The Sundance Institute announced Wednesday it will celebrate the legacy of its founder, Robert Redford, with the introduction of the Robert Redford Luminary Award, a new honor recognizing individuals who have made visionary contributions to independent filmmaking.
Inaugural award recipients — Ed Harris and Gyula Gazdag, two artists from the Sundance Institute labs — will be recognized during the annual event, “Celebrating Sundance Institute: A Tribute to Founder Robert Redford,” on Jan. 23 in Park City.
As a tribute to Redford, who died in mid-September, the event will celebrate the enduring impact Redford made on independent filmmaking, while also highlighting the rising generation of filmmakers he influenced.
Recipients of the Robert Redford Luminary Award are individuals who have demonstrated dedication to building on Redford’s vision of uncovering new voices and promoting independent storytelling.
“This will be a profoundly meaningful year for Sundance Institute as we honor our Founder, Robert Redford. This special evening supports the mission that he built this organization upon,” Ebs Burnough, Sundance Institute board chair, shared in a statement.
“This annual event enables the nonprofit Institute to continue to launch and uplift the work of independent artists from all over the world through labs, grants, and public programs. We look forward to our guests joining us in honoring and celebrating the vision that we will carry forward.”
Harris, a four-time Academy Award nominee known for his performances in “The Truman Show,” “Apollo 13,” “Game Change,” “Empire Falls” and "Westworld," has served the Sundance Institute as a creative adviser since 2002.
He called his experience with the Sundance Institute some of “the most rewarding, fulfilling, invaluable experiences of my life,” in response to receiving the inaugural award.
“The work and the people I’ve met and learned from and loved have enriched my life considerably,” Harris added. “I’m eternally grateful to Robert Redford for his vision and passion. And I humbly accept this honor.”
Gazdag, a screenwriter and filmmaker who is the second recipient of the award, has been a creative adviser at the Sundance Institute Directors and Screenwriters Labs since 1994. He has also served as director for the Directors Lab since 1997.
He described the Sundance Institute Directors and Screenwriters Labs as a “second home.” He credited the institute with providing him “fresh air, inspiration, camaraderie, moral support, and love.”
“Becoming part of the Sundance Institute family is one of the best things that ever happened to me,” Gazdag continued. “This award, bearing Robert Redford’s name, to whom I am eternally grateful for what he created, is a great honor for me. It is extremely precious, since it is coming from the place that I cherish and admire.”
Sundance Film Festival — which will be hosted in Utah one final time before its departure to Boulder, Colorado — will run from Jan. 22–Feb. 1, 2026, across both Park City and Salt Lake City.
Sundance Film Festival and others will honor Redford
The final Sundance Film Festival in Utah will pay tribute to Redford in a handful of ways, including a screening of one of Redford’s pivotal films, “Downhill Racer.”
The sports drama, which featured Redford as an overly ambitious ski racer, was the actor’s first independent film project — prompting Redford’s passion for independent film.
“The struggle to make that film was really a catalyst for the institute and the festival itself,” Eugene Hernandez, the Sundance Film Festival director, previously told the Deseret News.
He added, “That experience of struggling to make that film ... I think was an important window and a real grounding moment for Robert Redford, as he looked at how you work independent outside of a traditional, big studio system.”
Redford’s contributions to Utah’s independent film scene is also being highlighted by Salt Lake Film Society with a monthlong retrospective honoring his renowned acting career.
The retrospective, “Redford Remembered,” celebrates the late actor’s life and film work with screenings of highly acclaimed movies from his career.
From Nov. 2 through Nov. 27, the retrospective program is screening 12 of Redford’s movies at Broadway Centre Cinemas in Salt Lake City.
“Robert Redford’s artistry shaped generations of cinema-goers, both through his legendary acting roles and his visionary leadership as founder of Sundance Institute and the Sundance Film Festival,” said Tori A. Baker, president and CEO of SLFS.
“With ‘Redford Remembered,’ we’re celebrating the timeless power of his performances and the indelible mark he has left on American film and culture.”