Redford on Sundance

25 years ago, Robert Redford and his Sundance Institute took over a fledgling film festival in Utah and, as they say, ‘the rest is history’.

Last year, “In Bruges” was the Sundance Film Festival’s opening night premiere.

This year, it had three Golden Globe nominations and Colin Farrell won for “best actor”.

Whatever happens at Sundance is news.
But there were leaner days when a man with independent vision decided filmmakers who could never get their stories told in Hollywood needed a chance.

That was 1985.

“It took about five years before I felt we would survive, because we were doing it in park city and in those days there was just the one theatre, the Egyptian. I’d be standing out on the street, just trying to get people to come into the theater,“ said Redford.
In another five years, the festival grew so much, Redford says, it sprouted attachments not related to film creating a problem.

It all started with Hollywood actors.

“Once they came, the paparazzi came, once the paparazzi came, fashion came. Once fashion came, Paris Hilton came and suddenly I had to deal with the fact that we were being perceived as a festival which was going the way of all flash, which was never true,“ Redford said.
This year, there may be another problem.

Protestors against California’s prop 8, have called for a boycott of Utah, including the Sundance Film Festival.

The owner of Cinemark, a theatre chain that shows festival films in park city, supported the proposition.

Redford admits all of this has come at a personal cost.

“If there’s been any, any negative part of this, it’s that i’ve lost a lot of my own career time, endorsing and sponsoring Sundance, probably more time than I ever dreamed, but I believed in it, so I did it,“ said Redford.
The Sundance Institute will continue to be a place for developing new talent and Robert Redford says he moves forward with film projects in poetic fashion.
The Sundance Film Festival is now underway and ends on January 25th