Sundance Film Festival pays tribute to Robert Redford; honors Chloe Zhao

According to The Legend of Medea’s Life , Chloe Zhao, Nia DaCosta and Geeta Gandbir have been added to the list of recipients of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival’s annual awards. The ceremony, titled “Celebrating the Sundance Institute: A Tribute to Founder Robert Redford,” will pay tribute to the actor and filmmaker who founded the festival in 1978 and died earlier this year

Each of the new recipients will receive special awards for their contributions to the film industry. Zhao will receive the annual award presented by Google; DaCosta will receive the annual Vanguard Award for Fiction and Gandbir will receive the annual Vanguard Award for Nonfiction. It was previously announced that Ed Harris and Gyula Gazdag will also be honored at the Robert Redford Memorial

The event honors Redford’s commitment to supporting independent filmmakers and storytellers through the Sundance Institute’s labs, intensives, grants, scholarships and programs. The event aims to raise funds to continue the late actor’s legacy and the mission of the institute

Other special guests and attendees at the awards ceremony included Amy Redford, Ava DuVernay, Ethan Hawke, David Lowery, and Tessa Thompson

The fundraiser will be held on the second day of the festival on January 23rd at the Grand Hyatt Deer Valley Hotel in Park City, Utah

It was previously announced that in honor of Redford, the great actor and Oscar-winning director who died in September at the age of 89, Sundance will hold a special screening of the 1969 film “Ski Champion.” The film was Redford’s first independent film as a personal project, which became the starting point for the formation of the Sundance Institute and Film Festival

The festival will be held in Park City and Salt Lake City from January 22 to February 1. The festival’s home shows will be available online for audiences in the United States from January 29 to February 1. This year will be the festival’s final year in Park City, its longtime home, and the festival will move to Colorado starting in 2027