Ohio city among finalists to host Sundance Film Festival

CINCINNATI — Could a major film festival be coming to Ohio in a few years? Right now, there is a possibility of that happening.

The Sundance Institute announced the six finalists to move to the next phase of its process to find a host for the Sundance Film Festival starting in 2027 and Cincinnati was one of them.

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Cincinnati is joined by Atlanta, Georgia; Boulder, Colorado; Louisville, Kentucky; Santa Fe, New Mexico; and Park City/Salt Lake City, Utah.

For the past 40 years and through 2026, the festival has been held in Park City and Salt Lake City. The institute’s contract with Park City is up for renewal in 2027, which has led to the institute considering a potential location change.

During the process, the institute has “assessed each city’s infrastructure, ethos and equity values, event capabilities to host the Festival, and how each finalist could sustainably serve and support the ever-growing Sundance Film Festival community of independent artists and audiences.”

Now, members of the selection committee will visit each of the finalist cities to explore the possibilities of hosting the festival there.

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Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval said Film Cincinnati positioned the region as a “go-to community for movies.”

“We know how to nurture creative talent and the skilled workers behind the scenes, and we know how to celebrate them when they are on the big screen. Easily accessible to so much of the U.S. population, the Queen City is also a big league city for broader tourism, handling major events with professionalism and capacity,” Pureval said. “Both Cincinnati and the Sundance Film Festival are on the precipice for great change and we look forward to partnering and evolving together.”

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