Nate Parker "In the words of the recently and dearly departed Alan Rickman, 'The more we're governed by idiots and have no control over our destinies, the more we need to tell stories to each other about who we are, why we are, where we come from, and what might be possible.' This year the winner embodies this notion singularly and accomplishes it with grand cinematic vision. Most of all, it challenges each of us to carry a riotous disposition for injustice and the system that preserve it everywhere and in doing so, it is both timeless and right on time."
Rohsare Gaemmagami "This film really engaged us on emotional level. It made us laugh. It made us cry. It spilled ground on its truly extraordinary central character. Its journey is fearless, inspirational and brave."
Winner
All nominees
The SettlersThe Settlers
Shimon Dotan
When Two Worlds CollideWhen Two Worlds Collide
Heidi Brandenburg, Mathew Orzel
7.6
We Are X
Stephen Kijak
A Flag Without a CountryA Flag Without a Country
Bahman Ghobadi
6.6
All These Sleepless NightsAll These Sleepless Nights / Wszystkie nieprzespane noce
Michal Marczak
Hooligan SparrowHooligan Sparrow
Nanfu Wang
Plaza de la SoledadPlaza de la Soledad
Maya Goded
Sky Ladder: The Art of Cai Guo-QiangSky Ladder: The Art of Cai Guo-Qiang
Kevin Macdonald
The Land of the EnlightenedThe Land of the Enlightened
The Land of the EnlightenedThe Land of the Enlightened
Pieter-Jan De Pue "This film is beautifully shot which makes a lot of sense. We loved the exploration of the landscape, the strong combination of the grandiosity of the locations and the intimacy which shooting with the characters especially when considering the astonishingly challenging condition."
Daniel Scheinert, Dan Kwan "A remarkable film that brims with creativity, humor and deft insight. A delightfully original film that balances fine performances with a rich and often breathtaking sense of design that bodes well for future projects. It is never anything else than provocative and entertaining."
All These Sleepless NightsAll These Sleepless Nights / Wszystkie nieprzespane noce
Michal Marczak "This filmmaker made a visually stunning film with unique vision. We feel the director is pushing the art of nonfiction into brave new territories. We the jury is really looking forward to see what this talented filmmaker does in the future."
Keith Fulton, Louis Pepe Vérité Filmmaking: "A film that artfully avoids cliches by taking us into overlooked world and illuminating not only the ugly reality but the humanity of the characters."
Miles Joris-Peyrafitte "To acknowledge a film we feel embodies the spirit of independence that Sundance represents. It's also a film that harkens the arrival of a bold, first time director with a command of their craft. We find much to admire in this remarkable reworking of the traditional coming of age narrative, we will eagerly await the next vision meets creator."
Winner
Morris from AmericaMorris from America
Craig Robinson Individual Performance
Winner
Spa NightSpa Night
Joe Seo Breakthrough Performance: "To an actor whose quiet and intimate performance is deeply moving."
Heidi Brandenburg, Mathew Orzel Best Debut Feature: "This film impresses us because of the tenacity of the filmmakers in staying with the story of many years. This film was beautiful, raw and had incredible tension."
Chad Hartigan "We are thrilled to honor an intimate original script that had us all utterly charmed and smiling like goons by placing the protagonist in an alien landscape and watching him flounder. This writer shown the light the experience of the outsider and the human connection that sustain us using the ancient art of humor."
Nina Gantz "This film takes us deep into a man's memories and his psyche as it contemplates suicide. It is high concept and emotional but it really is a gorgeous tragedy about the all-consuming power of love. We felt the characters and sets are so exquisitely rendered so tactile that we want it to just reach into the screen and hug the main character."
Kelvin Rider "This is the shortest film we watched but it stuck with us the longest and we love the director's restraint in the making of this film and his literal ass out insanity."
Maïmouna Doucouré "Frame for frame, scene for scene, this story unfolds beautifully. The director definitely draws us into many points of view within a family in a midst of a crisis but its her sensitive portrayal of an eight year old girl and the emotional impact on her and her father that won us over. This piece exhibits excellence in writing and directing. It's a staggering debut that leaves us eager to see more from her."
Sol Friedman "This is a doc with a very very simple hook about a woman who decides to eat bacon for the first time at 90 years old. And that simple idea blossoms into this exploration of faith, obedience, and even the power of the internet; And it pairs this no nonsense narration with half a dozen different cells of quirky animation that we just loved."
Ondrej Hudecek Best Direction: "This is a bloody period piece that ties together huge panoramas and minimalist animation; the direction and cinematography, which this filmmaker also did himself, is flawlessly inventive and clever."
Winner
Her Friend AdamHer Friend Adam
Grace Glowicki Outstanding Performance: "This is to an actress who plays a girlfriend who may or may not be having an emotional affair with her gay bestfriend. What we are definitely certain of is that this actress is a brave and fearless talent and we are not choosing that because this movie has unhinged or fake orgasm scene."
