PARK CITY, UTAH —The nonprofit Sundance Institute is pleased to announce the 2023 Sundance Film Festival will take place as a hybrid festival in Park City, Salt Lake City, Utah, and beyond, from January 19 through January 29, 2023.
“We can’t wait to return to our home in Park City and present exciting new work from around the world live and in person,” said Festival Director Tabitha Jackson. “We also have two years of digital exhibition and participation under our collective belt, and are returning to the excitement and immediacy of live events while retaining a powerful online offering.”
The program, including world-premiere feature films, short films, episodic work and a full New Frontier program, will be larger than those presented digitally in the prior two years.
Programmers, led by Director of Programming Kim Yutani, are standing by to screen submissions, gathered via FilmFreeway.
Submissions to the 2023 Sundance Film Festival are now open. You may click the button below to begin the application process. For answers to the most commonly asked questions about submitting projects to the Festival, download our FAQ document, and please read the Rules & Regulations thoroughly before you begin the process. The deadline dates and submission fees for 2023 Festival consideration are listed below.
Feature film submissions close August 12 (early), September 5 (official) and September 26 (late), 2022.
Short film submissions close August 1 (early), August 19 (official) and September 5 (late), 2022.
New Frontier submissions close August 5 (early), August 22 (official) and September 9 (late), 2022.
Episodic content submissions close August 8 (early), August 26 (official) and September 12 (late), 2022.
Submission Categories
Each year, Sundance Film Festival select a slate of feature films, short films, episodic projects, and New Frontier exhibition and performance projects to play within each of the Festival programs.
| U.S. Narrative Feature Films | Any narrative or non-scripted work of fiction originating from within the United States with a running time of 50 minutes or more. | Only films retaining world premiere status are eligible for open submission to this category. |
| U.S. Documentary Feature Films | Any nonfiction film originating from within the United States with a running time of 50 minutes or more. | Only films retaining world premiere status are eligible for open submission to this category. |
| International Narrative Feature Films | Any narrative or non-scripted work of fiction originating from outside of the United States with a running time of 50 minutes or more. | Submitted project must be either scripted or improvisational fiction, or a fictionalization of actual events, and at least half of the project’s financing must originate from outside of the United States. |
| International Documentary Feature Films | Any nonfiction film originating from outside of the United States with a running time of 50 minutes or more. | In order to qualify as an International Documentary Feature Film, at least half of the submitted project’s financing must originate from outside of the USA |
| U.S. Short Films | Any film or video project originating from within the United States with a running time of less than 50 minutes, including credits. | In order to qualify as a U.S. Short Film, at least half of the submitted project’s financing must originate from within the United States. |
| International Short Films | Any film or video project originating from outside of the United States with a running time of less than 50 minutes, including credits. | In order to qualify as an International Short Film, at least half of the submitted project’s financing must originate from outside of the United States. |
| Episodic Content | Any live-action, documentary/nonfiction, or animation project presented in or intended to be presented in a multi-episode format. | Episodic projects may originate from anywhere in the world and you may submit single or multiple episodes of the same project, as long as all episodes play continuously in one single video file for digital upload and do not exceed 10GB in size. |
| New Frontier Projects | A wide range of innovative works and immersive experiences will be considered for the Festival’s New Frontier program. VR/AR/MR/XR | Projects may have previously been exhibited or performed at other festivals, industry trade shows, and/or events/conventions and still retain their eligibility for submission to this category. |
– More info and specification about submission process can be found here.-
***ATENTION *** Before you begin your submission, please read carefully the eligibility requirements for each category below and select the one that best suits your project:
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The Sundance Institute is a non-profit organization that provides a wide variety of programs and initiatives for independent artists and storytellers working in film, theatre, and digital media. Fees from Festival submissions help us keep the process as rigorous and democratic as possible and to further support the independent creative community.
For more information about the Sundance Institute’s other programs, please visit official page
Pass and package information for both online and in-person participation will be shared closer to the Festival, as will detailed health safety and vaccination guidance. 
The Sundance Film Festival®
The Sundance Film Festival has introduced global audiences to some of the most groundbreaking films of the past three decades, including Flee, CODA, Passing, Summer Of Soul (…or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised), Clemency, Never Rarely Sometimes Always, Zola, On The Record, Boys State, The Farewell, Honeyland, One Child Nation, The Souvenir, The Infiltrators, Sorry to Bother You, Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, Hereditary, Call Me By Your Name, Get Out, The Big Sick, Mudbound, Fruitvale Station, Whiplash, Brooklyn, Precious, The Cove, Little Miss Sunshine, An Inconvenient Truth, Napoleon Dynamite, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Reservoir Dogs and sex, lies, and videotape.
The Festival is a program of the non-profit Sundance Institute. 2022 Festival sponsors include: Presenting Sponsors – Acura, AMC+, Chase Sapphire, Adobe; Leadership Sponsors – Amazon Studios, DIRECTV, DoorDash, Dropbox, Netflix, Omnicom Group, WarnerMedia, XRM Media; Sustaining Sponsors – Aflac, Audible, Canada Goose, Canon U.S.A., Inc., Dell Technologies, IMDbPro, Michelob ULTRA Pure Gold, Rabbit Hole Bourbon & Rye, Unity Technologies, University of Utah Health, White Claw Hard Seltzer; Media Sponsors – The Atlantic, IndieWire, Los Angeles Times, NPR, Shadow and Act, Variety, Vulture. Sundance Institute recognizes critical support from the State of Utah as Festival Host State. The support of these organizations helps offset the Festival’s costs and sustain the Institute’s year-round programs for independent artists. Festival.Sundance.org
Sundance Institute
As a champion and curator of independent stories for the stage and screen, Sundance Institute provides and preserves the space for artists in film, theatre, film composing, and digital media to create and thrive.
Founded in 1981 by Robert Redford, the Institute’s signature Labs, granting, and mentorship programs, dedicated to developing new work, take place throughout the year in the U.S. and internationally. Sundance Collab, a digital community platform, brings artists together to learn from each other and Sundance advisors and connect in a creative space, developing and sharing works in progress. The Sundance Film Festival and other public programs connect audiences and artists to ignite new ideas, discover original voices, and build a community dedicated to independent storytelling. Sundance Institute has supported such projects as Clemency, Never Rarely Sometimes Always, Zola, On The Record, Boys State, The Farewell, Honeyland, One Child Nation, The Souvenir, The Infiltrators, Sorry to Bother You, Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, Hereditary, Call Me By Your Name, Get Out, The Big Sick, Mudbound, Fruitvale Station, City So Real, Top of the Lake, Between the World & Me, Wild Goose Dreams and Fun Home. Join the Sundance Institute on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.
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