What to watch: Bittersweet Sundance 2026 serves up some great films

Two ground-shifting events profoundly affected the Sundance Film Festival this year — the 2025 death of beloved founder Robert Redford and the fest’s pending 2027 relocation to Boulder, Colorado. It turned what remains the premiere celebration of independent cinema into a bittersweet affair.

But there were still numerous films and shorts — including the award-winning “The Baddest Speechwriter of All” (it’s a gem) from Oscar winner Ben Proudfoot and Warriors star Stephen Curry — to keep things from getting too melancholy.