Sundance Film Festival cancels in-person events due to Omicron

(CNN)The Sundance Film Festival, scheduled arsenic a hybrid of some virtual and in-person screening events successful Park City, Utah aboriginal this month, has moved the full lawsuit online, citing Covid-19 concerns.

"We person been looking guardant to our archetypal afloat hybrid Sundance Film Festival and our teams person spent a twelvemonth readying a festival similar nary other. But contempt the astir ambitious protocols, the Omicron variant with its unexpectedly precocious transmissibility rates is pushing the limits of wellness safety, question and different infrastructures crossed the country. And so, contiguous we're announcing: the Festival's in-person Utah elements volition beryllium moving online this year," organizers announced Wednesday.

The yearly event, the largest autarkic movie festival successful the United States, is docket to tally signifier Thursday, Jan. 20 - Sunday, Jan. 30. Last year's festival took spot wholly online owed the pandemic.

"While it is simply a heavy nonaccomplishment to not person the in-person acquisition successful Utah, we bash not judge it is harmless nor feasible to stitchery thousands of artists, audiences, employees, volunteers, and partners from astir the world, for an eleven-day festival portion overwhelmed communities are already struggling to supply indispensable services," the festival added successful its statement.

The Festival is simply a programme of the non-profit Sundance Institute, a non-profit enactment that seeks to beforehand the enactment of autarkic storytellers successful movie and theatre. "Won't You Be My Neighbor," "Fruitville Station" and "Little Miss Sunshine" are conscionable immoderate of the films from caller years to person archetypal gained vulnerability astatine the festival and gone connected to wide success.

CNN's Javi Morgado contributed to this story.