"Girls Like Us"; "Sunday" Take Top Sundance Prizes
by Eugene Hernandez
The 1997 Sundance Film Festival draws to a close today,
following the announcement of award winners last night at the Park City
Raquet Club.
Jane C. Wagner and Tina DiFeliciantonio’s “Girls Like Us“, a film about
teenage girls, was presented with the Documentary Grand Jury Prize,
while Jonathan Nossiter’s “Sunday” was presented with the Dramatic Grand
Jury Prize. The film was also honored with the presentation of the
Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award to its writers Jonathan Nossiter and
James Lasdun.
Another big winner yesterday evening was Morgan J. Freeman’s “Hurricane“
which was honored with the Dramatic Audience Award, the Directing Award
to Freeman and the Cinematography award to Enrique Chediak. Also
presented with the Dramatic Audience Award was Theodore Witcher’s “love jones“. Monte Bramer’s “Paul Monette: The Brink of Summer’s End” took home
the Documentary Audience Award, with the Documentary Director’s Award
going to Arthur Dong for his film, “Licenced to Kill“. Dong’s film was
also presented with the documentary Filmmakers’ Trophy, with the
Dramatic Filmmakers’ Trophy going to Neil LaBute’s “In the Company of Men“.
The Freedom of Expression Award, honoring excellence in documentary
filmmaking, was presented to both Macky Alston’s “Family Name” and Laura
Angelica Simon’s “Fear and Learning at Hoover Elementary“. The Latin
Filmmaking Award went to Arturo Ripstein’s “Deep Crimson“, with “Landscapes of Memory” receiving a Special Recognition for Latin American
filmmaking. The award recognizing excellence in Short Filmmaking was
presented to Kris Isaacson’s “Man About Time“, with honorable mentions
going to Richard C. Zimmerman’s “Birdhouse” and KC Amos’ “Syphon-Gun“.
Special Jury Prizes were presented to Parker Posey for her performance
in “The House of Yes“, Therese DePrez for production design on Mark
Pellington’s “Going All the Way” and Kirby Dick for his documentary “Sick: The Life and Death of Bob Flannagan“.
Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here.
