Sundance Buzz Pt 3: The Jury & Audience Winners

Sundance wraps up today with screenings of winners. So who took home the prizes? And what does it all mean...?

U.S. DRAMATIC

Audience Award Birth Of A Nation (Nate Parker) previously discussed

Grand Jury Prize Birth Of A Nation (Nate Parker)

These two awards have become conjoined in the past handful of years. It sometimes means Oscar love right around the corner (Whiplash) and sometimes means altitude sickness (Me and Earl and the Dying Girl). Fox Searchlight picked up this much-raved Nat Turner biopic and it's not about teenagers, like last year's winner, but a historical event so it's likely to mean actual Oscar love. 

Since it's likely to win Oscar love -- or at least be in the Oscar discussion -- it's probably worth noting that a lot of the cast and crew are not Oscar regulars so we'd have first timers if it really catches on like: Elliott Davis in Cinematography (veteran of 3 Michelle Pfeiffer movies!) though his most famous hour is probably Steven Soderbergh's Out of Sight (1998); Francine Jamison-Tanchuck in Costume Design (her credits include Glory, Corrina Corrina, and Big Momma's House); Henry Jackman, composer (he's done a ton of blockbusters now but has yet to be Oscar-nominated - the closest he came was probably Captain Phillips for which he was BAFTA-nominated); the only cast member who's been nominated in the past is Jackie Earle Haley (Little Children)

Directing Daniel Scheinert & Daniel Kwan for Swiss Army Man

A24 picked this up and if released this year it's certain to be the weirdest 2016 film you'll see

Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award Chad Hartigan for Morris From America 

You may remember that Chad Hartigan used to write for In Contention many years ago so he's the first Oscar blogger to graduate to filmmaking (that we know of). His first feature This is Martin Bonner was really good so congrats to Hartigan for this second success. 

Special Jury Award – Individual Performance Melanie Lynskey for The Intervention

Melanie Lynskey is a TFE favorite and has been so kind to us over the years so this is just happy happy news as she's such a consistently rewarding actress to watch. She's been on quite a roll lately what with this new prize and her stunning work on Togetherness on HBO. Togetherness returns for Season 2 on February 21st. I'm so anxious to see the follow up on her cliffhanger affair with John Ortiz. 

Special Jury Award – Individual Performance Craig Robinson for Morris from America

Special Jury Award – Breakthrough Performance Joe Seo for Spa Night

Special Jury Award As You Are (Miles Joris-Peyrafitte)

This is the first we're hearing of Spa Night (there are so many films at Sundance that it's easy to miss buzz on 1 of 100s, but it's a Korean-American film about gay hookups on the downlow. Here's an NPR interview with the filmmaker. 

U.S. DOCUMENTARY

Grand Jury Prize Weiner (Elyse Steinberg & Josh Kriegman)

Audience Award Jim: The James Foley Story (Brian Oakes)

Directing Roger Ross Williams for  Life, Animated

Special Jury Award – Vérité Filmmaking The Bad Kids (Keith Fulton, Lou Pepe)

Special Jury Award – Writing Robert Greene for Kate Plays Christine

Special Jury Award – Social Impact Filmmaking Trapped (Dawn Porter)

NEXT Audience Award First Girl I Loved (Kerem Sanga)

WORLD CINEMA DRAMATIC

Between Sea and Land (Colombia) is about a man confined to his bed and the mother who cares for him. The screenwriter plays the man. Will it be Colombia's Oscar submission next year?Sand Storm is the story of a family divided by traditions and modernity as a mother watching her husband take a second bride worries about her daughters relationship to a student

Audience Award Between Sea and Land (Colombia. Directors: Manolo Cruz, Carlos del Castillo)

Grand Jury Prize Sand Storm (Israel. Director: Elite Zexer)

Directing Award Felix van Groeningen for Belgica (Belgium-France-Netherlands)

Special Jury Award – Unique Vision and Design The Lure (Poland. Director: Agnieszka Smoczyńska)

Special Jury Award – Screenwriting Inés Bortagaray & Ana Katz Mi Amiga Del Parque (Argentina-Uruguay)

Special Jury Award – Acting Vicky Hernandéz & Manolo Cruz for Between Sea and Land (Colombia)
 

Alfred P Sloane Prize  Embrace of the Serpent (Colombia. Director: Ciro Guerra)

A great year for Colombian cinema. Oscar nominated Embrace of the Serpent -- which we've discussed a few times -- won the Sloane prize (which is a prize for features that focus on science or technology, or depict a scientist, engineer, or mathematician as a major character.) and Between Sea and Land took two prizes.

If the Directing award winner's name looks familiar that's because he previously directed the Oscar-nominated music drama Broken Circle Breakdown - raise your hand if you love the soundtrack! (I still listen frequently) 

WORLD CINEMA DOCUMENTARY

We Are X is a music doc about a Japanese glam-rock band. Cameos from Marilyn Manson and David Lynch apparently.

Grand Jury Prize Sonita (Germany-Iran-Swizerland. Director: Rokhsareh Ghaem Maghami)

Directing Michal Marczak for All These Sleepless Nights (Poland)

Special Jury Award – Best Editing  Editors: Mako Kamitsuna, John Maringouin for We Are X (UK-U.S.-Japan)

Special Jury Award – Best Cinematography DP: Pieter-Jan De Pue for The Land Of The Enlightened (Belgium)

Special Jury Award – Best Debut Feature Directors: Mathew Orzel, Heidi Brandenburg for When Two Worlds Collide (Peru)

SHORT FILM WINNERS (previously posted)

WHICH OF THE FILMS W/ SUNDANCE BUZZ ARE YOU ANXIOUS TO SEE? 

Comments

[Lars]

Surprised Rebecca Hall wasn't honoured....

[LadyEdith]

3 cheers for Melanie Lynskey, who is an Indie Film Champ.
Bravo to Nate Parker,who turned down Netflix (more $) and took the offer that allows for a theatre release.well done!
Don't let Netflix become the equivalent of what Itunes did to the music industry.

[/3rtful]

Streaming companies having the ability to compete with the major studios for Academy recognition is a good thing. Because more outlier titles will have a chance to join the conversation outside of pundit advocacy.

[Jeremy]

Biggest one for me in Manchester by the Sea. Didn't win anything here, but its a fixture of every Top Sundance films of 2016, usually at #1. BIG fan of You Can Count on Me, can't wait for new greatness from Lonergan. And seeing Michelle Williams on the big screen again for the first time in forever.

[/3rtful]

Jeremy the movie was ineligible according to its biggest cheerleader Jeffrey Wells.