The Sundance Film Festival is an annual gathering of the greatest, most inspiring storytellers that come to share their primere of dramatic and documentary films, New Frontier films, performances, panel discussions, dynamic music events, etc. Ever since it began in 1985, the festival has reached out to hundreds of films that have gained both international and national recognition, commercial distribution, and reached worldwide audiences with emerging new voices. The festival always discovers ways to bring more performers in the best films to the light of their excellence.
The 2014 Sundance Film Festival took place between Jan. 16-26 in Park City, Utah. The talk host, Megan Mullally, introduced Jonathan Oppenheim who is an editor and producer of feature documentaries with work in the Sundance hits including Paris is Burning, Sister Helen, The Oath and Children Underground nominated for the Academy Award.
1. Winner of the Editing Award: U.S. Documentary: Watchers of the Sky, edited by Jenny Golden and Karen Sim.
2. Winner of the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award: U.S. Dramatic: The Skeleton Twins, screenplay by Craig Johnson and Mark Heyman
Mullally introduced Morgan Neville, three-time Grammy nominee for his music documentaries.
3. Winner of the Directing Award: U.S. Documentary: The Case Against 8, directed by Ben Cotner and Ryan White
On stage, Nick Offerman presented Lone Scherfig who wrote and directed Italian for Beginners, which won the Silver Bear at the 2001 Berlin Film Festival and directed An Education that won the World Cinema Audience Award at 2009 Sundance Film Festival and received three Academy Award nominations including best picture.
4. Winner of the Directing Award: U.S. Dramatic: Fishing Without Nets, directed by Cutter Hodierne
Mullally presented Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter and international recording artist Tracy Chapman.
5. Winner of the U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Documentary: Rich Hill, directed by Tracy Droz Tragos and Andrew Droz Palermo
Offerman introduced Leonard Maltin known for the annual Leonard Malatin’s Movie Guide and television’s Entertainment Tonight.
6. Winner of the of the U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic: Whiplash, directed by Damien Chazelle
Next, Mullally presented Charlotte Cook, Director of Programming for Hot Docs, North America’s largest documentary festival a member of this year’s U.S. Documentary Jury.
7. Winner of U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Intuitive Filmmaking: The Overnighters, directed by Jesse Moss
8. Winner of the U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Use of Animation: Watchers in the Sky, directed by Edet Belzberg
9. Winner of the U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Musical Score: Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter, composed by The Octopus Project
10. Winner of the U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Breakthrough Talent: Dear White People, directed by Justin Simien
Mullally presented Kahane Cooperman who is a documentary filmmaker and producer of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart that has won ten Primetime Emmy Awards and two Peabodys.
11. Winner of the Cinematography Award: U.S. Documentary: E-TEAM, Ross Kauffman, Director of Photography; Rachel Beth Anderson, Ross Kauffman, Cinematographers
Later, Offerman introduced Peter Saraf, producer of The Kings of Summer and Little Miss Sunshine and nominated for many Academy Awards, Golden Globes, and Independent Spirit, Gotham, and Producers Guild of America awards.
12. Winner of the Cinematography Award: U.S. Dramatic: Low Down, cinematography by Christopher Blauvelt
The next awards were for the new mind-turning, innovative wave of American Cinema.
13. Winner of the Audience Award: Best of NEXT: Imperial Dreams, directed by Malik Vitthal
Mullally introduced Oscar nominated and Golden Globe winning actress Felicity Huffman who announces the World Cinema audience awards.
14. Winner of the Audience Award for World Cinema Documentary: The Green Prince, directed by Nadav Schirman
15. Winner of the Audience Award for World Cinema Dramatic: Difret, directed by Zeresenay Berhane Mehari
Offerman presented the U.S. doc and narrative competition films.
16. Winner of Audience Award: U.S. Documentary: Alive Inside, directed by Michael Rossato-Bennett
17. Winner of Audience Award: U.S. Dramatic: Whiplash, directed by Damien Chazelle
Mullally introduced the World Cinema Dramatic Jury including Carlo Chatrian, Sebastian Lelio, and Nansun Shi.
18. Winner of the World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Ensemble Performance: God Help the Girl, directed by Stuart Murdoch, and starring Emily Browning, Olly Alexander, Hannah Murray, Pierre Boulanger, and Cora Bissett
19. Winner of the World Cinema Dramatic Cinematography Award: Lilting, cinematography by Ula Pontikos
20. Winner of the World Cinema Dramatic Screenwriting Award: Blind, written and directed by Eskil Vogt
21. Winner of the World Cinema Dramatic Directing Award: 52 Tuesdays, directed by Sophie Hyde
22. Winner of the World Cinema Dramatic Grand Jury Prize: To Kill a Man, directed by Alejandro Fernandez Almendras
Offerman introduced the competing titles of the World Cinema Films and the World Cinema Documentary Jury including Caspar Sonnen, Sally Riley, and Andrea Nix Fine.
23. Winner of the World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Cinematic Bravery: We Come As Friends, directed Hubert Sauper
24. Winner of the World Cinema Documentary Cinematography Award: Happiness, cinematography by Thomas Balmes and Nina Bernfeld; directed by Thomas Balmes
25. Winner of the World Cinema Documentary Editing Award: 20,000 Days on Earth, edited by Jonathan Amos
26. Winner of the World Cinema Documentary Directing Award: 20,000 Days on Earth, directed by Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard
27. Winner of the World Cinema Documentary Grand Jury Prize: Return to Homs, directed by Talal Derki
The hosts discussed the indie film productions. Mullally presented Keri Putnam who is the Executive Director of Sundance Institute. Putnam talked about the Sundance Institute/Mahindra Global Filmmaking Awards, given to filmmakers from the World Cinema stage based on their next screenplay.
- From Vietnam and the U.K., Hong Khaou for Monsoon.
- From Denmark, Tobias Lindholm for A War.
- From Australia, Ashlee Page for Archive.
- From India, Neeraj Ghaywan for Fly Away Solo.
The Sundance Institute/NHK Award went to Mark Rosenberg for Ad Inexplorata. Putnam presented the Director of the Sundance Film Festival John Cooper.
Cooper introduced the Director of Programming for the Sundance Film Festival, Trevor Groth introducing the Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize for a director with an outstanding film focusing on the theme of science or technology.
28. Winner of the Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize: I Origins, written and directed by Mike Cahill
The host talked about the Shorts Program, presented by YouTube.
29. Short Film Special Jury Award for Direction and Ensemble Acting: Burger, written and directed by Magnus Mork
30. Short Film Special Jury Award for Non Fiction: Love. Love. Love., directed by Sandhya Daisy Sundaram
31. Short Film Special Jury Award for Unique Vision: Rat Pack Rat, written and directed by Todd Rohal
32. Short Film Jury Award: Animation: Yearbook, written and directed by Bernardo Britto
33. Short Film Jury Award: Non Fiction: I Think This Is the Closest to How the Footage Looked, directed by Yuval Hamieri and Michal Vaknin
34. Short Film Jury Award: International Fiction: The Cut, written and directed by Geneviève Dulude-Decelles
35. Short Film Jury Award: U.S. Fiction: Gregory Go Boom, written and directed by Janicza Bravo
36. Short Film Grand Jury Prize: Of God and Dogs, directed by the Abounaddara Collective
37. Winner of the 2014 Shorts Audience Award, presented by YouTube: Chapel Perilous, directed by Matthew Lessner
The master films that an audience watches to fall in love with during their lifetime have been celebrated and applauded at the beautiful Sundance Film Festival.