The 2023 festival has spotlighted 111 features and 64 shorts, selected from 15,856 submissions, via screenings in Park City.
The Sundance Film Festival, a programme of the nonprofit Sundance Institute, returned back in person and across the country online for 2023.
The 2023 awards were announced during an event at The Ray Theatre in Park City and updated on Sundance Film Festival’s official social accounts.
Iranian-American director Maryam Keshavarz’s The Persian Version took home the Audience Award and Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award in US Dramatic Competition.
The film follows a large Iranian-American family gathering for the patriarch’s heart transplant, a family secret is uncovered that catapults the estranged mother and daughter into an exploration of the past. Toggling between the United States and Iran over decades, mother and daughter discover they are more alike than they know.
This is one of three films at Sundance this year to be directed by Iranian women, the others being Joonam and Shayda.
Noora Niasari’s Shayda took home the Audience Award in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition. Shayda, a brave Iranian mother, finds refuge in an Australian women’s shelter with her six-year-old daughter. Over Persian New Year, they take solace in Nowruz rituals and new beginnings, but when her estranged husband re-enters their lives, Shayda’s path to freedom is jeopardized.
Animalia by Sofia Alaoui from Morocco took home the Special Jury Award for Creative Vision.
The US dramatic grand jury prize went to the Focus Features release A Thousand and One, from debut writer-director AV Rockwell. Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project, directed by Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson, took the US documentary jury prize.
The award for festival favourite went to Radical, an inspirational teacher drama led by Eugenio Derbez and produced by 3Pas.
Kokomo City won both prizes in Sundance’s more experimental NEXT section, while Mutt earned a special jury acting award in the US competition.
In a statement, the jury said: “In this original story of a woman making her way through a living and breathing landscape, we experience a world turned upside down, of humans in collision with nature and an uncovering of supernatural forces. We were delighted to discover in Sofia Alaoui’s first feature a subversive voice that tackles and interrogates the universe in what is ultimately a journey to simply discover oneself. The World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award: Creative Vision goes to Sofia Alaoui, Animalia.”
Joana Vicente, Sundance Institute CEO, added: “This year’s Festival has been an extraordinary experience. The artists that comprise the 2023 Sundance Film Festival have demonstrated a sense of urgency and dedication to excellence in independent film. Today’s award winners highlight our programmes’ most impressive achievements in the current moment of cinematic arts. I hope you will join me in congratulating our winners, as well as thanking all artists across sections for sharing their stories with the Sundance community.”
Kim Yutani, Sundance Film Festival Director of Programming, stated: “In addition to acknowledging our artists, I want to thank this year’s jurors for their time and thoughtful consideration. Their efforts help contextualize our artists’ work beyond the Festival program and elevate their stories to new audiences around the globe. The winners themselves represent a diverse mix of bold storytelling, thought-provoking reflections, and critical representations of our world today.”
The awards announcement marks a key point of the 2023 festival, where 111 feature-length and 64 short films — selected from 15,856 submissions — have been presented in Park City, Salt Lake City, and at the Sundance Resort, while over 75% of the feature films, plus Shorts and Indie Episodics, are available via the festival’s online platform through Sunday, January 29.
