Sundance Film Festival
Location	Park City, Utah, United States
Language	International
http://festival.sundance.org/

The Sundance Film Festival is an American film festival that takes place annually in Utah. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States.^[1] Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new work from American and international independent filmmakers. The festival comprises competitive sections for American and international dramatic and documentary films, both feature-length films and short films, and a group of out-of-competition sections, including NEXT, New Frontier, Spotlight, and Park City At Midnight.

History[link]

Utah/US Film Festival[link]

Sundance began in Salt Lake City in August 1978, as the Utah/US Film Festival in an effort to attract more filmmakers to Utah. It was founded by Sterling Van Wagenen (then head of Wildwood, Robert Redford's company), John Earle, and Cirina Hampton Catania (both serving on the Utah Film Commission at the time). The 1978 festival featured films such as Deliverance, A Streetcar Named Desire, Midnight Cowboy, Mean Streets, and The Sweet Smell of Success. ^[2] With Chairperson Robert Redford, and the help of Governor Scott M. Matheson of Utah, the goal of the festival was to showcase strictly American-made films, highlight the potential of independent film, and to increase visibility for filmmaking in Utah. At the time, the main focus of the event was to conduct a competition for independent American films, present a series of retrospective films and filmmaker panel discussions, and to celebrate the Frank Capra Award. The festival also highlighted the work of regional filmmakers who worked outside the Hollywood system.

The jury of the 1978 festival was headed by Gary Allison, and included Verna Fields, Linwood G. Dunn, Katharine Ross, Charles E. Sellier Jr., Mark Rydell, and Anthea Sylbert.

In 1979, Sterling Van Wagenen left to head up the first year "pilot" program of what was to become the Sundance Institute, and Cirina Hampton Catania took over as executive director of the festival. Over 60 films were screened at the festival that year, and panels featured many well-known Hollywood filmmakers. Also that year, the first Frank Capra Award went to Jimmy Stewart. The festival also made a profit for the first time. In 1980, Catania left the festival to pursue a production career in Hollywood.

Several factors helped propel the growth of Utah/US Film Festival. First was the involvement of actor and Utah resident Robert Redford, who became the festival's inaugural chairman. By having Redford's name associated with Sundance, the festival received great attention. Secondly, the country was hungry for more venues that would celebrate American-made films as the only other festival doing so at the time was the USA Film Festival in Dallas (est. 1971). Response in Hollywood was unprecedented as major studios did all they could to contribute their resources.

In 1981, the festival moved to Park City, Utah, and changed the dates from September to January. The move from late summer to mid-winter was reportedly^{[by whom?]} done on the advice of Hollywood director Sydney Pollack, who suggested that running a film festival in a ski resort during winter would draw more attention from Hollywood.

Change to Sundance[link]

In 1984–85, the now well-established Sundance Institute, headed by Sterling Van Wagenen, took over management of the US Film Festival and changed the name to Sundance. Gary Beer and Sterling Van Wagenen spearheaded production of the inaugural Sundance Film Festival, which included Program Director Tony Safford and Administrative Director Jenny Walz Selby. The branding and marketing transition from the U.S. Film Festival to the Sundance Film Festival was managed under the direction of Colleen Allen, Allen Advertising Inc., by appointment of Robert Redford.

Sundance London[link]

In March 2011, Robert Redford announced that the Sundance Film Festival would be held at The O2, in London from 26th – 29th April 2012, the first time it has travelled outside the United States.

Speaking to the press, Redford said, "We are excited to partner with AEG Europe to bring a particular slice of American culture to life in the inspired setting of The O2, and in this city of such rich cultural history. [...] It is our mutual goal to bring to the UK, the very best in current American independent cinema, to introduce the artists responsible for it, and in essence help build a picture of our country that is broadly reflective of the diversity of voices not always seen in our cultural exports."

The majority of the film screenings, including the festival's premieres, will be held within the Cineworld cinema.^[3]

Sundance Institute[link]

Management of the festival was taken over by the Sundance Institute, a non-profit organization, in 1985. In 1991 the festival was officially renamed the Sundance Film Festival, after Redford's character The Sundance Kid from the movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.^[4]

From 2006 through 2008, the Sundance Institute collaborated with the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) on a special series of film screenings, performances, panel discussions, and special events bringing the institute's activities and the festival's programming to New York City.^[5]

Notability of festivals[link]

Many famous independent filmmakers received their big break at Sundance, including Kevin Smith, Robert Rodriguez, Quentin Tarantino, Todd Field, Steve James, Paul Thomas Anderson, Steven Soderbergh, Darren Aronofsky, James Wan, Edward Burns, and Jim Jarmusch. The festival is also responsible for bringing wider attention to such films as Saw, Garden State, Super Troopers, The Blair Witch Project, Better Luck Tomorrow, Primer, Reservoir Dogs, In the Bedroom, Little Miss Sunshine, El Mariachi, Moon, Clerks, Thank You for Smoking, Sex, Lies, and Videotape, The Brothers McMullen, and Napoleon Dynamite.

