Atropia directed by Hailey Gates won the Grand Jury Prize in the U.S. Dramatic Competition at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. Other Grand Jury prizes went to Seeds for U.S. Documentary Competition, Cactus Pears won for World Cinema Dramatic Competition, and Cutting Through Rocks won for World Cinema Documentary Competition. The NEXT Innovator Award was given to Zodiac Killer Project directed by Charlie Shackleton.
Audience awards for films in competition were presented to Twinless for U.S. Dramatic Competition, André is an Idiot for U.S. Documentary Competition, DJ Ahmet for World Cinema Dramatic Competition and Prime Minister for World Cinema Documentary Competition. East of Wall directed by Kate Beecroft won the audience award for NEXT.
“We congratulate all of our filmmakers and award winners on a successful 2025 Sundance Film Festival and thank them for the stories they shared with our audiences,” said Amanda Kelso, Acting CEO, Sundance Institute. “These works spoke to our commitment to fostering empathy, understanding, and a more vibrant, inclusive society through storytelling, and it was an honor to celebrate them together as a community.”
“Arriving at our Awards Ceremony after seven days of connection and discovery is especially rewarding this year. We are thrilled to honor these filmmakers for their inventiveness, generosity, and for the valuable conversations, moments of levity, and deep insights their work has offered,” said Eugene Hernandez, Director, Sundance Film Festival and Public Programming. “We share our gratitude with the State of Utah, audiences, staff, volunteers, and everyone who makes the Sundance Film Festival possible.”
Jury prizes for short filmmaking were announced earlier at the Short Film Awards Ceremony & Party presented by Vimeo at The Park in Park City.
The 2025 Sundance Film Festival continues through February 2.
The 2025 Sundance Film Festival awards are:
GRAND JURY PRIZES
U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic
Atropia
U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Hailey Gates, Producers: Naima Abed, Emilie Georges, Luca Guadagnino, Lana Kim, Jett Steiger)
When an aspiring actress in a military role-playing facility falls in love with a soldier cast as an insurgent, their unsimulated emotions threaten to derail the performance. Cast: Alia Shawkat, Callum Turner, Chloë Sevigny, Tim Heidecker, Jane Levy. World Premiere. Available online for Public.
U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Documentary
Seeds
U.S.A. (Director and Producer: Brittany Shyne, Producers: Danielle Varga, Sabrina Schmidt Gordon)
An exploration of Black generational farmers in the American South reveals the fragility of legacy and the significance of owning land. World Premiere. Available online for Public.
World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic
Sabar Bonda (Cactus Pears)
India, U.K., Canada (Director and Screenwriter: Rohan Parashuram Kanawade, Producers: Neeraj Churi, Mohamed Khaki, Kaushik Ray, Hareesh Reddypalli, Naren Chandavarkar, Sidharth Meer)
Anand, a 30-something city dweller compelled to spend a 10-day mourning period for his father in the rugged countryside of western India, tenderly bonds with a local farmer struggling to stay unmarried. As the mourning ends, forcing his return, Anand must decide the fate of his relationship born under duress. Cast: Bhushaan Manoj, Suraaj Suman, Jayshri Jagtap. World Premiere. Available online for Public.
World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Documentary
Cutting Through Rocks (اوزاک یوللار)
Iran, Germany, U.S.A., Netherlands, Qatar, Chile, Canada (Directors and Producers: Sara Khaki, Mohammadreza Eyni)
As the first elected councilwoman of her Iranian village, Sara Shahverdi aims to break long-held patriarchal traditions by training teenage girls to ride motorcycles and stopping child marriages. When accusations arise questioning Sara’s intentions to empower the girls, her identity is put in turmoil. World Premiere. Available online for Public.
