Robert Redford discussed his decisions to take the indie-maven event to London and expressed his hopes to make it an annual event. “The festival had grown to such a degree that we wanted to move internationally but I was reluctant to do that for a while because I didn’t want growth to just be about growth – it had to have some meaning to it,” explained Redford, “but it felt like it was ready. We decided to bring a scaled-down version of what we do – sort of the alchemy of what we do – in the mountains in Utah in January, bring it here and just see how it was received.” The Academy Award-winning actor discussed his hopes that what they do in Sundance would have some appeal in London and that there’s a good response to their diverse and independent films, “another part of the hope would that it would inspire support of that same type of creativity here in London. Finally, of course is the main objective that we started with: to create opportunities for more artists and more voices to be heard and to extend that opportunity to more audiences in other parts of the world.”
The four-day festival features an attractive blend of music performances, talks and screenings of feature films, documentaries and shorts. Redford explained the importance of film and music’s relationship, referencing the importance music had on his 1969 film, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. “I didn’t see it at the time because I thought it was stupid; you know you suddenly had a scene where a guy was singing ‘Raindrops keep falling on my head’ and it wasn’t even raining. How wrong was I?” said the 75-year-old, “Music is so important to film and it’s played a great role in film. I see the future as a hybrid and since that hybrid was on the horizon, we wanted to show that we were with it and bring music with film here to show how that there is a connection now that’s growing stronger and stronger.”
Originally founded in 1981 by Redford in the mountains of Sundance, Utah, the non-profit festival secures a space for independent artists to explore their stories free from commercial and political pressures. Talking about his own stellar career – which has seen him star in countless Oscar-winning films -, Redford discussed his appreciation for independent filmmaking. “I’ve been fortunate to work both sides of the aisles,” he said, “Starting early on in my career working in large Hollywood films was fun but it didn’t totally satisfy a need I have – which was for something a little more risky, therefore low budget and more independent. Starting Sundance was basically to enlarge the category for film and to include those people that might otherwise be shut out by the mainstream way of thinking.” Redford explained that Sundance was not to deny or eliminate big Hollywood blockbusters because “they are obviously very satisfying on a world-wide basis. I just feel that there’s a hunger for other kinds of films as well.”
Redford also explained his cautiousness over the worldwide success of his independent showcase. “Our becoming successful is always something I pay attention to; not losing who we are and the way we do things. Success has a dangerous side to it, which is something that I’ve been aware of my whole life,” he said.
The internationally revered festival started independently with just one theatre and no financial support. “Over time, I realised that there was some value to (starting from scratch) because it coincided nicely with the artists who came who started from scratch,” Redford said, “We were representing that segment of our society and when growth and success comes, then that could threaten that. You could start reaching for the money and in that reach you could lose yourself, so it’s something that we try to watch very, very carefully.” John Cooper, the director added, ‘the short answer to that is that you don’t lose your soul when Redford’s at the helm.”
The three panellists were naturally asked if there was a feature in particular that they would recommend everybody seeing. However, it was only Alex Hill, of AEG, who could single out a particular film. “There’s something for everyone,” Hill said, “I’m into great cinematography so I’m really keen to watch Chasing Ice.” Robert Redford said that he was going to be “diplomatic” in saying that he wouldn’t single out one film over the other, “I think they all represent different points of view about American life and that’s what we hoped would happen, so I look at it as more of a collective”. Cooper mentioned that he was “curious about Queen of Versailles because it’s a film that’s a metaphor for America" and that he was “curious to see what the British audiences” thought of it, but later added after Redford’s response that that was his answer too.
London film festival runs 26-29 April at the O2 arena.
By Jennifer Tate. Twitter: @JennieTate
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