Saying Goodbye to the Sundance Kid: Robert Redford, 1936-2025
Butch and Sundance went out in a blaze of glory. Bloodied, outgunned and surrounded, the pair of outlaws didn’t back down, and even though we know their fate, the frame freezes right as they’re at their heroic best. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid made Robert Redford, the stage actor from New York via California, a bonafied star.
Throughout his career, as an actor, director, activist and Sundance Institute founder, Redford regularly went his own way, and as a result, he changed the face of independent film.
“Although Redford didn’t have a direct connection to Film Independent, his unwavering dedication to lifting and spotlighting independent stories and storytellers is indelible and his spirit are present through our work also,” said Angela C. Lee, Director of Artist Development.
In 1972’s The Candidate he played Bill McKay, a US presidential candidate with no chance of winning that runs his campaign on his own terms. His life turned out to run a similar track. After the success of Butch Cassidy, he rejected the idea of being just a heartthrob and turned down roles in The Graduate and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
He chose literary roles, playing in adaptations like The Way We Were and Out of Africa and as the enigmatic Jay Gatsby in the 1974 version of The Great Gatsby. He also made a name for himself with political thrillers. The corruption of the ‘70s, marked by the Watergate break-in and the revelations of the Church Committee, made for fertile creative ground for films like All the President’s Men and Three Days of the Condor.
His first film as a director was Ordinary People in 1980, won him a Best Picture and Best Director Oscar. The next year, he created the Sundance Institute, and the Sundance Labs, where he and his team fostered a new generation of young independent filmmakers. One of his first Fellows was Euzhan Palcy, who would then go on to be the first Black woman to direct a Hollywood studio film.
“He said to me, ‘So, what next? What would you like to do after Sundance?’” Palcy said. “I didn’t feel that I would fit in, that Hollywood wasn’t for me. Robert Redford said, “Euzhan, why lock the door before even testing the water? Go. You are a strong woman. You know what you want. Go for it and see what happens. And if you don’t like it, you go home.” And I thought about it, and I said, “Well, he’s right.”
The Sundance Institute would go on to create spaces in the film industry that were sorely needed like the Native American and Indigenous Film Program. In 1984 he had an idea to take over a small film festival in Utah. His agent begged him not to.
Redford’s response? “I want to do this. You’re not going to stop me.”
Through its unique programing that stuck it’s claim outside the Hollywood norm and its dedication to support artists, the Sundance Film Festival became the place to show an independent film in the 90s and beyond. The Sundance Institute has gone on to expand with programs in documentary, episodic, and youth filmmaking, extending its support for unique and talented voices, a legacy fitting of Redford.
“Film Independent and the Sundance Institute share a similar timeline in origin. A recognition that independent and visionary artists need to be supported. Today, this mission couldn’t be more vital and Film Independent mourns the passing of such a fierce advocate in our shared purpose,” said Angela C. Lee, Director of Artist Development.
Film Independent and Robert Redford share more than a common mission. “So many of the artists Film Independent has nurtured and recognized through Artist Development and the Spirit Awards are also beneficiaries of Redford’s vision and passion at the Sundance Institute and Film Festival, including me,” Lee said. Our Acting President Brenda Robinson is also on the Redford Center’s Advisory Board.
The Sundance Festival and Institute as well as Redford’s success in front of and behind the camera are a testament to his tenacity and trailblazing nature. As Paul Newman said of his partner Sundance in the 1969 classic, “He goes his way, always.”
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