List of 2023 Sundance Award winners

As the first in-person Sundance Film Festival since 2020 draws to a close, it’s time to take a look at which films will take home the festival’s most coveted awards. While success at Sundance can be measured in many ways—and many filmmakers are certainly more interested in big sales than trophies—the awards are nonetheless an important way to measure which films have resonated with Park City audiences.

Friday’s award ceremony is the highlight of the already very eventful festival. Even though the independent film world and streaming industry is going through a lot of changes right now, this year’s festival continued to feature buzzy premieres and eye-catching acquisitions. One of the most talked about movies in Park City is Chloe Domont’s erotic thriller Fair Play, which was sold to Netflix for $20 million. The festival also featured some notable surprises in the lineup, including Brett Kavanaugh’s documentary Justice and the shocking North Korean documentary Beyond Utopia, both of which were kept under wraps due to the sensitive nature of the reporting required to produce them. .

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Read on for the full list of 2023 Sundance Film Festival award winners.

GRAND JURY AWARDS

Grand Prize of the American Jury: Drama – “One Thousand and One” (Director: AV Rockwell)

American Grand Jury Prize: Documentary – “Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project” (Directors: Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson)

World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic – “Scrapper” (directed by Charlotte Regan)

Grand prize of the World Cinema jury: documentary film – “The eternal memory” (director: Maite Alberdi)

AUDIENCE AWARDS

Audience Award: American Documentary – “Beyond Utopia” (dir. Madeleine Gavin)

Audience Award: US Dramatic – “The Persian Version” (director Maryam Keshavarz)

Audience Award: World Cinema Dramatic – “Shayda” (directed by Noora Niasari)

Audience Award: World Cinema Documentary – “20 Days in Mariupol” (director: Mstyslav Chernov)

Audience Award: NEXT – “Kokomo City” (director D. Smith)

FESTIVAL FAVORITE AWARD

“Radical” (dir. Christopher Zalla)

JURY AWARDS FOR DIRECTING, SCREENING AND EDITING

Director Award: American Documentary – Luke Lorentzen, “A Still Small Voice”

Director Award: US Dramatic – Sing J. Lee, “The Accidental Getaway Driver”

Director Award: World Cinema Documentary – Anna Hints, “Smoke Sauna Sisterhood”

Director Award: World Cinema Dramatic – Marija Kavtaradze, “Slow”

Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award: US Dramatic – Maryam Keshavarz, “The Persian Version”

Jonathan Oppenheim Editing Award: American Documentary – Daniela I. Quiroz, “Going Varsity in Mariachi”

SHORT FILM AWARDS

Grand Prize of the Short Film Jury – “When you left me on that cruise” (dir. Kayla Abuda Galang)

Short Film Jury Prize: US Fiction – “Resting Place” (dir. Crystal Kayiza)

Short Film Jury Prize: International Fiction – “The Kidnapping of the Bride” (dir. Sophia Mocorrea)

Short Film Jury Prize: Nonfiction – “Will You Look at Me” (Director: Shuli Huang)

Short Film Jury Prize: Animation – “The Flying Sailor” (directed by Wendy Tilby and Amanda Forbis)

JURY FEES

World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Creative Vision – “Fantastic Machine” (directed by Axel Danielson and Maximilien Van Aertryck)

World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Verite Filmmaking – “Against the Tide” (director Sarvnik Kaur)

World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Creative Vision – “Animalia” (directed by Sofia Alaoui)

World Cinema Dramatic Jury Special Award for Cinematography – Lílis Soares, “Mami Wata”

World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Best Performance – Rosa Marchant, “When It Melts”

Short film jury special prize, international: direction – “AliEN0089” (dir. Valeria Hofmann)

Short Film Special Jury Prize, USA: Direction – “The Vacation” (dir. Jarreau Carrillo)

American Documentary Jury Special Award for Clarity of Vision – “The Stroll” (directed by Kristen Lovell and Zackary Drucker)

American Documentary Jury Special Award for Freedom of Expression – “Bad Press” (directed by Rebecca Landsberry-Baker and Joe Peeler)

Special prize of the American Drama Jury: Ensemble – the cast of the “Theatre Camp”.

Special Prize of the American Drama Jury: Creative Vision – The creative team of “Magazin Dreams”.

American Drama Jury Special Award: Actor – Lio Mehiel, “Mutt”

The NEXT Innovator Award was presented by Adobe

“Kokomo City” (director D. Smith)

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