Sundance Institute

We are saddened by the loss of long-time Sundance Institute trustee George Gund III. George was a life-long devoted champion of American independent film, and a stalwart supporter of Sundance Institute, San Francisco Film Society, and the UC Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive. Though he was a long-time resident of San Francisco, George was a native of Cleveland, where he was a founder of the Cleveland Cinematique, and a board member of the Cleveland Film Festival. George was also a member of the Committee on Film at New York’s MOMA.

His friend Robert Redford describes George as, “one of the most generous, interesting and authentic people I ever had the fortune to call friend. I’m going to miss him. He was a staunch supporter of the Sundance Institute since its inception and we owe him a great debt of gratitude for that. It was hard to keep track of where George was on any given day as he travelled the globe on pursuits of interest. Today I find comfort in the fact that I believe George Gund lived a life of passion and lived it to the fullest.”

We join our colleagues and friends in mourning his loss, and are deeply grateful for his many contributions to our organization, our field, and film culture at large.