The 40th Sundance Film Festival wrapped up this past Sunday in Park City Utah and this year’s top Prize winners included several female filmmakers of color.
Daughters, a rousing documentary about father/daughter relationships took home the Documentary US Audience Award and the Festival Favorite Award. From directors Natalie Rae and Angela Patton, the film examines the difficulties faced by daughters of incarcerated fathers.
The festival’s Grand Jury Prize winner in the US Dramatic category went to the semi-auto biographical drama In The Summers from Latina writer/director Alessandra Lacorazza Samudio. The film follows two Latina sisters coming-of-age over several summers in New Mexico and also explores complicated father/daughter relationships. The Directing Award also went to Samudio.
In another coming-of-age story, Taiwanese-American filmmaker Sean Wang’s Didi took home the Audience Award in the US Dramatic category for his dramedy about a Taiwanese-American boy growing up in California.
The World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Acting went to young Indian actress Preeti Panigrahi for the romance/drama Girls Will Be Girls. The film also won the World Cinema Dramatic Audience Award and is from director Shuchi Talati.
Other winners include “Sujo,” from writer/director Astrid Rondero, which won for narrative feature, about a 4-year-old orphan destined for a life working for a drug cartel. And Carla Gutierrez’’s Frida, which won the Jonathan Oppenheim Editing Award: U.S. Documentary. It is a new documentary about iconic Mexican artist Frida Kahlo.
Jack Begert, a director famous for hip hop music videos for the likes of Doja Cat, Jay Rock, Tinashe, Hit Boy, and Marian Hill got behind the camera for his feature film debut, Little Death, which won the NEXT Innovator Award. The film stars David Schwimmer and Dominic Fike.
Highlights from the festival’s Black Filmmakers
Notable films from Black filmmakers about the Black Experience which where the talk of this year’s Sundance Film Festival include:
- Chiwetel Ejiofor’s Rob Peace – A biography about Newark marijuana dealer/Yale academic, Rob Peace
- Dawn Porter’s Luther: Never Too Much – A film about singer Luther Vandross
- Peter Murimi’s The Battle for Laikipia – A documentary about injustices in Kenya
- Yance Ford’s Power – A documentary about American policing
- Jazmin Renée Jones‘ Seeking Mavis Bacon – a documentary from director Jazmin Renée Jones about the disappearance of Mavis Bacon, the Black woman who taught all of us how to type in the 1980’s with her nationally used typing program.
Newcomers to the festival also made a splash including Titus Kaphar’s drama Exhibiting Forgiveness as well as J.M. Harper’s documentary about the weaponization of hip hop lyrics, As We Speak.
Full List of Sundance Winners
World Documentary Competition Awards
World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Craft
World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic
“Sujo”Nocturnesm – Director and Producer: Anirban Dutta, Director: Anupama Srinivasan
World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Cinematic Innovation
Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat – Director Johan Grimonprez
Directing Award: World Cinema Documentary
Ibelin – Director Benjamin Ree
World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Documentary
A New Kind of Wilderness
World Dramatic Competition Awards
World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Original Music
Handling the Undead – Peter Raeburn
World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Acting
Preeti Panigrahi – Girls Will Be Girls
Directing Award: World Cinema Dramatic
Raha Amirfazli and Alireza Ghasemi – In The Land Of Brothers
World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic
Sujo
Next Awards
NEXT Special Jury Award
Desire Lines
NEXT Innovator Award
Little Death
Audience Awards
Audience Award: NEXT
Kneecap
Audience Award: World Cinema Documentary
Ibelin
Audience Award: World Cinema Dramatic
Girls Will Be Girls
Audience Award: U.S. Documentary
Daughters
Audience Award: U.S. Dramatic
Didi
Festival Favorite Award
Daughters
U.S. Documentary Competition
U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Sound
Gaucho Gaucho
U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for the Art Of Change
Union
Jonathan Oppenheim Editing Award: U.S. Documentary
Carla Gutiérrez – Frida
Directing Award: U.S. Documentary
Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie – Sugarcane
U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Documentary
Porcelain War
U.S. Dramatic Competition
U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Breakthrough Performance
Nico Parker – Suncoast
U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Best Ensemble
Izaac Wang, Joan Chen, Shirley Chen, Chang Li Hua – Didi
Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award: U.S. Dramatic
Jesse Eisenberg – A Real Pain
Directing Award: U.S. Dramatic
Alessandra Lacorazza – In the Summers
U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic
In the Summers
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