‘In the Summers’ Wins Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize and Directing Award

"In the Summers" filmmaker Alessandra Lacorazza also won the Directing prize in the U.S. Dramatic Competition of the 40th Sundance Film Festival.

By Samantha Bergeson, Ryan Lattanzio

The 2024 Sundance Film Festival winners are in, with films like “In the Summers,” “Didi,” and “Daughters” dominating across the categories. “In the Summers” filmmaker Alessandra Lacorazza, whose film centers on a fractured family in New Mexico, also won the Directing prize in U.S. Dramatic.

On Friday, January 26, the winners of juried prizes were shared out of the competition sections, including the U.S. Dramatic Competition, U.S. Documentary Competition, World Cinema Dramatic Competition, World Cinema Documentary Competition, and the NEXT lineup.

The 2024 Sundance jury consisted of 16 filmmakers and artists across all sections, with the U.S. Dramatic Competition jury made up of “Winter’s Bone” director/co-writer Debra Granik, “Shortcomings” screenwriter Adrian Tomine, and “Master of None” producer Lena Waithe.

“Navalny” producer Shane Boris, “The Disappearance of Shere Hite” director Nicole Newnham, and “The Sentence” director Rudy Valdez serve on the U.S. Documentary Competition jury, with “The Babadook” director Jennifer Kent, “Mississippi Masala” director Mira Nair, and “Frankie” cinematographer Rui Poças serve on the jury for the World Cinema Dramatic Competition.

Fremantle’s Undeniable creative director Mandy Chang, “Flee” producer Monica Hellström, and “All That Breathes” director Shaunak Sen are behind the World Cinema Documentary Competition jury, and “Minari” producer Christina Oh, “Community” actor Danny Pudi, and “Scrapper” director Regan will select the Short Film Program Competition. “A Murder at the End of the World” co-creator Zal Batmanglij serves on the NEXT competition section.

As previously announced, the Alfred P. Sloan Science-In-Film Initiative award was given to Sam and Andy Zuchero’s “Love Me,” which stars Kristen Stewart and Steven Yeun as two A.I. objects who fall in love. The film debuted in the U.S. Dramatic Competition at the festival.

At Sundance 2023, “A Thousand and One” took home the coveted Grand Jury Prize, with “The Persian Version” landing the Audience Award and Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award in the U.S. Dramatic Competition.

See the full list of 2024 Sundance Award winners below.

U.S. DRAMATIC COMPETITION

The U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic was presented to In The Summers / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Alessandra Lacorazza, Producers: Alexander Dinelaris, Rob Quadrino, Fernando Rodriguez-Vila, Lynette Coll, Sergio Lira, Cristóbal Güell, Daniel Tantalean, Cynthia Fernandez De La Cruz)

The Directing Award: U.S. Dramatic was presented to Alessandra Lacorazza for In The Summers / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Alessandra Lacorazza, Producers: Alexander Dinelaris, Rob Quadrino, Fernando Rodriguez-Vila, Lynette Coll, Sergio Lira, Cristóbal Güell)

The Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award: U.S. Dramatic was presented to Jesse Eisenberg for A Real Pain / U.S.A., Poland (Director, Screenwriter, and Producer: Jesse Eisenberg, Producers: Dave McCary, Ali Herting, Emma Stone, Jennifer Semler, Ewa Puszczyńska)

A U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award: Ensemble was presented to the cast of Dìdi (弟弟) / U.S.A. (Director, Screenwriter, and Producer: Sean Wang, Producers: Carlos López Estrada, Josh Peters, Valerie Bush)

A U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Breakthrough Performance was presented to Nico Parker for Suncoast / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Laura Chinn, Producers: Jeremy Plager, Francesca Silvestri, Kevin Chinoy, Oly Obst)

U.S. DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION AWARDS

The U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Documentary was presented to Porcelain War / U.S.A., Ukraine (Director and Screenwriter: Brendan Bellomo, Director: Slava Leontyev, Producers and Screenwriters: Aniela Sidorska, Paula DuPré Pesmen, Producers: Camilla Mazzaferro, Olivia Ahnemann)

The Directing Award: U.S. Documentary was presented to Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie for Sugarcane / U.S.A., Canada (Director: Julian Brave NoiseCat, Director and Producer: Emily Kassie, Producer: Kellen Quinn)

A U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Sound was presented to Gaucho Gaucho / U.S.A., Argentina (Directors and Producers: Michael Dweck, Gregory Kershaw, Producers: Cameron O’Reilly, Christos V. Konstantakopoulos, Matthew Perniciaro)

The Jonathan Oppenheim Editing Award: U.S. Documentary was presented to Carla Gutiérrez for FRIDA / U.S.A., Mexico (Director: Carla Gutiérrez, Producers: Katia Maguire, Sara Bernstein, Justin Wilkes, Loren Hammonds, Alexandra Johnes)

A U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for the Art of Change was presented to Union / U.S.A. (Directors: Stephen Maing, Brett Story, Producers: Samantha Curley, Mars Verrone)

