Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

2021 Sundance Film Festival: Juries Announced

22/01/2021

Park City, UT - 23 celebrated voices across film, art and culture will bestow this year's awards to feature-length and short film at the Sundance Film Festival, at a digital ceremony taking place February 2nd. This year's Festival is fully available online at Festival.Sundance.org; Awards Night will be live-streamed. Award-winning films will be available for special extended-run viewing the day after the ceremony.

The awards, which recognize standout artistic and story elements, are decided on by each of 6 section juries. As in years past, Festival audiences have a role in deciding the 2021 Audience Awards, open to films in the U.S. Competition, World Competition and NEXT categories.

Our jurors have reached a high level of achievement in their individual fields, and can bring their unique perspective to the process of analyzing and evaluating films, said Kim Yutani, the Festival's Director of Programming. We're pleased to bring this accomplished, creative group together, and look forward to hearing their thoughts.

The juried Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize was awarded to Son of Monarchs; information on those jury members is included below.

The 2021 Sundance Film Festival Jury members are:

U.S. DRAMATIC JURY

Twenty-eight years ago, filmmaker Julie Dash broke through racial and gender boundaries with Daughters of the Dust (Best Cinematography, 1991 Sundance Film Festival), and she became the first African American woman to have a wide theatrical release of her feature film. In 2004 the Library of Congress placed Daughters of the Dust in the National Film Registry, where it joins a select group of American films preserved and protected as national treasures. Dash has written and directed television projects including episodes of Queen Sugar for the Oprah Winfrey Network. She also directed The Rosa Parks Story, Incognito, Funny Valentines, Love Song, and Subway Stories.

Cynthia Erivo is a Tony-, Emmy- and Grammy-winning actress and singer as well as an Academy Award, Golden Globe, and Screen Actors Guild nominee. Erivo burst onto West End and Broadway stages in The Color Purple and has since taken the world by storm in movies such as Harriet. Currently, Erivo can be seen on the HBO series The Outsider. She will play Aretha Franklin on National Geographic's Genius: Aretha in March, will be releasing her debut album in the Summer of 2021 and will soon star in Universal's Talent Show.

Hanya Yanagihara is the author of the novels The People in the Trees and A Little Life. She is the editor-in-chief of T: The New York Times Style Magazine and lives in New York.

U.S. DOCUMENTARY JURY

Ashley Clark is the curatorial director at the Criterion Collection. He previously worked as director of film programming at Brooklyn Academy of Music and has organized film series at venues including MoMA, TIFF Bell Lightbox, and BFI Southbank. Clark has written features and criticism for publications including the New York Times, Sight & Sound, Reverse Shot and 4Columns. He is the author of the book Facing Blackness: Media and Minstrelsy in Spike Lee's Bamboozled (2015).

Joshua Oppenheimer's films include the diptych The Act of Killing (2013) and The Look of Silence (2015), which sheds light on one of history's worst atrocities, the Indonesian genocide, and its terrible legacy of corruption and fear. His filmmaking explores impunity, fantasy, and guilt, investigating how our past haunts our present. Oppenheimer has received two Oscar nominations, a MacArthur Fellowship, a BAFTA Award, a Film Independent Spirit Award, and the Venice International Film Festival's Grand Jury Prize.

Lana Wilson is an Emmy-winning director. Her latest film, Miss Americana, premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival and was a New York Times and IndieWire Critics' Pick. Previous work includes The Departure (2017 Tribeca Film Festival, Independent Spirit Award nominee for best documentary), A Cure for Fear (International Documentary Association Award nominee for best short-form series), and After Tiller, which premiered at Sundance in 2013 and won an Emmy for best documentary.

WORLD CINEMA DRAMATIC JURY

Zeynep Atakan is a producer in stanbul. She won the European Film Academy's Best European Co-Producer award. Her production Winter Sleep won the Palme d'Or at the 67th Cannes Film Festival. She is the vice president of the European Women's Audiovisual Network and the art director of the Sabanci Foundation Short Film Platform. Atakan is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the European Film Academy, and the Asia Pacific Screen Academy.

Isaac Julien CBE RA has had films in festivals at Cannes, Venice, and Berlin and in the Museum of Modern Art, Centre Pompidou, and Tate collections. Young Soul Rebels won the Semaine de la Critique prize at Cannes, and Looking for Langston has garnered 30 years of acclaim. Currently, 10-screen film installation Lessons of the Hour is at McEvoy Foundation for the Arts, San Francisco, and nine-screen film A Marvellous Entanglement is at MAXXI, Rome.

Daniela Vega is a Chilean actress known for starring in the Academy Award-winning feature A Fantastic Woman. She was the first transgender woman to present an award at the Oscars, and she was one of Time Magazine's 100 most influential people in 2018. Vega has won awards at several festivals and won the 2018 Platino Award for Best Actress. She currently works as executive producer and host on the upcoming docuseries Peace Peace Now Now.

