{"id":444449,"date":"2026-01-31T04:37:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-31T04:37:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/444449\/"},"modified":"2026-01-31T04:37:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-31T04:37:10","slug":"the-2026-sundance-film-festival-award-winners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/444449\/","title":{"rendered":"The 2026 Sundance Film Festival Award Winners"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today the 2026 Sundance Film Festival announced the award-winning films, presented at a ceremony at The Ray Theatre in Park City, Utah. The ceremony was attended by the jury and artists receiving honors, in advance of the final day of the Festival on February 1st. The 2026 Festival has featured premieres, screenings, talks, events, and more in Park City and Salt Lake City, Utah, including programming that honored Robert Redford and his vision that has inspired generations of artists and redefined cinema around the world. All feature award-winning films are available online nationwide now through February 1st. Select award-winning films will screen in person for ticketholders and passholders. Tickets can be purchased at festival.sundance.org\/tickets<\/a>.<\/p>\n

U.S. DRAMATIC COMPETITION:

U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic
Josephine<\/a>\u00a0\/ U.S.A. (Director, Screenwriter, and Producer: Beth de Ara\u00fajo, Producers: David Kaplan, Josh Peters, Marina Stabile, Mark H. Rapaport, Crystine Zhang)<\/p>\n

Directing Award
Josef Kubota Wladyka\u00a0for\u00a0Ha-chan, Shake Your Booty!\u00a0\/ U.S.A. (Director, Screenwriter, and Producer: Josef Kubota Wladyka, Screenwriter: Nicholas Huynh, Producers: Kimberly Parker Zox, Mao Nagakura). The movie recently sold to Sony Pictures Classics.<\/p>\n

U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Ensemble Cast
The Friend\u2019s House is Here\u00a0\/ U.S.A., Iran (Directors, Screenwriters, and Producers: Hossein Keshavarz, Maryam Ataei)<\/p>\n

U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Awardfor Debut Feature
Bedford Park<\/a>\u00a0\/ U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Stephanie Ahn, Producers: Gary Foster, Chris S. Lee, Nina Yang Bongiovi, Theresa Kang, Son Sukku)<\/p>\n

Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award:\u00a0U.S.Dramatic
Take Me Home\u00a0\/ U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Liz Sargent, Producers: Apoorva Guru Charan, Minos Papas)<\/p>\n

U.S. DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION:

U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Documentary
Nuisance Bear \/ U.S.A., Canada (Directors: Gabriela Osio Vanden, Jack Weisman, Producers: Michael Code, Will N. Miller, Teddy Leifer)<\/p>\n

U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Journalistic Excellence
Who Killed Alex Odeh?<\/a>\u00a0\/ U.S.A. (Directors: Jason Osder, William Lafi Youmans, Producer: Dawne Langford, William Lafi Youmans, Jason Osder, Daniel J. Chalfen)
U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award
Jonathan Oppenheim Editing Award: Matt Hixon for Barbara Forever \/ U.S.A.
Matt Hixon\u00a0for\u00a0Barbara Forever\u00a0\/ U.S.A. (Director and Producer: Brydie O\u2019Connor, Producer: Elijah Stevens)<\/p>\n

Directing Award: U.S. Documentary
J.M. Harper\u00a0for\u00a0Soul Patrol<\/a>\u00a0\/ U.S.A. (Director and Producer: J.M. Harper, Producers: Sam Bisbee, Danielle Massie, Nasir Jones, Peter Bittenbender)<\/p>\n

U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Impact for Change
The Lake \/ U.S.A. (Director and Producer: Abby Ellis, Producer: Fletcher Keyes)<\/p>\n

AUDIENCE AWARDS:

Audience Award: U.S. Dramatic
Josephine<\/a> \/ U.S.A. (Director: Beth de Ara\u00fajo)<\/p>\n

Audience Award: U.S. Documentary
American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis Valdez<\/a> \/ U.S.A. (Director: David Alvarado)<\/p>\n

