Sundance: Robert Redford's Film Festival Opens

The Sundance Film Festival 2013 has kicked off, with screenings, a gala and a party to celebrate independent films.

Instead of one star-studded premiere, five separate screenings gave audiences a taste of the diversity that is one of the festival's main themes.

May In Summer, an East meets West film about a young American woman planning her wedding in Jordan, opened the event, with three other feature films and a programme of short films also showing on day one.

Sundance founder Robert Redford said diversity was "the point" of the annual independent film showcase, which is held in Park City, Utah.

Now in its 35th year, there are contributions from 32 countries and 51 first-time filmmakers.

"As long as we go forward and we adapt to change, we keep in touch with our original purpose which is simply to support and develop new voices to be seen and heard," Redford said at a news conference

The purpose of Sundance was to create a platform for low-budget filmmakers and people that have experienced life changing events to tell their story.

It has helped launch the careers of Quentin Tarantino, Steven Soderbergh and Robert Rodriguez, while such Academy Awards contenders as In The Bedroom, Little Miss Sunshine, Precious and Winter's Bone premiered at the festival.

Asked where independent film would be without the festival, Redford said: "I don't think it would be as vibrant and healthy if it wasn't for Sundance."

Actress Quvenzhane Wallis who starred in Beasts Of The Southern Wild

This year's Oscar nominations show the ripple effect Sundance has for highlighting low-budget films.

Beasts Of The Southern Wild, which was the top prize winner at Sundance last year, picked up four Academy Award nominations, including best picture, best director for first-time filmmaker Benh Zeitlin and best actress for nine-year-old Quvenzhane Wallis, who had never acted before.

"That's why we're here," Redford said.

"When somebody comes out of nowhere and with our support goes somewhere, that's a real pleasure to me."