The 2020 Sundance Film Festival awards found their owners last night. The Jury Grand Prize was won by Minari in American cinema and Yalda in world cinema. The awards were held at the Sundance Film Festival, which was held between January 23 and February 2 this year, and once again brought together remarkable independent productions with film lovers.
The production that came to the fore in the American cinema department was the Minari signed by Lee Isaac Chung. Telling the story of a Korean family who moved from Los Angeles to Arkansas to farm in the 80s, the film won both the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award. In the world cinema department, Yalda was awarded the Iranian Jury Grand Prize. Mexican-made Sin Señas Particulares was another production that attracted attention in this category by winning both the Audience Award and the Special Jury Prize (Script).
During the ceremony, where the awards were found, the festival’s new director was also announced. It was announced that it would be Tabitha Jackson to replace John Cooper as the new director of the Sundance Film Festival. Jackson has been running the Documentary Film program of the Sundance Institute to date.
The fact that digital platforms such as Netflix and Amazon compete with large studios to get the rights of remarkable films have led to signing important deals this year at the Sundance Film Festival. While Neon and Hulu set a new record at Sundance by paying $17.5 million to purchase the rights of Palm Springs, one of the most remarkable films of the festival, remarkable films such as The Night House and Uncle Frank were also subject to remarkable deals that exceeded $10 million.
2020 Sundance Film Festival Awards
US – Drama
Grand Jury Prize: Minari
Audience Award: Minari
Director Award: Radha Blank – The 40-Year-Old Version
Waldo Salt Script Award: Edson Room – Nine Days
Special Jury Prize (Actress Community): Charm City Kings
Special Jury Prize (Auteur): Josephine Decker – Shirley
Special Jury Prize (Neorealism): Eliza Hittman – Never Rarely Sometimes Always
US-Documentary
Grand Jury Prize: Boys State
Audience Award: Crip Camp
Director Award: Garrett Bradley – Time
Special Jury Prize (Deputy Filmmaker): Arthur Jones – Feels Good Man
Special Jury Prize (Social Impact): Elyse Steinberg, Josh Kriegman, Eli Despres – The Fight
Special Jury Prize (Editing): Tyler H. Walk – Welcome to Chechnya
Special Jury Prize (Innovation in Non-Fictional Storytelling): Kirsten Johnson – Dick Johnson Is Dead
World Cinema-Drama
Grand Jury Prize: Yalda
Audience Award: Sin Señas Particulares
Director Award: Maïmouna Doucouré – Mignonnes
Special Jury Prize (Player Performance): Ben Whishaw – Surge
Special Jury Prize (Visionary Filmmaker): Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese – This Is Not a Burial, It’s a Resurrection
Special Jury Prize (Script): Fernanda Valadez & Astrid Rondero – Sin Señas Particulares
World Cinema – Documentary
Grand Jury Prize: Epicentro
Audience Award: The Reason I Jump
Director Award: Iryna Tsilyk – The Earth is Blue as an Orange
Special Jury Prize (Creative Storytelling): Benjamin Ree – The Painter and the Thief
Special Jury Prize (Image Management): Micrea Topoleanu, Radu Ciorniciuc – Acasa, My Home
Special Jury Prize (Editing): Mila Aung Thwin, Sam Soko, Ryan Mullins – Softie
Short Film
Grand Jury Prize: So What If The Goats Die
Director Award: Michael Arcos – Valerio’s Day Out
Jury Prize (International-Fiction): The Devil’s Harmony
Jury Prize (US-Fiction): Ship: A Visual Poem
Jury Prize (Non-Fiction): John Was Trying to Contact Aliens
Jury Prize (Animation): Dcera
Actor Award: Sadaf Asgari – Exam
Other Awards
NEXT Audience Award: I Carry You With Me
NEXT Innovative Award: I Carry You With Me
Alfred P. Sloan Feature Fiction Film Award: Tesla
Sundance Institute NHK Award: Kirsten Tan – Higher
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