The 2026 Sundance Film Festival began on January 22 and since last Thursday, hundreds of members of the press have been in Park City, Salt Lake City, and beyond (via festival.sundance.org) experiencing premieres and conversations from emerging and established global storytellers while sharing their discoveries with even wider audiences. Some members of this media community are part of a select group of press participating in the Press Inclusion Initiative (PII), a program designed to elevate multiple perspectives in journalism and cultural criticism.
In its eighth year, the Press Inclusion Initiative continues to remove systemic barriers faced by critics from underrepresented groups who have not seen themselves represented in cultural criticism in large numbers by facilitating financial support, networking opportunities, guidance on how to navigate the Festival, and the amplification of their work.
PII was founded to address imbalances in the critical landscape by creating a more culturally abundant press corps at the Sundance Film Festival while supporting talented critics and reporters in their career progression and networking opportunities. The program has now supported upwards of 200 journalists from BIPOC, queer, and disabled communities — many of them freelancers.
The 2026 Press Inclusion Initiative cohort is made up of 29 members of the press covering the Sundance Film Festival and you can read some of their selected work created during the Festival here:
“‘Undertone’ Review: Ian Tuason’s Audio-Driven Horror Debut Screams Technical Proficiency” by Siddhant Adlakha on Variety
“‘The Shitheads’ Review: Dave Franco and O’Shea Jackson Jr. Are Losers on a Mission in a Broad Comedy Tinged with Viciousness” by Juan Carlos Aguilar Arriaga on Variety
“(Sundance Film Festival) BUDDY Is a Unicorn-Fueled Descent Into Mascot Horror” by Amylou Ahava on Professor Horror
“The 11 Most Anticipated Movies at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival” by Catherine Cardenas on W Magazine
“Sundance arranca muy hispano: “American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis Valdez” y “La cazadora” – La Opinión” by Rafael Cores on La Opinion
“‘American Doctor’ Review: A Visceral Account of the War in Gaza Told Through the Eyes of Emergency Doctors” by Murtada Elfadl on Variety
“Sundance 2026: Nezza expands on her activism in ‘La Tierra del Valor’ – Los Angeles Times” by Suzanne Marcella Exposito on Los Angeles Times
“Pankaja, O’Sey Balamma Make It To Sundance – Rediff.com” by Ranjita Ganesan on Rediff
“Black Voices Take Center Stage At The 2026 Sundance Film Festival | Essence” by Okla Jarred Jones, III on Essence
“‘When a Witness Recants’ Review: If Justice Arrives 36 Years Too Late, Who Bears the Burden? Review: ‘La Cazadora’ Is a Masterful Portrait of Disappearance” by Beandrea July on Indiewire
“Review: ‘La Cazadora’ Is a Masterful Portrait of Disappearance” by Wael Khairy on Cairo Scene
“2026 Sundance Film Festival Review – Burn” by Robert James Kojder on Flickering Myth
“Knife: The Attempted Murder of Salman Rushdie’ Review: Courageous Doc Hits Hard” by Zachary Lee on The Wrap
“‘The Last First: Winter K2’ Widens the Emotional and Ethical Frame of the Mountaineering Documentary – The Wire” by Tatsam Mukherjee on The Wrap
John Nein, senior programmer at Sundance | Interview | PURPLE HOUR by Olivia Manshu Popp on Purple Hour
Sundance 2026: Extra Geography, Filipiñana, The Huntress | Festivals & Awards | Roger Ebert by Peyton Danielle Robinson on Roger Ebert
“‘Barbara Forever’ review: An ode to filmmaker Barbara Hammer—and lesbian history” by Melinda Chavela Valdivia Rude on Out
“Sundance 2026: La cazadora, justicia y preocupación – Paloma & Nacho” by Fabiola Santiago Padilla on Paloma and Nacho
“WATCH: A gay grandpa reconnects with his grandkid in this emotional intergenerational drama – Queerty” by Cameron Scheetz on Queerty
“‘Union County’ Finds the Heart of Sobriety in Community — Sundance – Hue Watched It” by Kit Stone on Hue Watched It
“‘What Is a Golf Course but the Gentrification of Land?’: Rafael Manuel on Filipiñana” by Elissa Y. Suh on Filmmaker Magazine
“Sundance 2026 Review: THE INCOMER, Welcome Weirdness Dominates This Island Set Comedy” by Melvin Paul Valentin on Screen Anarchy
“‘The Gallerist’ and the Art of Selling Emptiness – LatinaMedia.Co” by Denise Zubizarreta on Latina Media