NEXT INNOVATOR AWARD
NEXT Innovator Award Presented by Adobe
Zodiac Killer Project
U.S.A., U.K. (Director and Producer: Charlie Shackleton, Producers: Catherine Bray, Anthony Ing)
Against the backdrop of sunbaked parking lots, deserted courthouses, and empty suburban homes — the familiar spaces of true crime, stripped of all action and spectacle — a filmmaker describes his abandoned Zodiac Killer documentary and probes the inner workings of a genre at saturation point. World Premiere. Documentary. Available online for Public.
AUDIENCE AWARDS
Audience Award: U.S. Dramatic
Twinless
U.S.A. (Director, Screenwriter, and Producer: James Sweeney, Producer: David Permut)
Two young men meet in a twin bereavement support group and form an unlikely bromance. Cast: Dylan O’Brien, James Sweeney, Lauren Graham, Aisling Franciosi, Tasha Smith, Chris Perfetti. World Premiere. Available online for Public.
Audience Award: U.S. Documentary
André is an Idiot
U.S.A. (Director: Anthony Benna, Producers: André Ricciardi, Tory Tunnell, Joshua Altman, Stelio Kitrilakis, Ben Cotner)
André, a brilliant idiot, is dying because he didn’t get a colonoscopy. His sobering diagnosis, complete irreverence, and insatiable curiosity, send him on an unexpected journey learning how to die happily and ridiculously without losing his sense of humor. World Premiere. Available online for Public.
Audience Award: World Cinema Dramatic
DJ Ahmet
North Macedonia, Czech Republic, Serbia, Croatia (Director and Screenwriter: Georgi M. Unkovski, Producers: Ivan Unkovski, Ivana Shekutkoska)
Ahmet, a 15-year-old boy from a remote Yuruk village in North Macedonia, finds refuge in music while navigating his father’s expectations, a conservative community, and his first experience with love — a girl already promised to someone else. Cast: Arif Jakup, Agush Agushev, Dora Akan Zlatanova, Aksel Mehmet, Selpin Kerim, Atila Klince. World Premiere. Available online for Public.
Audience Award: World Cinema Documentary
Prime Minister
U.S.A. (Directors: Michelle Walshe, Lindsay Utz, Producers: Cass Avery, Leon Kirkbeck, Gigi Pritzker, Rachel Shane, Katie Peck)
A view inside the life of former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, capturing her through five tumultuous years in power and beyond as she redefined leadership on the world stage. World Premiere. Available online for Public.
Audience Award: NEXT
East of Wall
U.S.A. (Director, Screenwriter, and Producer: Kate Beecroft, Producers: Lila Yacoub, Melanie Ramsayer, Shannon Moss)
After the death of her husband, Tabatha — a young, tattooed, rebellious horse trainer — wrestles with financial insecurity and unresolved grief while providing refuge for a group of wayward teenagers on her broken-down ranch in the Badlands. Cast: Tabatha Zimiga, Porshia Zimiga, Scoot McNairy, Jennifer Ehle. World Premiere. Fiction. Available online for Public.
JURY AWARDS FOR DIRECTING, SCREENWRITING, and EDITING
The Directing Award: U.S. Documentary
Geeta Gandbhir for The Perfect Neighbor
U.S.A. (Director and Producer: Geeta Gandbhir, Producers: Nikon Kwantu, Alisa Payne, Sam Bisbee)
A seemingly minor neighborhood dispute in Florida escalates into deadly violence. Police bodycam footage and investigative interviews expose the consequences of Florida’s “stand your ground” laws. World Premiere. Available online for Public.
The Directing Award: U.S. Dramatic
Rashad Frett for Ricky
U.S.A. (Director, Screenwriter, and Producer: Rashad Frett, Screenwriter: Lin Que Ayoung, Producers: Pierre M. Coleman, Simon TaufiQue, Sterling Brim, DC Wade, Cary Joji Fukunaga, Josh Peters, Mark Steele) — Newly released after being locked up in his teens, 30-year-old Ricky navigates the challenging realities of life post-incarceration, and the complexity of gaining independence for the first time as an adult. Cast: Stephan James, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Titus Welliver, Maliq Johnson, Imani Lewis, Simbi Kali, Andrene Ward-Hammond. World Premiere. Available online for Public.
