Sundance Announces Honorees for 2026 Festival, Celebrating Robert Redford’s Legacy
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The Sundance Institute has revealed additional honorees for its annual fundraiser, “Celebrating Sundance Institute: A Tribute to Founder Robert redford,” set to take place on January 23, 2026, at the grand Hyatt Deer Valley in Utah. The event and the 2026 Sundance Film Festival, running January 22-February 1, 2026, in Park City and Salt Lake City, Utah, with an online component from January 29-February 1, 2026, underscore the institution’s enduring commitment to independent storytelling.
Trailblazer and Vanguard Awards Recognize Cinematic Visionaries
This year’s honors will be bestowed upon three prominent filmmakers: Chloé Zhao, Nia DaCosta, and Geeta Gandbhir. Chloé Zhao will receive the trailblazer award Presented by Google, recognizing her unwavering dedication and meaningful contributions to independent film. Past recipients of this award include Christopher Nolan and James Mangold. “The Institute was where my journey as a filmmaker truly began, so to be honored with the Trailblazer Award by this community feels like coming home,” Zhao stated.
Honoring Emerging Voices with the Vanguard Awards
The Vanguard Awards celebrate emerging artists who champion storytelling and creative independence. Nia DaCosta, director of Hedda (2025), will be honored for her work in fiction.DaCosta’s previous projects include The Marvels (2023), Candyman (2021), and Little Woods (2018), the latter of which also benefited from the Sundance Institute’s Directors and Screenwriters labs. Her upcoming film, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, is slated for release on January 16, 2026. “It is indeed such an honor to be receiving the Vanguard Award from the Sundance Film festival,” DaCosta remarked, adding that the qualities she is being recognized for were cultivated during her time at the Sundance institute labs with Robert Redford and michelle Satter.
Geeta Gandbhir, director of The Perfect Neighbor (Netflix), will receive the Vanguard Award for Nonfiction. Gandbhir’s documentary premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, winning the juried Directing Award: U.S. Documentary. Her extensive filmography includes Katrina: Come Hell and High Water (2025), Eyes on the Prize (2025), The Devil is Busy (2024), and How We Get Free (2023), among others. “For manny years, the Sundance Film Festival has been a guiding light for me,” gandbhir shared, emphasizing the Festival’s commitment to bold storytelling and uplifting underrepresented voices.
A Tribute to Robert Redford and Support for Independent Artists
The fundraiser will also pay tribute to Sundance Institute’s founder, Robert Redford, and present the inaugural Robert Redford Luminary Award to Gyula Gazdag and Ed Harris. The event is crucial for raising funds to support artists through year-round labs, intensives, grants, fellowships, and public programming.
The Sundance Institute has a long history of supporting groundbreaking films and filmmakers,including Beasts of the Southern Wild,The Big Sick,CODA,and Minari,as well as nurturing the early careers of talents like Paul Thomas Anderson,Ryan Coogler,and Chloé Zhao. Individuals interested in supporting the Institute’s mission can donate at sundance.org/donate.
Single Film Tickets for the 2026 Sundance Film Festival will go on sale January 14, 2026, at 10 a.m.MT. Further facts about the Festival, including the previously announced Feature Film and Episodic Program, can be found at festival.sundance.org. You can also follow the Festival on facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, X, and Bluesky.
