2021 Sundance Film Festival Coming To The Coolidge Corner Theatre

BROOKLINE, MA — The largest independent film festival in the country is coming to Brookline.

The 2021 Sundance Film Festival is set to take place in late January using an online platform to feature its film premieres, artist talks and other events. The festival has chosen The Coolidge Corner Theatre to be among the handful of partners to help bring films and customized programming to the masses.

The Coolidge Corner Theatre was the only theater from Massachusetts to be selected.

"We're happy to be in the mix and be recognized by the leading independent film festival in the country and to be recognized among really just a handful of theaters," The theater's Director of Development Beth Gillian said. "They chose theaters that they were really aligned with, so we were just thrilled to be on the list."

Sundance has been a strong advocate for art houses, and local movie theaters.

"They're really trying —in this unusual year — to amplify the voices of independent and art house theaters which have been so key and so decimated by COVID," said Gillian. "Operating revenues are down considerably, and [this connection is] another thing that puts us on the map, so to speak. Every time something puts us in the consciousness of the community it helps."

Gillian said the Coolidge was tapped to be a "satellite screen" with the hope that they might be able to open the theater to actual screenings of films during the festival, but with the second surge of the virus, whether that may happen depends on how Massachusetts does after the holidays.

"It's all coming together really quickly," Gillian said. "When Sundance first approached us, we were expecting to be open in January. The world is a whole lot more tentative now."

Beyond showing films on the screen, the theater is also collaborating with Sundance to organize local virtual conversations and events to compliment the programming, Gillian said.

Because both the Coolidge Corner Theatre and the Sundance Institute have partnerships with the Alford P. Sloan Foundation Gillian said she expects there will be a Science of the Screen event. And because greater Boston is known for its documentary filmmakers — with Academy-Award wining Erol Morris, of Fourth Floor Productions working out of Cambridge and acclaimed filmmaker Frederick Wiseman working out of Boston — expect some local documentary events, she said.

Gillian said the Coolidge Corner Theatre Foundation sees the theater as a community and cultural center. The pandemic has pushed it to reach out to the community in new ways; from selling curated holiday gifts to hosting drive in theater events in other communities just to stay connected.

"One challenge is you're competing against streaming giants and this puts a spotlight on indie films," she said. "It's a great association to have and there's still so much great work being done in independent film."

Every January for nearly four decades, the Sundance Film Festival has drawn film aficionados to Park City, Utah, to see films before the rest of the world. Amid the pandemic organizers shifted online and have tapped independent art houses, drive-ins, and a network of local community partnerships across the country to help.

"We’re excited to share that the Coolidge Corner Theatre is participating in the 2021 Sundance Film Festival as a partner, and that Brookline will be one of the festival’s Satellite Screens," the theater announced on its website.

The festival will run Jan. 28 through Feb. 3 and will be offered digitally on a custom-designed online platform.

“Even under these impossible circumstances artists are still finding paths to make bold and vital work in whatever ways they can,” Tabitha Jackson, the festival's new director, said in a statement. “So Sundance, as a festival of discovery, will bring that work to its first audiences in whatever ways we can."

Jenna Fisher is a news reporter for Patch. Got a tip? She can be reached at Jenna.Fisher@patch.com or by calling 617-942-0474. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram (@ReporterJenna). Have a something you'd like posted on the Patch? Here's how.