Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on April 2012

Robert Redford is taking his show on the road. The 75-year-old actor and champion of independent film is taking the Sundance Film Festival outside of the US for the first time, for a run at London’s O2, April 26-29. A total of 14 films, which premiered in January at the festival’s usual location in Park City, Utah, will make the trip to the UK, along with the filmmakers, and fest chairman Redford. “I welcome the opportunity to see how people in the UK experience these films,” Redford said when announcing the London event. “While they are American productions, they speak to universal experiences and global challenges.” The festival had humble beginnings in 1978 as an effort to encourage filmmakers to shoot in Utah, and was taken over in 1985 by Redford’s NPO and renamed after his character in the movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. It quickly won a reputation as the indie film event, and directors such as Steven Soderbergh, Darren Aronofsky, and Jim Jarmusch got their first big break in Park City. The move overseas will deliver a wider audience to up-and-coming directors. “Sundance London also is the perfect opportunity to continue our long-time commitment to growing a broader international community around new voices and new perspectives,” Redford said. www.sundance-london.com.