A gay conversion therapy drama and harrowing child slave rescue documentary topped the 2018 Sundance Film Festival Awards, held Saturday in Park City, Utah.
Desiree Akhavan’s “The Miseducation of Cameron Post” took the Grand Jury Prize in the U.S. dramatic competition. It stars Chloe Grace Moretz as a young girl in ’90s who is caught kissing another female student and shipped off to conversion camp by her guardians. It costars Jennifer Ehle, Sasha Lane and John Gallagher Jr.
Derek Doneen’s “Kailash” took the Grand Jury Prize in the U.S. Documentary competition. It follows the real-time rescue operation to free child slaves by activist Kailash Satyarthi.
“Burden,” about the humanization of a KKK leader played by Garrett Hedlund, won the Audience Award for best dramatic film, with Rudy Valdez’s”The Sentence” taking the same for documentary.
Actors Nick Offerman and Kiersey Clemons opened the ceremony with an original song from their closing night film “Hearts Beat Loud,” with assistance from musicians Keegan DeWitt and Jeremy Bullock.
Read the complete list of winners:
U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic
“The Miseducation of Cameron Post,” Desiree Akhavan
U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Documentary
“Kailash,” Derek Doneen
Directing Award: U.S. Dramatic
Sarah Colangelo, “The Kindergarten Teacher”
Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award: U.S. Dramatic
“Nancy,” Christina Choe
“Monsters and Men,” Director Reinaldo Marcus Green
U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Excellence in Filmmaking
“I Think We’re Alone Now,” Director Reed Morano
U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Acting
Benjamin Dickey, “Blaze”
U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Cinematography
“Genesis 2.0.” Cinematographers Maxim Arbugaev, Peter Indergand
Directing Award: U.S. Documentary
“On Her Shoulders,” Director Alexandria Bombach
U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Storytelling
“Three Identical Strangers,” Director Tim Wardle
U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Editing
“Our New President,” Director Maxim Pozdorovkin
U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Breakthrough Film
“Minding The Gap,” Director Bing Liu
U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Creative Visionz
“Hale County This Morning, This Evening,” Director RaMell Ross
U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Social Impact
“Crime + Punishment,” Director Steven Maing
World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Documentary
“Of Fathers and Sons,” Director Talal Derki
Directing Award: World Cinema Documentary
“Shirkers,” Director Sandi Tan
World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Masterful Storytelling
“Matangi / Maya / MIA,” Director Stephen Loveridge
World Cinema Special Jury Award: Ensemble Acting
“Dead Pigs,” Actors Zazie Beetz, Mason Lee, Meng Li, David Rhysdal, Vivian Wu, Haoyu Yang
World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic
“Butterflies,” Director Tolga Karaçelik
Directing Award: World Cinema Dramatic
“And Breathe Normally,” Director Isold Uggadottir
World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Acting
Valeria Bertuccelli, “The Queen of Fear”
World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Screenwriting
“Time Share,” Screenwriters Julio Chavezmontes and Sebastian Hofmann
Audience Award: NEXT, Presented by Adobe
“Search,” Director Aneesh Chaganty
Audience Award: World Cinema Documentary
“This is Home,” Director Alexandra Shiva
Audience Award: World Cinema Dramatic
“The Guilty,” Director Gustav Moller
Audience Award: U.S. Documentary, Presented by Acura
“The Sentence,” Rudy Valdez
Audience Award: U.S. Dramatic, Presented by Acura
“Burden,” Director Andrew Heckler
Source: SF Gate