In January of 1994, Robert Redford told the Deseret News he would not be at the Golden Globe Awards to accept the Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement.
The next question was obvious: "Why not?""Well," he said simply, "because I'm here."
"Here," of course, is the Sundance Film Festival.
Each January, the 10-day event is an important priority for Redford, who holds a news conference and makes his presence known at various events. And Festival '97 was no different. Redford hosted the opening-night kickoff in Salt Lake City, and two days later he was at his Sundance Resort for the annual morning chat with the press.
But at the moment, the actor/filmmaker has returned to his offices in Los Angeles, where he is in the throes of pre-production for his next movie, the highly anticipated adaptation of the popular novel "The Horse Whisperer." (Filming begins in late February or early March.)
And though it is his fifth directing effort (after winning an Oscar for "Ordinary People," and then helming "The Milagro Beanfield War," "A River Runs Through It" and "Quiz Show"), the pressure may be a bit more intense than usual. For the first time, Redford the director will be putting Redford the actor through the motions.
Despite his absence during part of this year's festival, Redford says it is no less important to him, and that no matter how busy he gets, he won't be softening his commitment or involvement. "I spend a lot of time on the festival throughout the year," Redford said by phone from his L.A. office. "And now with the Sundance cable channel, there's a synergy between television and exhibition in Park City that kicks up the ante."
Asked if he sees any irony in the fact that TCI cable is an "Official Sponsor" of the Sundance Film Festival, but does not carry the Sundance Channel for its customers, Redford says, "If you want to be kind, you could say `paradox.' " Then, after a pause, "Yes, a deep irony."
As with everything that bears the Sundance name (lifted, of course, from the character that made him an international superstar in 1969, "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid"), Redford has also been hands-on with the Sundance Channel. He wants to ensure that it fulfills his vision as a place for a wide range of independent work. "That's the point - the variety, the diversity, the television environment. And the more people who get access to it, the more appreciation they'll have for being able to get something they're not going to get anywhere else."
And that's precisely how he feels about the festival. "The nice thing about the festival is that it really runs on its own. It certainly doesn't need me to walk out in front of it, like when we first started, when nobody knew we existed.
"The role that I now play is more behind the scenes, more of a design area, and trying to open and close the festival with, first of all, stating our purpose - and then restating it: It's for the filmmakers.
"The chief priority is the filmmakers themselves. And behind them are the local people." After a pause and a laugh, Redford adds, "And last are the meat-handlers - or the butchers in some cases," meaning mainstream Hollywood.
Of course, while he clearly sees himself as an independent filmmaker, Redford has always worked for "the meat-grinders." "The thing I've appreciated is that I've had a decent enough relationship with the studios that I can make independent movies within the studio system. And I have no complaints about how I've been treated."
Redford is mounting "The Horse Whisperer" for Disney (which also released "Quiz Show"), and he confesses that he has "mixed feelings" about trying to act and direct. "I get too involved in the characters that I play as an actor to be objective about it. If I'm directing myself, I will need to be objective about that. But I wanted to do it because of the feelings I have about the West and the meshing of that with the urban environment."
He adds that his adaptation, with a screenplay by Richard LaGravanese ("The Fisher King," "A Little Princess," "The Bridges of Madison County") is not going to be literal. "I'm not doing the book exactly as written. I don't think I would have made the book exactly as it was written. But I'm intrigued by going somewhere with it."
Asked about the National Medal of Arts he recently received from President Clinton at the White House, Redford said he is usually wary of awards, but this one surprised and pleased him. "I have mixed feelings about awards in general. When I didn't take the Golden Globe, the lifetime achievement award, I was honored, but I just didn't want to do it. I don't like placing too much emphasis on awards.
"But I was quite taken back by this award. It was very, very special. And at one point, there I was standing in line waiting to go into dinner, I looked over and I was standing next to (Utah Republican Senator) Bob Bennett.
"Here I am standing next to someone I've been generally opposed to politically, but there we were talking about the importance of art, and I realized we were involved in something that transcended party politics."