Sundance film festival sets tributes to late co-founder Redford

Actor and director Robert Redford holds his honorary Cesar award during the 44th Cesar Film Awards ceremony, in Paris, Friday, Feb 22, 2019. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

The upcoming Sundance film festival will feature multiple tributes to its late co-founder Robert Redford including a screening of his first independent movie, organizers said Tuesday.

Hollywood legend Redford, who starred in hits like “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” before becoming an Oscar-winning director, died last month at the age of 89.

Redford’s passing caused an outpouring of grief from the US filmmaking community -- many of whose leading lights got their start at the indie movie festival he created, including Quentin Tarantino and Steven Soderbergh.

“Robert Redford’s dedication to the power of storytelling shaped independent cinema,” said a festival statement.

“In honor of his memory, a commemorative screening of Downhill Racer (released in 1969) will be presented, his first independent film and a passion project that was his catalyst for the creation of Sundance Institute and the Sundance Film Festival,” it said.

Starring Redford as an obsessive skier competing in the Winter Olympics, “Downhill Racer” was described by critic Roger Ebert as “the best movie ever made about sports -- without really being about sports at all.”

In his first significant venture behind the camera, Redford pitched and developed the film, though he did not receive a formal producer credit.

Multiple other celebratory events for Redford will be held throughout the festival, which starts January 22.

It will be the final Sundance held in Utah, before the festival -- having outgrown its base in the ski resort of Park City -- moves to Boulder in neighboring Colorado.

A screening series of “legacy films” that first premiered at the festival, including the Oscar-winning “Little Miss Sunshine” and horror sensation “Saw,” will be attended by their directors and cast.

The festival’s lineup of new feature film and documentary premieres will be announced in the coming weeks, with tickets on sale from Wednesday.