The 2016 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 21 to January 31, 2016. The first lineup of competition films was announced on December 2, 2015. The opening night film was ''Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You'', directed by

Heidi Ewing Heidi Ewing is an American documentary filmmaker and the co-director of ''Jesus Camp'', '' The Boys of Baraka'', '' 12th & Delaware'', ''DETROPIA'', ''Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You'' (Sundance Film Festival), '' One of Us'' (Toronto ...

and

Rachel Grady Rachel () was a Biblical figure, the favorite of Jacob's two wives, and the mother of Joseph and Benjamin, two of the twelve progenitors of the tribes of Israel. Rachel's father was Laban. Her older sister was Leah, Jacob's first wife. Her aun ...

. The closing night film was Louis Black and Karen Bernstein's ''Richard Linklater: Dream Is Destiny''.

Awards

The following awards were presented: * Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic – '' The Birth of a Nation'' by

Nate Parker Nate Parker (born November 18, 1979) is an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter. He has appeared in '' Beyond the Lights'', '' Red Tails'', '' The Secret Life of Bees'', '' The Great Debaters'', ''Arbitrage'', ''Non-Stop'', ' ...

* Directing Award: Dramatic – Daniel Scheinert and Daniel Kwan for '' Swiss Army Man'' * Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award – Chad Hartigan for '' Morris From America'' * U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award – Miles Joris-Peyrafitte for '' As You Are'' * U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Breakthrough Performance – Joe Seo for ''

Spa Night ''Spa Night'' is a 2016 American drama film directed by Andrew Ahn and starring Joe Seo. It was shown in the U.S. Dramatic Competition section at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival. At Sundance, Joe Seo won the Special Jury Award for Breakthroug ...

'' * U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Individual Performance –

Melanie Lynskey Melanie Jayne Lynskey ( ; born 16 May 1977) is a New Zealand actress widely known for her portrayals of complex women in several independent films and television shows and also known for her command of American dialects. Lynskey is the recipi ...

for '' The Intervention'' and Craig Robinson for '' Morris from America'' * Grand Jury Prize: Documentary – '' Weiner'' by

Elyse Steinberg Elise or Elyse may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Elise, the unidentified person to whom Beethoven dedicated ''Für Elise'' * ''Elise'', a 1979 speculative fiction novel by Ken Grimwood * ''Élise ou la vraie vie'' (''Elise, or the Real Life' ...

and

Josh Kriegman Josh is a masculine given name, frequently a diminutive (hypocorism) of the given names Joshua or Joseph, though since the 1970s, it has increasingly become a full name on its own. It may refer to: People A–J * "Josh", an early pseudonym of S ...

* Directing Award: Documentary –

Roger Ross Williams Roger Ross Williams (born September 16, 1962) is an American director, producer and writer and the first African American director to win an Academy Award (Oscar), with his short film '' Music by Prudence''; this film won the Academy Award for Be ...

for ''

Life, Animated ''Life, Animated'' is a 2016 American documentary by director Roger Ross Williams. It is co-produced by Williams with Julie Goldman, Carolyn Hepburn and Christopher Clements. ''Life, Animated'' is based on journalist Ron Suskind's 2014 book ''Li ...

'' * U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Editing – Penny Lane and Thom Stylinski for '' NUTS!'' * Special Jury Prize for Social Impact: Documentary – '' Trapped'' by Dawn Porter * U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Writing – Robert Greene for ''

Kate Plays Christine ''Kate Plays Christine'' is a 2016 American documentary film written and directed by Robert Greene. It follows actress Kate Lyn Sheil's preparation for the role of Christine Chubbuck, a newscaster who committed suicide on live television in 1974, ...

'' * Special Jury Prize for Verité Filmmaking: Documentary – '' The Bad Kids'' by

Keith Fulton Keith may refer to: People and fictional characters * Keith (given name), includes a list of people and fictional characters * Keith (surname) * Keith (singer), American singer James Keefer (born 1949) * Baron Keith, a line of Scottish barons i ...

and Lou Pepe * World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic – ''

Sand Storm A dust storm, also called a sandstorm, is a meteorological phenomenon common in arid and semi-arid regions. Dust storms arise when a gust front or other strong wind blows loose sand and dirt from a dry surface. Fine particles are transport ...

