The Sundance Film Festival will be making another European jaunt next year as it heads to the English capital for a third year. London is the only European location for the Utah-based film festival.

Matthew McConaugheyMatthew Mcconaughey's Mud enjoyed itself at Sundance last year

Held annually in Park City, Utah, The Sundance Film festival champions the best in international film and independent cinema. It has been responsible the success – solely or in-part - for Beasts of the Southern Wild, Fruitvale Station, Sin Nombre, An Inconvenient Truth, Spring Awakening, Born into Brothels, Trouble the Water, Light in the Piazza and Angels in America.

Featuring a short film competition, screenings and music performances, it will run between April 25-27 at The O2 - a 20,000-seater venue.

"We look with great excitement to hosting the third Sundance London in April," John Cooper, director of the Sundance Film Festival, said in a statement. "In keeping with the event's purpose of celebrating independent artists, the Short Film Competition and workshop allow us to tap into the vibrant artistic community in the UK and connect that work with audiences at the festival."

Last year’s Sundance in London saw the Matthew McConaughey film Mud triumph, while Blackfish – the documentary about a killer whale kept in captivity, that turned on its captors, killing three people – was launched onto an international stage.

In 2012, when 2013/14 trips to London were announced – with no dates involved – Robert Redford, founder of the Sundance Institution, said: "Sundance was warmly welcomed to London last year, by engaged and adventurous audiences eager to take a chance on independent film, and this makes a second year all the more exciting for us."

With Oscars season in full swing, and the glitzy taking place in the heart of winter, the Sundance film festival will give us an early look at the films that might contend for the big awards when we reach the colder months once again. But before then, there’s the small matter of 12 Years a Slave, Captain Phillips and Gravity – three films sure to mop up the golden statuettes when they’re handed out in March.