Last night the 2013 Sundance Award Ceremony kicked off with a fancy night of food, drinks, and people giving teary eyed speeches. The Ceremony itself was hosted by Sundance favorite, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, whose film and directorial debut Don Jon’s Addiction premiered earlier this week.
One of the night’s biggest surprises, was Special Audience Award for Sound Design for Shane Carruth’s (Primer) newest Sundance submission Upstream Color. It was a film that severely polarized legions of audiences and critics this year, so much so that I believe the jury felt the need to make the award up in order to make note of it.
The other big surprise winners were the U.S. Documentary Blood Brother, which won both the Audience and the Grand Jury Prize, as well as the U.S. Dramatic Film Fruitvale which also won both the Audience and Grand Jury Prize. Essentially, this means that the two works are automatically slated for a heavy Oscar run for 2013, so I would advise all of you out there to keep a close watch on your local Art Houses Listings.
Here is the full list of Awards.
The Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize – Computer Chess
Short Film Special Jury Award – Until the Quiet Comes (dir. Kahlil Joseph)
Short Film Grand Jury Prize – The Whistle
Special Jury Award World Cinema Documentary – Pussy Riot – A Punk Prayer (dir. Mike Lemer and Maxim Pzodorovkin)
Cinematography Award World Cinema Documentary – Who is Dayani Cristal?
Directing Award: World Cinema Documentary – The Machine Which Makes Everything Disappear
World Cinema Grand Jury Prize Documentary – A River Changes Course (dir. Kalyanee Mam)
Special Jury Award: World Cinema Dramatic – Circles (dir. Srdan Golubovic)
Cinematography Award: World Dramatic – Lasting (Michal Englert)
Screenwriting Award: World Cinema Dramatic – Wajma (An Afghan Love Story)
Best Director: World Cinema Competition – Crystal Fairy (dir. Sebastian Silva)
World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic – Jiseul (dir. O Muel)
Audience Award: Best of NEXT – This is Martin Bonner (dir. Chad Hartigan)
Audience Award: World Cinema Documentary – The Square (dir. Jehane Joujaim)
Audience Award: World Cinema Documentary – Metro Manila (dir. Sean Ellis)
Audience Award: U.S. Documentary – Blood Brother (dir. Steve Hoover)
Audience Award: U.S. Dramatic – Fruitvale (dir. Ryan Coogler)
Special Jury Award: U.S. Documentary – Inequality For All (dir. Jacob Kornbluth)
Special Jury Award: U.S. Documentary – American Promise
Special Jury Award: U.S. Dramatic For Acting – The Spectacular Now
Special Jury Award: U.S. Dramatic for Sound Design – Upstream Color (Shane Carruth, Johnny Marshall)
Cinematography Award: U.S. Documentary – Dirty Wars (Richard Rowley)
Cinematography Award: U.S. Dramatic – Ain’t Them Bodies Saints/Mother of George (Bradford Young)
Editing Award: U.S. Documentary – Gideon’s Army (Matthew Hamacheck)
Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award: U.S. Dramatic – In A World… (Lake Bell)
Directing Award: U.S. Documentary – Cutie and the Boxer (dir. Zachary Heinzerling)
Directing Award: U.S. Dramatic – Afternoon Delight (dir. Jill Soloway)
Grand Jury Prize: U.S. Documentary – Blood Brother (dir. Steve Hoover)
Grand Jury Prize: U.S. Dramatic – Fruitvale