'' by Elite Zexer * World Cinema Directing Award: Dramatic – Felix van Groeningen for '' Belgica'' * World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Acting – Vicky Hernandez and Manolo Cruz for '' Between Land and Sea'' * World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Screenwriting – Ana Katz and Inés Bortagaray for '' Mi Amiga del Parque'' * World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Unique Vision & Design – '' The Lure'' by Agnieszka Smoczyńska * World Cinema Jury Prize: Documentary – '' Sonita'' by Rokhsareh Ghaemmaghami * World Cinema Directing Award: Documentary – Michal Marczak for '' All These Sleepless Nights'' * World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Best Debut Feature – Heidi Brandenburg and Mathew Orzel for '' When Two Worlds Collide'' * World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Best Cinematography – Pieter-Jan De Pue for '' The Land of the Enlightened'' * World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Editing – Mako Kamitsuna and John Maringouin for '' We Are X'' * Audience Award: Dramatic – ''

The Birth of a Nation (2016 film) ''The Birth of a Nation'' is a 2016 American period drama film written and directed by Nate Parker in his directorial debut. It is based on the story of Nat Turner, the enslaved man who led a slave rebellion in Southampton County, Virginia, i ...

'' by

* Audience Award: Documentary – '' Jim: The James Foley Story'' by Brian Oakes * World Cinema Audience Award: Dramatic – '' Between Sea and Land'' by Manolo Cruz and Carlos del Castillo * World Cinema Audience Award: Documentary – '' Sonita'' by Rokhsareh Ghaemmaghami * Best of NEXT Audience Award – ''

First Girl I Loved ''First Girl I Loved'' is a 2016 American romantic drama film written and directed by Kerem Sanga. It stars Dylan Gelula, Brianna Hildebrand, Tim Heidecker and Pamela Adlon. The film premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival and won the Audi ...

'' by Kerem Sanga * Short Film Grand Jury Prize – '' Thunder Road'' by Jim Cummings * Short Film Jury Award: US Fiction – ''The Procedure'' by Calvin Lee Reeder * Short Film Jury Award: International Fiction – '' Maman(s)'' by Maïmouna Doucouré * Short Film Jury Award: Non-fiction – '' Bacon and God's Wrath'' by Sol Friedman * Short Film Jury Award: Animation – '' Edmond'' by Nina Gantz * Short Film Special Jury Award for Outstanding Performance – Grace Glowicki for '' Her Friend Adam'' * Short Film Special Jury Award for Best Direction – Ondřej Hudeček for ''Peacock'' * Alfred P. Sloan Prize – '' Embrace of the Serpent'' by

Ciro Guerra Ciro Guerra (born 6 February 1981) is a Colombian film director and screenwriter. He is best known for his 2015 film ''Embrace of the Serpent'', the film was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 88th Academy Awards. Career He made hi ...

Films

U.S. Dramatic Competition

*'' As You Are'' by Miles Joris-Peyrafitte *'' Christine'' by Antonio Campos *'' Equity'' by

Meera Menon Meera Menon is an Indian–American director, writer, and editor. Her feature directorial debut, ''Farah Goes Bang'', screened at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2013 and was awarded the inaugural Nora Ephron Prize by Tribeca and ''Vogue''. She cur ...

*''

Goat The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the a ...

'' by Andrew Neel *''

Joshy Joshiy (born 18 July 1952) is an Indian film director and producer from Varkala in Kerala who works predominantly in the Malayalam film industry. He made his debut with ''Tiger Salim'' (1978) and has directed over 80 films. He has also directe ...

'' by

Jeff Baena Jeff is a masculine name, often a short form (hypocorism) of the English given name Jefferson or Jeffrey, which comes from a medieval variant of Geoffrey. Music * DJ Jazzy Jeff, American DJ/turntablist record producer Jeffrey Allen Townes * ...

*'' Lovesong'' by So Yong Kim *'' Morris from America'' by Chad Hartigan *'' Other People'' by Chris Kelly *'' Southside With You'' by Richard Tanne *''

'' by Andrew Ahn *'' Swiss Army Man'' by Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert *'' Tallulah'' by

Sian Heder Sian Heder (; born June 23, 1977) is an American television writer, television producer, and filmmaker who is best known for writing and directing the films '' Tallulah'' and ''CODA''. ''CODA'' earned Heder an Academy Award for Best Adapted Scree ...

