To be absolutely honest, I didn’t really pay much attention to the Sundance Film Festival this year.  I may or may not regret that come next December.  Traditionally, it seems that at least a few Oscar contenders begin their journey at Sundance but there’s always a chance that the big Sundance success story could turn out to be something like Zola, a film that gets a lot of festival hype but doesn’t really stick around in anyone’s mind afterwards.

Today, the 2023 Sundance Film Festival’s awards winners were announced.  Time will tell whether or not the films listed below will have much of a life outside of Sundance.  Out of the films honored, Magazine Dreams sounds like the one most likely to break out.

U.S. DRAMATIC COMPETITION
Grand Jury Prize: A.V. Rockwell for “A Thousand and One”
Audience Award: “The Persian Version,” directed by Maryam Keshavarz
Directing: Sing J. Lee for “The Accidental Getaway Driver”
Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award: Maryam Keshavarz for “The Persian Version”
Special Jury Award: Acting: Lio Mehiel for “Mutt”
Special Jury Award: Ensemble: The cast of “Theater Camp,” directed by Molly Gordon and Nick Lieberman.
Special Jury Award: Creative Vision: The creative team of “Magazine Dreams,” directed by Elijah Bynum
Festival Favorite Award: “Radical,” directed by Christopher Zalla

U.S. DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION
Grand Jury Prize: “Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project,” directed by Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson
Audience Award: “Beyond Utopia”
Directing: Luke Lorentzen for “A Still Small Voice”
Jonathan Oppenheim Editing Award: Daniela I. Quiroz for “Going Varsity in Mariachi”
Special Jury Award – Clarity of Vision: “The Stroll,” directed by Kristen Lovell & Zackary Drucke
Special Jury Award – Freedom of Expression: “Bad Press

WORLD CINEMA DRAMATIC COMPETITION
Grand Jury Prize: “Scrapper”
Audience Award: “Shayda,” directed by Noora Niasari
Directing Award: Marija Kavtaradze “Slow”
Special Jury Award – Cinematography: Lílis Soares for “Mami Wata”
Special Jury Award – Best Performance: Rosa Marchant, “When It Melts”
Special Jury Award – Creative Vision: Sofia Alaoui for “Animalia”

WORLD CINEMA DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION
Grand Jury Prize: “The Eternal Memory”
Audience Award: “20 Days in Mariupol,” directed and produced by Mstyslav Chernov

Special Jury Prize – Directing: “Smoke, Sauna Sisterhood,” Anna Hints
Special Jury Award – Creative Vision: “Fantastic Machine”
Special Jury Award – Verité: “Against the Tide”

OTHER AWARDS
NEXT Audience Award: “Kokomo City”
NEXT Innovator Award: “Kokomo City”
Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize: “The Pod Generation”

SHORTS
Short Film Grand Jury Prize: “When You Left Me on That Boulevard,” directed by Kayla Abuda Galang
Short Film Jury Award – U.S. Fiction: “Rest Stop,” directed by Crystal Kayiza
Short Film Jury Award – International Fiction: “The Kidnapping of the Bride,” Sophia Mocorrea
Short Film Jury Award – Non-Fiction: “Will You Look at Me,” directed by Shuli Huang.
Short Film Special Jury Award – International Directing: “AliEN0089,” directed by Valeria Hofmann.
Short Film Special Jury Award – U.S Directing: “The Vacation,” directed by Jarreau Carrillo