Robert Redford To Join 2012 Houston Cinema Arts Festival

HCAF Artistic Director Richard Herskowitz comments: "The Sundance Institute's programs reflect Robert Redford 's passionate commitment to supporting not just independent filmmakers but also innovative artists in theater, music, and the visual arts. Promoting the transformative power of the arts is also at the heart of our programming mission at the Houston Cinema Arts Festival. We are therefore thrilled to be honoring Robert Redford this year as the visionary founder of Sundance and as a creative artist himself."

Redford's work in such classics as BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID, THE STING, THE WAY WE WERE, OUT OF AFRICA has been widely lauded and recognized. But it is his directing that has earned him his greatest acclaim. Redford won a Directors Guild of America Award, a Golden Globe Award and the Academy Award for Best Director for his directorial debut on the emotionally shattering family drama, ORDINARY PEOPLE. He went on to both direct and produce THE MILAGRO BEANFIELD WAR and A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT, for which he received a Best Director Golden Globe nomination. He earned dual Oscar nominations for Best Picture and Best Director in 1994 for helming QUIZ SHOW and two Golden Globe nominations (Best Picture and Best Director) for THE HORSE WHISPERER in 1998. He went on to direct and produce THE LEGEND OF BAGGER VANCE in 2000, LIONS FOR LAMBS in 2007, and THE CONSPIRATOR in 2011. He recently completed THE COMPANY YOU KEEP, which he directed and stars in, to be released in 2013 by Sony Pictures Classics.

Founded by Robert Redford in 1981, Sundance Institute is a global, nonprofit cultural organization dedicated to nurturing artistic expression in film and theater, and to supporting intercultural dialogue between artists and audiences. The non-for-profit Sundance Institute is internationally recognized for its annual Sundance Film Festival as well as its artistic development programs, which include the Screenwriting, Directing, Theatre, Music Composition and Producing Labs. Additional Sundance for-profit entities include Sundance Catalog, Sundance Channel , Sundance Cinemas, and Sundance Resort. Sundance Cinemas' new Houston theater, which opened in November 2011, will host over 25 art and independent film screenings at this year's HCAF.

As part of the festivities surrounding Redford's conversation at Sundance Cinemas during the 2012 Houston Cinema Arts Festival, he will receive the 3rd Annual Levantine Cinema Arts Award, which honors a leading actor, director, or other creative artist who has stretched the boundaries of cinematic expression throughout an illustrious film career. The Levantine Cinema Arts Award is sponsored by Levantine Films, an independent motion picture development, financing and Production Company aiming to promote understanding and inspire dialogue across cultures, captivating audiences and challenging stereotypes through the power of great storytelling. Levantine Films produced AMREEKA, a film that benefitted from The Sundance Institute's support.

According to Levantine Films President and Creative Director Hisham Bizri , "Over a career spanning more than half a century, Robert Redford has come to personify the artist as both steward and generator of culture. Mr. Redford is veritably cinematic icon and civic leader, to whom Levantine Entertainment is honored to present its Levantine Cinema Arts Award."

"A Conversation with Robert Redford " is just one program of the fourth annual Houston Cinema Arts Festival that is scheduled to take place from Nov. 7 - 11, 2012. Houston Cinema Arts Festival, a major program of Houston Cinema Arts Society (HCAS), capitalizes on the city's status as an international art city, collaborating with many of Houston's museums, art centers, theaters, and cultural institutions. Works are shown not only in traditional theatrical venues but also via interactive video installations, live music and film performances, and outdoor projections. Past festivals have featured guests such as Isabella Rossellini , Tilda Swinton , John Turturro , Richard Linklater , Ethan Hawke , Alex Gibney , andShirley MacLaine . The 2011 festival drew tens of thousands of film enthusiasts and art lovers spread among over 40 screenings and events.

HCAF 2012 will announce its final roster of premieres, guest artists, and multimedia installations in the coming weeks, with the complete program being unveiled on Oct. 23, 2012 at Hotel ICON, located at 220 Main Street in Downtown Houston. Passes for single and multiple days are available on the HCAS website at http://cinemartsociety.org. The full program schedule and individual tickets to the 2012 Houston Cinema Arts Festival will be available on the HCAS website on Oct. 24, 2012.

ABOUT HOUSTON CINEMA ARTS SOCIETY (HCAS)
?Houston Cinema Arts Society is a non-profit organization created in 2008. With the support of former Houston Mayor Bill White and the leadership of Franci Crane , HCAS organized and hosted the 2009, 2010 and 2011 Houston Cinema Arts Festival (HCAF), a groundbreaking and innovative arts festival featuring films and new media by and about artists in the visual, performing, and literary arts. The festival celebrates the vitality and diversity of the arts in Houston with the objective of enriching the city's film and arts community. HCAS is funded in part by the following organizations, the Crane Foundation; Levantine Entertainment; Houston First Corporation; The Brown Foundation, Inc.; the Houston Film Commission;Houston Arts Alliance through the City of Houston; Champion Energy; Anadarko Petroleum; SharpEgg; the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and MFAH Films; Hotel ICON; 4411 Montrose; Sundance Cinemas; and SharpEgg. This project is also supported in part by an award from the Texas Commission on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts. The fourth annual Houston Cinema Arts Festival will be held Nov. 7-11, 2012. For more information, please visit HCAS at www.cinemartsociety.org.