Robert Redford's speech at the opening of this year's Sundance Film Festival, which ran on the Huffington Post on Friday, has outlined his views on the importance of the arts and the dearth of government funding or support for them in the US.

In particular Redford criticized politicians who favor the big budget studios who are, he said, certain to toe the conservative line and challenge no one.

'In terms of what's going on there - in terms of Mitt Romney, I mean, I'm not going to get into politics. The fact is you can see the Republican debates going on, this mushroom cloud of ego hovering over everybody,' Redford said.

'It's kind of silly and stupid and I'm sorry about it. Mitt Romney can go and see what he wants to see. If he likes 'Transformers,' great, it's there for him, but that's not where we are."

____________

Read More: 

Brendan Gleeson joins Anna Kendrick in Robert Redford’s ‘The Company You Keep’

Newt Gingrich attacking Mitt Romney for speaking French? How gauche!

Mitt Romney’s troubling immigration pal Kris Kobach

____________

Redford's swipe was considered. 'Transformers' received major cooperation from the Pentagon, including the use of military vehicles and soldiers as extras.

Redford reportedly contrasted the state-sponsored film funds common in Europe that help filmmakers produce their movies, regardless of their content.

'For years and years and years, you've all experienced what we had to live with, the fact that other countries are far more supportive of their artists than we are,' Redford said.

'But when you have congressional narrow-minded people, people who are afraid of change when change is the only thing that succeeds, the only thing we know is going to happen is that things are going to change.'