TULSA, OKLAHOMA - The nonprofit Sundance Institute today unveiled plans for the sixday 2021 Sundance Film Festival, offered digitally via a custom-designed online platform (festival.sundance.org) alongside drive-ins, independent arthouses, and a network of local community partnerships. Circle Cinema is the official Satellite Screen for the Festival in Tulsa, and will serve as the only venue in several surrounding states. 12 Festival films will screen alongside programming from local directors and artists from Thursday January 28 – Tuesday February 2, 2021.

“It is exciting for the 2021 Sundance Film Festival to come to Tulsa.” said Circle Cinema Programmer Chuck Foxen. “This is America’s largest independent film festival, it’s a big deal for Circle Cinema, Tulsa, and Oklahoma. I have attended the Festival in Utah for the last 10 years, and most of the major films that play at Circle Cinema are first seen at the Festival. This will be an opportunity for Oklahoma to see award-winning movies before anyone else, with added enrichment of filmmaker Q&As, panel discussions, and more.”

“To be selected as the only Satellite Screen in Oklahoma is a tremendous honor, and a testament to Tulsa’s status as a national arts destination. Circle Cinema is proud to be a part of this community as an independent, non-profit, art house theatre,” added Clark Wiens, Circle Cinema Co-Founder and Board President. “We hope the Festival may serve as a return to celebrating film on the big screen, and it must be said that the health of our guests is our top priority. We would not be hosting the Festival if it wasn’t possible to do so safely.”

To achieve this, films will show at partner venues throughout Tulsa. Admiral Twin Drive-In is a confirmed venue, and other potential locations include Gilcrease Museum, OSU-Tulsa, Philbrook Museum of Art, and University of Tulsa. This will allow for more seats per screening than Circle’s standard theaters while still maintaining social distancing through reduced seating capacity at partner venues. Masks will be mandatory at all times in adherence with city ordinance and Circle Cinema’s own code of conduct. Panel discussions, filmmaker Q&As, and other events related to the Festival will take place outdoors either drive-in style or with open-air distanced seating.

The Festival is presented locally by Leigh and John Reaves. Collaborating sponsors at this time are Tulsa Office of Film, Music, Arts, & Culture, The Anne and Henry Zarrow Foundation, and Hardesty Family Foundation. For additional sponsorship opportunities contact Fundraising Chair Kayla Vaughn at kaylajvaughn@aol. com.

On the opportunities the Festival brings to the city, Tulsa Regional Tourism President Ray Hoyt said, “We are honored to learn that the 2021 Sundance Film Festival will be coming to Tulsa’s Circle Cinema. Film, music, and the arts comprise a robust and vibrant cultural experience for both locals and visitors, and Tulsa has a longstanding history of both great films and filmmakers. We’re delighted to get to show Tulsa off to visitors traveling to experience these events here safely.”

Abby Kurin, Executive Director of Tulsa Office of Film, Music, Arts, & Culture, said “Sundance Film Festival is the beacon of what’s coming next in the world of film. To have the opportunity to host the festival in Tulsa with Circle Cinema is perfectly timed to Tulsa’s rise in the film industry. The film community sees that Tulsa is an ideal location for film projects. Minari, for example, shot here on location last year and was selected for the Sundance Audience Favorite and Best Dramatic Feature this year. Sundance now choosing Tulsa as a Community Partner Hub is monumental recognition of both Circle Cinema and Tulsa’s relevance to film.”

Film titles and showtimes will be announced in the coming weeks. Circle Cinema Members will have access to an exclusive ticket pre-sale window on January 4. Tickets will be available for the general public beginning January 7. For more information on health & safety, as well as additional Festival information as it becomes available, visit CircleCinema.org/ Sundance.

ABOUT CIRCLE CINEMA

Circle Cinema is Tulsa’s oldest-standing movie theatre that originally opened in 1928 and now operates as Tulsa’s only independent, non-profit art house theatre. Through select features and programs, Circle Cinema seeks to entertain and enlighten guests while promoting community consciousness through film.

After being closed for the majority of the year, Circle Cinema has reopened with COVID-19 safety protocols in place including requiring masks at all times while in the building, reducing auditorium seating by 75% to allow for social distancing and assigned seating, separating payment transactions from concession pick-ups, eliminating self-serve concession options, sanitizing surface areas in the auditoriums and lobby between films, offering hand sanitizer stations throughout the building, and enhancing its HVAC air filtration and circulating fresh air supply in auditoriums.

For more information, visit CircleCinema.org.

ABOUT SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL

The Sundance Film Festival®

The Sundance Film Festival has introduced global audiences to some of the most groundbreaking films of the past three decades, including Clemency, Never Rarely Sometimes Always, Zola, On The Record, Boys State, The Farewell, Honeyland, One Child Nation, The Souvenir, The Infiltrators, Sorry to Bother You, Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, Hereditary, Call Me By Your Name, Get Out, The Big Sick, Mudbound, Fruitvale Station, Whiplash, Brooklyn, Precious, The Cove, Little Miss Sunshine, An Inconvenient Truth, Napoleon Dynamite, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Reservoir Dogs, and sex, lies, and videotape. The Festival is a program of the non-profit Sundance Institute. 2021 Festival sponsors to date include: Presenting Sponsors – Acura, SundanceTV, Chase Sapphire, Adobe; Leadership Sponsors – Amazon Studios, AT&T, Door-Dash, Dropbox, Netflix, Omnicom Group, Southwest Airlines® , WarnerMedia; Sustaining Sponsors – AMC, Audible, Canada Goose, Canon U.S.A., Inc., Dell Technologies, Documentary Plus, GEICO, IMDbPro, Stella Artois® , Unity Technologies, University of Utah Health, White Claw Hard Seltzer, Zoom; Media Sponsors – The Atlantic, IndieWire, Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, NPR, Variety, Vulture, The Wall Street Journal. Sundance Institute recognizes critical support from the State of Utah as Festival Host State. The support of these organizations helps offset the Festival’s costs and sustain the Institute’s year-round programs for independent artists. sundance.org/festival

Sundance Institute

As a champion and curator of independent stories for the stage and screen, the nonprofit Sundance Institute provides and preserves the space for artists in film, theater, film composing, and digital media to create and thrive. Founded in 1981 by Robert Redford, the Institute’s signature Labs, granting, and mentorship programs which are dedicated to developing new work and take place throughout the year in the U.S. and internationally, are supported largely through contributed revenue. Sundance Co//ab, a digital community platform, brings artists together to learn from each other and Sundance Advisors and connect 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. Sundance Institute has supported such projects as Clemency, Never Rarely Sometimes Always, Zola, On The Record, Boys State, The Farewell, Honeyland, One Child Nation, The Souvenir, The Infiltrators, Sorry to Bother You, Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, Hereditary, Call Me By Your Name, Get Out, The Big Sick, Mudbound, Fruitvale Station, City So Real, Top of the Lake, Between the World & Me, Wild Goose Dreams and Fun Home. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.