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‘CODA’ sweeps top 2021 Sundance Film Festival awards; see the complete list of winners

By Kelli Dugan, Cox Media Group National Content Desk
By Kelli Dugan, Cox Media Group National Content Desk

For the first time in the event’s history, a single picture took all three top prizes in the Sundance Film Festival’s U.S. Dramatic category.

“CODA,” described by Variety as a “family drama centered on a high school student who is the child of deaf adults,” won a total of four prizes during Tuesday night’s virtual awards ceremony, including the grand jury prize, the directing prize, the audience award and a special jury prize for best ensemble.

“I hope that this opens the door to people getting that audiences want to see these kinds of stories,” director Siân Heder said while delivering an acceptance speech for the audience award. “And I hope that this means that more stories that center (on) deaf characters and characters with disabilities get put front and center because clearly people want to respond to that.”

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“Hive” also earned the grand jury prize, audience award, and directing award in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition, marking another Sundance first with director Blerta Basholli’s story of a “single mother struggling to survive after her husband disappeared during the war in Kosovo,” Variety reported.

Meanwhile, “Summer Of Soul (…Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised),” won both the grand jury and audience awards in the U.S. Documentary Competition category. The feature documentary, which recreated the Harlem Cultural Festival, a “massive music event celebrating African American music and attended by 300,000 in the summer of 1969,” was directed by Roots frontman Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, the outlet reported.

Sundance Institute Director Keri Putnam offered words on the pandemic and Sundance’s place within it during Tuesday’s awards ceremony, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

“We have been able to gather in new ways that we weren’t sure (would) work, but did,” Putnam said. “After a year that has been exceptionally difficult for artists and the arts, it is inspiring to see this community rally so fiercely around both.”

The full list of winners includes:

U.S. DRAMATIC COMPETITON

• Grand Jury Prize: “CODA”

• Audience Award: “CODA”

• Directing: Siân Heder, “CODA”

• Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award: Ari Katcher and Ryan Welch, “On the Count of Three”

• Special Jury Award for Best Actor: Clifton Collins Jr., “Jockey”

• Special Jury Award for Best Ensemble: The cast of “CODA” (Emilia Jones, Eugenio Derbez, Troy Kotsur, Ferdia Walsh-Peelo, Daniel Durant, and Marlee Matlin)

U.S. DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION

• Grand Jury Prize: “Summer Of Soul (…Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised)”

• Audience Award: “Summer Of Soul (…Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised)”

• Directing: Natalia Almada, “Users”

• Jonathan Oppenheim Editing Award: Kristina Motwani and Rebecca Adorno, “Homeroom”

• Special Jury Award for Emerging Filmmaker: Parker Hill, Isabel Bethencourt, “Cusp”

• Special Jury Award for Nonfiction Experimentation: Theo Anthony, “All Light, Everywhere”

WORLD CINEMA DRAMATIC COMPETITION

• Grand Jury Prize: “Hive”

• Audience Award: “Hive”

• Directing Award: Blerta Basholli, “Hive”

• Special Jury Award for Acting: Jesmark Scicluna, “Luzzu”

• Special Jury Award for Creative Vision: Baz Poonpiriya, “One for the Road”

WORLD CINEMA DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION

• Grand Jury Prize: “Flee”

• Audience Award: “Writing With Fire”

• Directing Award: Hogir Hirori, “Sabaya”

• Special Jury Award for Vérité Filmmaking: Camilla Nielsson, “President”

• Special Jury Award for Impact for Change: Rintu Thomas, Sushmit Ghosh, “Writing With Fire”

OTHER AWARDS

• NEXT Audience Award: Marion Hill, “My Belle, My Beauty”

• NEXT Innovator Award: Dash Shaw (director), Jane Samborski (animation director), “Cryptozoo”

• Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize: Alexis Gambis, “Son of Monarchs”

• Sundance Institute/Amazon Studios Producers Award for Narrative Features: Natalie Qasabian, “Run”

• Sundance Institute/Amazon Studios Producers Award for Documentary Features: Nicole Salazar, “Philly D.A.”

• Sundance Institute NHK Award: Meryam Joobeur, “Motherhood”

• Sundance Institute/Adobe Mentorship Award for Editing Nonfiction: Juli Vizza,

• Sundance Institute/Adobe Mentorship Award for Editing Fiction: Terilyn Shropshire.


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