PARK CITY, UTAH, JUNE 18, 2026 — The nonprofit Sundance Institute announced today the 2026 Sundance Film Festival: Local Lens, a free summer screening series for the local community of Utah, taking place July 18–19 at the Library Center Theatre in Park City and Utah Film Center in Salt Lake City, in collaboration with Park City Film and Utah Film Center. The series will bring Utahns free showings of some of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival’s celebrated films before they are released. Local Lens is part of Sundance Institute’s rich history as a nonprofit rooted in Utah that supports engaging new stories and groundbreaking independent artists by bringing audiences together. Filmmakers who will join to introduce their films and participate in Q&As following their screenings include director and screenwriter Adam Meeks (Union County), director and screenwriter Liz Sargent (Take Me Home), director Abby Ellis (The Lake), and director and screenwriter William David Caballero (TheyDream). See the full program lineup below with free tickets available to reserve now at sundance.org/local-lens.

“We are incredibly excited to host the 2026 Sundance Film Festival: Local Lens free movie screening series for our beloved local Utah community as a part of our year-round programming,” said Eugene Hernandez, Director, Sundance Film Festival and Public Programming. “We have immense gratitude for our Utah audiences and look forward to bringing them some of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival’s most groundbreaking, inspiring projects. We can’t wait to see you there!”

The 2026 Sundance Film Festival: Local Lens program will feature two fiction and two documentary films: 

Union County, following a young man’s journey toward recovery; Take Me Home (2026 Sundance Film Festival Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award: U.S. Dramatic presented to Liz Sargent), examining the balance of caretaking between aging parents and their disabled adult daughter; The Lake (2026 Sundance Film Festival U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Impact for Change), which follows two scientists and a political insider as they race to save Utah from an environmental nuclear bomb; and TheyDream (2026 Sundance Film Festival NEXT Special Jury Award for Creative Expression Presented by Adobe), in which a filmmaker and his mother face devastating losses through tears, laughter, and creating animations together.

Please see below for more information and the schedule of upcoming free events:

2026 Sundance Film Festival: Local Lens Screenings Schedule

Union County

Saturday, July 18, 2026, at 1 p.m. 

Utah Film Center | 375 W. 400 North, Salt Lake City, UT 84103

Sunday, July 19, 2026, at 7 p.m.

Jim Santy Auditorium at Library Center Theatre | 1255 Park Ave., Park City, UT 84060

Union County / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Adam Meeks, Producers: Brad Becker-Parton, Stephanie Roush, Sean Weiner, Tim Headington, Faye Tsakas, Martha Gregory) — Assigned to a county-mandated drug court program, Cody Parsons embarks on the tenuous journey toward recovery amid the opioid epidemic in rural Ohio. Cast: Will Poulter, Noah Centineo, Elise Kibler, Emily Meade, Annette Deao. Distributed by Oscilloscope. Fiction.

Take Me Home

Saturday, July 18, 2026, at 4 p.m. 

Utah Film Center | 375 W. 400 North, Salt Lake City, UT 84103

Take Me Home / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Liz Sargent, Producers: Apoorva Guru Charan, Minos Papas) — Anna, a 38-year-old Korean adoptee with a cognitive disability, cares for her aging parents in a fragile balance of meeting one another’s needs. When a Florida heat wave shatters their family and Anna’s routine, her future is uncertain until she creates a world where she can thrive. Cast: Anna Sargent, Victor Slezak, Ali Ahn, Marceline Hugot, Shane Harper. Distributed by WILLA. Fiction.

The Lake

Saturday, July 18, 2026, at 7 p.m. 

Utah Film Center | 375 W. 400 North, Salt Lake City, UT 84103

Sunday, July 19, 2026, at 1 p.m.

Jim Santy Auditorium at Library Center Theatre | 1255 Park Ave., Park City, UT 84060

The Lake / U.S.A. (Director and Producer: Abby Ellis, Producer: Fletcher Keyes) — An environmental nuclear bomb looms in Utah. Two intrepid scientists and a political insider race the clock to save their home from unprecedented catastrophe. Documentary.

TheyDream

Sunday, July 19, 2026, at 4 p.m. 

Jim Santy Auditorium at Library Center Theatre | 1255 Park Ave., Park City, UT 84060

TheyDream / U.S.A. (Director, Screenwriter, and Producer: William David Caballero, Screenwriters and Producers: Erin Ploss-Campoamor, Elaine del Valle, Producer: Brad Jones) — After 20 years of chronicling his Puerto Rican family, a director and his mother face devastating losses. Through tears and laughter, they craft animations that bring their loved ones back to life, discovering that every act of creation is also an act of letting go. Documentary. 

Sundance Institute’s Utah Community Program is supported by Community Supporters Salt Lake County Zoo, Arts & Parks (ZAP); Peggy Bergmann; Salt Lake City Arts Council; Salt Lake City Mayor’s Office Arts, Culture, & Entertainment Grant; Major Sponsors Acura; and Adobe.

Sundance Institute

As a champion and curator of independent stories, the nonprofit Sundance Institute provides and preserves the space for artists across storytelling 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 a global cohort of working artists together to learn from Sundance Institute advisors and connect with each other 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. Through the Sundance Institute artist programs, we have supported such projects as Beasts of the Southern Wild, The Big Sick, Bottle Rocket, Boys Don’t Cry, Boys State, Call Me by Your Name, Clemency, CODA, Dìdi (弟弟), Drunktown’s Finest, The Farewell, Fire of Love, Flee, Fruitvale Station, Half Nelson, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Hereditary, The Infiltrators, The Last Black Man in San Francisco, Little Woods, Love & Basketball, Me and You and Everyone We Know, Mudbound, Nanny, One Child Nation, Pariah, Raising Victor Vargas, RBG, Requiem for a Dream, Reservoir Dogs, Sin Nombre, Sorry to Bother You, Strong Island, Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised), Swiss Army Man, A Thousand and One, Top of the Lake, Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, and Zola. Through year-round artist programs, the Institute also nurtured the early careers of such artists as Paul Thomas Anderson, Gregg Araki, Darren Aronofsky, Lisa Cholodenko, Nia DaCosta, Ryan Coogler, The Daniels, Robert Eggers, Rick Famuyiwa, David Gordon Green, Sterlin Harjo, Marielle Heller, Miranda July, Nikyatu Jusu, James Mangold, John Cameron Mitchell, Kimberly Peirce, Gina Prince-Bythewood, Boots Riley, A.V. Rockwell, Ira Sachs, Walter Salles, Quentin Tarantino, Erica Tremblay, Taika Waititi, Lulu Wang, and Chloé Zhao. Support Sundance Institute in our commitment to uplifting bold artists and powerful storytelling globally by making a donation at sundance.org/donate. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, X, and Bluesky.

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MEDIA CONTACT: Alex Courides, alex_courides@sundance.org