To the editor: Los Angeles and the Hollywood neighborhood general will quickly really feel the results of the Sundance Movie Competition’s determination to maneuver to Boulder, Colo. Prior to now few weeks, quite a lot of storylines have emerged, putting blame anyplace from politics to funds, however it’s far more nuanced (“Of course Sundance is fleeing. Utah has become a hateful place,” April 4).
As one of many unique founding employees members of the Sundance Movie Competition, I do know precisely the place and the way this story started. Sundance was born, not simply as a movie pageant, however as a cultural pressure grounded in place. Robert Redford didn’t select Utah as a result of it was straightforward or apparent. He selected it as a result of it was totally different. As a result of the facility of Sundance was by no means simply concerning the movies — it was concerning the house it created for unbiased voices to emerge in a setting that challenged, impressed and remodeled.
The actual story is that this: Sundance is dealing with monetary headwinds, introduced on by a shifting unbiased movie trade and income losses from the COVID-19 pandemic. The brand new management crew, as a substitute of working with Utah’s private and non-private companions to rebuild a stronger future, selected to stroll away.
As the present mayor of Salt Lake County, I proposed a summit — on the Sundance Resort itself — the place we may meet as companions and decide learn how to evolve the pageant, given the altering panorama. A gathering of native leaders, inventive voices, and neighborhood companions, in a spot constructed for dialogue and reflection. That supply was by no means accepted.
Moreover, monetary gives from Salt Lake County and the state of Utah have been additionally severe and substantial; proposed to extend funding, provide infrastructure and supplied a transparent path ahead. It nonetheless wasn’t sufficient.
Let’s be trustworthy about what occurred right here: The present Sundance management didn’t wish to clear up issues. They needed to maneuver on from them. As an alternative of working inside a neighborhood that stood by the pageant by a long time of progress, they opted for a clear break — and used politics because the handy excuse.
However politics usually are not the true story. In the event that they have been, Redford would by no means have planted his imaginative and prescient in Utah to start with. A progressive himself, Redford understood that influence occurs if you communicate fact in arduous locations — not if you run from them. He used his platform to guard public lands, elevate marginalized voices, and push for change. Sundance turned highly effective as a result of it operated in a spot the place that energy meant one thing.
As a Democratic mayor in a conservative state, I don’t draw back from Utah’s challenges. I face them on daily basis. However I additionally know that the presence of Sundance right here made an actual distinction. It opened doorways for underrepresented communities. It gave audiences entry to new concepts and new views. It planted seeds for change the place it was wanted most.
This can be a loss for Utah. But it surely’s additionally a loss for Sundance. This exit leaves behind the surroundings that gave it its id, however extra importantly the individuals and the ideas that gave it that means. Sundance forgot its roots, the neighborhood that constructed it and the essence of what made it nice within the first place; unbiased voices aren’t simply wanted in snug locations — they’re wanted within the locations the place they will really make a distinction.
Jenny Wilson, Salt Lake Metropolis
The author is the mayor of Salt Lake County.
