07 Sundance Film Festival Awards: Global Independent Creativity Reaches New Heights

I don't feel at home in this world anymore.

Credit: Allyson Riggs

Chasing Coral

Credit: The Ocean Agency/XL Catlin Seaview Survey/Aaron Spence

Crown Heights

Credit: Ben Kutchins

Park City, Utah - After 10 days, 119 feature films and three feet of snow, an evening of humor and humanity marked the 2017 Sundance Film Festival's Awards Ceremony, with host Jessica Williams emceeing and jurors presenting 27 prizes for feature filmmaking in Park City, Utah. Honorees, named in total below, range from sharp comedies to provocative and timely documentaries and represent new achievements in global independent storytelling. Human stories prevailed across categories, with Grand Jury Prizes awarded to Dina (U.S. Documentary), Last Men in Aleppo (World Documentary), I dont feel at home in this world anymore. (U.S. Dramatic) and The Nile Hilton Incident (World Dramatic). Chasing Coral, showcased in the Festival's environmental program The New Climate, won an Audience Award in the U.S. Documentary category.

John Cooper, Director of the Sundance Film Festival, said, This has been one of the wildest, wackiest and most rewarding Festivals in recent memory. From a new government to the independently organized Women's March on Main, to power outages, a cyberattack and snow at record levels, the work of our artists rose above it all and challenged and changed us these last 10 days. I am most proud that, through it all, we have formed a community that is bound tighter by the art we make and the ideas we support.

Keri Putnam, Executive Director of Sundance Institute, added, Let's take the amazing energy we feel here at the Festival when we share stories with one another, and work together on behalf of the arts for the future we want to see.

The awards ceremony marked the culmination of the 2017 Festival, where 119 feature-length and 68 short films - selected from 13,782 submissions - were showcased in Park City, Salt Lake City and Sundance, Utah, alongside new episodic work, panels, music and New Frontier. The ceremony was live-streamed; video is available at youtube.com/sff.

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 jurors were Diego Bu uel, Julie Goldman, Robert Greene, Susan Lacy, Larry Wilmore, Gael Garc a Bernal, Peter Dinklage, Jody Hill, Jacqueline Lyanga, Jeannine Oppewall, Nai An, Sonia Braga, Athina Rachel Tsangari, Carl Spence, Marina Stavenhagen and Lynette Wallworth. Festival audiences voted for the Audience Awards in each of the U.S. and World Competitions and NEXT.

Feature film award winners in previous years include: Weiner, Sand Storm, The Birth of a Nation, 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.

2017 SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL FEATURE FILM AWARDS

The U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Documentary was presented by Larry Wilmore to:

Dina / U.S.A. (Directors: Dan Sickles, Antonio Santini) - An eccentric suburban woman and a Walmart door-greeter navigate their evolving relationship in this unconventional love story.

The U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic was presented by Peter Dinklage to:

I dont feel at home in this world anymore. / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Macon Blair) - When a depressed woman is burglarized, she finds a new sense of purpose by tracking down the thieves, alongside her obnoxious neighbor. But they soon find themselves dangerously out of their depth against a pack of degenerate criminals. Cast: Melanie Lynskey, Elijah Wood, David Yow, Jane Levy, Devon Graye.

The World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Documentary was presented by Lynette Wallworth to:

Last Men in Aleppo / Denmark, Syria (Director: Feras Fayyad) - After five years of war in Syria, Aleppo's remaining residents prepare themselves for a siege. Khalid, Subhi and Mahmoud, founding members of The White Helmets, have remained in the city to help their fellow citizens-and experience daily life, death, struggle and triumph in a city under fire.

The World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic was presented by Sonia Braga to:

The Nile Hilton Incident / Sweden, Germany, Denmark (Director and screenwriter: Tarik Saleh) - In Cairo, weeks before the 2011 revolution, Police Detective Noredin is working in the infamous Kasr el-Nil Police Station when he is handed the case of a murdered singer. He soon realizes that the investigation concerns the power elite, close to the President's inner circle. Cast: Fares Fares, Mari Malek, Mohamed Yousry, Yasser Ali Maher, Ahmed Selim, Hania Amar.

The Audience Award: U.S. Documentary, Presented by Acura was presented by Barbara Kopple to:

Chasing Coral / U.S.A. (Director: Jeff Orlowski) - Coral reefs around the world are vanishing at an unprecedented rate. A team of divers, photographers and scientists set out on a thrilling ocean adventure to discover why and to reveal the underwater mystery to the world.

The Audience Award: U.S. Dramatic, Presented by Acura was presented by Taylor Sheridan to:

Crown Heights / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Matt Ruskin) - When Colin Warner is wrongfully convicted of murder, his best friend, Carl King, devotes his life to proving Colins innocence. Adapted from This American Life, this is the incredible true story of their harrowing quest for justice. Cast: Lakeith Stanfield, Nnamdi Asomugha, Natalie Paul, Bill Camp, Nestor Carbonell, Amari Cheatom.

The Audience Award: World Cinema Documentary was presented by Barbara Kopple to:

Joshua: Teenager vs. Superpower / U.S.A. (Director: Joe Piscatella) - When the Chinese Communist Part

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