Film fans from across the world are eager with anticipation as the 2015 Sundance Festival prepares to open.  Park City residents and visitors alike enjoy this world-famous celebration of movies and independent film.  The 2015 festival runs from January 22nd until February 1st, with exciting movie premiers, notable indie creations and foreign film masterpieces.

Sundance helped put film festivals on the map, and this year will celebrate its 30th anniversary.  That’s quite a feat, considering it’s humble beginnings.  Thanks to Robert Redford, the pioneer of film festivals, the festival quickly established itself the premiere film festival in the U.S. with Cannes being the European comparison.  

The Movies

Obviously a film festival isn’t much of a film festival without plenty of great movies to watch, so here’s a quick summary of the breakout movies to look for this year:

“Brooklyn” – stars Saoirse Ronan in this is a heartbreaking romance story set in 1950s Ireland about the life of a would-be émigré.

“I Am Michael” – James Franco plays the role of Michael Glatze, a gay rights advocate later turns his back on his homosexuality and becomes a conservative minister.

“Digging for Fire” – Director Joe Swanberg returns with a tale about the weekend adventures of a husband and wife who discover a gun and a bone.

“The End of the Tour” – a magazine reporter’s account of his conversations with author David Foster Wallace. Jesse Eisenberg and Jason Segel star.

As you have come to expect from Sundance, there also emotionally and spiritually challenging documentaries that are screened. The first of these is “Going Clear:  Scientology and the Prison of Belief”, a documentary that is, sure to ruffle some feathers.

 “The Hunting Ground” examines just how common and overlooked sexual assault is on college campuses across the United States.  “Prophet’s Pray” explores the life of Warren Jeffs, who fell from grace as president of the FLDS (Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints).

The Celebs

Even if you’re not a fan of watching some of the more challenging Sundance films, we’re sure you’ll enjoy a little bit of celebrity spotting. The Sundance Festival is never short of celebrity visitors, and for movie stars, the festival has become A “chill-out” zone for Hollywood actors who want to get away from their hectic pace and hang out with their acting buddies in beautiful Park City.

So, which celebrities might you expect to see? Well for starters you can add Ewan McGregor, Jesse Eisenberg, Saoirse Ronan, James Franco, Lilly Tomlin and Ryan Reynolds to your list of celebrity sightings. Other celebs likely to make an appearance include Jennifer Lopez, Sam Elliot, Zachary Quinto, Rhea Perlman, Emile Hersch and Ethan Hawke.

The Sundance Film Festival in Park City is one of the highlights on the social calendar of the entertainment industry.  Thousands of people looking forward to traveling here each year just to be part of it. For residents of Park City, it’s further proof that living here is the stuff that dreams are made of.