By Jay A. Fernandez

After last year’s skirmish-that-never-actually-happened involving Proposition 8 protestors and the Sundance Film Festival, it would appear that the fest organizers are launching a little cheeky payback.

To recap:

After California voters passed Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriage, with major backing from Mormon groups, gay rights advocates threatened to boycott theaters in Park City, Utah, owned by one of the Prop 8 supporters during the 2009 festival in January. This would have affected the part of the festival’s program that showed at those theaters, had the protestors followed through on their threat.

At the time, festival organizers gently but firmly reminded everyone that Sundance has long been a champion of LGBT work and provided a forum for same when others wouldn’t touch it. Thus, boycotting the festival’s offerings — even indirectly — would be counterproductive at best.

So, nothing much happened.

Cut to the 2010 edition.

Screening in the documentary portion of the out-of-competition Spotlight section is “8: The Mormon Proposition.” Filmmaker Reed Cowan dove into an investigation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints’ support of the measure, and Sundance is none-too-subtlely screening the results. (Trailer below.)

Also, GLAAD has stepped up its involvement with the festival by becoming an official Institute associate with programmed panels and events running through the week to highlight LGBT films and filmmakers.