Three Seasons was the first in festival history to ever receive both the Grand Jury Award and Audience Award, in 1999. Later films that won both awards are: God Grew Tired of Us in 2006 (documentary category), Quinceañera in 2006 (dramatic category), and Precious in 2009.

At the 2010 Sundance Film Festival, 9 films went on to garner 15 Oscar nominations,^[6] and 4 of the 5 Best Documentary nominees were Sundance films.^[7] The next year, about 45 films were acquired by distributors (the most ever^[8]) vs. 14 in 2010, an increase of about 220%.^[9] Tom Hall of indieWire said it marked "a return to the glory days of pure, unadulterated content speculation."^[10]

Growth of the festival[link]

The festival has changed over the decades from a low-profile venue for small-budget, independent creators from outside the Hollywood system to a media extravaganza for Hollywood celebrity actors, paparazzi, and luxury lounges set up by companies not affiliated with Sundance. Festival organizers have tried curbing these activities in recent years, beginning in 2007 with their ongoing "Focus On Film" campaign.

Included in the changes made in 2010, a new programming category, "NEXT," is for extremely low-budget films. Another change includes the Sundance Film Festival U.S.A. program, in which eight of the festival's films will be shown in eight theaters around the country.^[11]

Directors[link]

• Geoff Gilmore – 1991–2009^[12][13]
• John Cooper — March 2009^[14]

In popular culture[link]

In August 1998, the animated television series South Park episode "Chef's Chocolate Salty Balls" depicts the directors of the Sundance Festival moving it to a "different small mountain town," that of the show's main setting South Park, in order to "drain it and morph it into a new LA."

In the television series Entourage, one of the independent movies which Vincent Chase stars in (Queens Boulevard) premieres at the Sundance Film Festival, where it begins to gain in popularity.

In animated television series The Simpsons episode "Any Given Sundance," Lisa Simpson enters a documentary about her family into the Sundance Film Festival.

In Season 7, Episode 22 of One Tree Hill, Julian Baker takes his film 'Seven Days Till Tuesday' to the festival.

See also[link]

• List of Sundance Film Festival award winners
• List of Sundance Film Festival selections
• Sundance Channel
• Sundance Institute

References[link]

Notes[link]

2. Benjamin Craig, "Sundance-A Festival Virgin's Guide: History of the Sundance Film Festival," www.sundanceguide.net/basics/history

Further reading[link]

• Biskind, Peter. Down and Dirty Pictures: Miramax, Sundance, and the Rise of Independent Film. Simon & Schuster, 2004.
• Smith, Lory. Party in a Box: The Story of the Sundance Film Festival . Gibbs Smith Publishers, 1999.
• Craig, Benjamin. Sundance — A Festival Virgin's Guide. Cinemagine Media Publishing, 2004.
• Anderson, John. Sundancing: Hanging Out And Listening In At America's Most Important Film Festival. Harper Paperbacks, 2000.

External links[link]

• Official website
• Sundance – A Festival Virgin's Guide – detailed festival history and information for attendees.
• Festival Guide – Indie film resource
• LA Times article on 2010 competition films
• Photos from Sundance Film Festival 2010 (January 26, 2010)

v t e  State of Utah Salt Lake City (capital) Topics Cities Congressional districts Counties Flag Geography Government Governors History People Portal Symbols Visitor Attractions Society Crime Demographics Economy Politics Regions Cache Valley Colorado Plateau Dixie Great Basin Great Salt Lake Great Salt Lake Desert Mojave Desert Monument Valley San Rafael Swell Uinta Mountains Wasatch Back Wasatch Front Wasatch Range Largest cities American Fork Bountiful Cedar City Clearfield Cottonwood Heights Draper Holladay Kaysville Layton Lehi Logan Midvale Murray Ogden Orem Pleasant Grove Provo Riverton Roy St. George Salt Lake City Sandy South Jordan South Salt Lake Spanish Fork Springville Taylorsville Tooele West Jordan West Valley City Counties Beaver Box Elder Cache Carbon Daggett Davis Duchesne Emery Garfield Grand Iron Juab Kane Millard Morgan Piute Rich Salt Lake San Juan Sanpete Sevier Summit Tooele Uintah Utah Wasatch Washington Wayne Weber Attractions Arches National Park Bonneville Salt Flats Bryce Canyon National Park Canyonlands National Park Capitol Reef National Park Great Salt Lake Lagoon Amusement Park Ski areas Sundance Film Festival Temple Square Utah Shakespearean Festival Zion National Park

Sundance in the fall.

