Sundance Film Festival: Every Grand Jury Drama Prize Winner in History

By Zack Sharf

1984: “Old Enough,” Marisa Silver
1985: “Blood Simple,” Joel and Ethan Coen
1986: “Smooth Talk,” Joyce Chopra
1987: “Waiting for the Moon,” Jill Godmilow (tie)
1987: “The Trouble With Dick,” Gary Walkow (tie)
1988: “Heat and Sunlight,” Rob Nilsson
1989: “True Love,” Nancy Savoca
1990: “Chameleon Street,” Wendell B. Harris Jr.
1991: “Poison,” Todd Haynes
1992: “In the Soup,” Alexandre Rockwell
1993: “Ruby in Paradise,” Victor Nunez (tie)
1993: “Public Access,” Bryan Singer (tie)
1994: “What Happened Was…” Tom Noonan
1995: “The Brothers McMullen,” Edward Burns (tie)
1995: “The Young Poisoner’s Handbook,” Benjamin Ross (tie)
1996: “Welcome to the Dollhouse,” Todd Solondz
1997: “Sunday,” Jonathan Nossiter
1998: “Slam,” Marc Levin
1999: “Three Seasons,” Tony Bui
2000: “Girl Fight,” Karyn Kusama (tie)
2000: “You Can Count on Me,” Kenneth Lonergan (tie)
2001: “The Believer,” Henry Bean
2002: “Personal Velocity: Three Portraits,” Rebecca Miller
2003: “American Splendor,” Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini
2004: “Primer,” Shane Carruth
2005: “Forty Shades of Blue,” Ira Sachs
2006: “Quinceañera,” Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland
2007: “Padre Nuestro,” Christopher Zalla
2008: “Frozen River,” Courtney Hunt
2009: “Precious,” Lee Daniels
2010: “Winter’s Bone,” Debra Granik
2011: “Like Crazy,” Drake Doremus
2012: “Beasts of the Southern Wild,” Benh Zeitlin
2013: “Fruitvale Station,” Ryan Coogler
2014: “Whiplash,” Damien Chazelle
2015: “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl,” Alfonso Gomez-Rejon
2016: “The Birth of a Nation,” Nate Parker
2017: “I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore.” Macon Blair

For the last 34 years, the Sundance Film Festival has kicked off the new year in independent cinema by introducing emerging filmmakers to the masses. With the 2018 edition taking place January 18-28, IndieWire looks back at all 38 narrative features that have walked away with the festival’s highest honor: The Grand Jury Prize U.S. Dramatic.