Robert Redford‘s daughter Amy Redford only has fond memories of her late father ahead of the first Sundance Film Festival since his death.
“He was playful and curious and kind,” Amy told Today show coanchors Laura Jarrett and Peter Alexander on Monday, January 19, sharing rare insight into what Robert was like as a parent. “And I think what he taught us to do is really find the thing that we’re most passionate about and the things that we think might be able to change the world.”
Amy, 55, continued, “The best thing I think he did for my family was raise us between New York City and the mountains of Sundance — because we got to live between the city and in natural law — and taught us a very strong value of stewardship. That’s something that I think all of us bring to the table to this day, and I’m very proud of that.”
Robert shared four children with his first wife, historian Lola Van Wagenen: sons Scott, who died of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) in 1959, and James, who died of cancer at age 58 in 2020, as well as daughters Shauna, 65, and Amy. (The legendary Oscar winner and activist was later married to artist Sibylle Szaggars.)
This year’s Sundance will be held in honor of Robert, who cofounded the festival in 1978 as a way to showcase independent filmmakers. It will be the first Sundance since the Sting star died in his sleep at home in September 2025 at age 89.
Amy noted in Monday’s interview that her dad once said he had been advised against starting the festival, but he ultimately opted not to listen to the naysayers.
“If you tell him not to do it, that just means it hasn’t been done yet,” she said. “He decided, ‘Well, I have some platform, and I’m going to use it to change the world.’ And I think knowing that there were so many stories out there that needed to be told, that weren’t being told, and that there were amazing storytellers that hadn’t been seen yet was really his most foundational motivation.”
Amy — who, like her late father, is an actor and director — shared that Robert was never one to think about leaving his mark on the world.
“He was not a person to look over his shoulder,” she explained. “I think his legacy is really about giving forward, and I think him being able to do things like found The Redford Center with my late brother Jamie Redford, being able to know that every single artist that came through the Sundance Institute would maybe one day be out in the public sphere like Ryan Coogler and Chloé Zhao and all of the people that come and celebrate the organization moving forward.”
The 2026 Sundance Film Festival will be held from January 22 to February 1 in Salt Lake City and Park City, Utah.
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