The upcoming Sundance Film Festival will feature multiple tributes to its late co-founder Robert Redford, including a screening of his first independent movie, organisers have said.
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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".
Multiple celebratory events for Redford will be held throughout the festival, which starts on 22 January.
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 neighbouring Colorado.
A screening series of "legacy films" that first premiered at the festival, including the Oscar-winning Little Miss Sunshine and the horror sensation Saw, will be attended by their directors and cast.
The festival's line-up of new feature films and documentary premieres will be announced in the coming weeks.
Source: AFP
