Sundance 2026 Honors Bold Storytelling as Award Winners Are Announced

Top L–R: The Friend’s House is Here, Josephine, The Lake, Bedford Park, Who Killed Alex Odeh? Second Row L–R: Take Me Home, American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis Valdez, Birds of War, Soul Patrol, One In A Million Third Row L–R: Nuisance Bear, Everybody To Kenmure Street, LADY, How to Divorce During the War, How to Divorce During the War, To Hold a Mountain. Fourth Row L–R: TheyDream, Ha-chan, Shake Your Booty!, Shame and Money, Aanikoobijigan [ancestor/great-grandparent/great-grandchild], The Incomer. Bottom L–R: Barbara Forever, HOLD ONTO ME (Κράτα Με), Filipiñana

The 2026 Sundance Film Festival officially announced this year’s award winners during a ceremony held at The Ray Theatre in Park City, Utah, celebrating the artists and films that defined one of the most memorable editions in the Festival’s history. With the final day of the Festival approaching on February 1, Sundance paused to recognize stories that challenged, inspired, and reflected the world through fresh cinematic voices.

This year’s Festival unfolded across Park City and Salt Lake City, featuring premieres, screenings, talks, and special events — including moments honoring Robert Redford and the visionary spirit that has shaped Sundance for decades. All feature award–winning films are currently available to stream online nationwide through February 1, with select titles also screening in person for ticketholders and passholders. Tickets and viewing options are available at festival.sundance.org.

Grand Jury Prize Winners

Leading the honors were the Grand Jury Prize recipients across four major categories:

• U.S. Dramatic Competition: Josephine, directed by Beth de Araújo, earned top honors for its deeply empathetic portrayal of childhood trauma and resilience. The film, which follows an eight-year-old girl grappling with the aftermath of witnessing a crime, also resonated strongly with audiences throughout the Festival.

• U.S. Documentary Competition: Nuisance Bear, directed by Gabriela Osio Vanden and Jack Weisman, captivated jurors with its powerful examination of climate change, Indigenous land tensions, and humanity’s uneasy relationship with the natural world.

• World Cinema Dramatic Competition: Shame and Money, from director Visar Morina, offered a poignant look at dignity and survival within a hypercapitalist society, drawing audiences into the lived experiences of a Kosovar family forced to start over.

• World Cinema Documentary Competition: To Hold a Mountain, directed by Biljana Tutorov and Petar Glomazić, stood out for its emotionally rich depiction of a family’s fight to protect ancestral land in Montenegro from military development.

Audience Favorites Take the Spotlight

Audience Awards highlighted films that struck an especially strong chord with festivalgoers:

• Josephine claimed the Audience Award: U.S. Dramatic, confirming its widespread emotional impact.

• American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis Valdez won Audience Award: U.S. Documentary, celebrating the enduring legacy of Chicano storytelling in American cinema.

• HOLD ONTO ME (Κράτα Με) earned the World Cinema Dramatic Audience Award, while One In A Million took home the World Cinema Documentary Audience Award.

• Aanikoobijigan [ancestor/great-grandparent/great-grandchild] received the Audience Award for NEXT, underscoring Sundance’s continued commitment to innovative and boundary-pushing work.

Innovation, Direction, and Craft

The NEXT Innovator Award presented by Adobe was awarded to The Incomer, a bold and inventive comic fable blending folklore, animation, and myth. The NEXT Special Jury Award went to TheyDream, recognized for its deeply personal storytelling and creative expression through mixed media.

Directing, screenwriting, and editing honors highlighted exceptional craftsmanship across categories, including Josef Kubota Wladyka’s kinetic and emotionally resonant Ha-chan, Shake Your Booty!, J.M. Harper’s documentary Soul Patrol, and Liz Sargent’s quietly powerful screenplay for Take Me Home.

Special Jury Awards Spotlight Impact and Vision

Special Jury Awards celebrated films that excelled in debut storytelling, ensemble performance, journalistic rigor, social impact, and creative vision. Among them were Bedford Park, The Friend’s House is Here, Who Killed Alex Odeh?, The Lake, and Everybody To Kenmure Street, each recognized for illuminating urgent themes through compelling cinematic voices.

World Cinema Special Jury honors further underscored Sundance’s global reach, with awards presented to films like Filipiñana, LADY, and Birds of War, highlighting stories shaped by resistance, community, and lived experience.

Shorts, Mentorship, and Industry Recognition

The Short Film Program awards, announced earlier in the Festival, honored standout storytelling in fiction, nonfiction, animation, and creative vision. The Baddest Speechwriter of All received the Short Film Grand Jury Prize, while additional honors celebrated emerging filmmakers pushing form and narrative in bold new ways.

Industry awards and mentorship honors — including the Sundance Institute Producers Awards and Adobe Mentorship Awards — emphasized Sundance’s role not just as a festival, but as a year-round incubator for artists shaping the future of independent cinema.

Looking Ahead

The 2026 Sundance Film Festival marks the final year of the Festival’s long-running home in Park City and Salt Lake City. Beginning in 2027, Sundance will move to Boulder, Colorado, ushering in a new chapter while honoring the deep legacy built in Utah.

As this year’s award winners demonstrate, Sundance remains a vital platform for stories that challenge conventions, expand representation, and connect audiences through powerful, personal storytelling.

To explore award-winning films, upcoming screenings, and how to participate online or in person, visit festival.sundance.org.