sponsors will be out in full force on Main Street. The lines to get into the 90 movies premiering across 10 days will be long and the volunteers will be endlessly helpful and cheery in subfreezing temperatures.<\/p>\n But the country\u2019s premier showcase for independent film is also in a time of profound transition<\/a> after decades of relative stability. The festival is bidding farewell to its longtime home and forging forward without its founder, Robert Redford<\/a>, who died in September<\/a>. Next year, it must find its footing in another mountain town, Boulder, Colorado<\/a>.<\/p>\n Celebrating the legacy of Robert Redford and his creation<\/p>\n It\u2019s no surprise that legacy will be a through-line at this year\u2019s final edition in Park City. There will be screenings of restored Sundance gems<\/a> like \u201cLittle Miss Sunshine,\u201d \u201cMysterious Skin,\u201d \u201cHouse Party\u201d and \u201cHumpday\u201d as well as Redford\u2019s first truly independent film, the 1969 sports drama \u201cDownhill Racer.\u201d Many will also pay tribute to Redford at the institute\u2019s fundraising event, where honorees include Chlo\u00e9 Zhao<\/a>, Ed Harris and Nia DaCosta.<\/p>\n \u201cSundance has always been about showcasing and fostering independent movies in America. Without that, so many filmmakers wouldn\u2019t have had the careers they have,\u201d said \u201cMysterious Skin\u201d filmmaker Gregg Araki. He first attended the festival in 1992 and has been back many times, including at the labs where Zhao was one of his students. <\/p>\n Quite a few festival veterans are planning to make the trip, including \u201cNavalny\u201d filmmaker Daniel Roher. His first Sundance in 2022 might have been a bit unconventional (made fully remote at the last minute<\/a> due to the pandemic) but ended on a high note with an Oscar<\/a>. This year he\u2019s back with two films, his narrative debut \u201cTuner,\u201d and the world premiere of \u201cThe AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist,\u201d which he co-directed with Charlie Tyrell.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re going through a weird moment in the world \u2026 There\u2019s something that strikes me about an institution that has been evergreen, that seems so entrenched going through its own transition and rebirth,\u201d Roher told The Associated Press. \u201cI\u2019m choosing to frame this year as a celebration of Sundance and the institute and a future that will ensure the festival goes on forever and ever and ever and stays the vital conduit for so many filmmakers that it has been.\u201d<\/p>\n Over the past four decades, countless careers have been shaped and boosted by the festival and the Institute. Three of this year\u2019s presumed Oscar nominees<\/a> \u2014 Paul Thomas Anderson, Ryan Coogler and Zhao \u2014 are among those the Institute supported<\/a> early in their careers.<\/p>\n Jay Duplass, who first came to Sundance in 2003 with his brother, Mark, with what he calls a \u201c$3 film\u201d said it was the place where his career was made.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d probably be a psychologist right now if it wasn\u2019t for Sundance,\u201d Duplass said.<\/p>\n While he\u2019s been to \u201cprobably 15 Sundances\u201d since, it hasn\u2019t lost its luster. In fact, when a programmer called him to tell him that his new film \u201cSee You When I See You\u201d was selected, he cried. The film is based on a memoir in which a young comedy writer (Cooper Raiff) attempts to process the death of his sister (Kaitlyn Dever).<\/a> It’s one of many films that finds humor amid grim subjects.<\/p>\n Bold swings, comedies and Hollywood stars<\/p>\n As always, the lineup is full of starry films as well, including Cathy Yan\u2019s art world satire, \u201cThe Gallerist,\u201d starring Portman, Jenna Ortega, Sterling K. Brown, Zach Galifianakis and Da\u2019Vine Joy Randolph.<\/a> The romantic drama \u201cCarousel,\u201d from Rachel Lambert, features Chris Pine and Jenny Slate as high school exes who rekindle their romance later in life. Araki is also bringing a new film, \u201cI Want Your Sex,\u201d in which Olivia Wilde plays a provocative artist (Araki described as a cross between Madonna and Robert Mapplethorpe) who takes on Cooper Hoffman as her younger muse.<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s kind of a sex-positive love letter to Gen Z,\u201d Araki said. \u201cIt\u2019s a comedy. It has elements of mystery, thriller, murder \u2014 a little bit of \u2018Sunset Boulevard\u2019 \u2026 it\u2019s fun, it\u2019s colorful, it’s sexy. It’s a ride.\u201d<\/p>\n Wilde also steps behind the camera for \u201cThe Invite,\u201d in which she stars alongside Seth Rogen as a couple whose marriage disintegrates over the course of an evening. Olivia Colman is a fisherwoman looking to make the perfect husband in \u201cWicker,\u201d co-starring Alexander Skarsg\u00e5rd. Zoey Deutch plays a Midwestern bride-to-be seeking out her celebrity \u201cfree pass\u201d (Jon Hamm) in the screwball comedy \u201cGail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass.\u201d And Ethan Hawke and Russell Crowe lead the Depression-era crime drama \u201cThe Weight.\u201d<\/p>\n Pop star and noted cinephile Charli XCX will also be out and about, starring in the self-referential mockumentary \u201cThe Moment,\u201d and appearing in \u201cThe Gallerist\u201d and \u201cI Want Your Sex\u201d as well.<\/p>\n Documentaries about celebrities and urgent subjects<\/p>\n The 2026 festival features a robust lineup of documentaries too, which have a good track record of snagging eventual Oscar nominations and wins<\/a>. There are a handful of films about famous faces, including basketball star Brittney Griner<\/a>, Courtney Love, Salman Rushdie,<\/a> Billie Jean King, Nelson Mandela and comedian Maria Bamford.<\/p>\n Others delve into newsy subjects past and present, like \u201cWhen A Witness Recants,\u201d in which author Ta-Nehisi Coates revisits the case of the 1983 murder of a boy in his Baltimore middle school and learns the truth. \u201cAmerican Doctor\u201d follows three professionals trying to help in Gaza. \u201cWho Killed Alex Odeh\u201d examines the 1985 assassination of a Palestinian American activist in Southern California. \u201cEverybody To Kenmure Street\u201d is about civil resistance to deportations in Glasgow in 2021. And \u201cSilenced\u201d tracks international human rights lawyer Jennifer Robinson in her fight against the weaponization of defamation laws against victims of gender violence. <\/p>\n And some don’t fit into any easy category, like \u201cThe History of Concrete\u201d in which filmmaker John Wilson takes what he learned at a \u201chow to sell a Hallmark movie\u201d seminar and tries to apply it to a documentary on concrete. <\/p>\n Saying goodbye to Main Street<\/p>\n There might be a bit of wistfulness in the air too, as everyone takes stock of the last Sundance in Park City and tries to imagine what Boulder might hold.<\/p>\n \u201cIt feels very special to be part of the last one in Park City,\u201d Duplass said. \u201cIt\u2019s just a super special place where, you know there are going to be movies there with giant stars and there\u2019s also going to be some kids there who made movies for a few thousand dollars. And they\u2019re all going to mix.\u201d<\/p>\n