*'' The Birth of a Nation'' by

*'' The Free World'' by Jason Lew *'' The Intervention'' by

Clea DuVall Clea Helen D'Etienne DuVall (born September 25, 1977) is an American actress, writer, producer, and director. She is known for her appearances in the films ''The Faculty'' (1998), '' She's All That''; '' But I'm a Cheerleader''; ''Girl, Interrup ...

*'' White Girl'' by Elizabeth Wood

U.S. Documentary Competition

*''

Audrie & Daisy ''Audrie & Daisy'' is an American 2016 documentary film about two cases of rape of teenage American girls, in 2011 and 2012. Summary The documentary includes the stories of two American high school students, Audrie Pott of Saratoga, California, a ...

'' by Bonni Cohen, Jon Shenk *'' Author: The JT LeRoy Story'' by Jeff Feuerzeig *'' The Bad Kids'' by

& Lou Pepe *'' Gleason'' by

Clay Tweel Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay part ...

*'' Holy Hell'' by Will Allen *'' How to Let Go of the World (and Love All the Things Climate Can’t Change)'' by

Josh Fox Josh Fox is an American film director, playwright and environmental activist, best known for his Oscar-nominated, Emmy-winning 2010 documentary, ''Gasland''. He is one of the most prominent public opponents of hydraulic fracturing and horizon ...

*'' Jim: The James Foley Story'' by Brian Oakes *''

'' by Robert Greene *'' Kiki'' by Sara Jordenö *''

'' by

*'' Newtown'' by Kim A. Snyder *'' NUTS!'' by Penny Lane *'' Suited'' by Jason Benjamin *'' Trapped'' by Dawn Porter *'' Uncle Howard'' by Aaron Brookner *'' Weiner'' by

Premieres

* '' Agnus Dei'' by Anne Fontaine * '' Ali and Nino'' by

Asif Kapadia Asif Kapadia (born 1972) is a British filmmaker. Academy Award, BAFTA and Grammy winning director Asif Kapadia has made his name directing visually striking films exploring ‘outsiders’, characters living in extreme circumstances, fighting ...

* '' Captain Fantastic'' by Matt Ross * '' Certain Women'' by Kelly Reichardt * ''

Complete Unknown ''Complete Unknown'' is a 2016 drama mystery thriller film, directed by Joshua Marston, from a screenplay by Marston and Julian Sheppard. It stars Rachel Weisz, Michael Shannon, Kathy Bates and Danny Glover. It had its world premiere at the Sund ...

'' by Joshua Marston * '' Frank & Lola'' by Matthew Ross * '' Hunt for the Wilderpeople'' by Taika Waititi * ''Indignation'' by

James Schamus James Allan Schamus (born September 7, 1959) is an American screenwriter, producer, business executive, film historian, professor, and director. He is a frequent collaborator of Ang Lee, the co-founder of the production company Good Machine, a ...

* '' Jacqueline Argentine'' by Bernardo Britto * '' Little Men'' by Ira Sachs * ''Love and Friendship'' by Whit Stillman * ''Manchester by the Sea'' by

Kenneth Lonergan Kenneth Lonergan (born October 16, 1962) is an American film director, playwright, and screenwriter. He is the co-writer of the film ''Gangs of New York'' (2002), and wrote and directed '' You Can Count on Me'' (2000), ''Margaret'' (2011), and ' ...

* '' Mr. Pig'' by

Diego Luna Diego Dionisio Luna Alexander (; born 29 December 1979) is a Mexican actor, director, and producer. He is known for his portrayal of Cassian Andor in '' Rogue One: A Star Wars Story'' and the Disney+ series ''Andor''. Following an early car ...

* ''

Sing Street ''Sing Street'' is a 2016 coming-of-age comedy-drama film written and directed by John Carney from a story by Carney and Simon Carmody. Starring Ferdia Walsh-Peelo, Lucy Boynton, Maria Doyle Kennedy, Aidan Gillen, Jack Reynor and Kelly Thor ...

