Philanthropist and environmentalist Robert Redford’s legacy goes far beyond Hollywood
By CNN Impact Your World and Lindsay Benson
(CNN) — While Robert Redford made his mark with Hollywood films such as “All the President’s Men,” “Barefoot in the Park” and “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” the lifelong environmentalist and philanthropist was also committed to sparking change, protecting the earth and supporting up-and-coming filmmakers.
“I’m an actor by trade, but I’m an activist by nature, somebody who’s always believed that we must find the balance between what we develop for our survival and what we preserve,” Redford said in his address to the UN General Assembly’s High-Level Meeting on Climate Change in 2015.
In 2002, Redford received an honorary Academy Award. He was a Kennedy Center honoree in 2005 and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016. The accolades celebrated his on-screen performances and his contributions beyond Tinseltown.
Environmental causes
Redford’s love of nature began early.
“At some point I divided my life into my two greatest interests, which were art and nature. I grew up respecting nature because what happened to Los Angeles. It was a city, as a child during the end of the Second World War, that I loved, and it was a beautiful city. And the air was clean. And then what happened after the war was suddenly there was skyscrapers and there was pollution and there were freeways. … It felt like the city that I loved as a child was taken away from me. So, I moved away from that, in sadness,” Redford said in a news conference at the United Nations in 2015.
“And then I discovered the Sierra Nevadas, and I went to work at Yosemite National Park. And when that happened, I was introduced to the beauty of raw nature. And that’s when I decided I want this to be part of my life, whatever I do. I want this to be part of my life, because it had a kind of a soulful impact on me.”
The Redford Center
Robert Redford co-founded The Redford Center with his son, James, in 2005 specifically to support environmental filmmakers and storytellers.
Some of The Redford Center’s work includes producing documentaries and short films, and providing financial sponsorships.
James Redford died at the age of 58 in October 2020. The center said it continues to “work in honor of everything that James stood for and all he envisioned for the future.”
Sundance and filmmaking
In 1981, Redford founded the Sundance Institute, which describes itself as a non-profit that “provides and preserves the space for artists in film, theater, film composing, and digital media to create and thrive.”
Sundance is headquartered near Park City, Utah. The state was a special place for Redford. He fought to preserve over 1.7 million acres of Utah wilderness to protect it from development until it became a protected site by presidential decree in 1996.
The actor and his first wife, Lola Van Wagenen, even built their home in Utah themselves.
Every January, the Sundance Institute hosts the Sundance Film Festival in Park City. The festival is an opportunity to present the work of independent emerging filmmakers to a global audience.
The institute also hosts programs in the United States and abroad to inspire, connect and spotlight independent filmmakers.
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