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SUNDANCE 2023 Awards

Scrapper wins the World Cinema Dramatic Grand Jury Prize at Sundance

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- Also among the European prizewinners at this year's US festival are the features Slow by Lithuania’s Marija Kavtaradze and Animalia by French-Moroccan helmer Sofia Alaoui

Scrapper wins the World Cinema Dramatic Grand Jury Prize at Sundance
Scrapper by Charlotte Regan

This year, once again (after having first been implemented during the pandemic), the Sundance Film Festival took place as a hybrid event, both physically in Park City, Utah, and online. The online access was well organised and generously offered more than 75% of the programme; thus it could be considered as a true alternative in these times of concern over the climate. No matter which way one chose to follow the festival, from 19-29 January, a total of 111 feature-length and 64 short films got an airing. This year's edition came to a close with the announcement of the award winners.

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Four main competitions traditionally form the core of the festival, marking a separation between documentaries and fiction films as well as US and international titles. A European film was awarded the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize for the best fiction film. Scrapper [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
is a heart-warming coming-of-age tragicomedy that paints the portrait of a peculiar father-daughter relationship. The film was written and directed by London-based Charlotte Regan.

It is Regan's first feature-length film, for which she also cast London-based actor Harris Dickinson, who recently played a major role in Ruben Östlund's Triangle of Sadness [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ruben Östlund
interview: Ruben Östlund
film profile
]
. The jury called the movie “a charming and empathetic film full of integrity and life. Scrapper is a poignant study on grief and how the protagonist attempts to shrink her world. Through a child's eyes, we observe abandonment, detachment and coldness, delivered with love, humour and warmth.”

Both Directing Awards, granted to an international documentary and an international fiction film, were given to European productions. The Directing Award in the World Cinema Documentary category went to Smoke Sauna Sisterhood [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Anna Hints
film profile
]
by Estonian director Anna Hints. The Estonian-French-Icelandic production is set in a smoke sauna in which a group of women share their thoughts. The jury explained its decision thusly: “A transcendental story of women that bring us into their bodies, their traumas and their healing. Tales of patriarchy that we have rarely seen on screen come together with cinematic beauty, humour, wisdom and refreshing self-awareness.”

The Direction Award in the World Cinema Dramatic category was bestowed upon Lithuanian helmer Marja Kavtaradze for Slow [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Marija Kavtaradze
film profile
]
, co-produced by Lithuania, Spain and Sweden. The jury stated: “In this untraditional love story, we follow the journey of two individuals who pose the question: what is desire? Kavtaradze is a poet and an expert weaver, intertwining scenes of provocative movement with more quiet, insightful moments rich in dialogue.”

The two World Cinema Special Jury Awards for Creative Vision for both a documentary and a fiction film went to European films, too. The doc in question was And the king said, what a FANTASTIC MACHINE [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Axel Danielson, Maximilien …
film profile
]
, a Swedish-Danish co-production helmed by Alex Danielson and Maximilien van Aertryck. The award-winning dramatic piece was the first feature by French-Moroccan director Sofia Alaoui, Animalia [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Sofia Alaoui
film profile
]
, a drama that tells a fantastical story about emancipation, set in Morocco. The jury said about the latter: “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.”

Finally, the Special Jury Award for the Best Performance in the World Cinema Dramatic strand went to Rosa Marchant for her lead role in the rape drama When It Melts [+see also:
film review
interview: Veerle Baetens
film profile
]
by Belgian first-time director and actress Veerle Baetens.

Here is the full list of award winners:

World Cinema Dramatic Competition

Grand Jury Prize
Scrapper [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
– Charlotte Regan (UK)

Best Directing
Marja Kavtaradze – Slow [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Marija Kavtaradze
film profile
]
(Lithuania/Spain/Sweden)

Special Jury Award: Creative Vision
Sofia Alaoui - Animalia [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Sofia Alaoui
film profile
]
(France/Morocco/Qatar)

Special Jury Award: Best Performance
Rosa Marchant – When It Melts [+see also:
film review
interview: Veerle Baetens
film profile
]
(Belgium)

Audience Award
Shayda - Noora Niasari (Australia)

World Cinema Documentary Competition

Grand Jury Prize
The Eternal Memory - Maite Alberdi (Chile)

Best Directing
Smoke Sauna Sisterhood [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Anna Hints
film profile
]
- Anna Hints (Estonia/France/Iceland)

Special Jury Award: Creative Vision
And the king said, what a FANTASTIC MACHINE [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Axel Danielson, Maximilien …
film profile
]
- Alex Danielson, Maximilien van Aertryck (Sweden/Denmark)

Special Jury Award: Excellence in Verité Filmmaking
Against the Tide - Sarvnik Kaur (India)

Special Jury Award: Cinematography
Lílis Soares - Mami Wata (Nigeria)

Audience Award
20 Days in Mariupol [+see also:
film review
interview: Mstyslav Chernov
film profile
]
- Mstyslav Chernov (Ukraine)

US Dramatic Competition

Grand Jury Award
A Thousand and One - AV Rockwell (USA)

Best Directing
Sing J Lee - The Accidental Getaway Driver (USA)

Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award
The Persian Version - Maryam Keshavarz

Special Jury Award: Ensemble Cast
Theater Camp - Molly Gordon, Nick Lieberman (USA)

Special Jury Award: Creative Vision
Magazine Dreams - Elijah Bynum (USA)

Special Jury Award: Acting
Lio Mehiel - Mutt (USA)

Festival Favourite Award
Radical - Christopher Zalla (USA)

Audience Award
The Persian Version - Maryam Keshavarz (USA)

US Documentary Competition

Grand Jury Prize
Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project - Joe Brewster, Michèle Stephenson (USA)

Best Directing
Luke Lorentzen - A Still Small Voice (USA)

Jonathan Oppenheim Editing Award
Daniela I Quiroz - Going Varsity in Mariachi (USA)

Special Jury Award: Freedom of Expression
Bad Press - Rebecca Landsberry-Baker, Joe Peeler (USA)

Special Jury Award: Clarity of Vision
The Stroll - Kristen Lovell, Zackary Drucker (USA)

Audience Award
Beyond Utopia - Madeleine Gavin (USA)

NEXT

Innovator Award
KOKOMO CITY - D Smith (USA)

Audience Award
KOKOMO CITY - D Smith

Short film awards

Grand Jury Prize
When You Left Me on That Boulevard - Kayla Abuda Galang (USA)

Jury Award: US Fiction
Rest Stop - Crystal Kayiza (USA)

Jury Award: International Fiction
The Kidnapping of the Bride - Sophia Mocorrea (Germany)

Jury Award: Nonfiction
Will You Look at Me - Shuli Huang (China)

Jury Award: Animation
The Flying Sailor - Wendy Tilby (Canada)

Special Jury Award International: Directing
AliEN0089 - Valeria Hofmann (Chile)

Special Jury Award US: Directing
The Vacation - Jarreau Carrillo (USA)

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