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| Top L–R: Zodiac Killer Project. Mad Bills to Pay (or Destiny, dile que no soy malo), Mr. Nobody Against Putin, Coexistence, My Ass!, 2000 Meters to Andriivka, Cutting Through Rocks; Second Row L-R: DJ Ahmet, Two Women, The Things You Kill, Sabar Bonda (Cactus Pears), Plainclothes, Twinless; Third Row L-R: Sorry, Baby, Ricky, Atropia, Selena y Los Dinos, Life After, André is an Idiot; Bottom L–R: The Perfect Neighbor, Seeds, East of Wall, Prime Minister Photo: Sundance Institute |
The Sundance Film Festival has announced its winners from this year's festival, with the US Grand Jury prizes going to Atropia and Seeds.
In the World section, the Grand Jury prizes went to Cactus Pears (sabar Bonda) and Cutting Through Rocks. The Next award went to UK director Charlie Shackleton for Zodiac Killer Project.
Atropia, written and directed by Hailey Gates stars Alia Shawkat as an aspiring actress in a military role-playing facility, who falls in love with a soldier cast as an insurgent. Brittany Shyne's Seeds explores the history of Black generational farmers in the American South. Indian, UK and Canadian co-production Cactus Pears - directed by Rohan Parashuram Kanawade follows a man from the city who finds himself bonding with a farmer after he travels home for an enforced mourning period for his father. Cutting Through Rocks, directed by Sara Khaki, follows an Iranian concilwoman as she takes on patriarchal traditions.
Shackleton's Zodiac Killer Project sees him scrutinise an abandoned documentary, while exploring the appeal of true crime.
The US Audience Awards went to Day One film Twinless - a slippery dark comedy about two men who bond at a bereavement group, directed by James Sweeney - and André Is An Idiot, which sees a man with cancer who films himself as he strives to die happily, directed by Tony Benna. The World selection, saw the audience vote for coming-of-age charmer DJ Ahmet and and intimate profile of New Zealand ex-premier Jacinda Ardern, Prime Minister, directed by Georgi M Unkovski and duo Michelle Walshe and Lindsay Utz respectively.
Kate Beecroft's East Of Wall, a documentary about a horse trainer who wrestles with financial insecurity and unresolved grief while providing refuge for a group of wayward teenagers, won the Audience Award for Next.
Acting CEO of the Sundance Institute Amanda Kelso said: “We congratulate all of our filmmakers and award winners on a successful 2025 Sundance Film Festival and thank them for the stories they shared with our audiences. These works spoke to our commitment to fostering empathy, understanding, and a more vibrant, inclusive society through storytelling, and it was an honor to celebrate them together as a community.”
Festival director Eugene Hernandez added: “Arriving at our Awards Ceremony after seven days of connection and discovery is especially rewarding this year. We are thrilled to honour these filmmakers for their inventiveness, generosity, and for the valuable conversations, moments of levity, and deep insights their work has offered.”
The awards ceremony honoured the winning projects two days before the conclusion of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, where 94 feature-length and episodic works and 57 short films — curated from a total 15,775 submissions — have screened to audiences in Park City, Salt Lake City, and online.
The full list of winners, with Jury citations is below:
- US Dramatic Grand Jury Prize: Atropia, Dir/Wr: Hailey Gates, US
Jury citation: For its singular directing, writing, and vision, this timely and timeless first feature was both hilarious and damning in its portrayal of the theater of war.
- US Documentary Grand Jury Prize: Seeds, Dir Brittany Shyne, US
Jury citation: A truly special film that evokes and illustrates all that we come to Sundance to discover - a new voice with something powerful, rich, and poignant to say. From its directing, cinematography, and dreamlike immersion, this film takes us deep inside an essentially overlooked pocket of our country, whose residents struggle to hold onto their heritage as their way of life has come under threat. The fact that this is the filmmaker’s feature debut speaks to the arrival of an exciting new talent in documentary.
- World Cinema Dramatic Grand Jury Prize: Cactus Pears (Sabar Bonda, Dir/Wr: Rohan Parashuram Kanawade, India, UK
Jury citation: This is the great modern love story. To say it’s an honour to award this tender film is an understatement. We cried, we laughed, and we wished to be loved in the same way. It is exactly what the world needs right now. This authentic point of view opens the door to an intimate language we all understand. We feel the humming heartbeat of the main character’s inner life, and when it bursts, it wraps us with its sweetness.
- World Cinema Documentary Grand Jury Prize: Cutting Through Rocks, dir Sara Khaki, Iran, Germany, US, Netherlands, Qatar, Chile, Canada
Jury citation: This beautiful and nuanced portrait shows us a fearless eccentric who confronts male-dominated society when she runs for office in a remote Iranian village. Her determination, warmth, and humor and the way her story is told left us in awe.
- Audience Award US Dramatic: Twinless, Dir/Wr: James Sweeney, US
- Audience Award US Documentary: André Is An Idiot, Dir: Tony Benna, US
- Audience Award World Dramatic: DJ Ahmet, Dir/Wr: Georgi M Unkovski, North Macedonia, Czechia, Serbia, Croatia
- Audience Award World Documentary: Prime Minister, Dir: Michelle Walshe, Lindsay Utz, US
- Next Award: Zodiac Killer Project, Dir: Charlie Shackleton, UK
Additional Awards
- Directing Award: US Documentary: Geeta Gandbhir for The Perfect Neighbor
- Directing Award: US Dramatic: Rashad Frett for Ricky
- Directing Award: World Cinema Documentary: Mstyslav Chernov for 2000 Meters To Andriivka
- Directing Award: World Cinema Dramatic: Alireza Khatami for The Things You Kill
- Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award: US Dramatic: Eva Victor for Sorry, Baby
- Jonathan Oppenheim Editing Award: US Documentary: Parker Laramie for André Is An Idiot
- US Dramatic Special Jury Award for Acting: Dylan O’Brien for Twinless
- US Dramatic Special Jury Award for Ensemble Cast: Plainclothes
- US Documentary Special Jury Award for Archival Storytelling: Selena y Los Dinos
- US Documentary Special Jury Award: Life After
- World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Creative Vision: Georgi M. Unkovski for DJ Ahmet
- World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Writing: Two Women
- World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award: Mr. Nobody Against Putin
- World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Freedom of Expression: Coexistence, My Ass!
- NEXT Special Jury Award for Ensemble Cast: Mad Bills to Pay (or Destiny, dile que no soy malo)
