Whiplash wins Sundance’s both the Grand Jury and Audience PrizePosted by Wilson Morales
January 26, 2014
“Whiplash,” writer-director Damien Chazelle’s electrifying drama starring Miles Teller as a young jazz drummer and J.K. Simmons as his drill sergeant-like music teacher, won the grand jury prize and the audience award for U.S. dramatic features on Saturday night at the 30th annual Sundance Film Festival.
Whiplash kicked off the 2014 festival as the opening night film and quickly sold to Sony Pictures Classics, buoyed by an enthusiastic response from audiences and critics.
In a repeat of Sundance 2013, the Grand Jury prize dovetailed with the Audience Award (last year, Ryan Cooglar’s Fruitvale Station nabbed both prizes).
The grand jury prize for U.S. documentaries went to “Rich Hill,” a close-up portrait of three underprivileged boys living in the titular Missouri town; the film was directed by cousins Tracy Droz Tragos and Andrew Droz Palermo. In the same category, Michael Rossato-Bennett’s “Alive Inside: A Story of Music & Memory,” about the treatment of Alzheimer’s patients through music, drew the audience award.
The World Cinema grand jury prizes were awarded to “To Kill a Man,” a revenge thriller from Chilean helmer Alejandro Fernandez Almendras, and “Return to Homs,” Talal Derki’s documentary about the effects of the civil war in Syria. The audience awards for international features went to “Difret,” Zeresenay Berhane Mehari’s dramatic examination of oppressed girls and women in Ethiopia, and “The Green Prince,” Nadav Schirman’s documentary portrait of Israeli secret-service informant Mosab Hassan Yousef.
Cutter Hodierne drew the U.S. dramatic directing award for his largely non-English-language directing debut, “Fishing Without Nets,” a bleak tale of a hijacked oil tanker as seen from the perspective of one of the young Somali pirates. The Waldo Salt screenwriting award was presented to writer-director Craig Johnson for his sibling dark comedy “The Skeleton Twins,” which stars Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig and was widely considered one of the dramatic competition’s most commercial entries.
Christopher Blauvelt received the U.S. dramatic cinematography prize for his 35mm lensing on “Low Down,” director Jeff Preiss’ fictionalized account of two years in the life of jazz pianist Joe Albany. Special jury prizes were awarded to the Octopus Project, which composed the musical score for David Zellner’s “Kumiko the Treasure Hunter,” and to writer-director Justin Simien, named a “breakthrough talent” for his racially charged comedy “Dear White People.”
In the American documentary competition, Ben Cotner and Ryan White shared the directing prize for “The Case Against 8,” their inside look at the case to overturn California’s same-sex marriage ban. Rachel Beth Anderson and helmer Ross Kauffman drew a cinematography prize for their dynamic lensing on “E-Team,” which follows the experiences of four globe-trotting Human Rights Watch activists.
Special jury prizes for U.S. documentaries were voted to Jesse Moss’ “The Overnighters,” a portrait of social and economic transformation in an oil-rich region of North Dakota, for its “intuitive filmmaking”; and to “Watchers of the Sky,” Edet Belzberg’s multistranded look at courageous activism worldwide, for its use of animation. “Watchers of the Sky” also picked up an editing prize for Jenny Golden and Karen Sim.
The Best of Next audience award was voted to “Imperial Dreams,” Malik Vitthal’s directing debut about a young writer and ex-con trying to reconnect with his young son in Watts, Los Angeles.
In the World Cinema dramatic competition, Australian helmer Sophie Hyde picked up the directing prize for “52 Tuesdays,” which was shot, per its title, over the course of a year, only on Tuesdays. Norwegian writer-helmer Eskil Vogt received the screenwriting prize for “Blind,” his drama about a woman who has lost her sight. Hong Khaou’s gay-themed grief drama “Lilting” received the cinematography prize for Ula Pontikos’ lensing, and “God Help the Girl,” a musical directed by Belle and Sebastian’s Stuart Murdoch, received a special jury prize.
In the World Cinema documentary competition, “20,000 Days on Earth,” Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard’s film about a fictitious 24 hours in the life of Nick Cave, won a pair of awards for directing and editing (by Jonathan Amos). “Happiness” drew the cinematography prize for lensers Thomas Balmes (who also directed) and Nina Bernfeld.
As announced on Friday, the $20,000 Alfred P. Sloan prize, presented annually to a film that focuses on science/technology as a theme, was given to Mike Cahill’s Premieres entry “I Origins,” a cerebral romantic drama about a pair of scientists studying the mysterious properties of the human eye. Cahill previously won this award for his 2011 sci-fi-themed debut, “Another Earth.”
Grand Jury Dramatic: Whiplash
Grand Jury Documentary: Rich Hill
Directing Award U.S. Dramatic: Fishing Without Nets
Directing Award U.S. Documentary: The Case Against 8
Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award U.S. Dramatic: The Skeleton Twins
Editing Award U.S. Documentary: Watchers of the Sky
Cinematography Award U.S. Dramatic: Low Down
Cinematography Award U.S. Documentary: E-TEAM
U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Breakthrough Talent: Dear White People
U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Musical Score: Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter
U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Use of Animation: Watchers of the Sky
U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Intuitive Filmmaking: The Overnighters
Audience Award U.S. Dramatic: Whiplash
Audience Award U.S. Documentary presented by Acura: Alive Inside
Audience Award World Cinema Dramatic: Difret
Audience Award World Cinema Documentary: The Green Prince
Audience Award Best of NEXT: Imperial Dreams
World Cinema Grand Jury Prize Dramatic To Kill a Man
Directing Award World Cinema Dramatic: 52 Tuesdays
Screenwriting Award World Cinema Dramatic: Blind
Cinematography Award World Cinema Dramatic: Lilting
World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Ensemble Performance: God Help the Girl
World Cinema Grand Jury Prize Documentary: Return to Homs
Directing Award World Cinema Documentary: 20,000 Days on Earth
Editing Award World Cinema Documentary: 20,000 Days on Earth
Cinematography Award World Cinema Documentary: Happiness
World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Cinematic Bravery: We Come as Friends
Shorts Audience Award: Chapel Perilous
Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize: I Origins