Sundance
Resort

Sundance Resort in U.S. state Utah.

Sundance Resort is a ski resort located 13 miles (21 km) northeast of Provo, Utah, spanning over 5,000 acres (2,000 ha) on the slopes of Mount Timpanogos in Utah's Wasatch Range. Snow skiing began on the site in 1944. Actor Robert Redford acquired the area in 1969,^[1] and established a year-round resort which would later spawn the independent Sundance Film Festival and the non-profit Sundance Institute.

The mountain[link]

Sundance Resort is heavily oriented towards advanced skiing; only three of the resort's 41 trails are marked "Easiest". Nearly 80% of the resort by area is designated "More Difficult" or "Most Difficult". The resort terrain climbs 2,150 vertical feet (655 m) up the northeast slope of Mount Timpanogos, reaching the crest of the ridge at Bearclaw Cabin. This restaurant at the resort's apex of 8,250 feet (2,515 m) provides spectacular 360° views of the surrounding landscape, and of Mount Timpanogos as it rises to a height just short of 12,000 ft (3,658 m). The mountain is serviced by three chairlifts and a handle tow for beginners at the mountain's base.

History[link]

The ski area opened as Timp Haven in 1944 with a rope tow. It was run by the Ray Stewart family for over twenty years. Chairlifts were added in the 1960s.

Redford presumably acquired the site because his first wife, Lola Van Wagenen was from Utah, and because the couple had built a home in the area five years earlier. The resort is named after the role he played in the 1969 film, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. The resort of Sundance is not to be confused with the town of Sundance, Wyoming, the location from where the Sundance Kid received his name. Redford's 1972 film Jeremiah Johnson was filmed near the resort.

Panoramic view

The Sundance Film Festival, held primarily 30 miles (48 km) north in Park City, is a competition for independent film makers, which has become extremely well known and popular in the film industry and media. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, and also one of the largest in the world.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Sundance Resort.com – official site
• Sundance Film Festival – official site
• Raymond Stewart Collection – University of Utah
• Deseret Morning News – Sundance
• The Sundance Institute – Sundance.org website
• [1] – 1993 Ski Affair – Sundance

Coordinates: 40°23′36″N 111°35′19″W / 40.39333°N 111.58861°W / 40.39333; -111.58861

Film festivals
List of film festivals Europe North/Central America Oceania Documentary film festivals New Media art festivals

A film festival is an organised, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theaters or screening venues, usually in a single locality. Increasingly film festivals show part of their films to the public by adding outdoor movie screenings.^[1] The films may be of recent date and, depending upon the focus of the individual festival, can include international releases as well as films produced by the organisers' domestic film industry. Sometimes there is a focus on a specific film-maker or genre (e.g., film noir) or subject matter (e.g., horror film festivals). A number of film festivals specialise in short films, each with its defined maximum length. Film festivals are typically annual events.

History[link]

The first major film festival was held in Venice in 1932; the other major and oldest film festivals of the world are: Cannes Film Festival (1939), Festival del film Locarno (1946), Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (1946), Edinburgh International Film Festival (1947), Melbourne International Film Festival (1951), Berlin International Film Festival (1951) and Toronto International Film Festival (1976).^[2]

The Edinburgh International Film Festival in the UK was established in 1947 and is the longest continually running film festival in the world. Raindance Film Festival is the UK's largest celebration of independent film-making and is taking place in London in October.^[3]

The first North American high film festival was the Columbus International Film & Video Festival, also known as The Chris Awards, held in 1953. According to the Film Arts Foundation in San Francisco, "The Chris Awards (is) one of the most prestigious documentary, educational, business and informational competitions in the U.S; (it is) the oldest of its kind in North America and celebrating its 54th year."

It was followed four years later by the San Francisco International Film Festival held in March 1957 whose emphasis was on feature-length dramatic films. The festival played a major role in introducing foreign films to American audiences. Among the films shown in its founding year were Akira Kurosawa's Throne of Blood and Satyajit Ray's Pather Panchali.

Today there are thousands of film festivals around the world, ranging from high profile festivals such as Sundance Film Festival (Park City, UT) to horror festivals such as Terror Film Festival (Philadelphia, PA), and the first U.S. film festival dedicated to honoring the impact of music in film: the Park City Film Music Festival: http://www.PCFMF.com.

