Lena Waithe, Mira Nair and Shaunak Sen are among the 16 jurors who will choose award winners in six competitive sections at this month’s Sundance Film Festival.
To mark the fortieth edition of the US festival, which runs January 18-28 in Park City and Salt Lake City, all 16 jurors are festival alumni. In addition to serving on juries they will participate in talks, panels and other events to mark the festival milestone.
Awards for feature films in five competition sections of the festival will be announced at a ceremony in Park City on January 26. The awards for short films will be unveiled at a ceremony and party on January 23.
Making up the festival’s US dramatic competition jury are Waithe, the writer, producer and actor known for The Chi, A Thousand and One and Kokomo City; Debra Granik, director and co-writer of multiple Oscar nominee Winter’s Bone; and Adrian Tomine, the writer-illustrator whose adaptation of his own graphic novel Shortcomings premiered at Sundance last year.
The US documentary competition jury will be comprised of Shane Boris, producer and writer of films including Navalny and Fire of Love; Nicole Newnham, the documentary filmmaker who directed current awards contender The Disappearance of Shere Hite and co-directed and produced Sundance award-winner Crip Camp; and Rudy Valdez, whose directorial debut The Sentence won the festival’s US documentary audience award in 2018.
On the world cinema dramatic competition jury are Jennifer Kent, the Australian actor known for Sundance 2014 premiere The Babadook; Nair, whose films include Monsoon Wedding and A Suitable Boy; and Rui Poças, the Portuguese cinematographer known for films including O Fantasma and Frankie.
The world cinema documentary competition jury is made up of Mandy Chang, creative director of Fremantle’s Undeniable documentary strand; Monica Hellström, producer of documentaries including Flee and A House Made of Splinters; and Indian filmmaker Sen, whose All That Breathes won awards including Sundance’s Grand Jury Prize in the World Cinema Documentary competition.
Sitting on the festival’s short film programme competition jury are Christina Oh, producer on Okja and Minari; Danny Pudi, an actor, writer and director whose short Untucked premiered at Sundance; and Charlotte Regan, the British director whose debut feature Scrapper won the Grand Jury Prize for the World Cinema Dramatic Competition at Sundance.
The juror for the festival’s Next section is Zal Batmanglij, a writer, director and showrunner who made his debut at the 2011 Sundance with the micro-budget film Sound of My Voice.
The jury for the Alfred P Sloan Feature Film Prize deliberated ahead of the festival and awarded its prize for a film focusing on science or technology to Love Me, directed by Sam and Andy Zuchero. The jury comprised chemical biologist Dr Mandë Holford, astrophysicist and artist Dr Nia Imara, director Matt Johnson and producer Theresa Park.
Commenting on the jury line-ups, Sundance festival director Eugene Hernandez said: “The Sundance Film Festival is known for discovering and platforming visionary emerging artists. We cannot do this without our jury, who so thoughtfully help us recognise and amplify the next generation of independent storytellers. We are thrilled to announce the talented, accomplished artists who comprise this year’s jury.”
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