The Sundance Film Festival wrapped its ten-day 2016 edition last night in Park City, Utah, with the announcement of the festival’s prize winners. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Nate Parker‘s The Birth of a Nation, which tells the true story of Nat Turner’s slave rebellion, took home both the US Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award for best dramatic film. It’s the fourth film in a row to take home both prizes, following Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, Whiplash, and Fruitvale Station.
Earlier in the festival, Fox Searchlight purchased the rights to The Birth of a Nation, which is one of our Most Anticipated Films of 2016, for $17.5 million—the highest amount ever paid for a film premiering at Sundance.
The Sundance jury also bestowed the Directing Award upon Daniel Scheinert and Daniel Kwan for their film Swiss Army Man. The award comes as something of a surprise; the movie, in which Paul Dano plays a man who carries Daniel Radcliffe‘s (apparently flatulent) corpse back to civilization, prompted walkouts during several screenings.
The entire list of winners is available here.
(via Deadline)
