Jodie Foster and Alexandra Hedison at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, on Jan. 18, 2024. Photo: Dia Dipasupil/Getty

Alexandra “Alex” Hedison is grateful for her wife Jodie Foster’s support.

PEOPLE spoke with the ALOK director, 54, on Thursday during the Sundance Film Festival’s Opening Night Gala presented by Chase Sapphire, where she said she is “always open to getting advice from anyone who has [worked in the industry] for so long,” including her Academy Award-winning wife.

“If she’s going to give me advice, I’m going to listen. For sure,” Hedison says about her wife of nearly a decade, who is accompanying Hedison on her first-ever Sundance appearance.

Asked whether Foster, 61, did anything special to wish her good luck as her short film premiered at the festival, Hedison says, “Well, first of all, she flew in from New York. She’s on a major press tour, so she flew here at 4 in the morning to get to the festival, so that was amazing.”

Jodie Foster and Alexandra Hedison at the Sundance Film Festival’s Opening Night Gala in Park City, Utah, on Jan. 18, 2024.Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty

“And I mean, she’s just so incredibly supportive and so happy for me and loves this festival,” the filmmaker adds. “It’s just amazing she’s here.”

Foster was all smiles as she supported Hedison during the world premiere of ALOK at the festival on Thursday night.

The two-time Oscar winner was dressed in a black peacoat, worn on top of a patterned back and white collared shirt, and accessorized with a Gucci purse. Hedison wore a velvet jacket in a dark shade of blue with a cream-colored long-sleeve blouse and a floral lapel pin.

According to the Sundance website, Hedison’s film is “a compelling portrait of Alok Vaid-Menon, acclaimed nonbinary author, poet, comedian, and public speaker,” and is executive produced by Foster.

Foster previously sang her wife’s praises on Wednesday’s episode of the Today show, saying she’s most proud of “the fact that Alex and ALOK are part of making people better instead of worse.”

“I think it’s about freedom and being your best self and being free, and I have a lot to learn from it, so I’m excited for her,” continued the Nyad actress. “And I can’t wait to be there by her side and to have it not be about me.”

Among the stars debuting new films at Sundance this year are Steven Yeun, Pedro Pascal, Michael Fassbender, Saoirse Ronan and Foster’s Panic Room costar Kristen Stewart.