The Name "Sundance"
Robert Redford purchases 5,000 acres in the same area and names the land Sundance, after his role in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. That same year, he opens Sundance Mountain Resort to the public and designates a vast majority of the land as a wilderness preserve.
Robert Redford founded the Sundance Institute in 1981 to foster independence, risk-taking, and new voices in American film. That year, ten emerging filmmakers were invited to Sundance Resort in the mountains of Utah, where they worked with leading writers, directors, and actors to develop their original independent projects ...2005-2007
Storytelling Transcends Boundaries
The Sundance Film Festival launches its World Cinema Competition, elevating the profile of international filmmakers at the Festival, along with the New Frontier section, which celebrates innovative work at the intersection of film, art, and technology.