A tribute to screen idol Robert Redford: How the 'Lion' of Hollywood gave birth to the Sundance Film Festival

The legendary Hollywood actor Robert Redford, known for portraying several impeccable and memorable roles, passed away on Tuesday at the age of 89. While the entertainment industry has lost one of the shiniest and brightest stars, the screen idol was responsible for two major revolutions in Hollywood.

Changing the 60s era

In the late 60s, when television was dominating and the studios were failing to create any kind of curiosity among the audiences, Redford came to the rescue with his creativity and films like “All the President’s Men” and “The Natural,” which were relevant and a perfect entertainment the younger generation was craving for.

Launch of Sundance Film Festival

“Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid”, a 1969 iconic western movie, made Robert a glorified star, but it was the Sundance Film Festival that made him a cultural figure. More than a festival, it was an institute founded in 1981 (20 years after Redford built his first cabin in Utah), which was committed to developing the upcoming storytellers under the guidance of mentors from various labs.

Films like Steven Soderbergh (“Sex, Lies and Videotape”), Quentin Tarantino (“Reservoir Dogs”), Wes Anderson (“Bottle Rocket”), Ryan Coogler (“Fruitvale Station”) and Rian Johnson (“Brick”) got marketplace and distribution because of Sundance.

The film festival again came to the rescue with unknown filmmakers and actors narrating personal stories on limited budgets, when audiences were craving originality as Hollywood was struggling making sequels and tentpole movies.

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Environmental activism and Native American advocacy

In the mid-1970s, around the same time he was appearing in such blockbusters as “The Sting” and “The Way We Were,” he immersed himself in the emerging environmental movement. He successfully opposed a power plant being built in his adopted state, Utah, and lobbied for the landmark bills the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act. He also joined the board of the non-profit Natural Resources Defense Council, where he remained a guiding force up to his death.

“His legacy was extraordinary,” says NRDC CEO and President Manish Bapna. “One of the things that was most extraordinary about him was that he understood the power of storytelling. He could talk about climate change and the toll it was inflicting on people and communities — the fisherman coping with rising seas, a family fleeing for their lives from a raging wildfire. He would record messages, give talks or speak in front of Congress.”

Bapna last saw Redford a few months ago, when they dined in New York City.

“He chose his words carefully, and every word he said was profound. He said we must continue to find ways to tell stories that reach people,” Bapna said.

Redford had a longtime affinity for the environment. After growing up in Southern California in the 1930s and ‘40s, he was disheartened to see Los Angeles transform after World War II into a mecca of pollution and traffic jams. In the early 1960s, when he came upon Provo Canyon, Utah, during a cross-country motorcycle trip, he was so awed and invigorated by the landscape that he eventually settled in the area.

Entertainers over time have come to identify and, be identified with, a given cause: Harry Belafonte and civil rights, Paul Newman and nuclear disarmament, Jane Fonda and the Vietnam War. Redford, as much as anyone, helped make the environment an issue for the Hollywood elite, whether for Fonda or Julia Louis-Dreyfus or Leonardo DiCaprio, a fellow NRDC board member who called Redford’s death “a huge loss to our community” and cited his legacy an actor and activist.

With inputs from agencies