'' by John Carney * ''

Sophie and the Rising Sun ''Sophie and the Rising Sun'' is a novel written by American author Augusta Trobaugh. It was published in 2001 by publishing company Dutton Penguin, Dutton. The novel was well received, especially throughout the southern states of America. It is ...

'' by Maggie Greenwald * '' The Fundamentals of Caring'' by Rob Burnett * ''

The Hollars ''The Hollars'' is a 2016 American comedy-drama film directed by John Krasinski and written by James C. Strouse. The film stars an ensemble cast led by Krasinski, starring Sharlto Copley, Charlie Day, Richard Jenkins, Anna Kendrick and Margo Ma ...

'' by John Krasinski * ''Wiener-Dog'' by Todd Solondz

Midnight

* '' 31'' by Rob Zombie * '' Antibirth'' by Danny Perez * '' The Blackout Experiments'' by Rich Fox * ''

Carnage Park ''Carnage Park'' is a 2016 American crime horror thriller film directed and written by Mickey Keating. The film stars Ashley Bell, Darby Stanchfield, Pat Healy, and Alan Ruck. Keating described ''Carnage Park'' as being a nod to films by Sam ...

'' by Mickey Keating * ''

The Greasy Strangler ''The Greasy Strangler'' is a 2016 American black comedy horror film directed by Jim Hosking, and written by Hosking and Toby Harvard. The film stars Michael St. Michaels, Sky Elobar, Elizabeth De Razzo, Gil Gex, Abdoulaye NGom and Holland MacFa ...

'' by

Jim Hosking Jim Hosking is a British film director. His first short film, ''Little Clumps of Hair'', premiered on BBC Three. His short film ''Renegades'' premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2010. He directed the segment "G is for Grandad" for the ...

* ''

Outlaws and Angels ''Outlaws and Angels'' is a live album by American country and western musician Willie Nelson. It was recorded on May 5, 2004, at The Wiltern in Los Angeles, California. It was released on September 21, 2004, by the Lost Highway label. The concer ...

'' by JT Mollner * '' Trash Fire'' by Richard Bates, Jr. * '' Under the Shadow'' by Babak Anvari * ''

Yoga Hosers ''Yoga Hosers'' is a 2016 American comedy horror film written and directed by Kevin Smith. It is a spin-off of Smith's 2014 horror film '' Tusk'' and stars Smith's daughter Harley Quinn Smith, Lily-Rose Depp, and her father, Johnny Depp. The sec ...

'' by

Kevin Smith Kevin Patrick Smith (born August 2, 1970) is an American filmmaker, actor, comedian, comic book writer, author, YouTuber, and podcaster. He came to prominence with the low-budget comedy buddy film '' Clerks'' (1994), which he wrote, directed, ...

World Cinema Dramatic Competition

* '' Belgica'' by Felix van Groeningen * '' Between Sea and Land'' by Manolo Cruz & Carlos del Castillo * '' Brahman Naman'' by

Qaushiq Mukherjee Qaushiq Mukherjee (born 1975), popularly known as Q, is an Indian film director known for his controversial cult film ''Gandu''. Mukherjee grew up in Kolkata and was educated at South Point High School. He completed his bachelor's degree from U ...

* ''

A Good Wife ''A Good Wife'' ( sr, Dobra žena) is a 2016 Serbian drama film written, directed by and starring Mirjana Karanović. It was shown in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition section at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival. It was named as one of fiv ...

'' by

Mirjana Karanović Mirjana Karanović ( sr-cyr, Мирјана Карановић; born 28 January 1957) is a Serbian actress, film director and screenwriter. Considered one of the best Serbian and Yugoslavian actresses of all time, she is probably the best known f ...

* '' Halal Love (and Sex)'' by Assad Fouladkar * '' The Lure'' by Agnieszka Smoczynska * '' Male Joy, Female Love'' by Yao Huang * '' Mammal'' by

Rebecca Daly Rebecca Daly (born 1980) is an Irish people, Irish film director, screenwriter, and actress. Early life Daly was born in West Sussex and grew up in an Irish family in Haywards Heath. They later moved to Naas, Ireland. She studied theatre studie ...

