Sundance Names 8 Restored Films for Its First Boulder Festival, From Memento to Y Tu Mamá También

Sundance Institute published the first selections for the 2027 Sundance Film Festival on 28 October 2026 at 15:02 UTC: eight restored films from the festival's own past, shown as its Legacy program. They are the first titles named for the festival's first edition in its new home, Boulder, Colorado.

For anyone planning the trip, the useful detail is the timing. The Legacy screenings run in the festival's second half, Tuesday 27 to Sunday 31 January 2027. Passes and ticket packages are on sale now; single film tickets go on sale on 8 January.

What Sundance announced

The program, formerly called From the Collection, shows restorations of films that played earlier editions. The film platform Letterboxd, which Sundance says has more than 30 million members, joins as co-presenter, and Sundance says more Legacy programming will be announced in the coming weeks.

The eight: Better Luck Tomorrow (Justin Lin), restored in the cut shown at the 2002 festival; Dogtown and Z-Boys (Stacy Peralta), which won two documentary awards in 2001, in a 4K restoration; Fool's Fire (Julie Taymor), 35 years after its 1992 premiere; Nitrate Kisses (Barbara Hammer), which had its U.S. premiere at the 1993 festival; Real Women Have Curves (Patricia Cardoso), which won the 2002 dramatic Audience Award, 25 years on; Swoon (Tom Kalin), 35 years on; Y tu mamá también (Alfonso Cuarón), restored in 4K for its 25th anniversary; and Memento (Christopher Nolan), restored in 4K.

Memento comes with a Boulder custom. It screens as Cinema Interruptus, a two-session event on the final weekend that began at the University of Colorado Boulder's Conference on World Affairs, where the audience can shout "Stop!" to discuss a scene before the film runs on.

The program grew out of Sundance's partnership with the UCLA Film & Television Archive; their Sundance Institute Collection at UCLA turns 30 in 2027 and holds material from more than 1,000 titles, according to Sundance.

What it means if you are going

Pick your half. World premieres run Thursday 21 to Tuesday 26 January. The Legacy titles, the online festival (28 to 31 January) and the jury and audience awards (Friday 29 January) all fall in the second half. If you can come for only part of the festival, the restorations are a reason to choose the later days.

Tickets. In-person and online passes and packages are on sale at festival.sundance.org/tickets, and single film tickets follow on 8 January. That page needs JavaScript and we could not read its prices, so this piece quotes none.

Where. Sundance says its venues sit within about two miles: Macky Auditorium, the Roe Green Theatre and Muenzinger Auditorium on the CU Boulder campus, Boulder High School, the Boulder Theater, eTown Hall and the Canyon Theater near the Pearl Street mall, Casey Middle School, the Chautauqua Auditorium about a mile out, and the Dairy Arts Center. Which venue shows which Legacy title is not announced yet.

Book. Sundance keeps a lodging list at lodging.sundance.org and says more than 30 direct international routes reach Denver International Airport in January, with regional buses into Boulder.

How the top tier attends

Sundance's own guide for premium donors spells out what money buys. Donors giving $25,000 or more a year can buy up to six Express Passes, good for any screening including premieres, and up to 12 ticket packages before the general public. At $50,000 that becomes eight passes and 14 packages, plus a dedicated concierge, a separate VIP entrance with reserved seating at Macky Auditorium and unlimited use of the Vista Lounge. At $100,000 it is ten passes, 16 packages and a private shuttle between venues. Express Passes cannot be transferred. The festival gala, Celebrating Sundance Institute: The Boulder Debut, is on Friday 22 January.

On the circuit

Sundance is the late-January stop on our calendar, and its premiere week overlaps the Snow Polo World Cup on the frozen lake at St. Moritz, 22 to 24 January 2027. Our calendar puts Davos and Kitzbühel's Hahnenkamm races in the same fortnight, so the film money and the Alpine money are in two places at once.

Our take

This is our opinion. Opening with titles people already know is a careful first move in a new town, and the December lineup will show whether Boulder can carry the premieres. For a visitor, the split is the news: the second half has its own reason to go. Buy a pass now if you want one; if single tickets are enough, mark 8 January and wait for the venue schedule.