Sundance announces winners

Top L–R: The Friend’s House is Here, Josephine, The Lake, Bedford Park, Who Killed Alex Odeh?; Second Row L–R: Take Me Home, American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis Valdez, Birds of War, Soul Patrol, One In A Million; Third Row L–R: Nuisance Bear, Everybody To Kenmure Street, LADY, How to Divorce During the War, How to Divorce During the War, To Hold a Mountain; Fourth Row L–R: TheyDream, Ha-chan, Shake Your Booty!, Shame and Money, Aanikoobijigan [ancestor/great-grandparent/great-grandchild], The Incomer; Bottom L–R: Barbara Forever, HOLD ONTO ME (Κράτα Με), Filipiñana Photo: Courtesy of Sundance Institute

The Grand Jury Prize in the US Dramatic Competition went to Beth de Araújo's Josephine, which puts us in the shoes of a child witness to a rape. It also won the Audience Award. The US Documentary Competition Grand Jury Prize was awarded to Nuisance Bear directed by Gabriela Osio Vanden and Jack Weisman - expanded from their short.

The Grand Jury Prize in the World Dramatic Competition went to Shame And Money, about a family man facing financial pressures, directed by Visar Morina, while To Hold A Mountain, directed by Biljana Tutorov, Petar Glomazić, took home the equivalent documentary award.

There was success for UK talent as director Louis Paxton won the NEXT innovator award for his island-set comedy drama The Incomer. In the World Cinema Documentary Competition section, Itab Azzam and Jack MacInnes won the Directing Award for One In A Million.

Edinburgh-based Felipe Bustos Sierra won a World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Civil Resistance for Everybody To Kenmure Street, which will open Glasgow Film Festival next month. Scots-produced Birds Of War also won a World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Journalistic Impact. Nigeria-set Lady, directed by Olive Nwosu, won a World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Acting Ensemble for the cast, Jessica Gabriel’s Ujah, Amanda Oruh, Tinuade Jemiseye, Binta Ayo Mogaji, Seun Kuti, Bucci Franklin.

“As we conclude this memorable edition, we’re thrilled to celebrate our award-winning films and all the artists who participated in this year’s wonderful festival,” said festival director Eugene Hernandez. “Thank you to all of the artists and audiences who made this Festival one we’ll remember for a long time, and we’re deeply grateful to our friends and partners in Park City, Salt Lake City, and all across Utah, home to so many cherished Festivals. We salute and thank Utah’s moviegoers who have embraced this Festival and our founder Robert Redford’s vision. As this 2026 edition draws to a close, we’re remembering all of these times spent together.”

The complete list of awards is below:

• US Dramatic Grand Jury Prize: Josephine, US, Dir: Beth de Araújo
• US Documentary Grand Jury Prize: Nuisance Bear, US, Canada, Dir: Gabriela Osio Vanden, Jack Weisman
• World Cinema Dramatic Grand Jury Prize: Shame and Money, Germany, Kosovo, Slovenia, Albania, North Macedonia, Belgium, Dir: Visar Morina
• World Cinema Documentary Grand Jury Prize: To Hold A Mountain, Serbia, France, Montenegro, Slovenia, Croatia, Dir: Biljana Tutorov, Petar Glomazić
  
• Audience Award US Dramatic: Josephine, US, Dir: Beth de Araújo
• Audience Award US Documentary: American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis Valdez”, US, Dir: David Alvarado
• Audience Award World Dramatic: Hold Onto Me, Cyprus, Denmark, Greece, Dir: Myrsini Aristidou,
• Audience Award World Documentary: One In A Million, UK, Itab Azzam and Jack MacInnes
• Audience Award: Next: Aanikoobijigan (ancestor/great-grandparent/great-grandchild), US, Denmark, Dir: Adam Khalil, Zack Khalil

Additional Awards

• Directing Award: US Documentary: JM Harper for Soul Patrol
• Directing Award: US Dramatic: Rashad Frett for Ricky
• Directing Award: World Cinema Documentary: Itab Azzam and Jack MacInnes for One In A Million, UK
• Directing Award: World Cinema Dramatic: Andrius Blaževičius for How To Divorce During The War, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Ireland, Czech Republic
• Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award: US Dramatic: Liz Sargent for Take Me Home, US
• Jonathan Oppenheim Editing Award: US Documentary: Matt Hixon for Barbara Forever
• US Dramatic Special Jury Award for Ensemble Cast: The Friend's House Is Here, US, Iran, Dir: Hossein Keshavarz, Maryam Ataei, Cast: Mahshad Bahram, Hana Mana, Farzad Karen, Zohreh Pirnia
• US Documentary Special Jury Award for Journalistic Excellence: Who Killed Alex Odeh?, Dir: Jason Osder, William Lafi Youmans
• US Documentary Special Jury Award for Impact for Change: The Lake, US, Dir: Abby Ellis
• A World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Acting Ensemble: Lady, Nigeria, UK, Dir: Olive Nwosu, cast: Jessica Gabriel’s Ujah, Amanda Oruh, Tinuade Jemiseye, Binta Ayo Mogaji, Seun Kuti, Bucci Franklin
• A World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Creative Vision: Filipiñana, Singapore, UK, Philippines, France, Netherlands, Dir: Rafael Manuel
• World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Journalistic Impact: Birds of War, UK, Syrian Arab Republic, Lebanon Dir: Janay Boulos, Abd Alkader Habak
• World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Civil Resistance: Everybody To Kenmure Street, UK, Dir: Felipe Bustos Sierra
• NEXT Innovator Award: The Incomer, UK, Dir: Louis Paxton
• NEXT Special Jury Award for Creative Expression TheyDream, US, Dir: William David Caballero