The 2026 Sundance Film Festival is coming to an end, which means handing out some life-changing awards from both jury members and the voting public at large. The most prestigious honor, the U.S. Dramatic Competition Jury Award, went to Beth de Araújo’s “Josephine.” The drama starring Gemma Chan and Channing Tatum also won the Audience Award for U.S. Dramatic.
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Last year’s U.S. Dramatic winner was “Atropia.” Previous winners include “Minari,” “CODA,” “You Can Count On Me,” “Whiplash,” “Beasts of the Southern Wild,” “Winter’s Bone,” “Precious,” “American Splendor,” and “Frozen River.”
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The Directing Award U.S. Dramatic went to Josef Kubota Wladyka for “Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty!” while the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award went to Liz Sargent for “Take Me Home.” The Special Jury Award for Debut Feature went to Stephane Ahn for “Bedford Park,” while the Special Jury Award for Ensemble went to“The Friend’s House Is Here.”
The U.S. Documentary Grand Jury Prize went to Gabriela Osio Vanden and Jack Weisman’s “Nuisance Bear.” forThe Directing Award went to J.M. Harper for “Soul Patrol.” The Jonathan Oppenheim Editing Award went to “Barbara Forever.” Special Jury Award for Impact for Change went to “The Lake” while the Special Jury Award for Journalistic Excellence was bestowed on “Who Killed Alex Odeh?”
The World Cinema Dramatic Grand Jury Award went to “Shame and Money.” The NEXT Jury Prize for Creative Expression went to “TheyDream.” The NEXT Incomer Award went to “The Incomer.”
The Audience Award for U.S. Drama was voted by the public and went to “Josephine,” while the U.S. Documentary went to “American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis Valdez.” The Audience Award for World Cinema Documentary went to “One In A Million,” and the World Cinema Dramatic prize went to “HOLD ON TO ME.” The Audience Award NEXT went to “Aanikoobijigan.”
“Lady” took the World Cinema Acting Ensemble Award.
A complete list of this year’s winners is as follows:
GRAND JURY PRIZES
The U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic was presented to Josephine / U.S.A. (Director, Screenwriter, and Producer: Beth de Araújo, Producers: David Kaplan, Josh Peters, Marina Stabile, Mark H. Rapaport, Crystine Zhang)
The U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Documentary was presented to Nuisance Bear / U.S.A., Canada (Directors: Gabriela Osio Vanden, Jack Weisman, Producers: Michael Code, Will N. Miller, Teddy Leifer)
The World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic was presented to Shame and Money / Germany, Kosovo, Slovenia, Albania, North Macedonia, Belgium (Director, Screenwriter, and Producer: Visar Morina, Screenwriter: Doruntina Basha, Producers: Fabian Altenried, Sophie Ahrens, Kristof Gerega, Pia Hellenthal)
The World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Documentary was presented to To Hold a Mountain / Serbia, France, Montenegro, Slovenia, Croatia (Directors, Screenwriters, and Producers: Biljana Tutorov, Petar Glomazić, Producers: Quentin Laurent, Rok Biček)
NEXT INNOVATOR AWARD PRESENTED BY Adobe
The NEXT Innovator Award Presented by Adobe was awarded to The Incomer / U.K. (Director and Screenwriter: Louis Paxton, Producers: Shirley O’Connor, Emily Gotto)
AUDIENCE AWARDS
The Audience Award: U.S. Dramatic, Presented by Acura was awarded to Josephine / U.S.A. (Director, Screenwriter, and Producer: Beth de Araújo, Producers: David Kaplan, Josh Peters, Marina Stabile, Mark H. Rapaport, Crystine Zhang)
The Audience Award: U.S. Documentary, Presented by Acura was awarded to American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis Valdez / U.S.A. (Director, Screenwriter, and Producer: David Alvarado, Producers: Lauren DeFilippo, Everett Katigbak, Amanda Pollak)
The Audience Award: World Cinema Dramatic, Presented by United Airlines was awarded to HOLD ONTO ME (Κράτα Με) / Cyprus, Denmark, Greece (Director, Screenwriter, and Producer: Myrsini Aristidou, Producer: Monica Nicolaidou)
The Audience Award: World Cinema Documentary, Presented by United Airlines was awarded to One In A Million / U.K. (Directors: Itab Azzam, Jack MacInnes, Producers: Raney Aronson-Rath, Will Anderson, James Bluemel, Andrew Palmer)
The Audience Award: NEXT, Presented by Adobe was awarded to Aanikoobijigan [ancestor/great-grandparent/great-grandchild] / U.S.A., Denmark (Directors and Producers: Adam Khalil, Zack Khalil, Producers: Steve Holmgren, Grace Remington, Jacque Clark, Franny Alfano)
JURY AWARDS FOR DIRECTING, SCREENWRITING, and EDITING
The Directing Award: U.S. Dramatic was presented to Josef Kubota Wladyka for Ha-chan, Shake Your Booty! / U.S.A. (Director, Screenwriter, and Producer: Josef Kubota Wladyka, Screenwriter: Nicholas Huynh, Producers: Kimberly Parker Zox, Mao Nagakura)