Digital feature film distribution began in 2005, along with the arrival of the world's first online film festival, the GreenCine Online Film Festival, sponsored by DivX.^[4]

Entry fee[link]

The Berlin Film Festival in 2007

Most film festivals require filmmakers to pay an entry fee to have their works considered for screening. This is especially commonplace among larger film festivals, such as the Cannes Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival, South by Southwest and even smaller "boutique" festivals such as the Miami International Film Festival and the British Urban Film Festival in London.

However, not all film festivals require an entry fee. Rotterdam Film Festival, for example, does not charge an entry fee to submit work. There are also many smaller film festivals in the United States, such as the Stony Brook Film Festival in Long Island, New York, the Northwest Filmmakers' Festival, or the Sicilian Film Festival in Miami, Florida, which do not charge entry fees; however, acceptance of films is usually more limited, and such film festivals do not necessarily attract big names in their audiences like Sundance and Telluride do. In some cases, such as the Portland International Film Festival, there is an entry fee, but it is waived for filmmakers within a certain region, such as the Northwestern United States.

Significant or notable festivals[link]

Red carpet of the Cannes Film Festival at the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès, Cannes.

Traverse City Film Festival and their giant inflatable movie screen

The three most prestigious film festivals are commonly regarded to be that of Cannes, Berlin and Venice;^[5] these festivals are sometimes called the "Big Three."^[6] Polish director Krzysztof Kieślowski's The Three Colors Trilogy were each made for these festivals, with Blue for Venice, White for Berlin, and Red for Cannes.^[5]

The Toronto International Film Festival is North America's most popular festival. Time wrote it had "grown from its place as the most influential fall film festival to the most influential film festival, period."^[7] Seattle International Film Festival is credited as being the largest film festival in the USA, regularly showing over 400 films in a month across the city.^[8] The Sundance Film Festival, Tribeca Film Festival, New York Film Festival, Montreal World Film Festival and Gimli Film Festival are also major festivals in North America, as is the Vancouver International Film Festival, the fifth largest film festival in North America.

• "A" Festivals: The festivals in Cannes, Venice, Berlin, Shanghai, Moscow, San Sebastián, Montréal, Locarno (since 2002), Karlovy Vary, Mar del Plata, Cairo, Tokyo, and Warsaw are listed as "A festivals", or "category one" by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations (FIAPF).^[9]

• Experimental films: Ann Arbor Film Festival was started in 1963. It is the oldest continually operated experimental film festival in North America and has become one of the premiere film festivals for independent and, primarily, experimental filmmakers to showcase their work.^{[citation needed]}

• Independent films: In the US, Telluride Film Festival,^{[citation needed]} Sundance Film Festival,^[10][11] Austin's South by Southwest, and New York City's Tribeca Film Festival, are all considered significant festivals for independent film. The Zero Film Festival is significant as the first and only festival exclusive to self-financed filmmakers.^[12] The biggest independent film festival in the UK is Raindance Film Festival.^[3]

• North American: The San Francisco International Film Festival, started in 1957, is the oldest continuously running film festival in the Americas. It highlights current trends in international filmmaking and video production with an emphasis on work that has not yet secured U.S. distribution. The Toronto International Film Festival, begun in 1976, is regarded North America's most major and most prestigious film festival, and the most widely attended worldwide. Toronto's Hot Docs is the leading North American documentary film festival. Toronto also has the largest amount of film festivals in the world, ranging from cultural, independent, and historic films. The largest festival, in terms of the number of features shown, is the Seattle International Film Festival, screening 270 features, and approximately 150 short films.^{[citation needed]} The Whistler Film Festival, with is amazing location and breathtaking scenery, is getting bigger every year with more than 80 screenings and a well-rounded Industry Summit. Meanwhile, the New York Film Festival only shows a few films in each year, but it still has big impact in the United States.^{[citation needed]} The Sundance film festival is a major festival for independent film.

• Latin American significance: The Cartagena Film Festival, founded by Victor Nieto in 1960, is the oldest film festival in Latin America.^[13] The Festival de Gramado (or Gramado Film Festival) Gramado, Brazil along with the Guadalajara International Film Festival in Guadalajara, Mexico are considered to be the most important film festivals of Latin America. It was first held in 1973, awarding Latin American films. The Huelva Ibero-American Film Festival has been held since 1975 in that Spanish city. While the Expresión en Corto International Film Festival is the largest competitive film festival in Mexico, specializing in emerging talents, and is held each year during the last week of July in the two colonial cities of San Miguel de Allende and Guanajuato. Among Spanish speaking countries the Dominican International Film Festival is held annually in Puerto Plata, DR, the Valdivia International Film Festival is held annually in the city of Valdivia. It is arguable the most important film festival in Chile.^{[citation needed]}

• Animation: Founded in 1960, the Annecy International Animated Film Festival is the oldest international film festival dedicated exclusively to animation. The others are: Zagreb (f. 1972) Ottawa (f. 1976), Hiroshima (f. 1985), KROK (f. 1989), and Anima Mundi (f. 1992). There are also a variety of regional festivals in various countries.

