Eye For Film >> News >> Minari, Boys State take Grand Jury Prizes at Sundance

Minari, Boys State take Grand Jury Prizes at Sundance

Tabitha Jackson named as new festival head

by Amber Wilkinson

Minari Photo: Courtesy of Sundance Institute

As the 2020 edition of the Sundance Film Festival, there was consensus between the audience and jury, with Lee Isaac Chung's Minari taking home the US Grand Jury Prize and the section's Audience Award. The film, which is semi-autobiographical, tells the story of a young Korean-American boy who moves to rural Arkansas with his family, including his quirky grandma.

The US Documentary Grand Jury Prize went to Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine's Boys State, which charts an experiment to build a representative government among Texas teenagers, while the Audience Award in the category was taken home by disability rights documentary Crip Camp, directed by Jim LeBrecht and Nicole Newnham.

I Carry You With Me - charting a decades-spanning love story and directed by Heidi Ewing - won the Next Audience and Innovator award.

In the World Competitions, the Grand Jury Prize went to Yalda, a Night for Forgiveness, directed by Massoud Bakhshi, about a woman who is sentenced to death for murdering her husband, while the Audience Award was given to Fernanda Valadez for Identifying Features (Sin Senas Particulares), which sees a mother searching for her son. The World Documentary Grand Jury Prize was taken home by Hubert Sauper's Epicentro, which offers reflections on modern Cuba. The Audience Award went to Jerry Rothwell for The Reason I Jump.

The evening also marked the last with festival director John Cooper at the helm. Tabitha Jackso0n - who previously held the post of director of the Sundance documentary programme for six years - was named as his successor.

The full list of winners is below:

US DRAMATIC COMPETITION

Grand Jury Prize Award: Lee Isaac Chung for Minari
Audience Award: Lee Isaac Chung for Minari
Directing Award: Radha Blank for The 40-Year-Old Version
Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award: Edson Oda for Nine Days
Special Jury Award for Auteur Filmmaking: Josephine Decker for Shirley
Special Jury Award: Neorealism: Eliza Hittman for Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Special Jury Award for Ensemble Cast: Charm City Kings

US DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION

Grand Jury Prize Award: Jesse Moss, Amanda McBaine for Boys State
Audience Award: Nicole Newnham and Jim Lebrecht for Crip Camp
Directing Award: Garrett Bradley for Time
Special Jury Award for Social Impact Filmmaking: Elyse Steinberg, Josh Kriegman and Eli Despres for The Fight
Special Jury Award for an Emerging Filmmaker: Arthur Jones for Feels Good Man
Special Jury Award for Editing: Tyler H Walk for Welcome to Chechnya
Special Jury Award for Innovation in Nonfiction Storytelling: Kirsten Johnson for Dick Johnson Is Dead

WORLD CINEMA DRAMATIC COMPETITION

Grand Jury Prize: Massoud Bakhshi for Yalda, A Night For Forgiveness
Dramatic Directing Award: Maimouna Doucoure for Cuties
Audience Award: Fernanda Valadez for Identifying Features (Sin Senas Particulares)
Special Jury Award for Best Screenplay: Fernanada Valadez Astrid Rondero for Identifying Features (Sin Senas Particulares)
Special Jury Award for Visionary Filmmaking: Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese for This Is Not a Burial, It's a Resurrection
Special Jury Award for Acting: Ben Whishaw for Surge

WORLD CINEMA DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION

Grand Jury Prize: Hubert Sauper's Epicentro
Audience Award: Jerry Rothwell for The Reason I Jump
Directing Award: Iryna Tsilyk's The Earth Is Blue As An Orange
Special Jury Award for Creative Storytelling: Benjamin Ree for [film]The Painter And The Thief
Special Jury Award for Cinematography: Mircea Topoleanu and Radu Ciorniciuc for Acasa, My Home
Special Jury Award for Editing: Mila Aung-Thwin, Sam Soko and Ryan Mullins for Softie

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