The Directing Award: U.S. Documentary was presented to J.M. Harper for Soul Patrol / U.S.A. (Director and Producer: J.M. Harper, Producers: Sam Bisbee, Danielle Massie, Nasir Jones, Peter Bittenbender)
The Directing Award: World Cinema Dramatic was presented toAndrius Blaževičius for How to Divorce During the War / Lithuania, Luxembourg, Ireland, Czech Republic (Director and Screenwriter: Andrius Blaževičius, Producer: Marija Razgutė)
The Directing Award: World Cinema Documentary was presented toItab Azzam and Jack MacInnes for One In A Million / U.K. (Directors: Itab Azzam, Jack MacInnes, Producers: Raney Aronson-Rath, Will Anderson, James Bluemel, Andrew Palmer)
The Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award: U.S. Dramatic was presented to Liz Sargent for Take Me Home / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Liz Sargent, Producers: Apoorva Guru Charan, Minos Papas)
The Jonathan Oppenheim Editing Award: U.S. Documentary was presented to Matt Hixon for Barbara Forever / U.S.A. (Director and Producer: Brydie O’Connor, Producer: Elijah Stevens)
SPECIAL JURY AWARDS
A U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Debut Feature was presented to Bedford Park / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Stephanie Ahn, Producers: Gary Foster, Chris S. Lee, Nina Yang Bongiovi, Theresa Kang, Son Sukku)
A U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Ensemble Cast was presented to The Friend’s House is Here / U.S.A., Iran (Directors, Screenwriters, and Producers: Hossein Keshavarz, Maryam Ataei)
A U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Journalistic Excellence was presented to Who Killed Alex Odeh? / U.S.A. (Directors: Jason Osder, William Lafi Youmans, Producer: Dawne Langford, William Lafi Youmans, Jason Osder, Daniel J. Chalfen)
A U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Impact for Change was presented to The Lake / U.S.A. (Director and Producer: Abby Ellis, Producer: Fletcher Keyes)
A World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Creative Vision was presented to Filipiñana / Singapore, U.K., Philippines, France, Netherlands (Director and Screenwriter: Rafael Manuel, Producers: Jeremy Chua, Alex Polunin, Bianca Balbuena, Bradley Liew, Nadia Turincev, Omar El Kadi)
A World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Acting Ensemble was presented to LADY / U.K., Nigeria (Director and Screenwriter: Olive Nwosu, Producer: Alex Polunin)
A World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Journalistic Impact was presented to Birds of War / U.K., Syrian Arab Republic, Lebanon (Directors, Screenwriters, and Producers: Janay Boulos, Abd Alkader Habak, Producer: Sonja Henrici)
A World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Civil Resistance was presented to Everybody To Kenmure Street / U.K. (Director and Producer: Felipe Bustos Sierra, Producer: Ciara Barry)
The NEXT Special Jury Awardfor Creative Expression was awarded to TheyDream / U.S.A. (Director, Screenwriter, and Producer: William David Caballero, Screenwriters and Producers: Erin Ploss-Campoamor, Elaine del Valle, Producer: Brad Jones)
The Short Film Grand Jury Prize was awarded to: The Baddest Speechwriter of All/ U.S.A. (Directors and Producers: Ben Proudfoot, Stephen Curry, Producer: Erick Peyton)
The Short Film Jury Award: U.S. Fiction was awarded to: Crisis Actor / U.S.A. (Director, Screenwriter, and Producer: Lily Platt, Producers: Sophie Seyd, Alex Bendo, Lexi Preiser)
The Short Film Jury Award: International Fiction was awarded to: Jazz Infernal / Canada (Director and Screenwriter: Will Niava, Screenwriter: Kristelle Laroche, Producers: Zion Lipstein-Saffer, Samuel Caron)
The Short Film Jury Award: Nonfiction was awarded to:The Boys and the Bees / U.S.A. (Director and Producer: Arielle C. Knight, Producer: Sean Weiner)
The Short Film Jury Award: Animation was awarded to:Living with a Visionary / U.S.A. (Director, Screenwriter, and Producer: Stephen P. Neary, Producer: Mireia Vilanova)
The Short Film Special Jury Award for Creative Vision was awarded to: Paper Trail / U.S.A. (Director, Screenwriter, and Producer: Don Hertzfeldt)
The Short Film Special Jury Award for Acting was awarded to: Noah Roja and Filippo Carrozza forThe Liars / Argentina (Director, Screenwriter, and Producer: Eduardo Braun Costa, Producers: Manuel Aguer, Natasha Gurfinkel)
The 2026 Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize for an outstanding feature film with science and technology themes or characters was awarded toIn The Blink of An Eye directed by Andrew Stanton and written by Colby Day
The Sundance Institute Producers Award for Nonfiction, presented by Amazon MGM Studios, went to Dawne Langford for Who Killed Alex Odeh?
Follow along for all of our coverage from the 2026 Sundance Film Festival here.
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