Busy Robert Redford excited for Sundance festival

PARK CITY — The 2010 Sundance Film Festival hasn't even started yet, but Robert Redford is already disappointed.

Mind you, his disappointment is not because of anything going on during his long-running event, which is regarded as the premier showcase for independent and world cinema in the United States.

Instead, it's because there's so much going on during the festival and there's so much going on in his professional career that he won't have time for it all.

"I can't be there for long — certainly not for as long as I'd like to be," he said, sighing.

Redford currently plans to be there for perhaps half of the festival at most. He's expected to be present for a kickoff news conference Thursday. He also says he will be there over the weekend for a brunch event, the so-called "Filmmakers Brunch," and that he plans to "meet and greet every one of them that's there."

As for his current commitments, Redford is currently in post-production on "The Conspirator," a Civil War-era thriller about Mary Surratt, a woman tried for being part of the Lincoln assassination.

Redford produced and directed the movie, which stars Robin Wright Penn as Surratt, a boarding house owner who was accused of sheltering the men who planned the assassination.

The 70-something actor, filmmaker, activist and head of the Sundance Institute has been a much stronger presence at the festival in recent years. But his work on "The Conspirator" will limit his time there.

Principal photography on his latest film wrapped up in Savannah, Ga., last month. Since then, Redford has been "busy" in an editing bay in northern California.

"I've still got a lot of work to do on the film. This is an important story, and I want to get it right," he said.

Rather than "offering the same old song and dance" on opening day, Redford said he and festival director John Cooper plan to answer questions from members of the press who are coming to Utah from all over the world.

"We're here to be honest and to be held accountable, if we need to be," he said. "But seriously, I'm sure there are a lot of things that people would like to know about the festival and its future."