Group Calls Sundance Fest 'Obscene,' Wants Utah to Pull Support

Group Calls Sundance Fest 'Obscene,' Wants Utah to Pull Support

A socially conservative group wants the state of Utah to stop supporting the Sundance Film Festival, citing its “obscene” films in its 2013 lineup.

The Sutherland Institute called out Sundance-approved films like “Lovelace,” a biopic of porn actress Linda Lovelace, as proof the festival doesn’t reflect Utah residents’ values.

“For the sake of public decency and encouraging a free, moral society, the state of Utah should end its ‘complex relationship’ with the Sundance Film Festival,” [The Sutherland Institute’s Derek] Monson writes, concluding, “Some things are more important than money.”

The Sundance Film Festival, created by Robert Redford to inspire and promote independent film productions, begins on Thursday in Park City, Utah.

The Utah-based Sutherland Institute, according to its web site, works to keep the state as “a place of family, faith, and opportunity – raising a standard in the pursuit of happiness” and supports, “protecting the cause of freedom, constructively influencing Utah’s decision makers, and promoting responsible citizenship.”

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