Robert Redford, a giant of world cinema and friend of the Karlovy Vary Film Festival, has died

Robert Redford has died at the age of 89. The legendary filmmaker and visionary, who played iconic roles in films such as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Sting, and All the President's Men, and whose directorial debut Ordinary People won four Oscars, devoted much of his career to supporting independent filmmakers.

He was behind the founding of the Sundance Institute, which for over four decades has been organizing programs to support independent filmmakers from around the world, and the Sundance Film Festival, which has become one of the most important film festivals in the world.

Robert Redford's name is also closely associated with the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. In 2005, he accepted an invitation to the festival's 40th anniversary and received the Crystal Globe for Outstanding Artistic Contribution to World Cinema. He was accompanied by Madeleine Albright and met with Václav Havel, among others. Redford's visit marked one of the key moments in the modern history of the Karlovy Vary IFF and launched a collaboration with the Sundance Film Festival that continues to this day.