02/02/2015 - The Russian Woodpecker, Slow West amongst European films honoured

Slow West by John Maclean

The annual Sundance Film Festival (January 22 – February 1) concluded with a raft of British and European films taking their place on the awards honours board. Chad Gracia’s The Russian Woodpecker [+see also:
film review
film profile] (UK) won the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Documentary, while John Maclean’s Slow West [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: John Maclean
film profile] (UK/New Zealand) took home the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic. Louise Osmond’s Dark Horse won the Audience Award: World Cinema Documentary and Kim Longinotto won the Directing Award: World Cinema Documentary for Dreamcatcher [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (UK). 

Other European wins at Sundance include the Directing Award: World Cinema Dramatic to Alanté Kavaïté for The Summer of Sangaile [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Alanté Kavaïté
film profile] (Lithuania/France/The Netherlands); a World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Impact to Frida Barkfors and Lasse Barkfors’ Pervert Park (Sweden/Denmark); a World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Editing to Jim Scott for Jerry Rothwell’s How to Change the World [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (UK/Canada); and a World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Acting to Jack Reynor for Gerard Barrett’s Glassland [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (Ireland). 

The winning directors and projects of the 2015 Sundance Institute Global Filmmaking Awards in recognition of emerging independent filmmakers from around the world are: Haifaa Al Mansour, Be Safe I Love You (Saudi Arabia); K’naan, The Poet (Somalia); Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy, Luxembourg (Ukraine); and Oskar Sulowski, Rosebuds (Poland/Germany). Each filmmaker received a cash award of $10,000.