PHOTO GALLERY: Robert Redford bonded with Havel, had a taste for Czech beer

Robert Redford, actor, director, and defining voice in American film, passed away this week at the age of 89. His legacy stretched far beyond Hollywood, touching Czechia through his ties with the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (KVIFF) and his friendships with Madeleine Albright and Václav Havel.

KVIFF is remembering Redford this week not only as a Hollywood legend but as a friend. Redford attended the festival’s 40th edition in 2005, where he received the Crystal Globe for Outstanding Artistic Contribution to World Cinema. His visit was a landmark moment for the festival, sparking an ongoing collaboration with his Sundance Film Festival.

The enduring leading man’s Czech connection ran deeper than a single appearance. He had long expressed admiration for Václav Havel, whom he described as both an artist and a defender of human rights. Persuaded to attend Karlovy Vary by his close friend Madeleine Albright, the Czech-born former U.S. Secretary of State, Redford spent time with Havel during his trip, recalling that European travel in his youth had shaped his worldview.

“I’ve been interested in him because of his role as an artist and as the kind of activist who stood up for human rights,” Redford said in his speech to the festival in the Czech spa town. “I’ve wanted to come to Prague for a long time. I’m very interested in European history. When I was 18, I came to Europe and traveled ‘on the bum.’ I couldn’t get to Prague in 1957, but I did spend a year and a half in Europe. It really created my worldview.”

Redford even remembered witnessing the Hungarian revolution and helping refugees across the Danube.

At Karlovy Vary, the star of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, producer of All the President’s Men, and Oscar-winning director of Ordinary People, not only spoke candidly about politics and the film industry but also about his love for Czech beer, confessing he always kept Pilsner Urquell stocked at home.

Though plans to bring the Sundance Festival to Czechia never came to fruition, the idea surfaced more than once, showing his lasting interest in the country.

Photos courtesy of Karlovy Vary Film Festival.