Overview

• Redford died in his sleep on Sept. 16 at his home in Sundance, Utah, at age 89, according to official remembrances.
• After founding the Sundance Institute in 1980, he built a festival that reshaped independent cinema, launching careers and movements from Sex, Lies, and Videotape to Reservoir Dogs and beyond.
• As a filmmaker, he won the Academy Award for directing Ordinary People in 1981 and earned further acclaim with films such as Quiz Show, complementing a storied acting career that included Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Sting, and All the President’s Men.
• He was a prominent environmental advocate in Utah, donating roughly 1,200 acres to conservation easements and opposing developments that threatened landscapes near the Provo River and what is now the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.
• The Sundance Institute hailed its founder’s vision in an official tribute, and a local editorial reported the annual festival is expected to move to Boulder, Colorado, after the 2026 edition, while the institute continues its work.