When early American settlers began running out of room to grow, they headed west, and when Sundance Film Festival officials began running out of room in Park City, they headed southwest — to Salt Lake City.

Before Robert Redford's Sundance Institute took over the event in 1985 and moved it to Park City, Salt Lake City was the original festival home. Today, the state capital is becoming a crucial part of future festival growth, according to Jill Miller, managing director of the Sundance Institute.

"It's one of our biggest areas of emphasis right now," she said. "A lot of time and effort have been put into making our Salt Lake festival experience rival the one in Park City."

Salt Lake events for this year's version of Sundance kick off tonight. The Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center will host the debut of the drama "Away From Her," directed by actress Sarah Polley.

The 2007 festival continues through Jan. 28 in a variety of Park City and Salt Lake City venues, as well as sites in Ogden and at the Sundance resort. Salt Lake City has three festival screening venues — the Rose Wagner Center, the Broadway Centre Cinemas and the Tower Theatre.

The Beehive Tea Room on 12 West Broadway will also take part in the festivities as the official Salt Lake festival cafe. Live music from local musicians will be featured every night from 7 to 10 p.m. at the locally owned vintage tea room.

Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson is planning to attend movies and events, both in Salt Lake City and Park City. He also will speak at the screening of "Everything's Cool," a film about global warming. The filmmakers in November attended the Sundance Summit, an annual meeting on global warming that Anderson and Sundance Festival creator Robert Redford hosted.

As for Sundance's increased presence in the capital city, Anderson said he loves it. His dream would be to see a Sundance venue in a renovated Utah Theater on Main Street because it would add to the growing film community in Salt Lake City and Utah, he said.

"There's nothing more I'd like to see than for Sundance to have not only a larger presence during the festival but a year-round presence," he added.

The amount of economic activity that Salt Lake reaps from the festival is significant — $5 million in 2006 — but it is still small compared to the total amount of money the festival generates overall. In 2006, that total was $61.5 million, a 44 percent increase over 2005.

Shawn Stinson, communications director at the Salt Lake Visitors and Convention Bureau, said the one-year-old festival district on Broadway (300 South) has been great for businesses and locals.

State officials also are also lauding the festival's increasing Salt Lake presence: "Having a component in Salt Lake City offers the conventiongoer or visitor a taste of the arts and the exciting programming we have in the downtown area," said Leigh von der Esch, managing director of the Utah Office of Tourism.

Sundance's Miller said she and other festival officials are hoping for even bigger and better things in 2007. They're even trying to ensure that filmmakers and celebrities attend events in Salt Lake City.

"Of course, that depends on their schedules," she said.

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E-mail: astowell@desnews.com