There is one actor who has been able to give me goosebumps throughout my life and his career — it’s Robert Redford. And the love I have for his work doesn’t stop at him as screen star either. As a not-quite-yet teenager in Florence, Italy I went to watch ‘Ordinary People’ 14 times at the movies. I remember because my parents thought it had been enough on number 13 but I didn’t want that number looming over my viewing and threw a tantrum until they finally drove me to watch it the 14th time. I dragged a few of my friends, and each drew the line at the second viewing. But to me, that film represents part of the cinematic soundtrack of my youth.
He directed films, he acted in them, all beautiful works of art that weave to create a bright colorful picture of American cinema. The best America there is.
Fast forward to a grown up movie-watching-for-a-living journalist and the interview of a lifetime still eludes me. I’ve talked to Jake Gyllenhaal, moderated a talk in Locarno with Meg Ryan, talked in public with Ralph Fiennes — all interviews of a lifetime because I was a fan of theirs before I became a professional — and yet Redford remains that bit, that interview which, if and when it happens, will mean I can retire. Move to the West, buy a horse ranch, a couple of guard dogs, a horse of course and retire.
So, when the announcement came this morning about Robert Redford being honored at the upcoming Marrakech International Film Festival calling him rightfully “the American director, producer, actor, and environmentalist” I giggled with joy. Now, I only need to figure out a way to get there….
Following are the few strongpoints from the FIFM press release:
Throughout his extraordinary career, Robert Redford has marked a profound influence on contemporary cinema, becoming one of its leading figures.
A visionary entrepreneur, exceptional creator and artist, each of Robert Redford’s filmmaking initiatives has met with success, whether as director, producer, actor or founder of the Sundance Institute and the Sundance Festival - the first festival showcasing independent cinema in the world.
Robert Redford is a staunch supporter of uncompromised creative expression, and a political activist who embraces the causes of environmentalism and conservationism as well as social responsibility.
Robert Redford initially rose to fame as an actor. He landed his first Broadway starring role in “Sunday in New York”, followed by “Little Moon of Alban” and Neil Simon’s “Barefoot in the Park", directed by Mike Nichols. His first movie role was in “War Hunt”, then the reprisal of the Paul Bratter role in “Barefoot in the Park”, which earned him praise from critics and the public alike.
In 1969, Robert Redford and Paul Newman teamed to star in “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid”. Directed by George Roy Hill, the film became an instant classic, firmly establishing Redford as one of Hollywood industry’s top leading men. He reunited with Paul Newman and George Roy Hill for “The Sting”, which went on to win seven Oscars®, including Best Picture, and earned Redford a Best Actor nomination.
Robert Redford has since built a prodigious acting career, working with such greats as Sydney Pollack (seven collaborations), Arthur Penn, Alan J. Pakula, Richard Attenborough, Barry Levinson, among others, starring in such notable films as “Jeremiah Johnson”, “The Way We Were”, “The Great Gatsby”, “Three Days of the Condor”, “The Great Waldo Pepper”, “Brubaker”, “A Bridge Too Far”, “The Natural”, “Out of Africa”, “Legal Eagles”, “Sneakers”, “Indecent Proposal”, “Up Close and Personal”, “Spy Game”, “The Last Castle”, “The Clearing”, “An Unfinished Life”, “All is Lost”, “A Walk in the Woods”, “Truth”, “Pete’s Dragon”, “The Discovery”, “Our Souls at Night”, and “The Old Man and the Gun”.
Redford has performed in many films produced by his own production company, Wildwood Enterprises, such as “Downhill Racer”, “The Candidate”, “The Electric Horseman”, and “All the President’s Men”, which received seven Oscar® nominations including Best Picture.
Redford’s directing career has proven equally fascinating and successful. His feature film directorial debut was “Ordinary People”, for which he received the Directors Guild of America Award, the Golden Globe, and the Academy Award® for Best Director.
He went on to produce and direct “The Milagro Beanfield War”, followed by “A River Runs Through It”, for which he earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Director. “Quiz Show” received dual Oscar nominations (Best Picture and Best Director) and a Golden Globe nomination for Best Director. He earned two Golden Globe nominations (Best Picture and Best Director) for “The Horse Whisperer”. Among his other films as director and producer, are “The Legend of Bagger Vance”, “Lions for Lambs”, “The Conspirator” and “The Company You Keep”.
Robert Redford has also received the Screen Actors Guild's Lifetime Achievement Award, an honorary Academy Award®, the Kennedy Center Honors, an honorary César award, and the Légion d’Honneur, France’s highest recognition.
Committed to the development of independent cinema, Robert Redford has devoted a large part of his life and endeavors to the Sundance Institute, which he created in 1981, and is dedicated to the support and development of emerging screenwriters and directors of vision, and to the national and international exhibition of new independent cinema.
Robert Redford has been a noted environmentalist and activist since the early 1970s and has served for almost 40 years as a Trustee on the Board the Natural Resources Defense Council. In 2019, Redford’s activism was honored at the third annual Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation’s Monte-Carlo Gala for the Global Ocean. It is for these diverse achievements that Redford was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Obama in 2016.
The Marrakech International Film Festival will run from the 29th of November to the 7th of December 2019