• Asian Film Festival: Most notable amongst the Asian Film Festivals are the Osian's-Cinefan Film Festival, which was recently expanded to include Arab Cinema as well, and the Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF) and Busan International Film Festival (BIFF).

• African festivals Significant African festivals based on the continent include the biannual Panafrican Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou FESPACO in Burkina Faso, the annual Durban International Film Festival which has grown in importance for industry with the addition of a co-production forum and Talent Campus.

• European festivals The biggest European festival is the Cannes film festival in France along with Berlin and Venice.

• Art and Technology: The Palo Alto International Film Festival, a program of the Palo Alto Institute, is the only film festival in the United States to celebrate the convergence of art and technology, by focusing on the influence of emerging technologies on cinema.

• Emerging Filmmakers: The KahBang Film Festival, part of the KahBang Music-Art-Film Festival in Bangor, Maine, is one of the newest film festivals in the United States to discover and showcase the work from Emerging Filmmakers throughout the world. Their programming continues to be unique by also showcasing the best new Comedy features, Music Documentaries, and Maine made films. Each year they honor one notable actor, actress, or filmmaker with the "Kevin Norwood Bacon Award for Achievement in Cinema", acknowledging the success the recipient has achieved in being so closely connected to Kevin Bacon. One of their films is screened in the KahBang Off Screen Category, "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon" which connects the honored back to the man himself.

See also[link]

• List of film festivals
• List of short film festival
• Outdoor cinema

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Turan, Kenneth, Sundance to Sarajevo: Film Festivals and the World They Made, Los Angeles, University of California Press, 2002, hardback, ISBN 0-520-21867-1.
• Watson, Nigel, "The Sense and Sensationalism of Film Festivals", Talking Pictures website

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Film festivals

Robert Redford
Robert Redford in 2006
Born	Charles Robert Redford, Jr. (1936-08-18) August 18, 1936 (age 75) Santa Monica, California, United States
Occupation	Actor, film director, producer, businessman, environmentalist, philanthropist
Years active	1959–present
Spouse	Lola van Wagenen (1958–1985; divorced) Sibylle Szaggars (2009–present)[1]
Children	Scott (deceased), Shauna, Jamie, Amy

Charles Robert Redford, Jr. (born August 18, 1936),^[2] better known as Robert Redford, is an American actor, film director, producer, businessman, environmentalist, philanthropist, and founder of the Sundance Film Festival. He has received two Oscars: one in 1981 for directing Ordinary People, and one for Lifetime Achievement in 2002. In 2010 he was awarded French Knighthood in the Legion d'Honneur. At the height of his fame in the 1970s and 1980s, he was often described as one of the world's most attractive men and remains one of the most popular movie stars. His popular films include Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), Downhill Racer (1969), Jeremiah Johnson (1972), The Candidate (1972), The Sting (1973), The Way We Were (1973), The Great Gatsby (1974), Three Days of the Condor (1975), The Great Waldo Pepper (1975), All the President's Men (1976), A Bridge Too Far (1977), The Natural (1984), Out of Africa (1985), Sneakers (1992), Indecent Proposal (1993),The Last Castle and Spy Game (2001). As a filmmaker, his notable films include Ordinary People (1980), The Milagro Beanfield War (1988), A River Runs Through It (1992), Quiz Show (1994), The Horse Whisperer (1998) and The Legend of Bagger Vance (2000).

Early life[link]

Redford's family moved to Van Nuys while his father worked in El Segundo.^[3] He attended Van Nuys High School, where he was classmates with baseball player Don Drysdale.^[3] He has described himself as having been a "bad" student, finding inspiration outside the classroom, and being interested in art and sports.^[3] He hit tennis balls with Pancho Gonzales at the Los Angeles Tennis Club to warm him up. After high school, he attended the University of Colorado for a year and a half,^[3] where he was a member of the Kappa Sigma Fraternity.^[4] While there, he worked at the restaurant/bar The Sink; a painting of his likeness is prominent in the bar's murals.^[5] After being asked to leave the University of Colorado, he traveled in Europe, living in France, Spain, and Italy.^[3] He later studied painting at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn and took classes at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City.^[3]

Career[link]

Television[link]

Redford's career — like that of almost all major stars who emerged in the 1950s — began in New York, where an actor could find work both in television and on stage. Starting in 1959, he appeared as a guest star on numerous programs, including The Untouchables, Whispering Smith, Perry Mason, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Route 66, Dr. Kildare, Playhouse 90, Tate, and The Twilight Zone, among others. He earned an Emmy nomination as Best Supporting Actor for his performance in The Voice of Charlie Pont (ABC, 1962). One of his last television appearances was on October 7, 1963, on Breaking Point, an ABC medical drama about psychiatry.

