Robert Redford's Daughter Amy Reveals His Favorite Sundance Tradition and Which Film Inspired the Festival (Exclusive)
- - Robert Redford's Daughter Amy Reveals His Favorite Sundance Tradition and Which Film Inspired the Festival (Exclusive)
Jack SmartFebruary 4, 2026 at 9:04 AM
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Amy Redford on Jan. 23; Robert Redford in 'Downhill Racer'
Neilson Barnard/Getty; Paramount/Getty
Robert Redford’s daughter Amy reflects with PEOPLE on her late father’s legacy in the independent film world
“Tributes about my dad,” she says of the star who launched the Sundance Film Festival, have been “overwhelming” and “healing”
Robert produced and starred in the 1969 film Downhill Racer, which Amy says inspired his founding of the Sundance Institute to support indie filmmaking
The late Robert Redford's legacy lives on — both at the Sundance Film Festival and with his daughter Amy Redford.
“I was maybe not prepared for what kind of an onslaught of generosity was going to be here,” actress-filmmaker Amy, 55, tells PEOPLE while attending a Jan. 24 screening of the documentary Cookie Queens at Salt Lake City’s Rose Wagner Theater. “I’m so overwhelmed.”
The 2026 iteration of the famed film festival — held Jan. 22 to Feb. 1 — is understandably an emotional one for all involved.
It’s the first after the September 2025 death of Robert, who founded the Sundance Institute nonprofit in 1981 to create a new means of fostering independent artists and promoting their films.
It's also a time of transition; in 2027, the fest leaves Park City and Salt Lake City behind for a move to Boulder, Colo.
Robert Redford on the set of 'Downhill Racer'
Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty
“People are coming with their best selves,” Amy, who serves on the Sundance Institute Board of Trustees, says of this year’s fest. “All of the things that are being passed over to my family and I, and their tributes about my dad, have been so incredibly healing.”
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Robert died at age 89 in Utah, the state he had fallen in love with and moved to decades prior.
In addition to the annual festival, his institute continues to provide year-round creative and financial support for emerging filmmakers, a growing list that has included the likes of Quentin Tarantino, Paul Thomas Anderson, Taika Waititi, the Daniels, Chloé Zhao and Ryan Coogler.
Did the Oscar-winning star have a Sundance Film Festival tradition each year?
“My dad's favorite moment was the filmmakers brunch, where he could sit in front of the young filmmakers — who were all quivering in their boots, you know, wondering, ‘Do I deserve it?’ You know, total imposter syndrome,” recalls Amy.
“He would ground them, and he would meet them where they needed to be met,” she adds, or “do a call to arms for them to remind themselves of why they do what they do.”
With that annual tradition, Robert “felt like he was able to be a part of the community.”
In addition to premiering 90 feature films and seven episodic projects, representing 28 countries, the 2026 Sundance Film Festival included anniversary screenings of hit films that previously premiered at the fest, including Little Miss Sunshine, House Party and Saw.
One screening holds a special significance to Robert and his legacy — his 1969 ski drama Downhill Racer.
“The impossibility of getting that made made him very grouchy!” says Amy of the Michael Ritchie-directed hit, the first Robert ever produced. From filming on mountains throughout Europe and the U.S. to marketing the film, Downhill Racer saw Robert clashing with distributor Paramount Pictures over how to get it done.
The experience awakened both his passion for alpine skiing and was “a catalyst,” says Amy, for pioneering indie cinema.
Amy Redford and Robert Redford at the Sundance Film Festival in 2003 Frazer Harrison/Getty
“Pushing that boulder uphill was a stimulant for him to say, ‘There's something broken in our industry, we need to fix it,’” she continues. “We have to fix that barrier for entry not only for filmmakers [but] for the audiences. You can't underestimate what audiences actually want to have access to.”
That mission continues today, Amy adds: “It's a hard time to be an independent filmmaker. It's a hard time to be an arts organization.”
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
