'It's no longer the place it was,' says Redford as the independent film festival he co-founded kicks off in Utah

Robert Redford has hinted that he is ready to walk away from the Sundance film festival, the annual celebration of independent film-making he founded more than 35 years ago. "Sometimes you have to change the guard," he said, "and that includes me."

In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter to mark the 2014 edition of the festival, Redford said he felt increasingly hostile towards the corporate and marketing forces that had inevitably permeated the festival in recent decades.

Redford, who no longer oversees selection of films for the event but remains president of the board and consults regularly with programmers, said: "How can I not be satisfied about a success? But those earlier years felt best.

"They're taking away some of the textures and qualities that were here that gave it a kind of intimacy. It's no longer the place it was. I don't like what's happened."

Redford founded the Utah/US festival in Salt Lake City in August 1978 as the Utah/US film festival; Sundance adopted its current moniker in 1991 following several years of Redford's involvement. It is named after the actor's character in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, which is also the name of his ski resort in Utah. Directors who got their big break at the festival include Kevin Smith, Robert Rodriguez, Quentin Tarantino, Paul Thomas Anderson, Steven Soderbergh, Darren Aronofsky and Jim Jarmusch.

Redford, who is 77, also said during the interview that he hopes to divest himself of directing and producing commitments in order to do more acting. In separate comments during a press conference for the opening of this year's Sundance, he said he was not disappointed over the lack of an Oscar nomination for his critically acclaimed performance as a solo yachtsman in JC Chandor's maritime drama All is Lost on Thursday. Redford was widely predicted to pick up a nod, but the actor was "not upset" by the omission. He nevertheless pointed the finger of blame towards distributor Lionsgate. "In our case, we suffered from little to no distribution," he said. "I don't know what they were afraid of. They didn't want to spend money or they were incapable."

Redford added: "We had no campaign to cross over into the mainstream. Would it have been wonderful to be nominated? Of course. I'm not disturbed by it or upset by it."

This year's Sundance film festival runs until 26 January.

• Full coverage: Sundance 2014