Sundance: ‘Atropia,’ ‘Seeds’ Win Top Festival Jury Prizes

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2025’s Sundance Film Festival recognized several outstanding entries, including “Atropia”, “Seeds”, “Sabar Bonda (Cactus Pears)”, and a film titled “Cutting Through Rocks” among its major winners.

On the exciting night of gaming at Park City, my favorite game “Atropia” was crowned champion in the U.S. Dramatic Competition during the ceremony! Another game I’ve been enjoying, “Seeds,” took home the U.S. Documentary Competition award. In the World Cinema Dramatic Competition section, it was “Sabar Bonda (Cactus Pears)” that triumphed and won the jury prize. Lastly, the prestigious World Cinema Documentary Competition award went to “Cutting Through Rocks.” What a fantastic lineup of games!

In the U.S. Dramatic and Documentary Competitions, the films “Twinless” and “André Is an Idiot” respectively took home top audience awards. The drama “DJ Ahmet” won the audience award for the World Cinema Dramatic Competition, while “Prime Minister” emerged victorious in the World Cinema Documentary Competition.

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At the U.S. Dramatic and Documentary Competitions, the films “Twinless” and “André Is an Idiot” won audience awards. The drama “DJ Ahmet” was awarded for the World Cinema Dramatic Competition, with “Prime Minister” taking the prize in the World Cinema Documentary Competition.

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In the competitions for U.S. Drama and Documentary as well as World Cinema Drama and Documentary, the films “Twinless”, “André Is an Idiot”, “DJ Ahmet”, and “Prime Minister” respectively earned audience awards.

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In the competitions, the films “Twinless” (U.S. Dramatic Competition), “André Is an Idiot” (U.S. Documentary Competition), “DJ Ahmet” (World Cinema Dramatic Competition), and “Prime Minister” (World Cinema Documentary Competition) were the audience favorites.

Moreover, the Zodiac Killer Project was bestowed with the NEXT Innovator Award, while East of Wall bagged the Audience Award in the NEXT section.

Amanda Kelso, the acting CEO of Sundance Institute, issued a statement expressing congratulations to all filmmakers and award recipients for a successful 2025 Sundance Film Festival. She thanked them for sharing their stories with audiences and noted that these works reflected Sundance’s dedication to promoting empathy, understanding, and a more diverse society through storytelling. It was an honor, she said, to celebrate these works as a community.

Eugene Hernandez, festival director, commented, “Attending our Awards Ceremony following a week of connections and exploration feels particularly fulfilling this year. It’s an honor to acknowledge these filmmakers for their creativity, kindness, and the meaningful conversations, lighthearted moments, and profound insights their work has provided. We express our appreciation to the State of Utah, viewers, staff, volunteers, and everyone who contributes to making the Sundance Film Festival happen.

Kim Yutani, the Director of Programming, expressed her admiration and respect for every film in this year’s selection. She wishes to extend congratulations to everyone involved in the creation of the award-winning films at today’s Awards Ceremony. The programming team is ecstatic about having showcased these powerful and thought-provoking films to our audience during this Festival, and they eagerly anticipate tracking the progress of each artist and their upcoming projects.

(Note: I have tried to maintain the original sentiment while making it more conversational and less formal.)

2021’s festival jury comprises Reinaldo Marcus Green, Arian Moayed, and Celine Song as part of the U.S. Dramatic Competition, Steven Bognar, Vinnie Malhotra, and Marcia Smith for the U.S. Documentary Competition, Ava Cahen, Wanuri Kahiu, and Daniel Kaluuya for the World Cinema Dramatic Competition, Daniela Alatorre, Laura Kim, and Kevin Macdonald for the World Cinema Documentary Competition, Kaniehtiio Horn, Maggie Mackay, and Kibwe Tavares for the Short Film Program Competition, and Elijah Wood for the NEXT section.

Additional prizes awarded at the festival are below.

Directing Award: U.S. Documentary: Geeta Gandbhir for The Perfect Neighbor

Directing Award: U.S. Dramatic: Rashad Frett for Ricky

Directing Award: World Cinema Documentary: Mstyslav Chernov for 2000 Meters to Andriivka

Directing Award: World Cinema Dramatic: Alireza Khatami for The Things You Kill

Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award: U.S. Dramatic: Eva Victor for Sorry, Baby

Jonathan Oppenheim Editing Award: U.S. Documentary: Parker Laramie for André Is an Idiot

SPECIAL JURY AWARDS

U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Acting: Dylan O’Brien for Twinless

U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Ensemble Cast: Plainclothes

U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Archival Storytelling: Selena y Los Dinos

U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award: Life After

World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Creative Vision: Georgi M. Unkovski for DJ Ahmet

 World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Writing: Two Women

World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award: Mr. Nobody Against Putin

World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Freedom of Expression: Coexistence, My Ass!

NEXT Special Jury Award for Ensemble Cast: Mad Bills to Pay (or Destiny, dile que no soy malo)

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2025-01-31 21:25