The legendary star of “The Sting” and founder of the Sundance Film Festival dies at 89 in his Utah residence, leaving behind a legacy that fused art, social commitment, and love for independent cinema.
By Jorge Alonso Curiel
HoyLunes – One of the last legends of classic cinema bids farewell. Robert Redford passed away today, September 16, 2025, at the age of 89, in his sleep, at his Sundance, Utah residence. The very place where, decades earlier, he had planted the seed of what would become his great cultural legacy: the Sundance Film Festival.
Redford was more than one of the most handsome actors in film history, far more than an iconic face of 1970s Hollywood. His figure represented the fusion of talent, charisma, and social conscience. On screen he embodied the outlaw Sundance Kid, the con man in “The Sting”, the journalist who challenged power in “All the President’s Men”, and the noble-hearted loner Jeremiah Johnson. But behind that clear and serene gaze dwelled a restless creator, determined that cinema should not only be spectacle, but also truth, reflection, and commitment.
His decision to found the Sundance Institute in 1981—and shortly after, the festival of the same name—transformed the history of independent film. It gave a voice and a platform to directors who today are global references, from Quentin Tarantino to Chloé Zhao. Redford understood before anyone else that great stories could also be born far from the studios, on the margins, in auteur cinema.
Redford’s life was also marked by human vulnerability: the early death of one son, the loss of another in 2020, and the inevitable conflicts of a public existence. Yet these wounds made him more relatable and authentic. His defense of the environment, his discretion amid media noise, and his commitment to giving opportunities to others complete the portrait of a restless man, with a big heart, concerned about others and the world—one who chose to use his influence to open paths and to shape a diverse and critical cinema.
In 1981 he also proved himself to be a great director, winning the Academy Award for Best Director for “Ordinary People“, his dazzling debut behind the camera. This was followed by such remarkable films as “A River Runs Through It“, “The Milagro Beanfield War“, “Quiz Show“, and “The Horse Whisperer“, works that consolidated him as a major filmmaker with a distinctive style and vision—sensitive, deeply human.
A towering figure of culture and a true reference of the seventh art is gone. His legacy will live on in every filmmaker who dares to tell stories with freedom, and in every viewer who seeks in cinema something more than escape: art as a valuable instrument to reflect on our human condition and on the world around us. Rest in peace.
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