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The Sundance audience has voted for its favorite film, and the winner is ...

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( Courtesy Sundance Institute | photo by Pete Alton.) A film still from "Science Fair," directed by Cristina Costantini and Darren Foster, an official selection of the Kids program at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival.

  | Jan. 31, 2018, 9:04 p.m.

The documentary “Science Fair,” which follows smart kids from around the world competing in an international science competition, is the Festival Favorite Award winner for the 2018 Sundance Film Festival.

The newly created award — and its runners-up — was decided by audience votes at screenings for all 123 feature films that played at the festival, which concluded Sunday. The Sundance Institute announced the winner Wednesday.

“Science Fair,” directed by Cristina Costantini and Darren Foster, was part of Sundance’s Kids section, curated by festival programmers in conjunction with the Utah Film Center’s Tumbleweeds Film Festival for Children and Youth. This year’s Tumbleweeds will happen March 2-4 in Salt Lake City.

“Audiences responded to the hope in this film, and how it thoughtfully depicted a rising generation of innovators,” festival director John Cooper said in a statement. “The film was so engaging and inspiring that we felt it would delight audiences and be a strong contender for this award.”

Two titles in the festival’s Documentary Premieres section were runners-up for Festival Favorite: “Believer,” director Don Argott’s profile of Imagine Dragons singer Dan Reynolds as he reconciles his Mormon faith with his support for LGBTQ teens; and “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?,” director Morgan Neville’s chronicle of the life of children’s TV pioneer Fred Rogers.

(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Dan Reynolds, on the red carpet for the premiere of "Believer," a documentary about Imagine Dragons frontman Dan Reynolds trying to reconcile his Mormon beliefs with his support for LGBTQ community in Park CIty at the Sundance Film Festival, Saturday, January 20, 2018.

Other movies that had strong showings in the audience ballots were the ultra-violent teen tale “Assassination Nation”; the father-daughter musical drama “Hearts Beat Loud,” starring Nick Offerman and Kiersey Clemons; the romantic comedy “Juliet, Naked,” starring Rose Byrne, Chris O’Dowd and Ethan Hawke; and the Alzheimer’s drama “What They Had,” starring Blythe Danner and Hilary Swank.