The in-person Park City, UT component of the Sundance Film Festival will not be occurring for the second year-in-a-row, with the near 40-year old cinema event to remain virtual for its Jan.
20-30 duration. This was always Plan B for Sundance in the face of an unpredictable pandemic.“The Festival’s in-person Utah elements will be moving online this year,” read a statement from Sundance today.The news isn’t shocking considering how a majority of entertainment industry events have either been postponed or cancelled during the first two months of this year; Sundance’s live edition being a final holdout.
Deadline heard in recent days that some sponsors were mulling whether to pull from the live-Park City, UT edition of the festival, in addition to festival buyers and talent reps cancelling their trips, however, Sundance contends that the complete segue to a virtual edition boils simply down to the unpredictable spread of the Omicron variant, and the irresponsibility health-wise to hold a festival which draws an estimated 116K people from around the world.
According to recent stats as of Jan. 3, there were 14,7K newly reported Covid-19 cases in Utah, and 17 related Covid deaths.The decision by the festival to go completely virtual comes 15 days before Sundance’s opening night.
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