First announced in March 2011, the O2 has just played host to the inaugural Sundance London Festival, launched by Robert Redford.

The four-day event (April 26-29), developed by Redford, the Sundance Institute and AEG Europe, incorporated film screenings, live music performances, discussions, panels and other cultural programming.

Highlights included: an opening event involving Redford, musician T Bone Burnett and writer Nick Hornby; the royal premiere of Harmony; a performance by Rufus and Martha Wainwright following the world premiere of Lian Lunson”s film about the music of their mother; the debut screening of Coming Up For Air, a documentary about Placebo; and the 25th anniversary screening of River”s Edge, which premiered at the Sundance Festival 1987.

Redford began Sundance as an independent film festival 30 years ago in Utah. Since then, Sundance has transformed into a global network of events and TV channels, with the London event the latest addition.

At the heart of the event, Redford and the Sundance Institute presented a selection of the best films from the 2012 Sundance Film Festival (14 feature-length productions and eight short films). Filmmakers were also in attendance for live Q&A sessions with the audience.