Amy Redford on What Sundance’s Move to Boulder Will and Won’t Change
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Reported: filmmaker Amy Redford, daughter of Sundance founder Robert Redford, gave interviews this month about the festival’s move from Park City to Boulder after four decades in Utah. She framed the relocation as a change of address, not a change of mission, saying Sundance’s founding purpose of championing new filmmakers outside the studio system stays the same. Her comments come from press interviews rather than an official Sundance Institute statement, so we label the quotes Reported.
Last verified: September 23, 2026
What Amy Redford said
| Claim | Status |
|---|---|
| Redford gave press interviews about Sundance’s move to Boulder, published in September 2026 | Confirmed |
| Quote: “the values remain the same, you’re part of discovery, you’re part of something new, and it’s also one of the few algorithm-free spaces” | Reported |
| Quote: “It takes a village, and this village has really shown up, we’ve left something better than we found it” | Reported |
| Sundance Film Festival was founded in 1981 by Robert Redford and ran in Park City, Utah for four decades before the Boulder move | Confirmed |
Amy Redford is a filmmaker in her own right and has spoken publicly before about her father’s legacy at Sundance. In these interviews, she did not announce new programming, venues, or dates, all of which remain governed by what Sundance Institute has already confirmed. Instead, she addressed the emotional and cultural stakes of moving an institution that has defined independent film for more than forty years to a new state. She pointed to the Colorado film community’s involvement in preparing for the festival as evidence that the transition has been a collaborative effort rather than an imposition on the host city.
Why it matters
For anyone following the move rather than just planning logistics, comments like these are the closest thing so far to a mission statement for Sundance’s first Boulder edition. They do not change ticketing, venues, or dates, but they signal how the Institute wants the community to understand the shift. For the backstory on why Boulder was chosen in the first place, see our explainer on why Sundance moved to Boulder. Redford’s emphasis on new filmmakers connects directly to CU Boulder’s expanded role in the festival, covered in our post on CU Boulder’s student volunteer and internship programs. Readers wanting the fuller history of the festival Redford is describing can start with our history of the Sundance Film Festival.
What we’re watching
We’re watching for whether Sundance Institute or Redford make further public remarks that preview specific programming choices for January, and whether the festival’s official marketing picks up the “algorithm-free” framing she used.
