The Sundance Film Festival, the last to be held in Utah before relocating to Boulder, Colorado, paid tribute to the legacy of its founder, the late Robert Redford. Filmmakers and actors whose careers were shaped by Redford and the Sundance Institute he created reflected on his impact as the driving force behind independent cinema.
At a star-studded gala on Friday night, attendees celebrated Redford’s unwavering commitment to nurturing emerging storytellers. His daughter, Amy Redford, spoke fondly of her father’s vision, saying, “When my dad could have created an empire, he created a nest. The Sundance Institute was designed to support and protect and nourish and then set free.”
The institute’s lab programs, which Redford established in 1981, have been instrumental in launching the careers of numerous acclaimed filmmakers. Three of this year’s five Best Director nominees at the Academy Awards – Paul Thomas Anderson, Chloé Zhao, and Ryan Coogler – are alumni of the Sundance labs.
Zhao, whose film “Hamnet” received eight Oscar nominations this week, credited the Sundance screenwriting lab with jumpstarting her career in 2012. Under the mentorship of Redford and program director Michelle Satter, she said she learned to trust her own vision and gained an invaluable creative community.
Other former participants, including director Nia DaCosta, shared memories of Redford’s hands-on approach, recalling how he would ride his motorcycle on the institute’s peaceful wooded paths and stop to discuss their projects. “I remember once seeing him walk some of the other fellows from the directors lab, and he just looked so full of love and pride for us, for what he built,” DaCosta said.
Sundance regular Ethan Hawke, who had his first audition in front of Redford for the 1992 film “A River Runs Through It,” described the legendary actor-director as one of his greatest mentors. Hawke pledged to “keep the fire that he started burning in ourselves” and share it with others.
Filmmaker Ava DuVernay, who first experienced Sundance as a publicist for other artists, later became a trustee of the institute and grew close to Redford. She eloquently summed up his lasting impact, saying, “Mr. Redford didn’t just establish a festival. He modeled a way to be, a way that matters, a way that says artists matter, that imagination is worth protecting.”
As the Sundance Film Festival transitions to its new home in Colorado, the legacy of Robert Redford’s vision and dedication to independent filmmaking will continue to inspire generations of storytellers to come.
