Utah Film Center announces Artist Foundry to support independent filmmakers, acquires assets of Avrec Art House

As much as the Utah Film Center has served as a major Intermountain West cultural institution of exhibition for independent cinema, especially in documentary storytelling, it also has cultivated its function as a strategic touchstone essential for augmenting the creative filmmaking sector of the state’s film industry. Today, the center announced a major new piece … Read more

Emancipating artistic expressions from taboos, boundaries at heart of 15th Utah Film Center’s Damn These Heels LGBTQ Film Festival

Queer cinema has matured significantly within the last decade and, this year’s Utah Film Center’s Damn These Heels International Film Festival is a panoply of emancipating artistic expressions that break many taboos and boundaries. The 23 feature-length films, including 14 fictional narratives and nine documentaries from a dozen countries, introduce audiences to stories where different … Read more

Utah Film Center to present 7th Tumbleweeds kids film festival March 2-4 at three SLC downtown venues

The seventh presentation of the Utah Film Center’s Tumbleweeds Film Festival for Children and Youth from March 2-4 promises to be the most ambitious for the Intermountain West region’s only children’s film festival. There are 15 feature-length films, 14 of which are receiving their Utah premieres. The slate represents 12 countries on four continents. There … Read more

Sundance 2018: Utah Film Center, Sundance Institute mark 5-year anniversary for Sundance Kids program

Two feature-length animation films – both stunning in their visualizations of classic stories and thematic interpretation – and a documentary about the trials and successes of competing in an international science fair comprise this year’s Kids section of the Sundance Film Festival. The 2018 edition of the Kids program is a five-year milestone for its … Read more

Sundance 2018: Utah film industry’s connections strengthen as model for independent film community

Sundance 2018

Utah’s connections to the Sundance Film Festival (Jan. 18-28 in Park City and Salt Lake City) run deeper than what many people likely will see in the press coverage. Not only has the international festival been established as one of the most significant cultural events every year in the state, it has fostered film literacy … Read more

14th annual Utah Film Center’s Damn These Heels LGBTQ Film Festival highlights artistic progress, mainstream acceptance

There is no doubt, especially in the last half dozen years, that the artistic ideals of LGBTQ cinema not only successfully promulgate new perspectives in the mainstream but also highlight incisive takes that push the film traditions of character, director, auteur and audience well beyond conventional binary-based boundaries. Today’s stories emphasize themes of inclusion, openness … Read more

Utah Film Center to present 6th annual Tumbleweeds kids film festival

A truly international slate of children’s films that treats young viewers seriously with timely engaging stories about different cultures and issues such as immigration, learning about nature, homelessness, overcoming stereotypes and family identity highlights the sixth annual Tumbleweeds Film Festival which will be held Sept. 23-25 at the Rose Wagner Center for Performing Arts in … Read more

13th annual Damn These Heels LGBT Film Festival marks coming of age on many levels

The record large slate of international films for the 13th annual Damn These Heels LGBT Film Festival which will be presented by the Utah Film Center suggests a multi-layered, life-spanning, coming-of-age theme not just in the documentaries and narratives being presented but also in the sophisticated and artistic depth of LGBT cinema, the long-game opportunity … Read more

Utah Film Center regroups, sets fund-raising campaign after fire disaster

Just months before it will open its 15th anniversary season and during a time when annual attendance for its screenings has increased by at least 50 percent in the last five years, the Utah Film Center (UFC) is facing its biggest challenges after a four-alarm fire in late March destroyed its offices in downtown Salt … Read more

Largest, most diverse slate for 12th annual Damn These Heels Salt Lake City International LGBT Film Festival

The 12th annual Damn These Heels Salt Lake City International LGBT Film Festival is larger than ever but this year’s three-day Utah Film Center event is packed with the most impressive, incisive, enlightening slate of 22 films in both documentary and fictional treatments. The festival reaches a milestone this year in terms of validation and … Read more