Everything You Need To Know About The 2025 Sundance Film Festival

As many in the entertainment industry navigate the devastating effects of the California wildfires, some will soon be decamping to cleaner air in the mountains. The annual Sundance Film Festival begins Thursday in Park City, Utah.

The 41st edition of Robert Redford's brainchild will, as always, be a year of discovery and discussion. There are timely films:

- "Free Leonard Peltier," which will premiere just days after former President Joe Biden commuted the sentence of the Indigenous activist nearly half a century after he was imprisoned for the 1975 killings of two FBI agents.

- Oscar-winner Mstyslav Chernov's "2000 Meters to Andriivka," a joint production between The Associated Press and Frontline about an attempt to liberate an occupied territory in Ukraine

- Several films about trans rights including "Heightened Scrutiny," about civil rights lawyer Chase Strangio . It's a topic even more pressing after President Donald Trump signed executive orders Monday rolling back protections for transgender people .