SALT LAKE CITY – While the 2020 film award season began on Wednesday with the announcement of Golden Globe nominees, the Sundance Film Festival also ended the first major event of the new film year.
The awards for the 2021 Sundance festival were presented on Tuesday night. The festival, which took place virtually online for the first time, started Thursday and ends today.
The winners of the Grand Jury Prize for this year’s Sundance Festival were “CODA”, which took the top prize in the dramatic US competition, “Summer of Soul (… Or, When the revolution couldn’t be televised)” on US documentary competition, “Hive” in the World Cinema Dramatic competition and “Flee” in the World Cinema Documentary competition.
“This was not a ‘virtual’ festival, it was a real festival and the power of these artists and their work was what made it,” said Sundance Film Festival director Tabitha Jackson in a press release on Tuesday. market. “It has been a privilege to help this work to find new audiences and enter the culture with such fanfare, especially now, when breaking the noise is more difficult than ever.”
“CODA”, “Summer of Soul” and “Hive” also won awards from the domestic audience, as well as the Indian documentary “Writing With Fire” and the drama “Ma Belle, My Beauty”. The full list of awards can be found at this link.
In addition to all the awards, “CODA” also brought home bacon – Apple’s $ 25 million acquisition of the film broke the previous record for the biggest deal with Sundance. This was previously accomplished by Andy Samberg’s comedy “Palm Springs”, which was sold to Neon and Hulu at last year’s festival for about $ 22 million.
Sundance Institute CEO Keri Putnam also praised the creative work presented at this year’s film festival.
“Watching people get together to connect and discuss new and exciting jobs was incredibly rewarding – and a resounding confirmation that a great independent narrative inspires rich conversations,” said Putnam.
Here’s a look at the rest of the deals reported at Sundance this year so far.
‘Ailey’
Neon distributor bought the documentary “Ailey”, which is about dancer and choreographer Alvin Ailey, for an undisclosed amount, according to the Hollywood Reporter. It is directed by Jamila Wignot.
‘CODA’
“CODA,” Sian Heder’s drama about a son of deaf adults who is the only listening member of his family, was raised for $ 25 million at the Sundance Festival, according to Variety. Apple Studios gained distribution rights to the film after a bidding war between several other major distributors, Variety reported.
‘Cryptozoo’
Dash Shaw’s eclectic adult animated film was sold to Magnolia Pictures, according to Variety. The film follows two lovers who run into the forest for a date, stumbling across a park full of fantastic creatures. He has dubbed Lake Bell, Michael Cera and Zoe Kazan.
‘To run away’
Neon’s second pickup at this year’s Sundance Festival is the animated documentary “Flee”. It was sold to Neon in partnership with Participant for a seven-digit deal, according to Deadline. Directed by Jonas Poher Rasmussen, “Flee” documents the story of an Afghan refugee’s persecution and escape.
‘Jockey’
Clifton Collins Jr. won a special Sundance jury award for best actor for “Jockey”, which was sold to Sony Pictures Classics, according to Deadline. Collins plays an old horse runner who is reconciling with his deteriorating health when he meets a novice rider who claims to be his long-lost son.
‘Playing with Sharks’
National Geographic Documentary Films has purchased distribution rights for the documentary “Playing With Sharks”, according to the Hollywood Reporter. The film features Australian conservationist and filmmaker Valerie Taylor.
‘Higher’
Visit Films acquired the distribution rights for the “Superior” neo-noir, which features two twin sisters who met in mysterious circumstances, according to Screen Daily.
Offers completed before the festival starts
- “A Glitch In The Matrix”: Magnolia Pictures announced that it acquired the documentary, which examines simulation theory, at the end of last year, according to The Wrap.
- “The most beautiful boy in the world”: Juno Films acquired distribution rights for this documentary in North America, Deadline reported. The film documents the life of former child actor Björn Andrésen.
- “Ghostland Prisoners”: RLJE Films will release Nicolas Cage’s crazy action movie, according to The Wrap. The distributor previously released the art titles “Mandy” and “Color Out Of Space”, which also featured Cage.
- “Together Together”: Bleecker Street acquired the rights to distribute the comedy, starring Ed Helms and Patti Harrison, according to Variety.
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Jacob Klopfenstein