SAGindie celebrated 40 years of the Sundance Film Festival, which took place January 18 – 28, in Park City, Utah, and it was a busy week. We sponsored The Latinx House Opening House Brunch, plus our own 27th Annual Actors Only Brunch and Filmmakers Luncheon.
Special thanks to our Actors Brunch hosts Melissa Barrera, Jay Ellis, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, River Gallo, Theo Germaine, Jena Malone, Katy O’Brian, and Maddie Ziegler; and our Filmmakers Luncheon hosts Poppy Hanks, Kelly O’Sullivan, Nathan Silver, Alex Thompson, David Zellner, and Nathan Zellner.
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We were also lucky enough to catch some of the many movies that premiered and screened at this year’s fest. You can check out our staff’s favorites and the full list of Jury and Audience Award winners below!
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Eliza’s Favorites:
Stress Positions and Gaucho Gaucho were the two films that really blew my mind.
Colin’s Favorites:
My two favorite films of Sundance ’24 were on opposite sides of the spectrum as far as familiarity with the onscreen talent. Kneecap features the titular Irish rap trio (Móglaí Bap, Mo Chara, and DJ Próvai) in debut performances, portraying themselves in a music biopic that brings much-needed chaotic energy and fun to the genre. Thelma, however, brings two veteran actors (94-year-old June Squibb and the late Richard Roundtree, in his final role) together as partners in crime for a very funny and touching action-comedy. One film has great ketamine gags, the other pokes fun at LifeAlerts. You’ll have to see them both to find out which is which.
Shefali’s Favorites:
Favorite Films:
Favorite Event:
The South Asian Lodge was the highlight!
2024 Sundance Film Festival Winners:
Grand Jury Awards – Dramatic
- U.S. Grand Jury Prize – Dramatic: In The Summers
- Directing Award – U.S. Dramatic: Alessandra Lacorazza, In the Summers
- Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award – U.S. Dramatic: Jesse Eisenberg, A Real Pain
- U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Best Ensemble: Dìdi
- U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Breakthrough Performance: Nico Parker, Suncoast
- World Cinema Grand Jury Prize – Dramatic: Sujo
- Directing Award – World Cinema Dramatic: Raha Amirfazil & Alireza Ghasemi, In the Land of Brothers
- World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Acting: Preeti Panigrahi, Girls Will Be Girls
- World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Original Music: Peter Raeburn, Handling the Undead
- NEXT Innovator Award: Little Death
- NEXT Special Jury Award: Desire Lines
Grand Jury Awards – Documentary
- U.S. Grand Jury Prize – Documentary: Porcelain War
- Directing Award – U.S. Documentary: Julian Brave NoiseCat & Emily Kassie, Sugarcane
- Jonathan Oppenheim Editing Award – U.S. Documentary: Carla Gutiérrez, Frida
- U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Sound: Gaucho Gaucho
- U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for the Art of Change: Union
- World Cinema Grand Jury Prize – Documentary: A New Kind of Wilderness
- Directing Award – World Cinema Documentary: Benjamin Ree, Ibelin
- World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Cinematic Innovation: Johan Grimonprez, Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat
- World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Craft: Nocturnes
Grand Jury Awards – Shorts
- Short Film Grand Jury Prize: The Masterpiece
- Short Film Jury Award – U.S. Fiction: Say Hi After You Die
- Short Film Jury Award – International Fiction: The Stag
- Short Film Jury Award – Non-Fiction: Bob’s Funeral
- Short Film Jury Award – Animation: Bug Diner
- Short Film Special Jury Award for Directing: Masha Ko, The Looming
- Short Film Special Jury Award for Directing: Makoto Nagahisa, Pisko the Crab Child is in Love
Audience Awards
- Audience Award – U.S. Dramatic: Dìdi
- Audience Award – U.S. Documentary: Daughters
- Audience Award – NEXT: Kneecap
- Audience Award – World Cinema Dramatic: Girls Will Be Girls
- Audience Award – World Cinema Documentary: Ibelin
Additional Awards
- Festival Favorite Award: Daughters
- Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize: Love Me
- Sundance/Sloan Episodic Fellowship: Tektite
- Sundance/Sloan Development Fellowship: Satoshi
- Sundance/Sloan Commissioning Fellowship: Inverses
CONGRATS TO THE 2024 SUNDANCE AWARD-WINNERS!
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