Robert Redford’s daughter talks of his Utah Legacy

PARK CITY — As Utah’s last Sundance Film Festival gets underway this week the legacy of its founder looms large.

The festival will host both a tribute and a celebration of Robert Redford, who passed away in September.

“He was a lover of stories and he walked the earth as somebody who always wanted to hear people’s stories, no matter who they were,” said Robert Redford’s daughter, Amy Redford, about her father’s legacy in Utah.

Amy Redford remembered why her father, the late Robert Redford founded the Sundance Institute and the Sundance Film Festival.

“The festival was an avenue to make sure that there was an opportunity for people to get their stories out there and be considered legitimate as the people that had been given the Golden Keys to Hollywood,” said Amy Redford.

Robert Redford, legendary filmmaker, actor, director and producer, had many Hollywood credits but Amy thinks about his determination and commitment to the festival.

“He’s absolutely a visionary … when people said, ‘well, that can’t be done,’ I think he said, ‘Oh, well, fantastic! It just hasn’t been done yet, so let’s get on with the show … in so many ways, in so many areas, he saw something that was possible,” said Amy Redford.

And, she said, her father was very hands on – giving up opportunities in his own career to help other filmmakers.

“He didn’t consider himself above. He didn’t consider himself somebody that was just sort of sprinkling fairy dust from on high. He considered himself very much one of the community … it was him answering to building the world he wanted to live in. He had a deep sense of gratitude to the state, to the people that were supporters, early adopters of his vision … the Eccles Foundation, people like Zion’s Bank, you know Scott Anderson and people that really stepped in and said,’ we believe in this.’”

Amy Redford is also an actor and filmmaker and recently created a new production company called Red Sky Stories.

“We are very dedicated to telling Utah stories, by and for Utah people, using storytelling to broker understanding. We are about to shoot a movie called ‘Salt and Honey’ in Helper, Utah, using a lot of people from Helper and using the town as a real character of the story.”

She says she learned from her father’s love of Utah and Utahns.

“He felt embraced wholly by the people here, the people that work the land, the people that respected the land.”

That land he began purchasing in Provo Canyon in the 1960’s eventually became the Sundance Resort.

“He felt that that land was incredibly sacred. And I think we have, throughout by family and each one of my family members, a deep sense of stewardship of that land and why we feel like it’s a very important asset to the state.”

In 2020, Robert Redford sold the Sundance Resort and put 300 acres at the base of Mount Timpanogos into permanent protection.

She also hopes many Utahns will hold onto her father’s legacy of inclusion.

“It’s an invitation to all Utahns to feel like everybody’s invited to the table, as long as everybody treats each other with respect and dignity.”

After more than 40 years, the Sundance Film Festival is leaving Utah for Boulder, Colorado. Amy will be part of the tribute evening for her father. Her hope is that it will be as much as a celebration as it is a tribute.

Because her father’s heart was here, in Utah.

“He loved this state to the very end … I think if he was sitting here today, he would say, ‘ thank you, thank you, Utah!’“

The Sundance Institute will remain headquartered in Utah as will the festival training labs. Each year, a group of independent filmmakers is invited to Sundance to learn more about their craft from seasoned professionals. Some of those projects eventually do become part of the Sundance Film Festival. The festival runs this year from January 22^nd through February 1^st.

Also staying in Utah, the Sundance Nature Alliance, an environmental, conservation group and the Redford Center, founded by Robert Redford and his son, Jamie.

Related: And, that’s a wrap: Sundance Film Festival moving to Colorado