The Directing Award: World Cinema Documentary
Mstyslav Chernov for 2000 Meters to Andriivka
Ukraine (Director and Producer: Mstyslav Chernov, Producers: Michelle Mizner, Raney Aronson-Rath)
Amid the failing counteroffensive, a journalist follows a Ukrainian platoon on their mission to traverse one mile of heavily fortified forest and liberate a strategic village from Russian occupation. But the farther they advance through their destroyed homeland, the more they realize that this war may never end. World Premiere. Available online for Public.
The Directing Award: World Cinema Dramatic
Alireza Khatami for The Things You Kill
Turkey, France, Poland, Canada (Director, Screenwriter, and Producer: Alireza Khatami, Producers: Elisa Sepulveda Ruddoff, Cyriac Auriol, Mariusz Włodarski, Michael Solomon)
Haunted by the suspicious death of his ailing mother, a university professor coerces his enigmatic gardener to execute a cold-blooded act of vengeance. Cast: Ekin Koç, Erkan Kolçak Köstendil, Hazar Ergüçlü, Ercan Kesal. World Premiere. Available online for Public.
The Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award: U.S. Dramatic
Eva Victor for Sorry, Baby
U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Eva Victor, Producers: Adele Romanski, Mark Ceryak, Barry Jenkins)
Something bad happened to Agnes. But life goes on… for everyone around her, at least. Cast: Eva Victor, Naomi Ackie, Lucas Hedges, John Carroll Lynch, Louis Cancelmi, Kelly McCormack. World Premiere. Available online for Public.
The Jonathan Oppenheim Editing Award: U.S. Documentary
Parker Laramie for André is an Idiot
U.S.A. (Director: Anthony Benna, Producers: André Ricciardi, Tory Tunnell, Joshua Altman, Stelio Kitrilakis, Ben Cotner)
André, a brilliant idiot, is dying because he didn’t get a colonoscopy. His sobering diagnosis, complete irreverence, and insatiable curiosity, send him on an unexpected journey learning how to die happily and ridiculously without losing his sense of humor. World Premiere. Available online for Public.
SPECIAL JURY AWARDS
U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Acting
Dylan O’Brien for Twinless
U.S.A. (Director, Screenwriter, and Producer: James Sweeney, Producer: David Permut)
Two young men meet in a twin bereavement support group and form an unlikely bromance. Cast: Dylan O’Brien, James Sweeney, Lauren Graham, Aisling Franciosi, Tasha Smith, Chris Perfetti. World Premiere. Available online for Public.
U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Ensemble Cast
Plainclothes
U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Carmen Emmi, Producers: Colby Cote, Arthur Landon, Eric Podwall, Vanessa Pantley)
A promising undercover officer assigned to lure and arrest gay men defies orders when he falls in love with a target. Cast: Tom Blyth, Russell Tovey, Maria Dizzia, Christian Cooke, Gabe Fazio, Amy Forsyth. World Premiere. Available online for Public.
U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Archival Storytelling
Selena y Los Dinos
U.S.A. (Director: Isabel Castro, Producers: Julie Goldman, Christopher Clements, J. Daniel Torres, David Blackman, Simran Singh)
Selena Quintanilla — the “Queen of Tejano Music” — and her family band, Selena y Los Dinos, rose from performing at quinceañeras to selling out stadium tours. The celebration of her life and legacy is chronicled through never-before-seen footage from the family’s personal archive. World Premiere. Available online for Public.
U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award
Life After
U.S.A. (Director: Reid Davenport, Producer: Colleen Cassingham)
In 1983, a disabled Californian woman named Elizabeth Bouvia sought the “right to die,” igniting a national debate about autonomy, dignity, and the value of disabled lives. After years of courtroom trials, Bouvia disappeared from public view. Disabled director Reid Davenport narrates this investigation of what happened to Bouvia. World Premiere. Available online for Public.