Theater[link]

Redford's Broadway debut was in a small role in Tall Story (1959), followed by parts in The Highest Tree (1959) and Sunday in New York (1961). His biggest Broadway success was as the stuffy newlywed husband of Elizabeth Ashley in Neil Simon's Barefoot in the Park (1963).

Film[link]

Redford in Barefoot in the Park, 1967

While still largely an unknown, Redford made his screen debut in War Hunt (1962), co-starring with John Saxon in a film set during the last days of the Korean War. This film also marked the debuts of director Sydney Pollack, with whom Redford would often collaborate in the near future, and actor Tom Skerritt. After his Broadway success, he was cast in larger feature roles in movies. He was cast alongside screen legend Alec Guinness in the war comedy Situation Hopeless ... But Not Serious, in which he played a soldier who has to spend years of his life hiding behind enemy lines. In Inside Daisy Clover (1965), which won him a golden globe for best new star, he played a bisexual movie star who marries starlet Natalie Wood, and rejoined her along with Charles Bronson for Pollack's This Property Is Condemned (1966) — again as her lover, though this time in a film which achieved even greater success. The same year saw his first teaming with Jane Fonda, in Arthur Penn's The Chase. This film marked the only time Redford would star with Marlon Brando. Fonda and Redford were paired again in the popular big screen version of Barefoot in the Park (1967)^[3] and were again co-stars much later in Pollack's The Electric Horseman (1979).

After this initial success, Redford became concerned about his blond male stereotype image and turned down roles in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and The Graduate. Redford found the property he was looking for in George Roy Hill's Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), scripted by William Goldman, in which he was paired for the first time with Paul Newman.^[3] The film was a huge success and made him a major bankable star,^[3] cementing his screen image as an intelligent, reliable, sometimes sardonic good guy.

Redford suffered through a few films that did not achieve box office success during this time, including Downhill Racer (1969); Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here (1969); Little Fauss and Big Halsy (1970), and The Hot Rock (1972). But his overall career was flourishing with the critical and box office hit Jeremiah Johnson (1972);^[3] the political satire The Candidate (1972); the hugely popular period drama The Way We Were (1973); and the biggest hit of his career; the blockbuster crime caper The Sting (1973), which became one of the top 20 highest grossing movies of all time when adjusted for inflation and for which he was also nominated for an Oscar.^[3]

Between 1974 and 1976, exhibitors voted Redford Hollywood's top box-office name.^[3] His hits included The Great Gatsby (1974), The Great Waldo Pepper (1975), and Three Days of the Condor (1975). The popular and acclaimed All the President's Men (1976), directed by Alan J. Pakula and scripted once again by Goldman, was a landmark film for Redford. Not only was he the executive producer and co-star, but the film's serious subject matter — the Watergate scandal — and its attempt to create a realistic portrayal of journalism also reflected the actor's offscreen concerns for political causes.^[3]

He also starred in a segment of the war film A Bridge Too Far (1977), the prison drama Brubaker (1980), playing a prison warden attempting to reform the system, and the fantasy baseball drama The Natural (1984).^[3] Redford continued his involvement in mainstream Hollywood movies, though with a newfound focus on directing. The first film he directed, Ordinary People, which followed the disintegration of an upper class American family after the death of a son, was one of the most critically and publicly acclaimed films of the decade, winning a number of Oscars, including the Academy Award for best director for Redford himself. His followup directorial project, The Milagro Beanfield War (1987), failed to generate the same level of attention. Sydney Pollack's Out of Africa (1985), with Redford in the male lead role opposite Meryl Streep, became an enormous critical and box office success and won seven Oscars including Best Picture, proving to be Redford's biggest success of the decade and Redford and Pollack's most successful of their six movies together.^[3] His next film, Legal Eagles (1986), was only a minor success at the box office.