WORLD CINEMA DOCUMENTARY JURY

Kim Longinotto attended the National Film and Television School, where she made Pride of Place and Theatre Girls. The Day I Will Never Forget premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2003. Other films include Rough Aunties, Pink Saris, and Salma. Dreamcatcher and Shooting the Ma
LINK: http://www.sundance.org/blogs/news/2021-festival-jury-announced...
See more stories from sundance

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

04/08/2026

Dalet Announces Commercial Availability of Dalia, Bringing Media-Aware Agentic AI to Enterprise Productions

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

04/07/2026

Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in Dolby Cinemas Across Japan, Presented in Dolby Atmos and Dolby ...

April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...

01/06/2026

Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026

January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026 Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...

02/05/2026

Dalet Flex LTS Delivers Smarter Search, Faster Editing, and an AI-Ready Foundation for Modern Media

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

01/05/2026

NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to Integrate Dolby's Full Suite of Premium Picture and Sound Innovations

January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...

14/04/2026

Sinclair's WTOV Taps Brightline for Lighting Upgrade

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

14/04/2026

Grass Valley Showcases Alliance Ecosystem at 2026 NAB Show

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

14/04/2026

FCC Selects New Lead Administrator for U.S. Cyber Trust Mark Program

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

14/04/2026

Gray Media Names Jim Hays GM of WTHI

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

14/04/2026

NAB Blasts CTA in FCC Sports Probe Comments

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

14/04/2026

Wowza to Showcase AI-Powered Video Workflows and Emerging...

Wowza will return to NAB Show 2026 with a set of live demonstrations focused on how video infrastructure is evolving for a new generation of AI-powered and oper...

14/04/2026

Stegawave Debuts Real-Time Forensic Watermarking to Tackle Piracy in Live Sports Streaming

Stegawave Debuts Real-Time Forensic Watermarking to Tackle Piracy in Live Sports...

14/04/2026

Living in Boston: A Guide for Incoming Boston Conservatory Students

Living in Boston: A Guide for Incoming Boston Conservatory Students From navigating the T to balancing school with professional gigs, a current student shar...

14/04/2026

Just What Is Genre These Days, Anyway?

Just What Is Genre These Days, Anyway? Understanding the business and art of genre-bending in 2026. April 10, 2026 By Bryan Parys Illustration by Jack Fla...

14/04/2026

Lenora Helm Hammonds Is Turning Passion Into Plan A

Lenora Helm Hammonds Is Turning Passion Into Plan A The dean of the Professional Education Division has seen the industry from all sides. Now shes bringing it...

14/04/2026

How Michelle Zalabak Found Her Dream Career in Music and Finance

How Michelle Zalabak Found Her Dream Career in Music and Finance The Warner Music Group deal analysis manager helps determine what artist catalogs are worth a...

13/04/2026

ToolsOnAir Composition Builder 2026 Boilerplate

ToolsOnAir Composition Builder 2026 Boilerplate More Details: The Composition Builder 2026 application for macOS enables TV stations and Live Event broadcast...

13/04/2026

ToolsOnAr just:live pro 2026 Boilerplate

ToolsOnAr just:live pro 2026 Boilerplate More Details: just:live pro 2026 is a Multi-Channel Live Production Playout solution for video and static or real-ti...

13/04/2026

ToolsOnAr just:play pro 2026 Boilerplate

ToolsOnAr just:play pro 2026 Boilerplate More Details: just:play pro 2026 is a Multi-Channel automated 24/7 Master Control playout solution with SD, HD and U...

13/04/2026

ToolsOnAr live:cut 2026 Boilerplate

ToolsOnAr live:cut 2026 Boilerplate More Details: live:cut is an option to just:in mac pro 2025 and enables multicamera production workflows for up to 16 cam...

13/04/2026

ToolsOnAir Just In Mac Lite NDI 2026 Boilerplate

ToolsOnAir Just In Mac Lite NDI 2026 Boilerplate More Details: The Just In Mac Lite NDI application is a streamlined media capture solution designed specific...

13/04/2026

ToolsOnAir Just In Mac Lite 2026 Boilerplate

ToolsOnAir Just In Mac Lite 2026 Boilerplate More Details: The Just In Mac Lite application is a streamlined media capture solution designed specifically for...

13/04/2026

ToolsOnAir just:in mac pro 2026 Boilerplate

ToolsOnAir just:in mac pro 2026 Boilerplate More Details: just:in mac pro is a macOS-based client-server multichannel capture solution to record SDI, HDMI, N...

13/04/2026

Jnger Audio Joins EBU ADM Implementers Group as Founding Member

Telos Alliance has announced that J nger Audio has joined the EBU ADM Implementers Group (ADM-IG) as a founding member. The group is focused on advancing ADM an...

13/04/2026

NAB 2026: Grass Valley to Showcase Alliance Partner Ecosystem

Grass Valley will demonstrate its Alliance Partner ecosystem at NAB Show 2026 (Booth C2408, Central Hall, April 19-22), showing AMPP integrations across live pr...

13/04/2026

NAB 2026: Media Links to Demonstrate IP Transport Solutions

Media Links will exhibit at NAB Show 2026 (Booth W2033), demonstrating IP transport solutions for live production including hitless protection technology, Xscen...

