2019 Sundance Film Festival Awards: ‘Clemency’ and ‘One Child Nation’ Lead Grand Jury Winners

At this year's awards ceremony, each of four Grand Jury Prizes for competition titles was directed or co-directed by a female filmmaker.
Zazie Beetz, Babak Anvari, Armie Hammer
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Julianne Moore
Julianne Moore, Chiwetel Ejiofor
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The 2019 Sundance Film Festival drew to a close this evening with the annual awards ceremony, which was hosted by filmmaker and actress Marianna Palka at the Basin Recreation Fieldhouse in Park City, Utah.

Of the four Grand Jury Prizes given to competition films — the festival’s highest honors — each was directed or co-directed by a female filmmaker, reflecting last year’s Directing winners, who were all women. This year’s Grand Jury Prize winners include Chinonye Chukwu’s “Clemency” (U.S. Dramatic), Nanfu Wang’s “One Child Nation” (U.S. Documentary), Joanna Hogg’s “The Souvenir” (World Dramatic), and Tamara Kotevska and Ljubomir Stefanov’s “Honeyland” (World Documentary).

Both of the U.S. winners are still without U.S. distribution, so here’s hoping a big win at tonight’s show might loosen up some purse strings for these essential — and now award-winning — features.

At this year’s festival, women directed 46 percent of the competition films, representing 56 films across four categories. In the U.S. Dramatic Feature category, female filmmakers are the majority: They comprised 56 percent of all directors, helming 16 films.

Sundance 2019 boasted 47 features directed by women (39 percent) and 39 shorts directed by women (53 percent). All told, 45 percent of all short and feature films at this year’s festival were directed by women.

Check out the full list of this year’s winners below.

U.S. Dramatic

Grand Jury Prize – “Clemency,” director: Chinonye Chukwu

Directing – “The Last Black Man in San Francisco,” director: Joe Talbot

Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award – “Share,” screenwriter: Pippa Bianco

Special Jury Award for Vision and Craft – “Honey Boy,” director: Alma Har’el

Special Jury Award for Acting  – Rhianne Barreto in “Share”

Special Jury Award for Creative Collaboration – “The Last Black Man in San Francisco,” director: Joe Talbot

U.S. Documentary

Grand Jury Prize – “One Child Nation,” director: Nanfu Wang

Directing – “American Factory,” directors: Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert

Special Jury Award for Moral Urgency – “Always in Season,” director: Jacqueline Olive

Special Jury Award for Emerging Filmmaker – “Jawline,” directed by Liza Mandelup

Special Jury Award for Editing – “Apollo 11,” director: Todd Douglas Miller

Special Jury Award for Cinematography – Luke Lorentzen for “Midnight Family”

"One Child Nation" director Nanfu Wang
“One Child Nation” director Nanfu WangYuanchen Liu

Audience Awards

U.S. Dramatic – “Brittany Runs a Marathon,” director: Paul Downs Colaizzo

U.S. Documentary – “Knock Down the House,” director: Rachel Lears

World Cinema Dramatic – “Queen of Hearts,” director: May El-Toukhy

World Cinema Documentary – “Sea of Shadows,” director: Richard Ladkani

World Cinema Dramatic Competition

Grand Jury Prize – “The Souvenir,” director: Joanna Hogg

Directing – “The Sharks,” director: Lucia Garibaldi

Special Jury Award – “Monos,” director: Alejandro Landes

Special Jury Award for Originality – “We Are Little Zombies,” director: Makoto Nagahisa

Special Jury Award for Acting – Krystyna Janda in “Dolce Fine Giornata”

Read More: Sundance 2019 Critic’s Notebook: How This Year’s Festival Played It Safe

World Cinema Documentary Competition

Grand Jury Prize – “Honeyland,” directors: Tamara Kotevska, Ljubomir Stefanov

Directing – “Cold Case Hammarskjold,” director: Mads Brugger

Special Jury Award for No Borders – “Midnight Traveler,” director: Hassan Fazili

Special Jury Prize for Impact for Change – “Honeyland,” directors: Tamara Kotevska, Ljubomir Stefanov

Special Jury Award for Cinematography – “Honeyland,” Fejmi Daut, Samir Legume

Shooting "Honeyland"
Shooting “Honeyland”Courtesy of Filmmakers

NEXT Innovator Award

“The Infiltrators,” directors: Cristina Ibarra, Alex Rivera

NEXT Innovator Prize

“The Infiltrators,” directors: Cristina Ibarra, Alex Rivera

NEXT Audience Award

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