Redford continued as a major star throughout the 1990s and 2000s. He released his third film as a director, A River Runs Through It, in 1992, which was a return to mainstream success for Redford as a director and brought a young Brad Pitt to greater prominence. 1993 brought Redford one of his most popular and recognised roles when he starred as a millionaire businessman who tests people's morals through bribery in Indecent Proposal, which became one of the year's biggest hits. He co-starred with Michelle Pfeiffer in the newsroom romance Up Close & Personal (1996), and with Kristin Scott Thomas in The Horse Whisperer (1998), which he also directed.^[3] Redford also continued work in films with political context, such as Havana (1990), playing Jack Weil, a professional gambler in 1959 Cuba during the Revolution, as well as Sneakers (1992), in which he co starred with the late River Phoenix among others.

He appeared as a disgraced Army general sent to prison in the political thriller The Last Castle (2001), directed by Rod Lurie, someone else with a strong interest in politics. In the same year, Redford reteamed with Brad Pitt for Spy Game, another success for the pair but with Redford switching this time from director to actor. Redford, a leading environmental activist, narrated the IMAX documentary Sacred Planet (2004), a sweeping journey across the globe to some of its most exotic and endangered places. In The Clearing (2004), a thriller co-starring Helen Mirren, Redford was a successful businessman whose kidnapping unearths the secrets and inadequacies that led to his achieving the American Dream.

Redford stepped back into producing with The Motorcycle Diaries (2004), a coming-of-age road film about a young medical student, Ernesto "Che" Guevera, and his friend Alberto Granado. It also explored political and social issues of South America that influenced Guevara and shaped his future. With five years spent in the film's making, Redford was credited by director Walter Salles for being instrumental in getting it made and released.

Back in front of the camera, Redford received good notices for his role in director Lasse Hallstrom's An Unfinished Life (2005) as a cantankerous rancher who is forced to take in his estranged daughter-in-law (Jennifer Lopez) — whom he blames for his son's death — and the granddaughter he never knew he had when they fled an abusive relationship. The film, which sat on the shelf for many months while its distributor Miramax was restructured, was generally dismissed as clichéd and overly sentimental. Meanwhile, Redford returned to familiar territory when he reteamed with Meryl Streep 22 years after they starred in Out of Africa, for his personal project Lions for Lambs (2007), which also starred fellow superstar Tom Cruise. After a great deal of hype, the film opened to mixed reviews and disappointing box office. Redford more recently signed on to direct and star in an update of The Candidate.^{[citation needed]}

Redford appears in the 2011 documentary Buck, where he discusses his experiences with title subject Buck Brannaman during the production of The Horse Whisperer in 1998.

Director[link]

Redford at the 1988 Cannes Film Festival

Redford had long harbored ambitions to work on both sides of the camera. As early as 1969, Redford had served as the executive producer for Downhill Racer.^[3] His first outing as director was in 1980's Ordinary People, a drama about the slow disintegration of an upper-middle class family, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Director.^[3] Redford was credited with obtaining a powerful dramatic performance from Mary Tyler Moore, as well as superb work from Donald Sutherland and Timothy Hutton, who also won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.

Redford did not direct again until The Milagro Beanfield War (1988), a well-crafted, though not commercially successful, screen version of John Nichols' acclaimed novel of the Southwest. The Milagro Beanfield War is the story of the people of Milagro, New Mexico (based on the real town of Truchas in northern New Mexico), overcoming big developers who set about to ruin their community and force them out because of tax increases. Other directorial projects have included the period drama A River Runs Through It (1992), based on Norman Maclean's novella, and the exposé Quiz Show (1994), about the quiz show scandal of the late 1950s.^[3] In the latter film, Redford worked from a screenplay by Paul Attanasio with noted cinematographer Michael Ballhaus and a strong cast that featured Paul Scofield, John Turturro, Rob Morrow, and Ralph Fiennes. Redford handpicked Morrow for his part in the film (Morrow's only high-profile feature film role to date), because he liked his work on Northern Exposure. Redford also directed Matt Damon and Will Smith in The Legend of Bagger Vance (2000). In 2010, Redford released The Conspirator, a period drama revolving around the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Despite a subject matter of personal interest to Redford, the film received mixed reviews and proved to be a flop at the box office.

Honors[link]

U.S. President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush pose with the Kennedy Center honorees, from left to right, actress Julie Harris, actor Robert Redford, singer Tina Turner, ballet dancer Suzanne Farrell and singer Tony Bennett on December 4, 2005, during the reception in the Blue Room at the White House.

Redford attended the University of Colorado in the 1950s and received an Honorary Degree in 1983.

