Announcing the winners of the Sundance Film Festival
Back in Park City, Utah, for the first time since 2020, he showed up Sundance Film Festival It concluded with a personal award show. The US Dramatic Grand Jury Prize went to Focus Features’ release “A Thousand and One” from first-time writer-director A.V. Rockwell, and she is one of eight women in this year’s women-led competition.
Jeremy O. Harris, a member of the three-person American Drama jury at Sundance, choked back tears when presenting the award to Rockwell, admitting he left the director’s premiere and cried in the street, as he discovered the film “all I’ve learned to hide feelings in public.”
Rockwell is set in unforgiving New York City in the late 1990s, as a single mother who moves from shelter to shelter snatches her 6-year-old son from foster care. As they form a life and an improbable bond, their darkest secret threatens to disrupt what they’ve built. Stars Teyana Taylor, Will Catlett, Josiah Cross, Avin Courtney and Aaron Kingsley Aditola.
Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project, directed by Joe Brewster and Michelle Stephenson, takes home the US Documentary Jury Prize. Examines the life and legacy of legendary poet Giovanni. Audience winners include “The Persian Version” by Maryam Keshavarz, for a drama and “Beyond Utopia” by Madeleine Gavin, for a documentary. The Festival Favorite award went to “Radical,” the inspiring teacher drama led by Eugenio Derbez and produced by 3Pas.
Three passing films took home awards. “Kokomo City” won both awards in Sundance’s Most Experimental NEXT segment, while “Mutt” star Leo Miel took home the Jury’s Special Acting Award in the US competition. In the US Documentary Division, “The Stroll” by Kristen Lovell and Zachary Drake received a Special Award for “Clarity of Vision.” In global competition, honors went to another unflattering depiction of an LGBTQIA+ identity: Marija Kavtaradze depicts a budding romance between a modern dancer and a man who identifies as asexual.
“This year has taught me to never forget the magic we create here on the mountain,” said Festival Programming Director Kim Yotani. variety in concert. “Each one of these films had a standout moment and an incredible energy from our audience.”
Find the full list of winners below.
American Dramatic Competition
Grand Jury Prize: Rockwell, “A Thousand and One”
Audience Award: Persian Version, directed by Maryam Keshavarz
Guidance: Sing J. Lee, “The Accidental Getaway Driver”
Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award: Maryam Keshavarz for “The Persian Version”
Special Jury Prize: Acting: Leo Mihel for “Mutt”
Special Jury Prize: Band: Cast of “Theatre Camp,” directed by Molly Gordon and Nick Lieberman.
Special Jury Prize: Creative vision: The creative team of Dream Magazine is directed by Elijah Bynum
Favorite Festival Award: Radical, directed by Christopher Zala
American Documentary Competition
Grand Jury Prize: Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project, directed by Joe Brewster and Michelle Stevenson
Audience Award: Beyond Utopia, directed by Madeline Gavin
Guidance: Luke Lorentzen, “A Still Small Voice”
Jonathan Oppenheim Editorial Award: Daniela I. Queiroz for “Going Varsity in Mariachi”
Special Jury Prize: Clarity of Vision: The Stroll, directed by Kristen Lovell and Zachary Droke
Special Jury Prize: Freedom of Expression, “bad press”
International film competition
Grand Jury Prize: “The Remover”
Audience Award: Shaida directed by Noura Niasari
Directing Award: Maria Kavtaradze for “Slow”
Special Jury Prize: Cinematography: Lílis Soares for “Mami Wata”
Special Jury Prize: Best Performance: Rosa Marchant, “When You Melt”
Special Jury Prize: Creative Vision: Sofia Alaoui for “Animalia”
World Cinema Documentary Competition
Grand Jury Prize: “eternal memory”
Audience Award: “20 days in Mariupol” directed and produced by Mstislav Chernov
Special Jury Prize: Direction: “Smoke, Sauna Sisters” by Anna Hints
Special Jury Prize: Creative Vision: “awesome machine”
Special Jury Prize: Truth: “Riptide”
Shorts
Grand Jury Prize for Short Film: When You Left Me On That Blvd Directed by Kayla Abuda Galang
Short Film Jury Prize: American Fiction: “Rust Stop” by Crystal Cayza
Short Film Jury Prize: International Fiction: “Kidnapping the Bride” by Sofia Mukoria
Short Film Jury Prize: Nonfiction: “Will You Look at Me” by Shuli Huang.
International Short Film Special Jury Prize: Direction: “AliEN0089” by Valeria Hoffman.
Special Jury Prize for Short Film, United States: Direction: The Vacation, directed by Garo Carrillo
Other awards
Next Audience Award: Kokomo City
NEXT Innovator Award: Kokomo City
Alfred B. Sloan Feature Film Award: “generation pod”
NHK Award from Sundance Institute: TBD
Sundance Institute / Amazon Studios Producers Award for Narrative Features: TBD
Sundance Institute / Amazon Studios Producers Award for Documentary Feature: TBD
Sundance Institute/Adobe Mentorship Award for Documentary Editing: TBD
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