Sundance Film Festival has recently announced new programming and events for the 2018 edition in Utah from January 18-28.

Park City, Sundance, and Salt Lake City will host screenings and events during the festival.

The festival’s management provided background on some of the new programming set to showcase at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival:

‘Indie Episodic’ section: After several years of programming episodic content in the ‘Special Events’ section — where selections included O.J.: Made in America, Transparent, Top of the Lake, The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst, Animals, Gente-fied, The Chances and Strangers — the 2018 Festival will have an ‘Indie Episodic’ section specifically for stories told in multiple installments, with an emphasis on independent perspectives. In addition to episodic work, the Festival showcases feature films, documentaries, short films and New Frontier storytelling. Episodic creators can submit their work to the Festival now.

‘The New Climate’ continues: In 2017 the Festival hosted The New Climate strand of feature films, documentaries, Virtual Reality experiences and high-profile panels exploring the environment and climate change, and it will extend this strand through 2018. Creators of new work on these topics can submit to the Festival now.

‘Festival Favorite’ award: New for 2018, all feature films will be eligible for a ‘Festival Favorite’ Award to be determined by audience ballots across all Festival screenings. Similar to the Festival’s longstanding Audience Awards for each Competition section, the award will designate the feature film from any of the Festival’s sections that best connects with audiences.

2018 Graphics Designed with Students at ArtCenter College of Design: The 2018 Festival graphics were developed in collaboration with ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena. The concept was led by a group of students including Andy Gutierrez, Michelle Lee and Charles Lin and came out of a three-day brainstorm and creation session last Spring with 15 students and three faculty members. Their concept reflects the idea that the Festival is a “disruptive celebration of imperfection,” using bold color and language to highlight the very human emotions we experience through storytelling. The entirely text-based campaign opens up interactivity with audiences, and the colors signify the heat the Festival brings to Winter.

Submit your work now via the Sundance Film Festival main website to be reviewed for a chance to screen it at the event.

Watch over a video showcasing the summer screening sessions in Utah during the warmer months on YouTube.