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By Mabel Pais
Sundance Film Festival (festival.sundance.org) at its 2026 annual fundraiser – CELEBRATING SUNDANCE INSTITUTE: A TRIBUTE TO FOUNDER ROBERT REDFORD will also honor three individuals for their work. This will take place on Friday, January 23, 2026, at the Grand Hyatt Deer Valley in Utah.
During the evening, CHLOE ZHAO will receive the annual Trailblazer Award, NIA DACOSTA will be presented with the annual Vanguard Award for Fiction, and GEETA GANDBHIR will receive the annual Vanguard Award Presented for Nonfiction. Additional special guest participants include Amy Redford, Ava DuVernay, Ethan Hawke, David Lowery, Tessa Thompson, and more. The Film Festival (sundance.org) will be held from January 22–February 1, 2026, in person in Park City and Salt Lake City, Utah, with the at-home program available online from January 29–February 1, 2026, for audiences across the country.
The evening will be a meaningful tribute to Sundance Institute’s Founder, Robert Redford — his legacy, vision, and enduring mission to support independent storytellers, and the inaugural Robert Redford Luminary Award will be presented to GYULA GAZDAG and ED HARRIS. The annual event enables the nonprofit to raise funds to support artists year-round through labs, intensives, grants, fellowships, a continuum of support, and public programming.
Recognizing an artist’s unwavering dedication and notable contributions to the field of independent film, the Sundance Institute Trailblazer Award will be presented to Academy Award–winning filmmaker Chloé Zhao. Previous honorees include Christopher Nolan and James Mangold.
Chloé Zhao is a Beijing-born writer, director, editor, and producer. Her debut feature, ‘Songs My Brothers Taught Me’ (2015), was supported by the 2012 Sundance Institute Directors and Screenwriters Labs and later premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. Zhao’s other films include ‘The Rider’ (2017), ‘Eternals’ (2021), and ‘Nomadland’ (2020), which won three Oscars. Most recently, she directed, co-wrote, and co-edited Focus Features’ ‘Hamnet’ (2025), from the bestselling novel of the same name. Led by her masterful creative vision and collaborative storytelling, the film has earned nine audience awards, as well as Golden Globe and Critics Choice Association nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Screenplay. She launched the production company ‘Book of Shadows’ in 2023 and ‘Kodansha Studios’ in 2025.
“Sundance Institute was where my journey as a filmmaker truly began, so to be honored with the Trailblazer Award by this community feels like coming home,” said Chloé Zhao. “I’m deeply grateful for the support, friendship, and inspiration I’ve found here over the years, and I feel incredibly lucky to be a part of this empathetic and fearless community of storytellers.”
The annual Vanguard Awards honor emerging artists whose work highlights the art of storytelling and creative independence in both fiction and nonfiction. The Vanguard Award for Fiction will be presented to Nia DaCosta, director of ‘Hedda’ (2025), and the Vanguard Award for Nonfiction will go to ‘Geeta Gandbhir,’ director of ‘The Perfect Neighbor’ (2025). Previous honorees include Sean Wang, Julian Brave NoiseCat, Emily Kassie, Celine Song, Maite Alberdi, Ryan Coogler, W. Kamau Bell, Nikyatu Jusu, Siân Heder, Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, Radha Blank, Lulu Wang, Boots Riley, Dee Rees, Marielle Heller, Damien Chazelle, Benh Zeitlin, and many more.
Nia DaCosta wrote, directed, and produced Hedda, which was released this fall. Previously, DaCosta directed and co-wrote ‘The Marvels’ (2023), ‘Candyman’ (2021), and ‘Little Woods’ (2018), her debut feature supported by the 2015 Sundance Institute Directors and Screenwriters Labs. Her next film, ’28 Years Later: The Bone Temple,’ will be released in theaters on January 16, 2026.
