Sundance, Utah: Outdoor Films at Sundance Resort

Every summer, just when the evenings linger a little longer and sitting outdoors feels like a sensible life choice, Sundance Resort and the Sundance Institute roll out a particularly generous idea: free outdoor screenings drawn from the Sundance Film Festival archives. It is cinema in its most civilized form—no tickets, no lines, and no obligation to pretend you saw everything the first time around.The Sundance Outdoor Film Festival gives local movie-goers a chance to catch excellent independent films they may have missed at earlier Sundance Film Festivals, which is most of us, if we’re honest. At the same time, it serves a second, equally important purpose: allowing the Institute to say thank you to the Utah community for its continued support, using the universal language of a good film projected under the open sky.

These screenings are part of Sundance Institute’s Arts & Audiences Utah Initiative, a program devoted to making sure that serious, interesting movies are not confined to dark rooms with lanyards. For those seeking more details—or feeling suddenly inspired to plan their summer evenings with greater intention—additional information is available at www.sundance.org or by calling 1.801.223.4567.

It is, all told, a thoughtful reminder that sometimes the best way to support the arts is simply to sit outside, look up at a screen, and enjoy what you’ve been missing.