Park City, UT - After six days and 73 feature films, the 2021 Sundance Film Festival's Awards Ceremony took place tonight, hosted by actor and comedian Patton Oswalt, with jurors presenting 24 prizes for feature filmmaking and seven for Short Films. Honorees, named in total below, represent new achievements in global independent storytelling. Bold, intimate, and humanizing stories prevailed across categories, with Grand Jury Prizes awarded to CODA (U.S. Dramatic), Summer of Soul (...Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised) (U.S. Documentary), Flee (World Cinema Documentary) and Hive (World Cinema Dramatic). This has been a singular Festival for a singular moment, said Sundance Institute CEO Keri Putnam. We've been able to elevate independent art and celebrate a wonderful slate of films by gathering in new ways, ways that worked thanks to adventurous audiences everywhere, eager to connect and engage with the work and with one another. Watching people come together to connect and discuss exciting new work has been incredibly rewarding - and a resounding confirmation that great independent storytelling inspires rich conversation.
This was not a virtual' festival, it was a real festival and the power of these artists and their work was what made it so, added Sundance Film Festival Director Tabitha Jackson, It has been a privilege to help this work meet new audiences and enter the culture with such fanfare, especially now, when breaking through the noise is harder than ever.
The awards ceremony marks a key point of the 2021 Festival, where 73 feature-length and 50 short films - selected from more than 14,000 submissions - were showcased online via the Festival's custom-built online platform, as well as in 28 Satellite Screen locations across the United States. Award-winning films will screen for passholders tomorrow, February 3.
This year's jurors, invited in recognition of their accomplishments in the arts, technical craft and visionary storytelling, deliberated extensively before presenting awards from the stage; this year's feature film jurors were Julie Dash, Cynthia Erivo, Hanya Yanagihara, Ashley Clark, Joshua Oppenheimer, Lana Wilson, Zeynep Atakan, Isaac Julien, Daniela Vega, Kim Longinotto, Mohamed Sa d Ouma, and Jean Tsien. Kate and Laura Mulleavy served as co-jurors for NEXT. Shorts jurors were Ra l Castillo, Tacita Dean and Inge de Leeuw. A newly-created award, the Jonathan Oppenheim Editing Award for U.S. Documentary, has been created to memorialize the late editor and joins the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award for U.S. Dramatic as a prize named for a beloved member of the Sundance artistic community. This year's Audience Awards were presented by Sundance alumni Alison Brie, Shira Haas and Diego Luna.
Feature film award winners in previous years include: Minari, Boys State, Epicentro, Yalda, A Night for Forgiveness, Clemency, One Child Nation, Honeyland, The Souvenir, The Miseducation of Cameron Post, I don't feel at home in this world anymore., Weiner, Whiplash, Fruitvale Station, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Twenty Feet from Stardom, Searching for Sugarman, The Square, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, Cartel Land, The Wolf Pack, The Diary of a Teenage Girl, Dope, Dear White People, The Cove and Man on Wire.
GRAND JURY PRIZES
The U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Documentary was presented to: Ahmir Questlove Thompson, for Summer Of Soul (...Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised) / U.S.A. (Director: Ahmir Questlove Thompson, Producers: David Dinerstein, Robert Fyvolent, Joseph Patel) - During the same summer as Woodstock, over 300,000 people attended the Harlem Cultural Festival, celebrating African American music and culture, and promoting Black pride and unity. The footage from the festival sat in a basement, unseen for over 50 years, keeping this incredible event in America's history lost - until now.
The U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic was presented to: Si n Heder, for CODA / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Si n Heder, Producers: Philippe Rousselet, Fabrice Gianfermi, Patrick Wachsberger) - As a CODA - Child of Deaf Adults - Ruby is the only hearing person in her deaf family. When the family's fishing business is threatened, Ruby finds herself torn between pursuing her love of music and her fear of abandoning her parents. Cast: Emilia Jones, Eugenio Derbez, Troy Kotsur, Ferdia Walsh-Peelo, Daniel Durant, and Marlee Matlin.
The World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Documentary was presented to: Jonas Poher Rasmussen, for Flee / Denmark, France, Sweden, Norway (Director: Jonas Poher Rasmussen, Producers: Monica Hellstr m, Signe Byrge S rensen) - Amin arrived as an unaccompanied minor in Denmark from Afghanistan. Today, he is a successful academic and is getting married to his long-time boyfriend. A secret he has been hiding for 20 years threatens to ruin the life he has built.
The World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic was presented to: Blerta Basholli, for Hive / Kosovo, Switzerland, Macedonia, Albania (Director and Screenwriter: Blerta Basholli, Producers: Yll Uka, Valon Bajgora, Agon Uka) - Fahrije's husband has been missing since the war in Kosovo. She sets up her own small business to provide for her kids, but as she fights against a patriarchal society that does not support her, she faces a crucial decision: to wait for his return, or to continue to persevere. Cast: Yllka Gashi, un Laj i, Aurita Agushi, Kumrije Hoxha, Adriana Matoshi, Kaona Sylejmani.
AUDIENCE AWARDS
The Audience Award: U.S. Documentary, Presented by Acura was presented to: Ahmir Questlove Thompson for Summer Of Soul (...Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised) / U.S.A. (Director: Ahmir Questlove Thompson, Producers: David Dinerstein, Robert Fyvolent, Joseph Patel) - During the same summer as Woodstock, over 300,000 peo
