'Birth of A Nation' takes top Sundance awards
The Birth of A Nation dominated the Sundance Film Festival awards announced Saturday night, grabbing the top two prizes.
Both the U.S. Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award for drama went to the powerful story built around a slave rebellion led by Nat Turner in 1831.
Birth marks a four-year tradition of a single film taking the top two prizes in the U.S. dramatic competition. In 2013 Fruitvale Station won both audience and jury prizes, as did 2014's Whiplash and 2015's Me and Earl and the Dying Girl.
Birth had notable timing, arriving in the midst of the #OscarsSoWhite controversy. At the slavery drama's Sundance debut, audiences rose in a rare pre-screening standing ovation, followed by another at the film's conclusion.
'Birth of a Nation's' Nate Parker hopes for 'healing'
"I made this film for one reason: in the hope of creating change agents," writer/director/star Nate Parker said during the film's Q&A. "You can watch this film and see there are systems that were in place that were corrupt and corrupted people. And the legacy of that still lives with us."
Birth made headlines when it was purchased for $17.5 million by Fox Searchlight, a festival record. But the festival's other big-ticket film, Manchester By the Sea, purchased by Amazon Studios for $10 million, wasn't a winner.
This year, celebrity jurors included Jon Hamm, Lena Dunham and Keegan-Michael Key.
Other top winners announced Saturday night in Park City, Utah:
U.S. Dramatic
Directing Award, U.S., dramatic: Daniel Scheinert, Daniel Kwan, Swiss Army Man
Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award: Chad Hartigan, Morris From America
Special Jury Award — Individual Performance: Melanie Lynskey, The Intervention
Special Jury Award — Individual Performance: Craig Robinson, Morris From America
Special Jury Award — Breakthrough Performance: Joe Seo, Spa Night
Special Jury Award: Miles Joris-Peyrafitte, As You Are
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U.S. Documentary
Grand Jury Prize: Elyse Steinberg, Josh Kriegman, Weiner
Audience Award: Brian Oakes, Jim: The James Foley Story
Directing: Roger Ross Williams, Life, Animated
Special Jury Award — Vérité Filmmaking: Keith Fulton, Lou Pepe, The Bad Kids
Special Jury Award — Writing: Robert Greene, Kate Plays Christine
Special Jury Award — Social Impact Filmmaking: Dawn Porter, Trapped
NEXT Audience Award: Kerem Sanga, First Girl I Loved
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World Cinema Dramatic
Audience Award: Manolo Cruz and Carlos del Castillo, Between Sea and Land
Grand Jury Prize: Elite Zexer, Sand Storm
Directing Award: Felix van Groeningen, Belgica
Special Jury Award — Unique Vision and Design: Agnieszka Smoczyńska, The Lure
Special Jury Award — Screenwriting: Inés Bortagaray, Ana Katz, Mi Amiga Del Parque
Special Jury Award — Acting: Vicky Hernandéz, Manolo Cruz, Between Sea and Land
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World Cinema Documentary
Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award: Rokhsareh Ghaem Maghami, Sonita
Directing: Michal Marczak, All These Sleepless Nights
Special Jury Award — Best Editing: Mako Kamitsuna, John Maringouin, We Are X
Special Jury Award — Best Cinematography: Pieter-Jan De Pue, The Land of the Enlightened
Special Jury Award — Best Debut Feature: Mathew Orzel, Heidi Brandenburg, When Two Worlds Collide