Now, that’s more like it. The 2017 Sundance Film Festival held its closing awards ceremony last night and the winners reflect the actual world we live in: women won eight of the 16 filmmaking awards. Yes, it finally happened.
Adding to the feminist spirit of the night, Chanté Adams won the sole acting award for her performance in “Roxanne Roxanne.” And Jessica Williams, who is having a banner festival, hosted the festivities.
Eliza Hittman (“Beach Rats”) won the U.S. drama directing award and gave the night’s most memorable speech. “I think there is nothing more taboo in this country than a woman with ambition, and I am going to work my way through a system that is completely discriminatory towards women,” she told the audience. “And Hollywood, I’m coming for you.”
The U.S. drama category also honored Adams and Maggie Betts (“Novitiate”) with breakthrough jury awards for acting and directing, respectively.
Kim Roberts (“Unrest”) took home the jury award for editing in the U.S. documentary competition. She shares the honor with Emiliano Battista. Amanda Lipitz, director of “Step,” won the jury award for Inspirational Filmmaking. “Being a young woman today isn’t easy,” Lipitz said as she accepted the honor. “These girls show nothing is impossible when you surround yourself with a group of powerful women. So let’s keep doing that.”
Kudos should also go to Sundance for not only recognizing cis filmmakers. Yance Ford, a trans man, won the jury award for Storytelling for “Strong Island.”
In the World Cinema categories Kirsten Tan won the screenwriting award for “Pop Aye,” while Pascale Lamche won the directing award for her documentary, “Winnie,” about Winnie Mandela. Lamche dedicated her award to “those who know that history is not made by great men.”
Also in the World Cinema documentary competition, Catherine Bainbridge (“Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World”) accepted the jury award for Masterful Storytelling, and Ramona S. Diaz won the editing award for “Motherland.”
Elsewhere, women-centric films also made a splash. In the U.S. Drama category “I Don’t Feel At Home In This World Anymore” took the Grand Jury Prize, and the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award went to “Ingrid Goes West’s” Matt Spicer and David Branson Smith. “I Don’t Feel At Home In This World Anymore” follows Melanie Lynskey “as a mild-mannered woman who refuses to let a simple housebreaking go unsolved, resulting in a bloody and unpredictable ride for all involved,” Variety writes. “Ingrid Goes West” is about an unstable woman (Aubrey Plaza) who decides to become friends with the social media star she’s obsessed with (Elizabeth Olsen).
In the World Cinema drama competition, the Jury Award for Cinematography went to Manu Dacosse of “Axolotl Overkill.” Written and directed by Helene Hegemann, “Axolotl Overkill” centers of Mifti, a young woman mourning her mother and becoming consumed by a white-collar criminal.
The dominance of women filmmakers and women’s stories at the Sundance awards is a — intentional or not — rebuke of Donald Trump’s misogynist agenda. The ceremony was explicitly political from the outset. Keri Putnam, executive director of Sundance, kicked things off by referencing Trump’s recent anti-immigration executive order: “I would like to acknowledge the artists from Muslim majority countries who joined us at the festival this year.”
“Closing our borders to these and other international artists will stop the flow of ideas and inspiration that are so vital to the global community,” she continued, according to the Los Angeles Times. “We stand with you and we stand with all people risking their lives for our values or seeking refuge from persecution.”
Check out all of the female Sundance winners below. List adapted from Variety.
U.S. DRAMATIC COMPETITION
Directing: Eliza Hittman, “Beach Rats”
Special Jury Award for Breakthrough Performance: Chanté Adams, “Roxanne Roxanne”
Special Jury Award for Breakthrough Director: Maggie Betts, “Novitiate”
U.S. DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION
Special Jury Award for Editing: Kim Roberts and Emiliano Battista, “Unrest”
Special Jury Award for Inspirational Filmmaking: Amanda Lipitz, “Step”
WORLD CINEMA DRAMATIC COMPETITION
Screenwriting: Kirsten Tan, “Pop Aye”
WORLD CINEMA DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION
Directing Award: Pascale Lamche, “Winnie”
Special Jury Award for Masterful Storytelling: Catherine Bainbridge, Alfonso Maiorana, “Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World”
Special Jury Award for Editing: Ramona S. Diaz, “Motherland”
