The 2014 Sundance Film Festival wrapped up last Sunday in Park City, Utah. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the festival, which honors creative work and documentaries by independent filmmakers. Comedy’s quirky couple Nick Offerman, who plays the famous Ron Swanson on “Parks & Recreation,” and Megan Mullally, who plays the spunky role of Karen on “Will and Grace,” hosted the festival.
The festival, known for celebrating the year’s independent films and filmmakers, presented 118 films from all over the world in ten days. 37 awards were given, for everything from an award for Unique Vision to Intuitive Filmmaking. There are separate awards given for U.S. films and International films. The festival also awards directing, screenwriting, editing and cinematography. Unlike other award shows, the two categories films fall under are Dramatic or Documentary.
Past Sundance success stories include the premiere of Quentin Tarantino’s “Resevoir Dogs” (1992), “Saw” (2004) and “500 Days of Summer” (2009). Look out for these new Sundance-certified films, which usually have a wide release later in the year.
The U.S. Grand Jury Prize for Documentary was awarded to “Rich Hill,” about three boys in rural Mississippi. The award in the Dramatic category went to “Whiplash,” which is about a young jazz drummer and his instructor, played by J.K. Simmons. Last year “Whiplash” won the U.S. Fiction Short Film category. “Whiplash” also took home The Audience Award for U.S. Dramatic category, and is one of only two films to win more than two awards. The other is “Watchers of the Sky,” which won the U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Use of Animation along with the U.S. Documentary Editing Award. The film tells Raphael Lemkin’s story, a Polish Jew who was heavily involved in the creation of the Nuremberg Trials. The film links his success with other humanitarians. The World Cinema Grand Jury Prize went to “The Return to Homs,” which follows two young activists living in Homs, Syria over three years. The award for Dramatic film was awarded to “To Kill A Man,” which is by a Chilean filmmaker and tells the story of a quiet man who goes to great lengths to protect his family.
The Audience Award for U.S. documentary went to “Alive Inside: A Story of Music & Memory,” about the effects of music on fighting dementia. The Audience Award for World Cinema Dramatic went to “Difret,” which takes place and was filmed on location in Ethopia, and is about a lawyer advocating for women, and a 14-year-old who gets abducted and fights back, killing her perpetrator, but getting punished by the law. The Audience Award for World Cinema Documentary went to “The Green Prince.” The tension-filled story brings the book “Son of Hamas” to life — a political autobiography about an Israel secret service informant forced to betray his father.
The Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award, which is named after Waldo Salt, who wrote “Midnight Cowboy” and was blacklisted during the era of McCarthyism, was given to “The Skeleton Twins,” starring Bill Hader and Kristin Wiig in serious roles, about two estranged, suicidal twins who reconnect.
For a complete list of winners, visit the Sundance website.