TV, film are blurring lines, Redford says at Sundance

Claudia Puig | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption This year's Sundance packed with comedies Sundance has a big focus on comedy this year, with stars from Jack Black to Sarah Silverman starring in the most anticpated films of the festival.

PARK CITY, Utah — Diversity in film and television's resurgence were much on Robert Redford's mind as he kicked off the annual Sundance Film Festival with a press conference Thursday.

"The word to underline is diversity," said the 78-year-old actor and co-founder of the festival, which runs through Feb. 1.

"Diversity is something that moves the ball and that's something we represent."

Festival director John Cooper later noted that Selma director Ava DuVernay (whose film was just nominated for a best-picture Oscar) became the first African-American woman to win the Best Director award at Sundance, in 2012 for Middle of Nowhere.

Redford emphasized the inevitability of change and cited the increasing overlap of independent film and TV as one of those changes.

"I'm a big fan of television," said Redford. "I started in television. Also, it's part of the fabric of storytelling. Television is film. The two of them together are blurring and there's a reason why: Mainstream film is shrinking. It's harder for artists to find their way in the film industry. So television is offering more opportunities ... and is advancing father than major filmmaking.''

Cooper added that this year's festival includes examples of those blurred lines.

"Two years ago we had Top of the Lake, and Transparent showed its first episode here last year," he said. " This year we have two new pieces: Animals, which is an independent television series produced by Mark Duplass, and an HBO show, The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst. TV and independent film are running neck-and-neck both in the talent they use and in their freshness and quality.."

Redford has a film of his own at the festival,

A Walk in the Woods, an adaptation of Bill Bryson's best seller about walking the Appalachian Trail, stars Redford, Nick Nolte and Emma Thompson and premieres Friday.

"The film (playing here) was not my idea," said Redford. "We made a deal that I would stay out of (the festival programmers') business. I told John Cooper 'Just make sure that I don't ever think anything I do will be in the festival. That would be self-interest.' So we all agreed on it — until recently."

He added, laughing, "Then John went out of bounds. That was his choice, it wasn't mine."

Redford cited the festival as representing freedom of expression, noting that several controversial films are showing this year, including documentaries about Scientology and psychological experiments conducted on humans.

"Some of our storytelling may upset people, but that's OK," Redford said. "That's diversity. Freedom of expression seems to be in danger in a lot of areas. But as far as we're concerned we'll do everything in our power to keep it alive here."

Redford reflected on the origins of Sundance 31 years ago.

"I felt that Sundance would be sort of a gap filler," he said. "If we focused on independent films, the smaller films that were more diverse, then we would in a way keep something alive. It was not an insurgency against Hollywood. It was just to keep something alive that I thought was shrinking to death."

In those early days, he said, it all felt like an experiment.

"We would stand out in front of the Egyptian Theater trying to get people to come in," said Redford, referring to the theater where he was holding this press conference. "We were only going on hope. It grew way beyond my imagination. And here it is. "