The #MeToo movement is set to hit Park City, Utah, this week as the 2018 Sundance film festival kicks off with a planned rally for “respect” and a schedule filled with female-fronted narratives.

It’s the first major film festival to take place after the slew of allegations against disgraced producer Harvey Weinstein and the ensuing culture shift in the industry will probably have an effect. One of the most-anticipated premieres is Seeing Allred, a documentary about lawyer Gloria Allred whose clients include women who have spoken out against both Weinstein and Trump.

“I’m so proud of all of the women who have had the courage to speak out,” Allred says in the film, to be released by Netflix in February. “Rich, famous, powerful men have to understand there are rules, there are boundaries. They must respect those boundaries. This has got to end and it needs to end right now.”

Some of Weinstein’s accusers, including actor Rose McGowan, have claimed that the producer assaulted them during Sundance and festival director John Cooper is adamant that such a culture won’t be tolerated this year.

“Sundance is really the first grand community gathering after all this has hit,” Cooper told Reuters. “We’ve always worked closely with local law enforcement and also the security in hotels. We’re upping the game on code of conduct.”

In previous years, this code of conduct, which pushes for a festival “free of harassment, discrimination, sexism and threatening or disrespectful behavior”, has been for internal use but this year, it will be made more visible throughout locations at the festival.

Last year saw a star-packed women’s march against Trump and during this year’s festival, a “Respect Rally” is planned that aims to stand up for women who have been sexually abused. Speakers are set to include Allred herself, rapper-actor Common and Jane Fonda, whose documentary Jane Fonda in Five Acts will also receive a premiere.

The festival is often seen as a launching pad for indies hoping to break out, having seen the first screenings of Oscar-winning films including Boyhood, Whiplash, Little Miss Sunshine and Precious. But high-profile sales have proved riskier in recent years with a number of pricey flops. In 2016, Fox paid a record-breaking $17.5m for the slavery drama The Birth of a Nation, but when 1990s ­allegations against the star and director Nate Parker, for which he was cleared, were recalled, the buzz quickly died and the film made just $16m.

Last year, Louis CK’s comedy I Love You Daddy was picked up from the Toronto film festival for $5m by distributors The Orchard but after the star was accused of sexual misconduct, the comedy was dropped. This year, major deals will probably be subject to a more rigorous background check.

“The vetting process will be better,” producer Keith Kjarval told the Wrap. “The onus has to be on producers to the degree that they can vet and get creative afterwards on what they can do to remedy the problem.”

Anticipated titles this year include Idris Elba’s directorial debut Yardie, a crime drama set in Jamaica and London; I Think We’re Alone Now, a dystopian tale from The Handmaid’s Tale director Reed Morano; Gus Van Sant’s latest Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far On Foot, starring Joaquin Phoenix and Rooney Mara; an adaptation of Nick Hornby’s romantic comedy Juliet; Naked starring Ethan Hawke and Rose Byrne and Tyrel, a film about a man who finds out he’s the only black person at a remote bachelor party.

The latter is one of many racially charged films premiering at the festival that last year saw the first screening of hit satirical thriller Get Out and Netflix-purchased wartime tale Mudbound. This year, there’s buzz around Burden, a drama about a Ku Klux Klan member changing his beliefs after being taken in by a pastor and Monsters and Men, a film about the aftermath of the police killing of a black man.

Other timely premieres include The Tale, a drama starring Laura Dern as a journalist reflecting on the sexual abuse she experienced as a teenager and a documentary called RBG that examines the life of gender equality advocate and supreme court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Both are directed by women, and unlike other festivals criticised for their lack of diversity behind the camera, Sundance is inching towards a level playing field. This year 38% of the films shown will be directed by women.

This year’s jury will also reflect the industry’s move towards a more inclusive landscape with Girls Trip star Jada Pinkett Smith, Oscar winner Octavia Spencer, RuPaul and OJ: Made in America film-maker Ezra Edelman among those selected.