World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Creative Vision
Georgi M. Unkovski for DJ Ahmet
North Macedonia, Czech Republic, Serbia, Croatia (Director and Screenwriter: Georgi M. Unkovski, Producers: Ivan Unkovski, Ivana Shekutkoska)
Ahmet, a 15-year-old boy from a remote Yuruk village in North Macedonia, finds refuge in music while navigating his father’s expectations, a conservative community, and his first experience with love — a girl already promised to someone else. Cast: Arif Jakup, Agush Agushev, Dora Akan Zlatanova, Aksel Mehmet, Selpin Kerim, Atila Klince. World Premiere. Available online for Public.
World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Writing
Two Women
Canada (Director: Chloé Robichaud, Screenwriter and Producer: Catherine Léger, Producer: Martin Paul-Hus)
Violette is having a difficult maternity leave. Florence is dealing with depression. Despite their careers and families, they feel like failures. Florence’s first infidelity is a revelation. When having fun is far down the list of priorities, sleeping with a delivery guy could be revolutionary. Cast: Karine Gonthier-Hyndman, Laurence Leboeuf, Félix Moati, Mani Soleymanlou, Sophie Nelisse, Juliette Gariépy. World Premiere. Available online for Public.
World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award
Mr. Nobody Against Putin
Denmark, Czech Republic (Director and Screenwriter: David Borenstein, Producer: Helle Faber)
As Russia launches its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, primary schools across Russia’s hinterlands are transformed into recruitment stages for the war. Facing the ethical dilemma of working in a system defined by propaganda and violence, a brave teacher goes undercover to film what’s really happening in his own school. World Premiere. Available online for Public.
World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Freedom of Expression
Coexistence, My Ass!
U.S.A., France (Director and Producer: Amber Fares, Screenwriter and Producer: Rachel Leah Jones, Screenwriter: Rabab Haj Yahya, Producer: Valérie Montmartin)
Comedian Noam Shuster Eliassi creates a personal and political one-woman show about the struggle for equality in Israel/Palestine. When the elusive coexistence she’s spent her life working toward starts sounding like a bad joke, she challenges her audiences with hard truths that are no laughing matter. World Premiere. Available online for Public.
A NEXT Special Jury Award for Ensemble Cast
Mad Bills to Pay (or Destiny, dile que no soy malo)
U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Joel Alfonso Vargas, Producer: Paolo Maria Pedullà)
Rico’s summer is a mix of chasing girls and hustling homemade cocktails out of a cooler on Orchard Beach, the Bronx. But when Destiny, his teenage girlfriend, crashes at his place with his family, it’s only a matter of time before his carefree days come spiraling down. Cast: Juan Collado, Destiny Checo, Yohanna Florentino, Nathaly Navarro. World Premiere. Fiction. Available online for Public.
PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED 2025 SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL AWARDS:
The Short Film Grand Jury Prize was awarded to: Theo Panagopoulos for The Flowers Stand Silently, Witnessing / U.K. (Director: Theo Panagopoulos, Producer: Marissa Keating) — When a filmmaker of Palestinian descent based in Scotland unearths a rarely seen film archive of Palestinian wildflowers, he decides to reclaim the footage. North American Premiere. Available online for Public.
The Short Film Jury Award: U.S. Fiction was awarded to: Jazmin Garcia for Trokas Duras / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Jazmin Garcia, Screenwriter: Benjamin Benji Moreno, Producers: Sally Su Jin Oh, Mayte Avina, Scott O’Donnell) — Journeying through the interior landscapes of a Jornalero’s dreams, his waking reality in Los Angeles, and what it looks like when a group of people relegated to serving others labors for their own elevation of body and spirit. Cast: Benjamin Benji Moreno, La Chapis, El Barrio, Luis Valentan, Elmer Mayorga, Tricia Sarmento. World Premiere. Available online for Public.