AUDIENCE AWARDS

Selected by audience votes from the feature films that screened at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, the Festival Favorite Award was presented to Daughters / U.S.A. (Directors: Angela Patton, Natalie Rae, Producers: Lisa Mazzotta, Justin Benoliel, Mindy Goldberg, Sam Bisbee, Kathryn Everett, Laura Choi Raycroft)

The Audience Award: U.S. Dramatic, Presented by Acura was awarded to Dìdi (弟弟) / U.S.A. (Director, Screenwriter, and Producer: Sean Wang, Producers: Carlos López Estrada, Josh Peters, Valerie Bush)

The Audience Award: World Cinema Documentary, Presented by United Airlines was awarded to Ibelin / Norway (Director: Benjamin Ree, Producer: Ingvil Giske)

The Audience Award: U.S. Documentary, Presented by Acura was awarded to Daughters / U.S.A. (Directors: Angela Patton, Natalie Rae, Producers: Lisa Mazzotta, Justin Benoliel, Mindy Goldberg, Sam Bisbee, Kathryn Everett, Laura Choi Raycroft)

The Audience Award: World Cinema Dramatic, Presented by United Airlines was awarded to Girls Will Be Girls / India, France, Norway (Director, Screenwriter, and Producer: Shuchi Talati, Producers: Richa Chadha, Claire Chassagne)

The Audience Award: NEXT, Presented by Adobe was awarded to Kneecap / Ireland, U.K. (Director and Screenwriter: Rich Peppiatt, Producers: Jack Tarling, Trevor Birney)

NEXT AWARDS

The NEXT Innovator Award presented by Adobe was presented to Little Death / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Jack Begert, Screenwriter: Dani Goffstein, Producers: Darren Aronofsky, Andy S. Cohen, Dylan Golden, Brendan Naylor, Sam Canter, Noor Alfallah)

A Special Jury Award for NEXT presented by Adobe was presented to Desire Lines / U.S.A. (Director, Screenwriter, and Producer: Jules Rosskam, Screenwriter: Nate Gualtieri, Producers: André Pérez, Amy E. Powell, Brittani Ward)

WORLD CINEMA DRAMATIC COMPETITION AWARDS

The World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic was presented to Sujo / Mexico, U.S.A., France (Directors, Screenwriters, and Producers: Astrid Rondero, Fernanda Valadez, Producers: Diana Arcega, Jewerl Keats Ross, Virginie Devesa, Jean-Baptiste Bailly-Maitre)

The Directing Award: World Cinema Dramatic was presented to Raha Amirfazli and Alireza Ghasemi for In The Land Of Brothers / Iran, France, Netherlands (Directors, Screenwriters, and Producers: Raha Amirfazli, Alireza Ghasemi, Producers: Adrien Barrouillet, Frank Hoeve, Charles Meresse, Emma Binet, Arya Ghamavian)

A World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Acting was presented to Preeti Panigrahi for Girls Will Be Girls / India, France, Norway (Director, Screenwriter, and Producer: Shuchi Talati, Producers: Richa Chadha, Claire Chassagne)

A World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Original Music was presented to Peter Raeburn for Handling the Undead/ Norway (Director and Screenwriter: Thea Hvistendahl, Screenwriter: John Ajvide Lindqvist, Producers: Kristin Emblem, Guri Neby)

WORLD CINEMA DOCUMENTARY AWARDS

A World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Craft was presented to Nocturnes / India, U.S.A. (Director and Producer: Anirban Dutta, Director: Anupama Srinivasan)

A World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Cinematic Innovation was presented to  Johan Grimonprez for Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat / Belgium, France, Netherlands (Director and Screenwriter: Johan Grimonprez, Producers: Daan Milius, Rémi Grellety)

The Directing Award: World Cinema Documentary was presented to Benjamin Ree for Ibelin / Norway (Director: Benjamin Ree, Producer: Ingvil Giske)

The World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Documentary was presented to A New Kind of Wilderness / Norway (Director: Silje Evensmo Jacobsen, Producer: Mari Bakke Riise)

SHORT FILM AWARDS 

The Short Film Jury Award: U.S. Fiction was presented to: Kate Jean Hollowell for Say Hi After You Die / U.S.A. (Director: Kate Jean Hollowell, Screenwriters: Kate Jean Hollowell, Ruby Caster, Producer: Miranda Kahn)

The Short Film Jury Award: International Fiction was presented to: An Chu for The Stag / Taiwan (Director, Screenwriter, and Producer: An Chu, Producer: Tzu-Yuan Wang)

The Short Film Jury Award: Nonfiction was presented to: Jack Dunphy for Bob’s Funeral / U.S.A (Director, Screenwriter, Animator, and Producer: Jack Dunphy)

The Short Film Jury Award: Animation was presented to: Phoebe Jane Hart for Bug Diner / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Phoebe Jane Hart)

A Short Film Special Jury Prize for Directing was presented to: Masha Ko, for The Looming / U.S.A. (Director, Screenwriter, and Producer: Masha Ko, Producers: Caroline Gluck, Andrey Nikolaev, Kolten Horner)

A Short Film Special Jury Prize for Directing was presented to: Makoto Nagahisa for Pisko the Crab Child is in Love / Japan (Director and Screenwriter: Makoto Nagahisa, Producer: Yasuo Suzuki)