Jim Cummings "...a one shot monologue about a man melting down is a mini masterpiece of writing, directing and acting. This filmmaker is a real discovery. We have no idea who you are but the three of us left the theater and stalked your imdb page."
Winner
All nominees
Pombo Loves YouPombo Loves You
Steve Warne
PeacockFuriant
Ondrej Hudecek
Peace in the ValleyPeace in the Valley
Donal Mosher, Maykl Palmeri
PartnersPartners
Joey Ally
OverOver
Jörn Threlfall
MobilizeMobilize
Caroline Monnet
Mining Poems or OdesMining Poems or Odes
Callum Rice
ManomanManoman
Simon Cartwright
Maman(s)Maman(s)
Maïmouna Doucouré
Limbo Limbo TravelLimbo Limbo Travel
Zsuzsanna Kreif, Borbála Zétényi
Life SmartphoneLife Smartphone
Chenglin Xie
Land TidesMarea de tierra
Manuela Martelli, Amirah M. Tajdin
KillerKiller
Matt Kazman
Jáaji Approx.Jáaji Approx.
Sky Hopinka
JungleJungle
Asantewaa Prempeh
It's Not YouIt's Not You
Don McKellar
I Am Yup'ikI Am Yup'ik
Nathan Golon, Daniele Anastasion
How to Lose Weight in 4 Easy StepsHow to Lose Weight in 4 Easy Steps
Benjamin Berman
Her Friend AdamHer Friend Adam
Ben Petrie
GloveGlove
Bernardo Britto, Alexa Lim Haas
FuckkkyouuuFuckkkyouuu
Eddie Alcazar
Flower of a Thousand ColoursFlower of a Thousand Colours
Karen Vazquez Guadarrama
FigureFigura
Katarzyna Gondek
EntrappedEntrapped
Razan Ghalayini
EdmondEdmond
Nina Gantz
DogwalkerDogwalker
Kim Sherman
DirtDirt
Darius Clark Monroe
Dinner with Family with Brett Gelman and Brett Gelman's FamilyDinner with Family with Brett Gelman and Brett Gelman's Family
Jason Woliner
Deer FlowerDeer Flower
Kangmin Kim
BoniatoBoniato
Diego Meza-Valdes, Andres Meza-Valdes, Eric Mainade
Bob Dylan Hates MeBob Dylan Hates Me
Caveh Zahedi
Beneath the EmbersBajo las brasas
Andrea Fuentes Charles, Verónica Jessamyn López Sainz
BelladonnaBelladonna
Dubravka Turic
Bacon & God's WrathBacon & God's Wrath
Sol Friedman
AuditionAudition
Lovisa Sirén
Another Kind of GirlAnother Kind of Girl
Khaldiya Jibawi
AffectionsAffections
Bridey Elliott
Abendland (Hours, Years, Aeons)Abendland (Hours, Years, Aeons)
Patrik Söderlund, Visa Suonpää
A Woman and Her CarElle pis son char
Loïc Darses
A Reasonable RequestA Reasonable Request
Andrew Laurich
DolfunDolfun
Sebastián Silva
A Coat Made DarkA Coat Made Dark
Jack O'Shea
Waves 98Waves '98
Ely Dagher
VoyagersVoyagers
Santiago Menghini
Verbatim: The Ferguson CaseVerbatim: The Ferguson Case
Brett Weiner
TuesdaySali
Ziya Demirel
Too LegitToo Legit
Frankie Shaw
The Shining Star of Losers EverywhereThe Shining Star of Losers Everywhere
Mickey Duzyj
The Send-OffThe Send-Off
Ivete Lucas, Patrick Bresnan
The Puppet ManThe Puppet Man
Jacqueline Castel
The ProcedureThe Procedure
Kelvin Rider
The Pound HoleThe Pound Hole
Daniel Scheinert, Dan Kwan
The ItchingThe Itching
Dianne Bellino
The Grandfather DrumThe Grandfather Drum
Michelle Derosier
The ChickeningThe Chickening
Davy Force, Nick DenBoer
TerritoryTerritory
Eleanor Mortimer
Swimming in Your Skin AgainSwimming in Your Skin Again
Terence Nance
Speaking Is DifficultSpeaking Is Difficult
A. J. Schnack
So Good to See YouSo Good to See You
Duke Merriman
ShinyShiny
Spencer Susser, Daniel 'Cloud' Campos
SeideSeide
Elnura Osmonalieva
Roast BattleRoast Battle
Jason Reitman
Rate MeRate Me
Fyzal Boulifa
MeTube 2: August Sings Carmina BuranaMeTube 2: August Sings Carmina Burana