The Short Film Jury Award: International Fiction was awarded to: Chheangkea for Grandma Nai Who Played Favorites / Cambodia, France (Director and Screenwriter: Chheangkea, Producers: Daniel Mattes, Karen Madar) — During her chaotic family’s Qingming visit, dead Grandma Nai sneaks away from her peaceful afterlife after overhearing that her Queer grandson is about to get engaged to a woman. Cast: Bonrotanak Rith, Saroeun Nay, Sokun Theary Ty, Phalla Im, Chansophorn Buth, Ponleu Chab. World Premiere. Available online for Public.
The Short Film Jury Award: Nonfiction was awarded to: Christopher Radcliff for We Were The Scenery / U.S.A. (Director: Christopher Radcliff, Producers: Cathy Linh Che, Jess X. Snow) — In 1975, Hoa Thi Le and Hue Nguyen Che fled from Vietnam by boat and docked in the Philippines, where they were utilized as background extras during the filming of Apocalypse Now. World Premiere.
The Short Film Jury Award: Animation was awarded to: Natalia León for Como si la tierra se las hubiera tragado / France (Director and Screenwriter: Natalia León, Producer: Luc Camilli) — Olivia, a young woman living abroad, returns to her hometown in Mexico in the hope of reconnecting with her past. Cast: Carolina Zárate Wall, Natalia León, GAYA, Rebeca Magdely Gonzalez Alfaro. World Premiere. Available online for Public.
The Short Film Special Jury Award for Animation Directing was awarded to: May Kindred-Boothby for The Eating of an Orange / U.K. (Director and Screenwriter: May Kindred-Boothby) — Convention and sexuality are explored through slugs, rituals, and the eating of an orange. International Premiere. Available online for Public.
The Short Film Special Jury Award for Directing was awarded to: Loren Waters for Tiger / U.S.A. (Director, Screenwriter, and Producer: Loren Waters, Producer: Dana Tiger) — A portrait of award-winning, internationally acclaimed Indigenous artist and elder Dana Tiger, her family, and the resurgence of the iconic Tiger T-shirt company. World Premiere. Available online for Public.
The 2025 Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize for an outstanding feature film about science or technology was awarded to SALLY, screening in the Premieres category. The filmmakers received a $25,000 cash award from Sundance Institute with support from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.
The Sundance Institute | Amazon MGM Studios Producers Award for Nonfiction went to Danielle Varga for Seeds / U.S.A. (Director and Producer: Brittany Shyne, Producers: Danielle Varga, Sabrina Schmidt Gordon) — An exploration of Black generational farmers in the American South reveals the fragility of legacy and the significance of owning land. World Premiere. Available online for Public.
The Sundance Institute | Amazon MGM Studios Producers Award for Fiction went to Joe Pirro for The Wedding Banquet / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Andrew Ahn, Screenwriter and Producer: James Schamus, Producers: Anita Gou, Joe Pirro, Caroline Clark) — Frustrated with his commitment-phobic boyfriend, Chris, and out of time, Min makes a proposal: a green card marriage with his friend Angela in exchange for expensive in vitro fertilization treatments for her partner, Lee. Plans change when Min’s grandmother surprises them with an elaborate Korean wedding banquet. Cast: Bowen Yang, Lily Gladstone, Kelly Marie Tran, Han Gi-chan, Joan Chen, Youn Yuh-jung. World Premiere. Fiction.
The Sundance Institute | Adobe Mentorship Award for Nonfiction went to Vivien Hillgrove, and the Sundance Institute | Adobe Mentorship Award for Fiction went to Brian A. Kates.
The Sundance Institute | NHK Award went to Lloyd Lee Choi for Yakult Ajumma (Korea, Canada, U.S.A).