Sundance 2016: "The Birth of a Nation" wins top honors
"The Birth of a Nation," writer-director-star Nate Parker's film of Nat Turner's early 19th century slave rebellion, won top prizes at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival.
The awards were announced last night at Park City, Utah.
The film won both of the festival's top prizes, the U.S. Dramatic Grand Jury Prize and the U.S. Dramatic Audience Award.
It is the directorial debut of Parker, who has appeared in such films as "Red Tails," "Red Hook Summer," "Ain't Them Bodies Saints," and "Non-Stop." It received a standing ovation last Monday when it premiered, and was later purchased by Fox Searchlight for $17.5 million, the biggest sale in the festival's history.
"Thank you, Sundance, for creating a platform for us to grow, in spite of what the rest of Hollywood is doing," said Parker.
The top prize for documentaries went to Josh Kriegman and Elyse Steinberg's "Weiner," which followed disgraced N.Y. Congressman Anthony Weiner as a political scandal unfolded.
The directing prize went to Daniel Scheinert and Daniel Kwan's "Swiss Army Man," which features Paul Dano as a man stranded on a desert island who comes across the washed-up corpse of Daniel Radcliffe.
The following is a list of the awards announced Saturday:
U.S. Grand Jury Prize - Documentary: "Weiner"
U.S. Grand Jury Prize - Dramatic: "The Birth of a Nation"
World Cinema Grand Jury Prize - Documentary: "Sonita" (Germany, Iran, Switzerland)
World Cinema Grand Jury Prize - Dramatic: "Sand Storm" (Israel)
Audience Award - U.S. Documentary: "The James Foley Story"
Audience Award - U.S. Dramatic: "The Birth of a Nation"
Audience Award - World Cinema Documentary: "Sonita" (Germany, Iran, Switzerland)
Audience Award - World Cinema Dramatic: "Between Sea and Land" (Colombia)
Audience Award - NEXT: "First Girl I Loved"
Directing Award - U.S. Documentary: Roger Ross Williams, "Life, Animated"
Directing Award - U.S. Dramatic: Daniel Scheinert and Daniel Kwan, "Swiss Army Man"
Directing Award - World Cinema Documentary: Michal Marczak, "All These Sleepless Nights" (Poland)
Directing Award - World Cinema Dramatic: "Belgica" (Belgium, France, Netherlands)
Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award - U.S. Dramatic: Chad Hartigan, "Morris from America " (U.S.A., Germany)
U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Editing: Penny Lane and Thom Stylinski, " NUTS!"
U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Social Impact Filmmaking: "Trapped"
U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Writing: "Kate Plays Christine"
U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Vérité Filmmaking: "The Bad Kids"
U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award: "As You Are"
U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Breakthrough Performance: Joe Seo, " Spa Night"
U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Individual Performance: Melanie Lynskey, "The Intervention"
U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Individual Performance: Craig Robinson, " Morris from America" (U.S.A., Germany)
World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Debut Feature: Heidi Brandenburg and Mathew Orzel, "When Two Worlds Collide" (Peru)
World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Cinematography: Pieter-Jan De Pue, "The Land of the Enlightened" (Belgium)
World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Editing: Mako Kamitsuna and John Maringouin, "We Are X" (United Kingdom, U.S.A., Japan)
World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Acting: Vicky Hernandéz and Manolo Cruz, "Between Sea and Land" (Colombia)
World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Screenwriting: Ana Katz and Inés Bortagaray, "Mi Amiga del Parque" (Argentina, Uruguay)
World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Unique Vision and Design: Agnieszka Smoczyńska, " The Lure" (Poland)