Park City • A hard-hitting drama about a girl who witnesses a crime impressed both the jury and audiences at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival, winning two awards.
The drama, “Josephine,” comes from writer-director Beth de Araújo and follows the 8-year-old (Mason Reeves) as her parents (Gemma Chan and Channing Tatum) try to help cope with the aftermath.
The child in the film witnesses a rape, which is “very hard to talk about,” de Araújo said Friday as she accepted the Grand Jury Prize in the U.S. Dramatic competition. “Even just saying the word makes people uncomfortable,” she added, which can leave survivors feeling isolated.
The film also won the Audience Award in the U.S. Dramatic competition during a ceremony at The Ray Theatre — one of the last major events of the festival that ends Sunday.
Utah’s biggest landmark, the Great Salt Lake, also got a significant mention. Director Abby Ellis’ documentary “The Lake” — about the political and environmental struggle to save it — received a Special Jury Prize for Impact for Change.
(Sundance Institute) Ecologist Ben Abbott, here relaxing in a Utah river, is one of the people featured in "The Lake," a documentary about the Great Salt Lake, directed by Abby Ellis. The film won a special jury prize in the U.S. Documentary competition of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival.
The jury said in a statement that “The Lake” gave “a probing and provocative look at the interdependence of science and faith, and the power of individuals and communities to avert disaster by working together.”
“We were moved and encouraged by its vision of people working across political divides,” the statement continued.
Ellis added that “the film’s already had a lot of impact.” The day after its Jan. 22 premiere, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced it was beginning the review process on an Endangered Species Act petition to protect the Wilson’s phalarope, a migratory bird that lives on the Great Salt Lake.
The movie shows environmentalists talking about filing the petition, and the political fallout for one scientist who signs it.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Director, editor, and cinematographer Abby Ellis and producer Fletcher Keys, celebrate their U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award Impact for Change at the Sundance Film Festival Awards Ceremony in Park City, on Friday, Jan. 30, 2026.
“We think we helped save the lake, and the state of Utah, and maybe the West. So that’s awesome,” Ellis said.
“The Lake’s” producer, and Ellis’ husband, Fletcher Keyes, told the audience that he was raised in Park City.
“I bought my first pair of skis in this room,” he said. (The Ray was built in a former Sports Authority store.) “It feels really meaningful to be back here and feature our film here.”
Another movie about the environment, “Nuisance Bear,” won the Grand Jury Prize in the U.S. Documentary competition. Directors Gabriela Osio Vanden and Jack Weisman followed polar bears encroaching on a Manitoba town, examining the ancient connection between the animals and the Indigenous people who live nearby.
(Gabriela Osio Vanden | Sundance Institute) A polar bear sighting, in a moment from "Nuisance Bear," directed by Gabriela Osio Vanden and Jack Weisman, an official selection in the U.S. Documentary competition of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival.
“We share this planet with incredible creatures … and we share it with incredible people who have experienced oppression from our governments,” Osio Vanden said. She added that the film is “about love in a lot of ways, and how sometimes when we love something we can hold it too tight.”
The Audience Award in the U.S. Documentary competition went to “American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis Valdez,” a biography of the Mexican American filmmaker who directed such films as “Zoot Suit” and “La Bamba.”
(Elizabeth Sunflower | Retro Photo Archive / Sundance Institute) Filmmaker Luis Valdez, the director of "Zoot Suit" and "La Bamba," is profiled in "American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis Valdez," directed by David Alvardo, an official selection in the U.S. Documentary competition of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival.
Director David Alvarado noted that “Zoot Suit” premiered at the Utah/U.S. Film Festival in its first year, 1981, before that event became the Sundance Film Festival.
“Now we are here at the last [festival] in Park City, and they’re showing this film about Luis’ life,” Alvarado said. “It shows the full commitment to the Latino story that Sundance has always championed.”
The award winners will be screened one more time over the weekend in Park City — a farewell for the last festival in Utah. The Sundance Film Festival is moving to Boulder, Colorado, starting in 2027.
Here is the full list of award winners:
U.S. Dramatic
Grand Jury Prize • ”Josephine,” written and directed by Beth de Araújo.
Audience Award • ”Josephine,” written and directed by Beth de Araújo.
Directing Award • Josef Kubota Wladkya, “Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty!”
Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award • Liz Sargent, “Take Me Home.”
Special Jury Prize for Debut Feature • Stephanie Ahn, “Bedford Park.”
Special Jury Prize for Ensemble Cast • The cast of “The Friend’s House Is Here.”
U.S. Documentary
Grand Jury Prize • ”Nuisance Bear,” directed by Gabriela Osio Vanden and Jack Weisman.
Audience Award • “American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis Valdez,” directed by David Alvarado.
Directing Award • J.M. Harper, “Soul Patrol.”
