Today the nonprofit Sundance Institute announced the addition of the documentary The Greatest Night in Pop to the 2024 Sundance Film Festival film program and the lineup for the Festival’s Beyond Film programming. In addition to the three annual series — Power of Story, Cinema Café presented by Audible, and The Big Conversation — this year’s lineup also includes a New Frontier conversation about artificial intelligence and special 40th Edition Celebration events. With the exception of Power of Story, the sole ticketed event, all Beyond Film events are free and open to the public. Supplementing the Festival experience, Beyond Film provides a community hub for Festivalgoers through artist conversations, talks with filmmakers and experts across the fields of art and science, and audience discourse. The events will take place in person from January 19–26, 2024, with select Beyond Film offerings available beginning January 25, 2024, to audiences across the country on the online Festival Platform. Other in-person and online events announced today include talks hosted by Festival partners and Sundance Collab, the digital arm of Sundance Institute that provides an online learning platform and community space for creators.

The Festival will take place January 18–28, 2024, in person in Park City and Salt Lake City, with a selection of titles available online nationwide from January 25–28, 2024. This year marks the 40th edition of the Festival, bringing together audiences in Utah and beyond to celebrate Sundance’s rich history of supporting engaging new stories and groundbreaking independent artists. Single film tickets go on sale January 11 at 10 a.m. MT.

“We’re thrilled to be adding to our program a special screening of The Greatest Night in Pop, taking us behind the scenes of how “We Are the World” came together, followed by a conversation with Lionel Richie, filmmaker Bao Nguyen, and producer Julia Nottingham,” said Kim Yutani, Sundance Film Festival Director of Programming. “Our robust film lineup will be rounded out by a wide range of conversations touching upon themes in the programming and featuring some of today’s most inspiring creators and leaders.”

Beyond Film speakers will include artists from films screening in the 2024 Festival, including Steven Soderbergh (Director, Presence), Jesse Eisenberg (Writer-Director and Actor, A Real Pain), Chiwetel Ejiofor (Writer-Director and Actor, Rob Peace), Sue Bird (Subject, Sue Bird: In The Clutch), Dee Rees (Writer-Director, Pariah), Lucy Lawless (Director, Never Look Away), André Holland (Actor, Exhibiting Forgiveness), Debra Granik (Director, Conbody VS Everybody), Jay Ellis (Actor, Freaky Tales), and Nzingha Stewart (Director, Me/We). This year’s programming will also include a conversation within the Festival’s New Frontier section, which champions artists practicing at the crossroads of film, art, performance, and new media technology. Titled New Frontier: Let’s Rebrand Artificial Intelligence!, the conversation will feature Rashaad Newsome (Lead Artist, Being (the Digital Griot)) and New Frontier alumni, including Navid Khonsari (Block Party, Hero, Revolution 1979), Ari Melenciano (Computational Anthropology), and Sandra Rodriguez (CHOM5KY vs. CHOMSKY). See the schedule below for the full lineup.

With the upcoming Festival marking the 40th edition, acclaimed artist alumni will return for the occasion. As previously announced, a talk titled Power of Story: Four Decades of Taking Chances about the legacy of independent storytelling will feature Miguel Arteta, Richard Linklater, Dawn Porter, and Christine Vachon. Additionally, audiences can test their Sundance Film Festival knowledge at Sundance Trivia: The 40th Edition.

“Our Beyond Film programming is a crucial and inspiring part of the Sundance Film Festival experience,” said Ania Trzebiatowska, Beyond Film Program Curator. “Especially this year, as we celebrate our 40th edition, these events enable audiences to go beyond the screens — whether you’re watching in theaters here in person, or online from home — to meaningfully connect with artists and their stories. It’s during these intimate conversations that audiences can discover themes across our Festival Program and hear from artists themselves about the vitality of independent storytelling, the interwovenness of art, science, and culture, and so much more.”