2021 Sundance Film Festival: winners announced

February 2, 2021

by Carla Hay

The winners of the 2021 Sundance Film Festival were announced in its annual award ceremony, held this year as a virtual event (hosted by Patton Oswalt) on February 2 in Park City, Utah. The annual festival, which is presented by the Sundance Institute, runs from January 28 to February 3 this year. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the entire festival was virtual.

“CODA” won top prizes in the U.S. Dramatic categories, as not only the Grand Jury winner, but also the Audience Award winner. The comedy/drama, which is about a Massachusetts teenager who has deaf parents and a deaf brother, also broke the record for the highest monetary acquisition for a movie that premiered at Sundance. The movie’s cast includes Emilia Jones, Marlee Matlin and Troy Kotsur.

Apple TV+ purchased “CODA” for a reported $25 million, breaking the previous record held by the Andy Samberg comedy “Palm Springs,” which Hulu purchased for $17.5 million (and 69 cents) acquisition in 2020. “CODA” also won the Sundance prizes for and Directing Award: U.S. Dramatic (for director Siân Heder) and U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Ensemble Cast.

In the World Dramatic Feature categories, director Blerta Basholli’s drama “Hive” was the top winner with three prizes, for the Grand Jury Award, Audience Award and Best Director. The movie is about a woman in Kosovo who starts an ajvar business after her husband goes missing.

The top U.S. documentary winner was “Summer of Soul (…Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised),” about the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival. “Summer of Soul” received the Grand Jury Award and the Audience Award. The documentary is the directorial debut of Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson. The animated film “Flee,” about a Afghanistan immigrant living in Denmark, was the winner of the World Documentary Grand Jury Award. “Writing With Fire,” about the only Indian newspaper operated by Dalit women, received the World Documentary Audience Award.

Here is the complete list of winners:

U.S. DRAMATIC COMPETITION

Emilia Jones in “CODA” (Photo courtesy of Sundance Institute)

Grand Jury Prize: “CODA”

Audience Award: “CODA”

Directing: Siân Heder, “CODA”

Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award: Ari Katcher and Ryan Welch, “On the Count of Three”

Special Jury Award for Ensemble Cast: “CODA”

Special Jury Best Actor Award: Clifton Collins Jr., “Jockey”

U.S. DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION

Sly Stone in “Summer of Soul (…Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised)” (Photo courtesy of Mass Distraction Media)

Grand Jury Prize: “Summer of Soul (…Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised)”

Audience Award: “Summer of Soul (…Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised)”

Directing: Natalia Almada, “Users”

Special Jury Award for Emerging Filmmaker: Parker Hill and Isabel Bethencourt, “Cusp”

Special Jury Award for Editing: Kristina Motwani and Rebecca Adorno, “Homeroom”

Special Jury Award for Nonfiction Experimentation: Theo Anthony, “All Light, Everywhere”

WORLD CINEMA DRAMATIC COMPETITION

Yllka Gashi, Molikë Maxhuni, Kaona Sylejmani and Blerta Ismajli in “Hive” (Photo by Alexander Bloom)

Grand Jury Prize: “Hive”

Audience Award: “Hive”

Directing Award: Blerta Basholli, “Hive”

Special Jury Award for Acting: Jesmark Scicluna, “Luzzo”

Special Jury Award for Creative Vision: Baz Poonpiriya, “One for the Road”

WORLD CINEMA DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION

Flee” (Photo courtesy of Sundance Institute)

Grand Jury Prize: “Flee”

Audience Award: “Writing With Fire”

Directing Award: Hogir Hirori, “Sabaya”

Special Jury Award for Editing: Kristina Motwani and Rebecca Adorn, “Homeroom”

Special Jury Award for Vérité Filmmaking: Camilla Nielsson, “President”

Special Jury Award for Impact for Change: Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh, “Writing With Fire”

SHORT FILMS

Pamilerin Ayodeji in “Lizard” (Photo by British Broadcasting Corporation and Potboiler Productions Ltd.)

Grand Jury Prize: “Lizard”

U.S. Fiction Jury Award: “The Touch of the Master’s Hand”

International Fiction Jury Award: “Bambirak”

Nonfiction Jury Award: “Don’t Go Tellin’ Your Momma”

Animation Jury Award: “Souvenir Souvenir”

Special Jury Award for Acting: “Wiggle Room”

Special Jury Award for Screenwriting: “The Criminals”

OTHER AWARDS

Lucien Guignard, Idella Johnson and Hannah Pepper in “Ma Belle, My Beauty” (Photo by Lauren Guiteras)

NEXT Audience Award: “Ma Belle, My Beauty”

NEXT Innovator Award: “Cryptozoo”

Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize: “Sons of Monarchs”

Sundance Institute NHK Award: Meryman Joobeur, “Motherhood”

Sundance Institute/Amazon Studios Producers Award for Fiction: Natalie Qasabian, “Run”

Sundance Institute/Amazon Studios Producers Award for Nonfiction: Nicole Salazar, “Philly D.A.”

Sundance Institute/Adobe Mentorship Award for Editing Nonfiction: Juli Vizza

Sundance Institute/Adobe Mentorship Award for Editing Fiction: Terilyn Shropshire

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