The Sundance Film Festival has not screened a single film in Boulder yet, but its first party here now has a guest list. On November 13, the nonprofit Sundance Institute announced the details of its annual fundraising gala, renamed for the occasion Celebrating Sundance Institute: The Boulder Debut. It takes place on Friday, January 22, 2027, at the Limelight Boulder hotel, the second night of the first festival held in Colorado.

Actor and writer Stanley Tucci will emcee. Four filmmakers will be honored: Jesse Eisenberg, Gina Prince-Bythewood, Beth de Araújo and Dawn Porter.

Who is being honored, and for what

Jesse Eisenberg receives the Institute's Trailblazer Award, which recognizes long-term contributions to independent film. Earlier recipients include Chloé Zhao, James Mangold and Christopher Nolan. Eisenberg has brought work to Sundance as an actor (The Squid and the Whale in 2005, Holy Rollers in 2010, The Double in 2014) and as a writer and director (When You Finish Saving the World in 2022 and A Real Pain in 2024). A Real Pain won the festival's Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award in the U.S. Dramatic category. His new film, The Debut, stars Julianne Moore and Paul Giamatti.

Gina Prince-Bythewood receives the Robert Redford Luminary Award, presented for only the second time. The award was created in January 2026, when it went to Ed Harris and Gyula Gazdag. Prince-Bythewood developed her first feature, Love & Basketball, in the Institute's labs in 1998, including its Screenwriters and Directors Labs, before the film premiered at the 2000 festival. Her later films include The Secret Life of Bees, Beyond the Lights, The Old Guard and The Woman King, and she served as a creative advisor at the 2023 Directors Lab.

Beth de Araújo receives the Vanguard Award for Fiction. Her second feature, Josephine, came through the Institute's Feature Film Program labs and won both the U.S. Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award in the U.S. Dramatic competition at the 2026 festival.

Dawn Porter receives the Vanguard Award for Nonfiction. A former attorney who founded the production company Trilogy Films, Porter has directed four films that played the festival, most recently When A Witness Recants in 2026.

Why it matters here

The gala is the Institute's annual fundraiser, and the money supports its labs, grants and public programs for independent filmmakers. Holding it in Boulder in the festival's first year here ties the Institute's own fundraising to its new home; Sundance has said Boulder will be the festival's home from 2027 onward.

The Institute also noted that 2027 marks the 25th anniversary of its Documentary Film Program, which funds and mentors nonfiction filmmakers around the world.

The festival itself

The 2027 Sundance Film Festival runs January 21 to 31 in Boulder, with an at-home online program January 28 to 31. The official screening venues announced in February are spread across the city and the University of Colorado Boulder campus: the Boulder Theater, Chautauqua Auditorium, eTown Hall, Cinemark Century Boulder, the Boedecker and Gordon Gamm theaters at the Dairy Arts Center, the Boulder High School and Casey Middle School auditoriums, and Macky Auditorium Concert Hall, Muenzinger Auditorium and the Roe Green Theatre on campus. Talks and festival programming will also use the Canyon Theater at the Boulder Public Library, the Dairy Arts Center, eTown Hall and Old Main.

How to attend the gala

The gala runs from 6:30 to 10:30 p.m. Mountain time on January 22 at Limelight Boulder. For now, seating is sold by the table through the Institute's event team at benefitevent@sundance.org, and part of each table purchase is tax deductible. The Institute says seating is limited and that public on-sale announcements will follow. Festival passes and ticket packages are sold separately through festival.sundance.org.

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