‘Atropia’ Wins Sundance’s Top Grand Jury Prize — See the Full List

The 2025 Sundance Film Festival — and perhaps its second-to-last in Park City — has wound down with the annual awards ceremony.

On January 31, jurors presented prizes in the competitive sections, including the U.S. Dramatic Competition, U.S. Documentary Competition, World Cinema Dramatic Competition, World Cinema Documentary Competition, and the NEXT lineup. Jurors across the sections looked at nearly 90 films representing more than 30 countries and territories.

Hailey Gates’ Iraq war satire, starring Alia Shawkat and produced by (among others) Luca Guadagnino, won the festival’s top award: the Grand Jury Prize in the U.S. Dramatic competition. The politically charged comedy, which follows an aspiring actress in a military role-playing facility, is still looking for U.S. distribution amid mixed reviews out of Sundance. Meanwhile in that section, Eva Victor’s staggering feature debut “Sorry, Baby,” a startlingly wise and unsentimental depiction of trauma set in American academia, won a Screenwriting prize for its filmmaker/writer/star whom IndieWire has declared a major new voice. It’s one of the most acclaimed films seeking a buyer out of the festival. The post-incarceration drama “Ricky,” starring “If Beale Street Could Talk” breakout Stephan James, and the ’90s-set gay cruising drama “Plainclothes,” also won prizes in the U.S. Dramatic section.

Audience Awards, voted on by festival attendees, were also handed out Friday morning at the Ray Theatre in Park City, with writer/director/star James Sweeney’s buzzy and twisted bromance comedy “Twinless” taking the Audience Award for U.S. Dramatic. Other Audience winners include “André Is an Idiot,” “East of Wall,” “DJ Ahmet,” and “Prime Minister.” “Twinless” also won a special acting award in the U.S. Dramatic section for Dylan O’Brien, who plays gay and straight twins with alternately dark, dramatic and over-the-top flamboyant flair.

Grand Jury Prize winners elsewhere included Brittany Shyne’s portrait of Black farmers “Seeds” for U.S. Documentary, Rohan Parashuram Kanawade’s Indian queer portrait “Sabar Bonda” in World Cinema Dramatic, and Sara Khaki and Mohammadreza Eyni’s Iranian patriarchy-tackling “Cutting Through Rocks” in the World Cinema Documentary section.

For a refresh, last year’s big U.S. Dramatic Competition winner was “In the Summers,” where filmmaker Alessandra Lacorazza also won the Directing prize in that category. Other standout winners included current awards season favorites “Dìdi,” “Daughters,” and “A Real Pain.”

This year’s jurors included “King Richard” director Reinaldo Marcus Green, “Succession” alum Arian Moayed, and “Past Lives” director Celine Song for the U.S. Dramatic Competition.

“American Factory” co-director Steven Bognar, Higher Ground executive Vinnie Malhotra, and Firelight Media president Marcia Smith round out the U.S. Documentary Competition jury.

Meanwhile, the World Cinema Dramatic jury includes Cannes Critics’ Week artistic director Ava Cahen, “Rafiki” director Wanuri Kahiu, and Oscar-winning actor Daniel Kaluuya.

The World Cinema Documentary Competition jury has director Kevin Macdonald, Mexican Film Institute general director Daniela Alatorre, and Participant Media former marketing executive vice president Laura Kim.

Elijah Wood, an actor and co-founder of indie genre production company SpectreVision, will decide the NEXT section winner. Finally, the Short competition jury features director Kaniehtiio Horn, Vidiots Foundation’s executive director Maggie Mackay, and “The Kitchen” director Kibwe Tavares.

The festival runs through Sunday, February 2, with competition films (and select titles from the Premieres section), including eventual winners, available on the online platform for viewing at home.

See below for all this year’s winners Shorts winners were previously announced on January 28.

U.S. DRAMATIC COMPETITION AWARDS

The U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic was presented to Atropia / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Hailey Gates, Producers: Naima Abed, Emilie Georges, Luca Guadagnino, Lana Kim, Jett Steiger)

READ FULL ARTICLE HERE: https://www.indiewire.com/awards/results/sundance-award-winners-2025-full-list-1235090638/