“It is such an honor to be receiving the Vanguard Award from the Sundance Film Festival,” said Nia DaCosta. “It’s also incredibly fitting because all of the qualities of creative independence and intentional storytelling I am being recognized for are things I learned there, on the mountain during the Sundance Institute labs with Bob Redford, Michelle Satter, and their wonderful team. I can’t wait to accept this award, but most importantly I cannot wait to celebrate Bob, the Festival, and all of the amazing filmmakers in Park City next year.”
Director Geeta Gandbhir is an Emmy, Independent Spirit, and Peabody Award–winning filmmaker. Her documentary ‘The Perfect Neighbor’ (Netflix) premiered in the U.S. Documentary Competition category at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival and won the juried Directing Award: U.S. Documentary. As a director,
her other recent credits include ‘Katrina: Come Hell and High Water’ (2025), ‘Eyes on the Prize’ (2025), ‘The Devil Is Busy’ (2024), ‘How We Get Free’ (2023), ‘Born in Synanon’ (2023), and ‘Lowndes County and the Road to Black Power’ (2022).
“For many years, the Sundance Film Festival has been a guiding light for me — a place where bold, uncompromising stories find their home,” said Geeta Gandbhir. “The Festival has always embodied the kind of filmmaking I strive for: courageous, deeply human, and unafraid to confront difficult truths. What has meant the most to me is how the Festival continues to build community — one that not only celebrates artistic excellence but actively uplifts underrepresented voices and filmmakers who challenge the status quo. As someone whose work is rooted in justice, empathy, and the power of storytelling to spark change, being recognized with the Vanguard Award is profoundly meaningful. I’m deeply honored to be part of this community and this legacy of truth-telling and transformation.”
TICKETS
2026 Sundance Film Festival Single Film Tickets for in-person screenings are available @ (festival.sundance.org/tickets/in-person) and online screenings go on sale January 14 at 10 a.m. MT. Visit the Sundance Film Festival website for more information @ festival.sundance.org.
Sundance Institute (sundance.org)
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 (collab.sundance.org), 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, Sundance Collab has 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),’ and many more.
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, Lulu Wang, and Chloé Zhao and more.
Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, X, and Bluesky.
Sundance Film Festival®
The Sundance Film Festival, a program of the nonprofit Sundance Institute, is the preeminent gathering of original storytellers and audiences seeking new voices and fresh perspectives. Since 1985, hundreds of films launched at the Festival have gone on to gain critical acclaim and reach new audiences worldwide.
The Festival has introduced some of the most groundbreaking films and episodic works of the past three decades, including ‘Kiss of the Spider Woman,’ ‘Prime Minister,’ ‘Pee-wee as Himself,’ ‘Dìdi (弟弟),’ ‘A Real Pain,’ ‘Daughters,’ ‘Thelma,’ ‘Will & Harper,’ ‘Past Lives,’ ‘20 Days in Mariupol,’ ‘The Eternal Memory,’ ‘Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie,’ ‘A Thousand and One,’ ‘Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields,’ ‘Rye Lane,’ ‘Navalny,’ ‘Fire of Love,’ ‘Flee,’ ‘CODA,’ ‘Passing,’ ‘Summer of Soul’ (…Or, ‘When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised’), ‘Minari,’ ‘Clemency,’ ‘Never Rarely Sometimes Always,’ ‘Zola,’ ‘O.J.: Made in America,’ ‘The Big Sick,’ ‘Little Miss Sunshine,’ ‘An Inconvenient Truth,’ ‘Napoleon Dynamite,’ ‘Hedwig and the Angry Inch,’ ‘Reservoir Dogs,’ ‘sex, lies, and videotape’ and many more.
The program consists of fiction and nonfiction features and short films, series and episodic content, innovative storytelling, and performances, as well as conversations and other events. The 2026 Festival will be held January 22–February 1, 2026, in Park City and Salt Lake City, Utah, and online January 29–February 1, 2026, across the country.
Be a part of the Festival at festival.sundance.org and follow the Festival on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, X, and Bluesky.
For more information, visit festival.sundance.org.
Mabel Pais writes on The Arts and Entertainment, Spirituality, Social Issues, Education, Business, Health and Wellness, and Cuisine.