In 1995, he received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Bard College. He was a 2002 Lifetime Achievement Award/Honorary Oscar recipient at the 74th Academy Awards.^[6]

In 1996, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts.^[7]

In December 2005, he received the Kennedy Center Honors for his contributions to American culture. The Honors recipients are recognized for their lifetime contributions to American culture through the performing arts: whether in dance, music, theater, opera, motion pictures or television.^{[citation needed]}

In 2008 he was awarded The Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize, one of the richest prizes in the arts, given annually to "a man or woman who has made an outstanding contribution to the beauty of the world and to mankind's enjoyment and understanding of life."^[8]

The University of Southern California (USC) School of Theater announced the first annual Robert Redford Award for Engaged Artists in 2009. According to the school's web site, the award was created "to honor those who have distinguished themselves not only in the exemplary quality, skill and innovation of their work, but also in their public commitment to social responsibility, to increasing awareness of global issues and events, and to inspiring and empowering young people."^[9]

Robert Redford received an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts from Brown University at the 240th Commencement exercises on May 25, 2008.^[10] He also spoke during the ceremonies.

On 14 October 2010, he was appointed Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur.^[11]

Sundance[link]

With the financial proceeds of his acting success, starting with his salaries from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and Downhill Racer, Redford bought an entire ski area on the east side of Mount Timpanogos northeast of Provo, Utah, called "Timp Haven", which was renamed "Sundance".^[3] Redford's wife Lola was from Utah and they had built a home in the area in 1963. Portions of the movie Jeremiah Johnson (1972), a film which is both one of Redford's favorites and one that has heavily influenced him, were shot near the ski area. He founded the Sundance Film Festival, Sundance Institute, Sundance Cinemas, Sundance Catalog, and the Sundance Channel, all in and around Park City, Utah, 30 miles (48 km) north of the Sundance ski area.^[3] The Sundance Film Festival caters to independent filmmakers in the United States and has received recognition from the industry as a place to open films. In 2008, Sundance exhibited 125 feature-length films from 34 countries, with more than 50,000 attendees.^[12] The name Sundance comes from his Sundance Kid character. In addition, Redford owns a celebrated restaurant called Zoom, located on Main Street in the former mining town of Park City.

Mount Timpanogos, panoramic view

Independent films[link]

Since founding the nonprofit Sundance Institute in Park City, in 1981, Redford has been deeply involved with independent film.^[3] Through its various workshop programs and popular film festival, Sundance has provided much-needed support for independent filmmakers. In 1995, Redford signed a deal with Showtime to start a 24-hour cable television channel devoted to airing independent films — the Sundance Channel premiered on February 29, 1996.

Personal life[link]

On August 9, 1958, in Las Vegas, Nevada, Redford married Lola Van Wagenen, who dropped out of college to marry him. They had four children: Scott Anthony, David James "Jamie", Shauna, and Amy Redford.

Son Jamie Redford is a writer/producer.^[13]

Scott — their first child — was born September 1, 1959, and died of sudden infant death syndrome on November 17, 1959, at age 2½ months. His remains have been buried at Provo City Cemetery in Provo, Utah. Lola and Redford divorced in 1985. He has five grandchildren: Dylan and Lena Redford (of son Jamie), Mica and Conor Schlosser (of daughter Shauna) and Eden August (of daughter Amy).^[14]

In July 2009, Redford married his longtime partner, Sibylle Szaggars, at the luxurious Louis C. Jacob Hotel in Hamburg, Germany. She had moved in with Redford in the 1990s and shares his Sundance, Utah, home.^[15] In May 2011 Alfred A Knopf published Robert Redford: The Biography by Michael Feeney Callan, written over fifteen years with Redford's input, and drawn from his personal papers and diaries.

Political activity[link]

Redford with New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson in 2009

Redford is politically liberal, and has supported environmentalism, Native American rights, and the arts. He has been noted as "an admirer of Edward Abbey, the late great anarchist voice of the desert Southwest."^[16] Most of his federal political contributions have been to Democrats (61%) or advocacy groups (34.6%), such as the Political Action Committee of the Directors Guild of America.^[17] Redford has on occasion also supported Republicans, including Brent Cornell Morris in his unsuccessful 1990 race for Utah's 3rd congressional district seat.^[17][18] Redford also supported Gary R. Herbert, another Republican and a friend, in Herbert's successful campaign to be elected Utah's Lieutenant Governor (he is currently the Governor of Utah). Redford is an avid environmentalist and is a trustee of the Natural Resources Defense Council. Redford has been a vocal critic of Barack Obama for his lack of follow-through on environmental policies. He wrote, "One reason I supported President Obama is because he said we must protect clean air, water and lands. But what good is it to say the right thing unless you act on it?" ^[19]

Filmography[link]

Actor[link]

Director[link]

References[link]