Nanny, Cha Cha Real Smooth, and Navalny Amongst the Sundance Film Festival Awards Winners

After nine days, 84 feature films and 59 short films, the juries have deliberated, the audience has voted, and the 2022 Sundance Film Festival’s Awards have been announced. The 26 jury-awarded and six audience-awarded prizes recognize achievement in global independent storytelling. Bold, intimate, and culture-shifting stories prevailed across categories.

“Today’s awards represent the determination of visionary individuals, whose dynamic work will continue to change the culture and create discourse throughout the year,” said Sundance Institute CEO Joana Vicente. “This year’s entire program has proven that no matter the context, independent storytelling remains a pivotal tool in expanding critical dialogues, and these stories will and must be shared.”

“The 2022 Sundance Film Festival once again met our audience wherever they happened to be,” added Sundance Film Festival Director Tabitha Jackson, “Whether you watched from home or one of our seven satellite screens, this year’s Festival expressed a powerful convergence; we were present, together, as a community connected through the work. And it is work that has already changed those who experienced it.”

“We are so grateful for this year’s jurors who brought their expertise and passion to their decision-making process,” said the Festival’s Director of Programming Kim Yutani, “We congratulate the award winners and we’re so thankful to each and every film in the program that made the 2022 Sundance Film Festival such a huge success.”

This year’s jurors were: Chelsea Barnard, Marielle Heller, and Payman Maadi for U.S. Dramatic Competition; Garrett Bradley, Joan Churchill, and Peter Nicks for U.S. Documentary Competition; Andrew Haigh, Mohamed Hefzy, and La Frances Hui for World Cinema Dramatic Competition; and Emilie Bujès, Patrick Gaspard, and Dawn Porter for World Cinema Documentary Competition. Joey Soloway was the juror for the NEXT competition section. Penelope Bartlett, Kevin Jerome Everson, and Blackhorse Lowe juried the Short Film Program Competition.

Full list of winners below.

GRAND JURY PRIZES

U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic
Nanny / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Nikyatu Jusu, Producers: Nikkia Moulterie, Daniela Taplin Lundberg)

U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Documentary 
The Exiles / U.S.A. (Directors: Ben Klein, Violet Columbus, Producers: Maria Chiu, Ben Klein, Violet Columbus)

World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic
Utama / Bolivia/Uruguay/France (Director and Screenwriter: Alejandro Loayza Grisi, Producers: Santiago Loayza Grisi, Federico Moreira, Marcos Loayza, Jean-Baptiste Bailly-Maitre)

World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Documentary
All That Breathes / India/U.K. (Director and Producer: Shaunak Sen, Producers: Aman Mann, Teddy Leifer)

AUDIENCE AWARDS

Audience Award: U.S. Documentary
Navalny / U.S.A. (Director: Daniel Roher, Producers: Odessa Rae, Diane Becker, Melanie Miller, Shane Boris)

Audience Award: U.S. Dramatic
Cha Cha Real Smooth / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Cooper Raiff, Producers: Dakota Johnson, Ro Donnelly, Erik Feig, Jessica Switch, Cooper Raiff)

Audience Award: World Cinema Dramatic
Girl Picture / Finland (Director: Alli Haapasalo, Screenwriters: Ilona Ahti, Daniela Hakulinen, Producers: Leila Lyytikäinen, Elina Pohjola)

Audience Award: World Cinema Documentary
The Territory / Brazil/Denmark/United States (Director: Alex Pritz, Producers: Will N. Miller, Sigrid Dyekjær, Lizzie Gillett, Anonymous)

Audience Award: NEXT
Framing Agnes / Canada/U.S.A. (Director: Chase Joynt, Producers: Samantha Curley, Shant Joshi, Chase Joynt)

FESTIVAL FAVORITE AWARD
Navalny / U.S.A. (Director: Daniel Roher, Producers: Odessa Rae, Diane Becker, Melanie Miller, Shane Boris)

JURY AWARDS FOR DIRECTING, SCREENWRITING & EDITING

Directing Award: U.S. Documentary 
I Didn’t See You There / U.S.A. (Director: Reid Davenport, Producer: Keith Wilson)

Directing Award: U.S. Dramatic
Palm Trees and Power Lines / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Jamie Dack, Screenwriter: Audrey Findlay, Producers: Leah Chen Baker, Jamie Dack)

Directing Award: World Cinema Documentary
A House Made Of Splinters / Denmark (Director: Simon Lereng Wilmont, Producer: Monica Hellström)

Directing Award: World Cinema Dramatic
KLONDIKE / Ukraine/Turkey (Director and Screenwriter: Maryna Er Gorbach, Producers: Maryna Er Gorbach, Mehmet Bahadir Er, Sviatoslav BulakovskyI)

Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award: U.S. Dramatic
Emergency / U.S.A. (Director: Carey Williams, Screenwriter: KD Davila, Producers: Marty Bowen, Isaac Klausner, John Fischer)

Jonathan Oppenheim Editing Award: U.S. Documentary
Fire Of Love / U.S.A. (Director: Sara Dosa, Producers: Shane Boris, Ina Fichman, Sara Dosa)

SPECIAL JURY AWARDS

U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award: Uncompromising Artistic Vision
Bradley Rust Gray for blood / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Bradley Rust Gray, Producers: David Urrutia, Bradley Rust Gray, So Yong Kim, Elika Portnoy, Alex Orlovsky, Jonathon Komack Martin)

U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award: Ensemble Cast
John Boyega, Nicole Beharie, Selenis Leyva, Connie Britton, Olivia Washington, London Covington, and Michael K Williams for 892 / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Abi Damaris Corbin, Screenwriter: Kwame Kwei-Armah, Producers: Ashley Levinson, Salman Al-Rashid, Sam Frohman, Kevin Turen, Mackenzie Fargo)

U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award: Impact for Change
Aftershock / / U.S.A. (Directors and Producers: Paula Eiselt, Tonya Lewis Lee)

U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award: Creative Vision
Descendant / U.S.A. (Director: Margaret Brown, Producers: Essie Chambers, Kyle Martin)

World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award: Documentary Craft
The Territory / Brazil/Denmark/United States (Director: Alex Pritz, Producers: Will N. Miller, Sigrid Dyekjær, Lizzie Gillett, Anonymous)

World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award: Excellence In Verité Filmmaking
Midwives / Myanmar (Director: Snow Hnin Ei Hlaing, Producers: Bob Moore, Ulla Lehman, Mila Aung-Thwin, Snow Hnin Ei Hlaing)

World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award: Innovative Spirit
Leonor Will Never Die / Philippines (Director and Screenwriter: Martika Ramirez Escobar, Producers: Monster Jimenez, Mario Cornejo)

World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award: Acting
Teresa Sánchez for Dos Estaciones / Mexico (Director and Screenwriter: Juan Pablo González, Screenwriters: Ana Isabel Fernández, Ilana Coleman, Producers: Jamie Gonçalves, Ilana Coleman, Bruna Haddad, Makena Buchanan)

NEXT INNOVATOR AWARD PRESENTED BY ADOBE
Chase Joynt for Framing Agnes / Canada, U.S.A. (Director: Chase Joynt, Producers: Samantha Curley, Shant Joshi, Chase Joynt)