13/04/2026

NBC Sports Partners with Overtime for OT7 Football League and Navy All-American Bowl

NBC Sports has announced a programming, distribution, and sales partnership with...

13/04/2026

FloSports Promotes Jayar Donlan from COO to President

FloSports has promoted Chief Operating Officer Jayar Donlan to President, effective immediately. In his new role, Donlan will lead the company's commercial,...

13/04/2026

MASV Case Study: PanCam Pictures Uses MASV for Remote Post-Production at Senior Bowl 2026

PanCam Pictures, the documentary production company founded by Paul Camarata, us...

13/04/2026

NAB 2026: Mimir to Showcase Cloud Production Platform

Mimir will exhibit at NAB Show 2026 (North Hall, Booth N2850), demonstrating its cloud-native media production platform with new capabilities including Mimir Cu...

13/04/2026

NAB 2026: BBright Adds RIST Protocol Support to IP Gateway

BBright has announced that its IP Gateway now supports the Reliable Internet Stream Transport (RIST) protocol. The addition will be introduced at NAB Show 2026 ...

13/04/2026

Net Insight Awarded ESA NAVISP Development Project for PNT Technology

Net Insight has been awarded a development project through the European Space Agency's Navigation Innovation and Support Program (NAVISP), with co-funding f...

13/04/2026

NAB 2026: intoPIX to Showcase JPEG XS, IPMX, and SMPTE 2110 Solutions

intoPIX will exhibit at NAB Show 2026, marking the company's 20th anniversary. The company will demonstrate its JPEG XS compression portfolio and IPMX-appro...

13/04/2026

Inside the Launch of BravesVision: How Braves, Raycom Sports Pulled Off One of the Most Ambitious Efforts in Regional-Sports-Media History

Starting from scratch, the team built an in-house content platform comprising ga...

13/04/2026

NAB 2026: AI Will Make Its Presence Felt in Audio Offerings, Presentations

Here's a look at some of the new products and updates, along with audio-centric conferences, that attendees will find next week at the show When the 2026 N...

13/04/2026

NAB 2026: Avid to Demonstrate Integrated Newsroom Capabilities

Avid will launch new integrated newsroom capabilities for Avid for News at NAB Show 2026 (Booth N2226, April 18-22), demonstrating how Avid Content Core connect...

13/04/2026

NAB 2026: Synamedia Launches Cloud-Controlled Edge Playout Version of Quortex PowerVu

Synamedia has announced a new version of Quortex PowerVu, an IP-native, software...

13/04/2026

NAB 2026: Mediaproxy Adds AI Brand and Advertisement Tracking to LogServer

Mediaproxy has developed a suite of AI-powered tools for brand and advertisement tracking, integrated into its LogServer compliance logging and analysis platfor...

13/04/2026

NAB 2026: Disguise to Demonstrate Media Server and Software Integrations

Disguise will demonstrate its media servers and software at NAB Show 2026, appearing across five partner booths in Central Hall: MRMC, B&H, Planar, CarbonBlack,...

13/04/2026

NAB 2026: OpenDrives Introduces Edge Hybrid Cloud-Edge Performance Accelerator

OpenDrives is introducing OpenDrives Edge at NAB Show 2026, a hybrid cloud-edge performance accelerator for distributed video and rich media workflows. The prod...

13/04/2026

ESPN Returns to The Shed for 2026 WNBA Draft, Expanding Camera Arsenal and Deepening Fan Coverage

The show will deploy 18 cameras across two sets and the draft floor, including a...

13/04/2026

Musik Hack update SweetEQ

Intuitive EQ plug-in gets an upgrade Following its official launch back in February 2026, Musik Hack's intuitive EQ plug-in has been treated to its firs...

13/04/2026

Vintage Vault 5 from UVI

Flagship soft synth collection expanded The latest version of UVI's flagship vintage-inspired soft synth collection has just arrived, expanding the suit...

13/04/2026

Sonuscore launch Lux Orchestral Strings Elements

Free version of innovative string library arrives Released in October 2025, Lux Orchestral Strings was said to be Sonuscore's most ambitious library to ...

13/04/2026

Girls' Research Camp at SGL Carbon in Meitingen inspires young women to pursue STEM careers

The Girls' Research Camp is part of the Technology - Future in Bavaria edu...

13/04/2026

Rohde & Schwarz transforms submarine communications for realtime underwater dominance at UDT 2026

Rohde & Schwarz transforms submarine communications for real time underwater dom...

13/04/2026

Rohde & Schwarz enables Pulsar signal simulation to support next-generation navigation devices

Rohde & Schwarz enables Pulsar signal simulation to support next-generation navi...

13/04/2026

When Missiles Move at 5X the Speed of Sound, Timing Is Everything

L3Harris is accelerating the development of infrared payloads for Space Development Agency's Tranche 2 Tracking Layer, to help meet urgent national defense ...

13/04/2026

US Army Selects L3Harris for Next-Generation Night-Vision System

By leveraging cutting-edge unfilmed Gen III image intensifier technology, NOVA delivers unmatched clarity, range, and reliability in low-light environments - en...