The 2021 Sundance Film Festival awards were very successful tonight, within the hour. Presenter Patton Oswalt – or, as he called himself, “Discount Giamatti” – kept the jokes flowing.
Sundance Film Festival
Siân Heder’s Coda, that we first told you that was raised by Apple with a rich bid of $ 25 million, came great. He won the United States Grand Jury Prize, the United States Dramatic Audience Award and also the Special Jury Cast Award. Heder also won the award for best director in the dramatic US section. The film follows a girl named Ruby. As the only listener in a deaf family, she is divided about staying with them, as her fishing business is threatened.
Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson’s Summer of the Soul took the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award for Documentary.
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Blerta Basholli’s Hive, about a woman in Kosovo fighting a patriarchal society and whose husband is missing, she also won three awards for World Cinema Audience Dramatic, Grand Jury Prize and Best Director in her section.
To run away, acquired by Neon, takes home the Grand Prize of the World Film Documentary Jury.
Early in the evening, Akinola Davies, Jr. Lizard took the Grand Jury Prize in the Shorts category. The film follows Juwon, an 8 year old girl with the ability to feel the danger that is expelled from a Sunday school mass. She unconsciously witnesses the weakness in and around a mega-church in Lagos.
“I had a busy night, I will be hosting the Slamdance Festival later on WIFI that they will steal from you”, joked the Young adult actor at the top of the show.
And aside, Oswalt joked, “So, they’re not letting anyone go back to the hotel because Steve Buscemi stole all the towels.”
Alison Brie, Shira Haas, Diego Luna and Cynthia Erivo performed virtually.
This year’s judges for the reduced festival, which started on Thursday, January 28 and continues today, were Zeynep Atakan, Raúl Castillo, Ashley Clark, Julie Dash, Tacita Dean, Cynthia Erivo, Isaac Julien, Inge de Leeuw, Kim Longinotto, Laura Mulleavy, Kate Mulleavy, Joshua Oppenheimer, Mohamed Ouma Saïd, Jean Tsien, Daniela Vega, Lana Wilson and Hanya Yanagihara.
Last year, Lee Isaac Chung’s Minari, who is in this year’s A24 awards conversation, took home the U.S. Grand Jury Prize and the U.S. Dramatic Audience Award. From Netflix Crip Camp won in the US Doc Audience Award category, while the acquisition of AppleTV Boys State won the Grand Jury Documentary Award.
By the end of this evening, 31 awards will be given by the festival:
US Grand Jury Prize – Dramatic
Coda, dir. Siân Heder
US Grand Jury Prize – Documentary
Summer of the Soul, dir. Ahmir ‘Questlove’ Thompson
Direction Award – US Dramatic
Coda, dir. Siân Heder
Waldo Salt Screenplay Award: US Dramatic
On the count of three, Ari Katcher and Ryan Welch
Direction Award: US Documentary
Natalia Almada, Commercial
Editing award: US Documentary
Jonathan Oppenheim’s editing award goes to Kristina Motwani and Rebecca Adorno for Classroom
USA Dramatic Special Jury Award
Ensemble cast – the cast of Coda
Best Actor – Clifton Collins Jr. by Jockey
US Special Documentary Jury Award
The special jury award for emerging filmmaker goes to Parker Hill and Isabel Bethencourt for Cusp
For nonfiction experimentation – Every light, everywhere, dir. Theo Anthony,
US Audience Award
Documentary – Summer of Soul, dir. Ahmir ‘Questlove’ Thompson
Dramatic – Coda, dir. Siân Heder
World Cinema Audience Awards
Documentary – Writing with fire, dir.
Dramatic – Hive, dir. Blerta Basholli
Sundance
World Cinema Dramatic
World Cinema Grand Jury Award: Hive, dir Blerta Basholli,
The jury award for acting goes to Jesmark Scicluna in Luzzu.
Special jury award for creative vision: One for the road, dir. Baz Poonpiriya
Direction award: Hive, dir Blerta Basholli.
World cinema documentary
World Cinema Jury Award – To run away, Jonas Poher Rasmussen
Direction award: Hogir Hirori for Sabaya
Special Jury Award on Impact for Change – Writing with fire, dir. Rintu Thomas
Special Jury Prize in Cinema Verite –President, dir. Camilla Nielsson
NEXT
Audience Award – Ma Belle, My Beauty, dir. Marion Hill
Innovative award – Cryptozoo, dir. Dash Shaw
Short film
–Short Film Grand Jury Award – Lizard, dir. Akinola Davies, Jr.
– Short film jury award – American fiction – The Touch of the Master’s Hands, dir. Gregory Barnes
– Special Short Film Performance Award, Wiggle room, Deanna Gibson
– Special Short Film Jury Award – Screenplay, The criminals, dir. Serhat Karasslan
– Special jury award for short film, animation – Souvenir Souvenir, dir. Bastien Dubois
–Non fiction from the short film jury award – Don’t go tell your mother, dir. Topaz Jones and Rubberband
– Short film jury award – International fiction – Bambirak, dir. Zamarin Wahdat
Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Feature Film Award
Children of the Monarch, dir. Alexis Gambis
Sundance Institute / Adobe Mentorship Award for Editing
–Fiction, Terilyn Shropshire
–Nonfiction, Juli Vizza
Amazon Studios Non-Fiction Producers Award:
Philly DA, dir. Nicole Salazar
NHK Sundance Institute Award
Maternity, dir. Meryam Joobeur
Gayle Stevens Volunteer Award
Rebecca Stover