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Robert Redford was disillusioned with the Hollywood mainstream. The Sundance Kid, who died Tuesday at age 89<\/a>, knew that there were more stories out there, ones that weren\u2019t getting made into films because of the rigidity of the business. So he made something different, founding Sundance Institute and the Sundance Film Festival<\/a> as an alternative avenue for emerging filmmakers, where independence was a virtue, not a liability.<\/p>\n Over the past four decades<\/a>, the institute and the festival have given an early platform to countless young filmmakers, including Steven Soderbergh, Paul Thomas Anderson, Quentin Tarantino, Ryan Coogler, Chlo\u00e9 Zhao, Nicole Holofcener, Nia DaCosta, Taika Waititi, Ava DuVernay, Rian Johnson, Gina Prince-Bythewood, Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert and many more.<\/p>\n \u201cFor me, the word to be underscored is \u2018independence.\u2019 I\u2019ve always believed in that word. That\u2019s what led to me eventually wanting to create a category that supported independent artists who weren\u2019t given a chance to be heard,\u201d Redford told The Associated Press in 2018. \u201cThe industry was pretty well controlled by the mainstream, which I was a part of. But I saw other stories out there that weren\u2019t having a chance to be told and I thought, \u2018Well, maybe I can commit my energies to giving those people a chance.\u2019 As I look back on it, I feel very good about that.\u201d<\/p>\n In 2019, Redford said he intended to step back from his public facing role at the festival, though he remained the organization’s president and founder until his death.<\/p>\n \u201cI think we\u2019re at a point where I can move on to a different place, because the thing I\u2019ve missed over the years is being able to spend time with the films and with the filmmakers and to see their work and be part of their community,\u201d he said at the 2019 kickoff. \u201cI don\u2019t think the festival needs a whole lot of introduction now: It runs on its own course, and I\u2019m happy for that.\u201d<\/p>\n Inspiration in Utah<\/p>\n Redford\u2019s love affair with Utah began much earlier, on a cross-country motorcycle road trip in 1961 when he bought 2 acres of land. By 1969, with more money in his pocket from his film successes, he\u2019d purchased 5,000 acres, some of which was a mountain resort but most of the land was for wilderness preserves. He named it Sundance, after his character in \u201cButch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n In 1981, the year he won best picture and director for \u201cOrdinary People,\u201d he established the Sundance Institute, a nonprofit organization and held the first filmmakers lab at the Sundance Mountain Resort, about 13 miles northeast of Provo. A few years later, in 1985, the institute took over what was then known as the U.S. Film Festival, which would later be renamed the Sundance Film Festival. The festival in the mid-80s hosted the Coen brothers \u201cBlood Simple\u201d and Jim Jarmusch\u2019s \u201cStranger Than Paradise.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018sex, lies and videotape\u2019 and the birth of an indie boom<\/p>\n The festival was really put on the map when Soderbergh premiered \u201csex, lies and videotape\u201d in Park City in 1989. A true indie, the film went on to win the Palme d\u2019Or at Cannes and get an Oscar nomination, but it was its box office success that ignited a veritable indie film boom. And Sundance was where all the discoveries were happening. In 1991, the festival premiered \u201cDaughters of the Dust,\u201d \u201cParis is Burning\u201d and \u201cSlacker,\u201d in 1992, Tarantino\u2019s \u201cReservoir Dogs,\u201d in 1993, Wes Anderson brought \u201cBottle Rocket,\u201d and in 1994 \u201cHoop Dreams\u201d and \u201cClerks.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIf it weren\u2019t for Robert Redford, independent art houses might not have succeeded,\u201d said Gary Meyer, cofounder of Landmark Theatre, and a former festival director at Telluride who also worked with Redford. \u201cHaving the \u2018Sundance Kid\u2019 give his stamp of approval to independent features and documentaries brought audiences to our theaters, while helping launch the careers of dozens of filmmakers \u2026 He made it \u2018cool\u2019 to see adventurous movies when they came to commercial neighborhood theaters.\u201d<\/p>\n In 1994, the Sundance Institute also made a commitment to Indigenous filmmakers by launching a festival program to showcase Native and Indigenous films that continues to this day.<\/p>\n The behind-the-scenes power of the labs<\/p>\n The festival might get the most headlines, but it\u2019s the year-round work of the Institute that has really left a mark on independent cinema. The screenwriting and directing labs<\/a> have been just as, if not more, influential in helping to launch the first films of many of Hollywood\u2019s top filmmakers over the past 40 years, under the leadership of Michelle Satter, who has helped shepherd projects from \u201cHard Eight\u201d to \u201cFruitvale Station\u201d and \u201cLove & Basketball.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSundance changed the trajectory of my career,\u201d filmmaker and labs adviser Gina Prince-Bythewood told the AP in 2023. \u201cHow many of these special projects would have never seen the light of day without Michelle, without Robert Redford\u2019s vision, without this incredible place? It\u2019s actually really scary to think about.\u201d<\/p>\n Native filmmaker Sterlin Harjo (\u201cRez Ball\u201d) said that his career as a young man was defined by Redford\u2019s support for independent cinema and supporting Native storytelling.<\/p>\n \u201cI went to the Sundance Filmmakers lab at 23 years old,\u201d Harjo wrote on Instagram on Tuesday. \u201cThe support from Sundance made me feel like I belonged in an industry that most times felt so unreachable. He personally taught me things about story, shooting, and editing that I take with me today.\u201d<\/p>\n Oscar winners and enduring classics<\/p>\n The list of notable films that have played at Sundance grows every year. Some enduring favorites include: \u201cGet Out,\u201d \u201cWhiplash,\u201d \u201cLittle Miss Sunshine,\u201d \u201cMemento,\u201d \u201cBefore Sunrise,\u201d \u201cBoyhood,\u201d \u201cY tu mam\u00e1 tambi\u00e9n,\u201d \u201cBrick,\u201d \u201cThe Squid and the Whale,\u201d \u201cManchester by the Sea,\u201d \u201cCall Me By Your Name\u201d and \u201cA Real Pain.\u201d<\/p>\n The festival got its first best picture winner with \u201cCODA,\u201d which played at the festival in 2021. Questlove\u2019s \u201cSummer of Soul,\u201d which also debuted in 2021, won the academy\u2019s documentary award that year as well.<\/p>\n Many best documentary winners start at Sundance, including \u201cWhen We Were Kings,\u201d \u201cBorn Into Brothels,\u201d \u201cAn Inconvenient Truth,\u201d \u201cMan on Wire,\u201d \u201cThe Cove,\u201d \u201cSearching for Sugarman,\u201d \u201c20 Feet from Stardom,\u201d \u201cIcarus,\u201d \u201cAmerican Factory,\u201d \u201c Navalny,\u201d<\/a> and \u201c20 Days in Mariupol<\/a>.\u201d The most recent winner, \u201cNo Other Land\u201d was supported by the labs.<\/p>\n The future of Sundance<\/p>\n Redford had worried for years that the festival had outgrown<\/a> Park City, Utah. In 1996, an estimated 15,504 attended the festival. In 2015, the number had ballooned to 46,100. It peaked in 2018 with 124,900 festivalgoers. The festival estimated that the 2025 edition had 85,472 in-person attendees, a 17% increase from 2024.<\/p>\n