EDITOR’S NOTE: Part I is an overview of the Utah film industry in the current moment. Part II (tomorrow) will offer a summary preview of the Sundance 2022 feature-length and short films, which The Utah Review will cover. It was so close. Three weeks before Sundance 2022 (Jan. 20–30) was slated to open, organizers had … Read more
INTRODUCTION It has been an enormous project to regain the spirited momentum that many arts and cultural organizations in Utah’s creative industries had amassed before the pandemic brought everything to a ground stop in the early spring of 2020. With resilience and durability exercised to their intrinsic advantages for respective organizations, many creative producers also … Read more
Just two months from the Sundance Film Festival’s return to in-person programming, which last occurred in 2020, among the newest offerings in 2022 will be the Local Lens program for Utahns. This will include free in-person and online screenings, ticket discounts, student screenings and other features. The festival, which will include in-person and online … Read more
Twelve awards have been announced in the 18th Fear No Film portion of the Utah Arts Festival, including a Grand Jury Prize, Fear No Filmmaker Award, three honorable mentions and seven audience awards. Winning Grand Jury Best of Show is the Swedish short film, You Are Always 20, directed by Christer Wahlberg, is based on … Read more
EDITOR’S NOTE: To read more about this year’s Fear No Film slate, including the Utah Made Film program, see here. With the pandemic, some might have wondered what the extent and scope of submissions for an international short film program might look like. This year’s Fear No Film program at the Utah Arts Festival, the … Read more
This year’s Fear No Film program for the 45th Utah Arts Festival includes nine rotating programs of short films representing 22 countries and will be screened in the third floor auditorium of The Leonardo museum. Audience members are reminded that masks will be required for the indoor program. Each screening lasts approximately one hour. The … Read more
EDITOR’S NOTE: The Utah Review begins its preview coverage today of the 45th Utah Arts Festival, which will be held Aug. 27-29 (noon to 11 p.m. on Aug. 27 and 28 and noon to 9 p.m. on Aug. 29) on the Library Square in downtown Salt Lake City. As this is the state’s largest multidisciplinary … Read more
With today’s Liberty Park screening co-sponsored by the Sundance Institue and two final days of films available for streaming on demand, the Utah Film’s Center’s 18th annual Damn These Heels Queer Film Festival will close on strong notes. As for the online streaming options, the festival has attracted a broad national and international audience. This … Read more
Two feature-length narratives, each featuring romance-based story lines around gay characters, which are receiving Utah premieres in the Utah Film’s Center’s 18th annual Damn These Heels Queer Film Festival exemplify distinct approaches to achieving authentic representations of sexual identity and relationships on the cinematic screen. From one of Israel’s best known directors of film and … Read more
In addition to Cured, No Straight Lines: The Rise of Queer Comics and P.S. Burn This Letter as outstanding testaments of archival activism, three other documentaries in the Utah Film’s Center’s 18th annual Damn These Heels Queer Film Festival shine for their use of historical materials. They include Raw! Uncut! Video!, directed by Ryan A. … Read more