Sundance Institute postpones London and Hong Kong festivals due to coronavirus

The Sundance festivals in London and Hong Kong have been postponed amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Sundance London was due to be held from 28 to 31 May, while dates for Sundance Hong Kong had yet to be announced but were reported to have been planned for September.

But on Tuesday, representatives for the Sundance Institute, which was founded by Robert Redford, announced that both festivals "will no longer be in-person gatherings" and many of the planned events would be "reimagined" for their digital platform, Sundance Co//ab.

While the platform was previously a subscription service, it's now been made free - with subscriber requests doubling in the past two weeks.

"As we prepare for the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, we recognise the seismic shifts that are already happening in our field, and the fact that bold, fresh thinking is required," a spokesperson said in a statement. "We are in conversations with other film festivals and nonprofits to share ideas, and to ensure that we're eliminating duplicative, expensive efforts and working as collectively and efficiently as possible to support the filmmakers whose festival premieres and releases didn't happen this spring, and those whose films are in suspended states of production."

Other 2020 Sundance events to be affected by the postponement decision include the summer labs that were due to take place at the Sundance Resort in Utah, a film music programme at the Skywalker Ranch in California, and several workshops.

Sundance London began in 2012 and Sundance Hong Kong started in 2014. They are spin-offs of the main Sundance Film Festival, which was founded in 1978. The 2020 edition took place in Park City, Utah in January.