Sundance Institute is bringing its annual fundraising gala to Boulder for the first time. Celebrating Sundance Institute: The Boulder Debut takes place January 22, 2027, at the Limelight Boulder hotel, with Stanley Tucci as host.

The event will honor four filmmakers. Jesse Eisenberg receives the Trailblazer Award. Gina Prince-Bythewood gets the second annual Robert Redford Luminary Award. Beth de Araújo and Dawn Porter will each receive a Vanguard Award Presented by Acura, for fiction and nonfiction respectively.

The gala raises money for the Institute’s labs, grants, and programs that support independent artists year-round. It marks the start of the 2027 Sundance Film Festival, which runs January 21-31 in Boulder, with an online component from January 28-31.

Tucci, who has worked with the Feature Film Program labs as a creative advisor, called the Festival significant to his career for nearly 40 years. “I am very happy it has found a new home in Boulder so that it might continue to champion independent film,” he said.

Eisenberg has screened films at Sundance as both an actor and a filmmaker. He won the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award for A Real Pain at the 2024 Festival. “Every time I’ve been invited to the Sundance Film Festival, I’ve jumped for joy,” Eisenberg said. “This time, I’m jumping with joy and gratitude.”

Prince-Bythewood developed Love & Basketball through Sundance labs in 1998 before it premiered at the 2000 Festival. She returned as a creative advisor for the 2023 Directors Lab. “Every single studio and production company passed on Love & Basketball. And then the labs called,” she said. “Receiving this award that honors [Robert Redford] is incredibly meaningful and feels beautifully full circle.”

De Araújo’s second feature, Josephine, won both the U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic and Audience Award: U.S. Dramatic at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival. Porter is a four-time Sundance director and received the National Humanities Medal in 2024.

Single film tickets for the 2027 Sundance Film Festival go on sale January 8 at 10 a.m. MT.