Audience Award: NEXT
Aanikoobijigan [ancestor\/great-grandparent\/great-grandchild] \/ U.S.A., Denmark (Directors: Adam Khalil, Zack Khalil)<\/p>\n

Audience Award: World Cinema Documentary
One In A Million<\/a> \/ U.K. (Directors: Itab Azzam, Jack MacInnes)<\/p>\n

Audience Award: World Cinema Dramatic
HOLD ONTO ME<\/a> (\u039a\u03c1\u03ac\u03c4\u03b1 \u039c\u03b5) \/ Cyprus, Denmark, Greece (Director: Myrsini Aristidou)<\/p>\n

NEXT AWARDS:

NEXT Special Jury Award for Creative Expression
TheyDream \/ U.S.A. (Director: William David Caballero)<\/p>\n

NEXT Innovator Award
The Incomer<\/a> \/ U.K. (Director: Louis Paxton)<\/p>\n

WORLD CINEMA DRAMATIC COMPETITION AWARDS:

World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic
Shame and Money<\/a> \/ Germany, Kosovo, Slovenia, Albania, North Macedonia, Belgium (Director: Visar Morina)<\/p>\n

World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Creative Vision
Filipi\u00f1ana \/ Singapore, U.K., Philippines, France, Netherlands (Director: Rafael Manuel)<\/p>\n

World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Acting Ensemble
LADY \/ U.K., Nigeria (Director: Olive Nwosu)<\/p>\n

Directing Award: World Cinema Dramatic
Andrius Bla\u017eevi\u010dius for How to Divorce During the War<\/p>\n

WORLD CINEMA DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION AWARDS:

World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Documentary
To Hold a Mountain \/ Serbia, France, Montenegro, Slovenia, Croatia (Directors: Biljana Tutorov, Petar Glomazi\u0107)<\/p>\n

World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Journalistic Impact
Birds of War<\/a> \/ U.K., Syria, Lebanon (Directors: Janay Boulos, Abd Alkader Habak)<\/p>\n

World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Civil Resistance
Everybody To Kenmure Street \/ U.K. (Director: Felipe Bustos Sierra)<\/p>\n

Directing Award: World Cinema Documentary
Itab Azzam and Jack MacInnes for One In A Million<\/a><\/p>\n

SHORTS PROGRAM AWARDS:

Short Film Grand Jury Prize
The Baddest Speechwriter of All \/ U.S.A. (Directors: Ben Proudfoot, Stephen Curry)<\/p>\n

Short Film Jury Award: U.S. Fiction
Crisis Actor \/ U.S.A. (Director: Lily Platt)<\/p>\n

Short Film Special Jury Award for Acting
Noah Roja and Filippo Carrozza for The Liars \/ Argentina<\/p>\n

Short Film Special Jury Award for Creative Vision
Paper Trail \/ U.S.A. (Director: Don Hertzfeldt)<\/p>\n

Short Film Jury Award: Animation
Living with a Visionary \/ U.S.A. (Director: Stephen P. Neary)<\/p>\n

Short Film Jury Award: Nonfiction
The Boys and the Bees \/ U.S.A. (Director: Arielle C. Knight)<\/p>\n

Short Film Jury Award: International Fiction
Jazz Infernal \/ Canada (Director: Will Niava)<\/p>\n

SPECIAL AWARDS:

Sundance Institute Producers Award for Nonfiction
Dawne Langford for Who Killed Alex Odeh?<\/a> \/ U.S.A.<\/p>\n

Sundance Institute | NHK Award
Leo Aguirre for Verano \/ U.S.A.<\/p>\n

Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize
In The Blink of An Eye<\/a> (Director: Andrew Stanton)<\/p>\n

What do you think of the winners? Which of these films are you most looking forward to? Please us know in the comments section below or on our X<\/a> account and be sure to stay tuned for our podcast discussion about the 2026 Sundance Film Festival later this week.
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