* '' My Friend from the Park'' by Ana Katz * ''

Much Ado About Nothing ''Much Ado About Nothing'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare thought to have been written in 1598 and 1599.See textual notes to ''Much Ado About Nothing'' in ''The Norton Shakespeare'' ( W. W. Norton & Company, 1997 ) p. 1387 The play ...

'' by Alejandro Fernández Almendras * ''

'' by Elite Zexer * '' Wild'' by Nicolette Krebitz

World Cinema Documentary Competition

* '' All These Sleepless Nights'' by Michal Marczak * '' A Flag Without a Country'' by

Bahman Ghobadi Bahman Ghobadi ( fa, بهمن قبادی; ; born 1 February 1969 in Baneh, Kurdistan province, Iran) is an Iranian Kurdish film director, producer and writer. He belongs to the " new wave" of Iranian cinema. Biography He was born in Baneh, a K ...

* '' Hooligan Sparrow'' by Nanfu Wang * '' The Land of the Enlightened'' by Pieter-Jan De Pue * '' The Lovers and the Despot'' by Robert Cannan & Ross Adam * '' Plaza de la Soledad'' by Maya Goded * ''

The Settlers ''The Settlers'' (german: Die Siedler) is a city-building and real-time strategy video game series created by Volker Wertich. The original game was released on the Commodore Amiga in 1993, with subsequent games released primarily on MS-DOS a ...

'' by Shimon Dotan * '' Sky Ladder: The Art of Cai Guo-Qiang'' by Kevin Macdonald * '' Sonita'' by Rokhsareh Ghaemmaghami * '' We Are X'' by Stephen Kijak * '' When Two Worlds Collide'' by Heidi Brandenburg & Mathew Orzel

Juries

Jury members, for each program of the festival, including the Alfred P. Sloan Jury, which also took part in the Science in Film Forum Panel, were announced on January 12, 2016. ;U.S. Documentary Jury * Simon Kilmurry* * Jill Lepore* * Shola Lynch* * Louie Psihoyos* * Amy Ziering* ;U.S. Dramatic Jury *

Lena Dunham Lena Dunham (, born May 13, 1986) is an American writer, director, actress, and producer. She is known as the creator, writer, and star of the HBO television series ''Girls (TV series), Girls'' (2012–2017), for which she received several Emmy ...

* *

Jon Hamm Jonathan Daniel Hamm (born March 10, 1971) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Don Draper in the period drama television series '' Mad Men'' (2007–2015), for which he won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Televis ...

* * Avy Kaufman* * Randall Poster* * Franklin Leonard* ;World Documentary Jury * Mila Aung-Thwin* * Tine Fischer* *

* ;World Dramatic Jury * Mark Adams* * Fernanda Solorzano* * Apichatpong Weerasethakul* ; Alfred P. Sloan Jury *

Kerry Bishé Kerry Lynne Bishé (born May 1, 1984) is a New Zealand-born American actress, known for her lead role as Donna Clark in the AMC television series '' Halt and Catch Fire''. Bishé played the lead/narrator role in the final season of the ABC medi ...

* Mike Cahill * Shane Carruth * Clifford Johnson *

Ting Wu Chao-ting Wu (; born January 24, 1954) is an American molecular biologist. After training at Harvard Medical School in genetics with William Gelbart, at Stanford Medical School with David Hogness, and in a fellowship at Massachusetts General Ho ...

;Short Film Jury *

Keegan-Michael Key Keegan-Michael Key (born March 22, 1971) is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. He co-created and co-starred alongside Jordan Peele in Comedy Central's sketch series ''Key & Peele'' (2012–2015) and co-starred in USA Netw ...

* Gina Kwon * Amy Nicholson

Acquisitions

Ahead of the festival opening distributor

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...

obtained worldwide streaming rights to '' Tallulah'' and Iranian horror film '' Under the Shadow''. Oscilloscope Laboratories also obtained U.S. distribution rights to '' The Fits'' before its Sundance debut. Amazon also acquired the rights to '' Manchester by the Sea'' and '' Love & Friendship'' (the latter in collaboration with Roadside Attractions).

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sundance Film Festival, 2016 2016 film festivals 2016 in Utah

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

2016 in American cinema 2016 festivals in the United States January 2016 events in the United States