(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Chicago will feel a bit like Hollywood — and even more like Utah — in late June, when the city hosts the inaugural “Sundance Institute and Chicago 2024” film event.
The partnership will make Chicago the only U.S. city outside of Park City, Utah, to host an independent artist and film weekend in partnership with the Sundance Institute.
Eugene Hernandez, director of the Sundance Film Festival, said Chicago is a natural place for Sundance to spread its wings.
“I’m jealous,” he told WBBM. “You have such a wealth of amazing — not only when we’re talking about film — amazing film institutions. It starts there, not to mention the Siskel Center or Music Box, I mean, there are so many great …film spaces in Chicago, curatorial spaces in Chicago alongside the rich arts tradition that exist there.”
Hernandez added that Chicago’s currently seeing “some really exciting creativity” in its arts scene.
“We had a really exciting film at the festival earlier this year called ‘Ghost Light,’ by two filmmakers who are based in Chicago, and it really offered a window into not only the creative scene in Chicago, but also the theater scene, the acting,” he said.
The Sundance film event will take place June 28 – 30, though a location has not been chosen.
Officials said the event will feature screenings of four films from this year's Sundance Film Festival and, among other things, a masterclass for emerging and underrepresented filmmakers.
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