Staunch Democrat Robert Redford opened this year's (05) SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL with a swipe at US President GEORGE W BUSH - who was being inaugurated for his second term in office on the same day (20JAN05).

The OSCAR-winning actor and director encouraged independent film-makers to speak their minds about their diverse world while also emphasising a simultaneous need for tolerance.

The 67-year-old said, "This is really a festival about different voices in film that really reflect, a little more accurately, the world we live in... I like to think of this festival as a festival of dissent, and I'd like to celebrate that."

The event opened with a premiere of HAPPY ENDINGS - which explores traditional American values in a rapidly changing world - which the festival's director GEOFF GILMORE saw as a reflection of the underlying themes Redford highlighted.

21/01/2005 20:10