When Sundance Movie Competition formally packs up and strikes to Colorado after its 2026 pageant, Utah’s movie scene gained’t be left in the dead of night.
In actual fact, it would simply get so much higher! Provo’s FilmQuest style movie pageant is moving into the highlight, able to turn into the state’s premier cinematic occasion for followers of horror, fantasy, and sci-fi storytelling.
I’ve been attending FilmQuest because it first launched and it’s my favourite movie pageant to attend. Anybody who isn’t going is lacking out on an particular and superior expertise.
Jonathan Martin, FilmQuest founder and pageant director tells Selection: “Town of Provo is totally going to again us transferring ahead to turning into the premier pageant within the state, and probably the area. We’ve acquired some mates within the legislature that we’ve cultivated through the years that we’re going to be speaking to and establishing that voice and group right here.”
Based in 2014 by Martin, who can be a filmmaker, FilmQuest was constructed round a easy however passionate thought to rejoice really unbiased style cinema. It’s not about large studio offers or distribution pushes, it’s about discovery and group.
“We’re not establishing offers with distributors, streamers and studios to showcase their movies that they’re already planning to launch anyway,” Martin explains. “We wish to rejoice discoveries and discover the voices of tomorrow.”
That imaginative and prescient has helped FilmQuest carve out a novel id, one which’s equal components creativity and group. Martin defined:
“We actually are this rock ‘n’ roll-vibe occasion. You’re going to return to the pageant and rub shoulders with everyone. No one’s off right into a black limousine within the evening. You’re going to return in, meet everyone that’s there, and probably make a relationship there.
“For instance, Sean Gunn was right here a pair years in the past and he’s simply hanging out with everyone, exchanging telephone numbers with those who he’s assembly proper there, filmmakers which are up-and-coming and hungry. We’re all getting alongside and extra relaxed.”
That down-to-earth environment is intentional. Martin says inclusion and authenticity are on the core of FilmQuest’s id.
“All are welcome and there’s no preconceived notion. I don’t care if you’re white, Black, Latino, Asian, LGBT — we’re all equal collectively on this. That’s what we’re doing right here: That will help you discover these alternatives and in addition broaden your community.
“And it’s not that we don’t take ourselves critically, but it surely doesn’t really feel such as you’ve walked right into a church and it’s all sanctimonious. That is very a lot one thing for individuals to really feel welcome for what they created and who they’re.”
That sense of openness fuels the creativity behind the pageant’s lineup, which this 12 months features a killer mixture of movies!
Alongside its wild slate of options, FilmQuest can be recognized for championing brief movies and unproduced screenplays. The 2024 grand prize winner for shorts, I’m Not a Robot, went on to win the Oscar this 12 months.
“A whole lot of these items are going to be dictated by our personal private style,” Martin says. “I’m not going to say we bat 1000, however I feel we bat .950. I feel we do an excellent job of figuring out what are the perfect of the unbiased style function movies on the market which are obtainable to us, and the perfect of the style brief movies — as evidenced by the truth that our grand prize brief movie award winner ended up profitable the Oscar final 12 months. We’ve confirmed that.”
The pageant additionally locations an enormous emphasis on group reference to mixers, workshops, and events the place up-and-coming filmmakers can study from professionals within the business like A Quiet Place writers Scott Beck and Bryan Woods. It’s not nearly screening movies; it’s about constructing a community of artistic film geeks who love style storytelling as a lot because the viewers does.
“There’s one thing for everyone,” Martin says. “It’s a launching pad for probably the most thrilling and gifted voices in style cinema right now which will or could not have been found.”
With Sundance on its method out, FilmQuest is poised to take the stage as Utah’s new cinematic crown jewel, one which trades purple carpets for blood, guts, and creativeness. For followers of style movies, it’s the movie fest price testing.
