Sundance is one of the largest independent film festivals in the world. founded in 1978. Sundance has shown amazing films, such as Man on a Wire, Waiting for “Superman”, Like Crazy, Beasts of the Southern Wild, The Invisible War, The Spectacular Now and, Fruitvale Station. To put the amazing Sundance into perspective, in 2010, nine films shown at Sundance collectively received fifteen Oscar nominations. David O. Russell and Quentin Tarantino received their big break at Sundance. And while I have yet to experience the wonderful world of Park City in late January, I can only imagine the energy that fills the air. While the daunting obligation to return to school after winter break has continuously prevented me from making the trip to Utah, I always like to keep updated on the films shown at the festival.
Here is a quick recap of this year’s Sundance Film Festival:
The top award, the U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic, went to Whiplash. Directed and written by Damien Chazelle, Whiplash stars Miles Teller as a young musician who struggles to find his footing as a jazz drummer. Whiplash also received the Audience Award: U.S. Dramatic presented by Acura. Miles Teller puts on an impressive performance, performing all of the drumming throughout the film. His is accompanied on screen by Melissa Benoist, J.K. Simmons, Austin Stowell, and Jayson Blair.
The top award for documentaries, the U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Documentary, went to Rich Hill. Directed and written by cousins, Andrew Droz Palermo and Tracy Droz Tragos, Rich Hill takes a look into an impoverished town in Missouri and the life of three boys who live there. It raises a lot of questions about life and the importance of it. This film revamps the documentary viewpoint of U.S. poverty while looking deep into the pivotal connections of family.
The World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic went to To Kill a Man, directed by Alejandro Fernandez Almendras. World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Documentary went to Return to Homs, directed by Tala Derki. Cutter Hodierne won the Directing Award: U.S. Dramatic for his work on Fishing Without Nets. Ben Cotner & Ryan White won the Directing Award U.S. Documentary for their work on The Case Against 8. Other winners include films such as 52 Tuesdays, We Come as Friends, Watcher of the Sky, The Skeleton Twins, Love, Love, Love, and Yearbook.
There are many more award winners and even more amazing films that didn’t receive awards from this year’s Sundance Film Festival. I hope you take the time to watch a few of them. Who knows, maybe next year I will run into you at Sundance and we can see some great films together.
Photo Credit:
https://www.sundance.org/festival/