Sundance - Grand Jury Prize
Sundance is a popular ski resort located between Park City and Provo, Utah. It was founded and is owned by the actor Robert Redford, named after the role he played in the 1969 film, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
The Sundance Film Festival, held in Park City, is a competition for independent film makers that has become a popular January mecca for glitterati, the press and those that yearn to see and be seen. It is the largest film festival in the United States, and perhaps in the world.
Below are the past winners of the Grand Jury Prize for "Best Picture".
Right The Egyptian Theatre sign at the festival.
Fruitvale Station (2013)
7.5/10
Director: Ryan Coogler
Starring: Melonie Diaz, Chad Michael Murray, Kevin Durand, Michael B Jordan, Octavia Spenc...
The senseless, unwarranted shooting of 22-year old Oscar Grant by police officers at the Fruitvale BART station reinvigorated a debate on prejudice an... Read more
The Brothers McMullen (1995)
6.6/10
Director: Edward Burns
Starring: Jack Mulcahy, Mike McGlone, Edward Burns, Connie Britton, Maxine Bahns, Jennifer...
This ultra low budget gem examines the very different approaches to life and love taken by three brothers temporarily living under the same roof on Lo... Read more
Forty Shades of Blue (2005)
6/10
Director: Ira Sachs
Starring: Rip Torn, Dina Korzun, Darren E Burrows
While living with a famous record producer 30 years her senior, a beautiful young Russian woman begins experiencing severe feelings of loneliness and... Read more
Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire (2009)
7.3/10
Director: Lee Daniels
Starring: Lenny Kravitz, Gabourey Sidibe, Mariah Carey, Paula Patton, Mo'Nique
Set in Harlem in 1987, this acclaimed drama chronicles the difficult life of Precious (Gabourey Sidibe) - an obese, abused, and illiterate 16-year-old... Read more
Frozen River (2008)
7.2/10
Director: Courtney Hunt
Starring: Melissa Leo, Misty Upham, Charlie McDermott, Michael O'Keefe, Mark Boone Junior
A powerfully unflinching tale of two women, who, driven by economic hardship, form an unlikely partnership smuggling illegal immigrants across the Can... Read more
Like Crazy (2011)
6.7/10
Director: Drake Doremus
Starring: Anton Yelchin, Felicity Jones, Jennifer Lawrence
So wildly in love are Los Angeles college students Jacob (Anton Yelchin) and Anna (Felicity Jones) - a British citizen with a temporary visa - that sh... Read more
Welcome to the Dollhouse (1996)
7.4/10
Director: Todd Solondz
Starring: Brendan Sexton Jr, Heather Matarazzo, Matthew Faber, Eric Mabius
This Sundance winner follows the travails of Dawn Weiner (Heather Matarazzo), the teen pariah who seems to invite the cruelties heaped upon her by cla... Read more
Blood Simple (1983)
Director: Joel Coen
Starring: John Getz, Frances McDormand, Dan Hedaya, M Emmet Walsh
A critically acclaimed thriller set in rural Texas combines chilling suspense with offbeat black humour. Double and triple crosses build to a blood-cu... Read more
Whiplash (Blu-ray) (2014)
8.5/10
Director: Damien Chazelle
Starring: Paul Reiser, J K Simmons, Miles Teller, Melissa Benoist
A young and talented drummer attending a prestigious music academy finds himself under the wing of the most respected professor at the school, one who... Read more
American Splendor (2003)
7.5/10
Director: Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini
Starring: Paul Giamatti, Hope Davis, James Urbaniak, Judah Friedlander, Harvey Pekar
"From off the streets of Cleveland" comes the acclaimed filming of Ohio file clerk/jazz buff/crank Harvey Pekar's underground comic book chronicle of... Read more