While we all anxiously wait for the post-holiday Covid numbers to confirm what we all expect, Sundance Film Festival organizers. already foreseeing another Super Spreader sitch, plan to not only require Covid boosters but will actually offer shots to eligible attendees, according to an exclusive (unofficial) report in Variety.

In the wake of Hollywood dropouts like the annual Palm Springs Film Festival, the film academy’s annual Governors Awards and the Critics Choice Awards, Sundance is trepidatiously hanging on. The showcase for independent filmmakers went virtual for 2021 but is back in hybrid form for 2022; online for couch surfers and in-person for __?____, January 20 to 30.

COVID-19 cases have hit record rates in Utah’s Summit County. According to the local health department, on Monday there were 136 new cases; the largest single-day total since the start of the pandemic. The good news is that hospitalizations have not increased. The bad news is that people are getting scared again- that things will shut down, flights will be cancelled, Covid restrictions will become restrictive. But Sundance Institute (and Park City) needs Sundance FF to emerge.

Sundance plans to use PandemSafe to verify proof of vaccination. Individuals will upload their vaccination card into the PandemSafe portal via an email they receive after purchasing tickets. The buyer then gets a QR code to show for a wristband but if guests don’t want to be tracked in a third-party system, they can just bring their vax card to a hub to get a wristband. However, QR codes will be accepted at the theaters but not vaccine cards.

The vaccine verification hubs will also offer free COVID-19 PCR and rapid tests to accommodate the requirement that all employees, volunteers, and onsite contractors be tested at check-in and mid-way through the festival. Attendees too must pop in for testing if they visit anything other than screenings such as private events, Q&As, seminars and press lines.

Current hubs:

Kearns Bonanza Corner (Old Maverick Station)

• January 17 – January 30 from 8:00 AM – 6:00 PM MST

Miners Hospital

• January 20 – January 25 from 2:00 PM – 11:00 PM MST
• January 26 – January 30 from 6:00 PM – 11:00 PM MST

Galleria Parking Lot off of Main Street in Park City

• January 17 – January 30 from 9:00 AM – 6:00 PM MST