Sundance does Salt Lake

Park City has long been the home of the Sundance Film Festival, and a recent agreement between the city and the Sundance Institute ensures it will continue to host the independent-film event for at least another decade.

But festival officials want to emphasize that Salt Lake City is the festival's home away from home.

The 2006 edition kicked off Thursday night in Park City, but tonight the festivities move to downtown Salt Lake City.

The main event is the premiere of the British comedy "Kinky Boots." And festivalgoers will get their first glimpse of the "downtown corridor," which features two screening and event venues within a five-block stretch of 300 South — the Broadway Centre Cinemas and the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center.

Events held in those venues, along with the Tower Theatre at 900 East and 900 South, are part of an "increased Salt Lake presence," according to Abby McNulty, associate director of development and community relations for the Sundance Institute.

"We realize the importance of Salt Lake City to the Sundance Film Festival," McNulty said. "The city has been very supportive of the festival through the years."

During the festival's earliest years — when it was known by such pre-Sundance names as the Utah/U.S. Film Festival — the now-defunct Trolley Corners and Crossroads Cinemas hosted all of the screenings. Eventually, the event made its move to Park City and expanded venues in both cities.

However, with as many as 45,000 rabid moviegoers in the state for the film festival, Sundance has run out of places to show movies in Park City. So, according to McNulty, Salt Lake City became the festival's "obvious choice" for further expansion. "There is already a considerable theater and audience base in Salt Lake City. And best of all, there is room for further expansion if it becomes necessary."

One new addition is the Rose Wagner Center, which replaces both Abravanel Hall as the site for the Salt Lake Opening Night Premiere and the Trolley Square Mall Cinemas as a screening venue. "It's just big enough to hold a substantial audience and is intimate enough to be an ideal location for our screenings," McNulty said. "We're looking forward to seeing how the premiere goes off there this year."

"Kinky Boots" is about a failing shoe manufacturer who attempts to diversify business by creating a line of footwear for drag queens. "It's a real crowd-pleaser," said John Cooper, the festival's director of programming.