Jonathan Oppenheim Editing Award • Matt Hixon, “Barbara Forever,” directed by Brydie O’Connor.
Special Jury Prize for Journalistic Excellence • “Who Killed Alex Odeh?”, directed by Jason Osder and William Lafi Youmans.
Special Jury Prize for Impact for Change • ”The Lake,” directed by Abby Ellis.
World Cinema Dramatic
(Janis Mazuch | Sundance Institute) Astrit Kabashi, left, and Flonja Kodheli star in "Shame and Money," directed by Visar Morina, an official selection in the World Cinema Documentary competition of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival.
Grand Jury Prize • ”Shame and Money” (German, Kosovo, Slovenia, Albania, North Macedonia, Belgium), directed by Visar Morina.
Audience Award • “Hold Onto Me (Κράτα Με)” (Cyprus, Denmark, Greece), written and directed by Myrsini Aristidou.
Directing Award • Andrius Blaževičius, “How to Divorce During a War” (Lithuania).
Special Jury Prize for Acting Ensemble • The cast of “Lady” (United Kingdom, Nigeria).
Special Jury Prize for Creative Vision • “Filipiañana” (Singapore, United Kingdom, Philippines, France, Netherlands), written and directed by Rafael Manuel.
World Cinema Documentary
(Eva Kraljeviċ | Sundance Institute) Mileva-Gara Jovanović and Nada Stanišić appear in "To Hold a Mountain," directed by Biljana Tutorov and Petar Glomazić, an official selection in the World Cinema Documentary competition of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival.
Grand Jury Prize • ”To Hold a Mountain” (Serbia, France, Montenegro, Slovenia, Croatia), directed by Biljana Tutorov and Petar Glomazić.
Audience Award • “One in a Million” (United Kingdom), directed by Itab Azzam and Jack MacInnes.
Directing Award • “One in a Million” (United Kingdom), directed by Itab Azzam and Jack MacInnes.
Special Jury Prize for Journalistic Impact • “Birds of War” (United Kingdom, Syrian Arab Republic, Lebanon), directed by Janay Boulos and Abd Alkader Habak.
Special Jury Prize for Civil Resistance • “Everybody to Kenmure Street” (United Kingdom), directed by Felipe Bustos Sierra.
Next
(Anthony Dickenson | Sundance Institute) An official (Domhnall Gleeson, center) tells two siblings (Gayle Rankin and Grant O'Rourke) that they must vacate their Scottish island in "The Incomer," directed by Louis Paxton, an official selection in the Next competition of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival.
Next Innovator Award • ”The Incomer” (United Kingdom), written and directed by Louis Paxton.
Audience Award • “Aanikoobijigan [ancestor/great-grandparent/great-grandchild]” (United States, Denmark), directed by Adam Khalil, Zack Khalil.
Special Jury Prize for Creative Expression • “TheyDream,” directed by William David Caballero.
Short film winners
(Announced Tuesday.)
(Brandon Somerhalder | Sundance Institute) Dr. Clarence B. Jones, who wrote speeches for Martin Luther King Jr., is the subject of the short documentary "The Baddest Speechwriter of All," directed by Ben Proudfoot and Stephen Curry. The film won the Grand Jury Prize for short films at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival.
Grand Jury Prize • “The Baddest Speechwriter of All,” directed by Ben Proudfoot and Stephen Curry.
Jury Award: U.S. Fiction • “Crisis Actor,” directed by Lily Platt.
Jury Award: International Fiction • “Jazz Infernal” (Canada), directed by Will Niava.
Jury Award: Nonfiction • “The Boys and the Bees,” directed by Arielle C. Knight.
Jury Award: Animation • “Living With a Visionary,” directed by Stephen P. Neary.
Special Jury Award for Creative Vision • “Paper Trail,” directed by Don Hertzfeldt.
Special Jury Award for Acting • Noah Roja and Filippo Carrozza, for “The Liars” (Argentina), directed by Eduardo Braun Costa.
Other awards
(All announced previously.)
(Sundance Institute) Kate McKinnon appears in "In The Blink of an Eye," directed by Andrew Stanton, an official selection in the Premieres section of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival.
Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize (given to a film that depicts science or scientists) • ”In the Blink of an Eye,” directed by Andrew Stanton.
Sundance Institute | Amazon MGM Studios Producers Awards • Apoorva Guru Charan, “Take Me Home,” for fiction; Don Langford, “Who Killed Alex Odeh?” for nonfiction.
Sundance | NHK Award (a development grant for a future project) • Leo Aguirre, “Veracruz.”
Sundance | Adobe Mentorship Awards (given to editors in the middle of their career) • Molly Goldstein and Claudia DeSua.
Gayle Stevens Award (given to an outstanding Sundance volunteer) • Nori Huntsman.