Low-budget digital video films came out the big winners at this year's Sundance Film Festival with Rebecca Miller's female-slanted triptych Personal Velocity winning the Grand Jury Prize and Gary Winick's first love comedy Tadpole starring Sigourney Weaver cited for best direction in the dramatic competition.

Both films were made under Winick's NewYork-based InDigEnt banner that was inspired by Denmark's Dogme 95manifesto and the spirit of John Cassavetes. This collective, which partnersWinick with Cinetic Media's John Sloss and the film production arm of theIndependent Film Channel (IFC), has seen seven of its films secure filmfestival berths over the last twelve months. A new slate is being put together.

InDigEnt's average budgets come inat well under $1m apiece and yet all have found commercial distribution despitetheir limited means. In Park City this year, worldwide rights to Tadpole were grabbed by Miramax Films for around $5.2m,beating out competing offers from Fox Searchlight Pictures and Fine LineFeatures.

Meanwhile, Bingham Ray'snew-look United Artists has since acquired the North American distributionrights to Personal Velocity,which was based on Miller's own book of short stories. She is thedaughter of playwright Arthur Miller.

In a mark of how far digitalvideo production has also come aesthetically speaking, Personal Velocity also won the jury prize for cinematography for thework of Ellen Kuras (who also shot Miller's debut, Angela). Ironically, however, Tadpole came in for some criticism at the festival for its rathermurky transfer to the big screen.

Sundance 2002 will beremembered as the year that US television networks became recognized as thestandard-bearers of local independent filmmaking in the much the same way astheir European counterparts such as both the UK's FilmFour (which backedGus Van Sant's Gerry) and Granada(which financed the joint winner of the world cinema audience prize, BloodySunday).

Besides IFC, the other big USTV success was undoubtedly HBO, which boasted both the opening night film (TheLaramie Project) and the centrepiecepremiere (Mira Nair's Hysterical Blindness) came away with the coveted audience prize for PatriciaCardoso's Real Women Have Curves, not to mention a hat-full of documentary prizes. But for all the cheers, especially among women,which this festival drew during its Park City screenings, US distributors wereunable to persuade HBO from parting with the film for a theatrical outing aheadof its pay-TV premiere.

FULL LIST OF SUNDANCE 2002 AWARD-WNNERS:

Dramatic Grand Jury Prize
PERSONAL VELOCITY
directed by Rebecca Miller andproduced by Gary Winick, Lemore Syvan & Alexis Alexanian,

Documentary Grand Jury Prize
DAUGHTER FROM DANANG
directed by Gail Dolgin &Vicente Franco and produced by Gail Dolgin

Dramatic Audience Award
REAL WOMEN HAVE CURVES
directed by Patricia Cardoso and co-producedby George LaVoo & Effie T. Brown

Documentary Audience Award
AMANDLA! A REVOLUTION IN FOUR PART HARMONY
directed by Lee Hirsch and producedby Lee Hirsch & Sherry Simpson

The World Cinema Audience Award
BLOODY SUNDAY
directed by Paul Greengrass andproduced by Mark Redhead
THE LAST KISS
directed by Gabriele Muccino andproduced by Domenico Procacci

The Directing Award
DRAMATIC: Gary Winick for TADPOLE
DOCUMENTARY: Rob Fruchtman & RebeccaCammisa for SISTER HELEN

The Excellence in Cinematography Award
DRAMATIC: Ellen Kuras for PERSONAL VELOCITY
DOCUMENTARY:Daniel B. Gold for BLUE VINYL

The Freedom of Expression Award
AMANDLA! A REVOLUTION IN FOUR PART HARMONY
directed by Lee Hirsch and producedby Lee Hirsch & Sherry Simpson

The Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award
Gordy Hoffman for LOVE LIZA/p>

Special JuryPrize for Originality (Dramatic)
SECRETARY
directed by StevenShainberg and produced by Steven Shainberg, Andrew Fierberg & Amy Hobby

Special Jury Prize for Ensemble Cast
Frankie G., Leo Minaya, Manuel Cabral, HectorGonzalez, Julissa Lopez, Jessica Morales, & Panchito Gomez in MANITO.

Special JuryPrize for Acting
America Ferrera &Lupe Ontiveros in REAL WOMEN HAVE CURVES

Special JuryPrize (Documentary)
HOW TO DRAW A BUNNY
directed by John Walterand produced by Andrew Moore
SENORITA EXTRAVIADA
directed & produced by Lourdes Portillo

The Jury Prizein Latin American Cinema
THE TRESPASSER
directed by Beto Brant andproduced by Renato Ciasca & Bianca Villar

Jury Prize in Short Filmmaking
GASLINE
directed by Dave Silver

HonorableMentions in Short Filmmaking
BUS 44, directed by Dayyan Eng
DROWNING LESSONS,directed by Gregory Kennedy
MORNING BREATH,directed by Brin Hill
NO DUMB QUESTIONS,directed by Melissa Regan
THE PARLOR, directedby Geoffrey Haley
STUCK, directed byJamie Babbit

SundanceOnline Film Festival Viewers Awards
CARNY TALES