Robert Redford ‘taught us to change the world,’ says daughter Amy Redford as Sundance begins without him

Highlights

• Amy Redford shares memories of her father’s parenting and values.
  
• She praises the balance of city life and nature in their upbringing.
  
• Sundance Film Festival continues his legacy of supporting independent filmmakers.
  

Celebrating Sundance without Robert Redford

Amy Redford, filmmaker and daughter of Robert Redford, opened up about experiencing the first Sundance Film Festival without her father, its founder. The festival, set to begin Jan. 22, 2026, marks the first since Redford’s death on Sept. 16, 2025, at his Utah home at the age of 89.

In an interview with TODAY, Amy offered insights into Redford as a parent: “He was playful and curious and kind, and I think what he taught us to do is really find the thing that we’re most passionate about and the things we think might be able to change the world.”

A childhood between city and wilderness

Amy highlighted what she considers the most important gift from her father: raising his family between New York City and the mountains of Sundance. “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,” she said.

She added that the lessons of balance, curiosity, and care for the environment remain central to her family’s values today.

Sundance as a platform for independent voices

Amy also reflected on her father’s vision for Sundance. Despite advice against creating the festival, Robert Redford saw it as an opportunity to support independent filmmakers and amplify voices that might otherwise go unheard. “If you tell him not to do it, that just means it hasn’t been done yet,” Amy said. “He saw Sundance as a chance to use his influence to change the world.”

Redford had four children with his first wife, historian and activist Lola Van Wagenen, whom he married in 1958. Their eldest son, Scott, died in infancy, and their son Jamie, a documentary filmmaker, died in 2020. Their two daughters, Shauna, a painter, and Amy, have largely remained outside the public spotlight. He married his second wife, German-born artist Sibylle Szaggars, in 2009.