The 2015
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,6 ...
took place from January 22 to February 1, 2015.
''
What Happened, Miss Simone?'', a biographical documentary film about American singer
Nina Simone
Eunice Kathleen Waymon (February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003), known professionally as Nina Simone (), was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, and civil rights activist. Her music spanned styles including classical, folk, gospel, blu ...
, opened the festival. Comedy-drama film ''
Grandma'', directed by
Paul Weitz, served as the closing night film.
Awards
The awards ceremony was held on January 30, 2015 at the Basin Recreation Fieldhouse in Park City, Utah. The ceremony was hosted by comedian
Tig Notaro.
* U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Documentary – ''
The Wolfpack
''The Wolfpack'' is a 2015 American documentary film, directed by Crystal Moselle. It is about the Angulo family, who homeschooled and raised their seven children (six boys and one girl) in the confinement of their apartment in the Lower East ...
''
* U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic – ''
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
''Me and Earl and the Dying Girl'' is a 2012 debut novel written by Jesse Andrews. The novel was released in hardcover by Amulet Books on March 1, 2012, and in paperback on May 7, 2013.
Plot
Greg Gaines is a senior at Benson High School in ...
''
* World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Documentary – ''
The Russian Woodpecker
''The Russian Woodpecker'' is a 2015 documentary film written, produced and directed by Chad Gracia following Fedor Alexandrovich's investigation into the Chernobyl disaster. It is Gracia's directorial debut feature. The film premiered in the " ...
''
* World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic – ''
Slow West''
* Audience Award: U.S. Documentary – ''
Meru
Meru may refer to:
Geography Kenya
* Meru, Kenya, a city in Meru County, Kenya
** Meru County, created by the merger of
*** Meru Central District
*** Meru North District
*** Meru South District
* Meru National Park, a Kenyan wildlife park
Tanz ...
''
* Audience Award: U.S. Dramatic – ''Me and Earl and the Dying Girl''
* Audience Award: World Cinema Documentary – ''
Dark Horse: The Incredible True Story of Dream Alliance''
* Audience Award: World Cinema Dramatic – ''
Umrika
''Umrika'' () is a 2015 Indian Hindi comedy-drama film written and directed by Prashant Nair, and produced by Swati Shetty and Manish Mundra. It features Suraj Sharma, Tony Revolori, Smita Tambe, Rajesh Tailang, Pramod Pathak, Adil Hussain, ...
''
* Audience Award: Best of NEXT – ''
James White''
* Directing Award: U.S. Documentary – ''
Cartel Land
''Cartel Land'' is a 2015 American documentary film directed by Matthew Heineman about the Mexican Drug War, especially vigilante groups fighting Mexican drug cartels. The film focuses on Tim "Nailer" Foley, the leader of Arizona Border Rec ...
''
* Directing Award: U.S. Dramatic – ''
The Witch''
* Directing Award: World Cinema Documentary – ''
Dreamcatcher''
* Directing Award: World Cinema Dramatic – ''
The Summer of Sangaile
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
''
* Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award: U.S. Dramatic – ''
The Stanford Prison Experiment''
* Editing Award: World Cinema Documentary – ''
How to Change the World
''How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas'' is a book by journalist David Bornstein about successful social innovation. It was first published in 2003, and an updated edition was published in 2007.
The book exp ...
''
* Editing Award: U.S. Dramatic – ''
Dope''
* Cinematography Award: U.S. Documentary – ''Cartel Land''
* Cinematography Award: U.S. Dramatic – ''
The Diary of a Teenage Girl''
* Cinematography Award: World Cinema Dramatic – ''
Partisan''
* World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Acting –
Jack Reynor for ''Glassland'' and
Regina Casé and Camila Márdila for ''
The Second Mother''
* World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Impact – ''
Pervert Park
''Pervert Park'' is a 2014 documentary film directed by Swedish-Danish filmmaking couple Frida and Lasse Barkfors. The film's focus is Palace Mobile Park in St. Petersburg, Florida, nicknamed "Pervert Park", which houses over 100 convicted sex ...
''
* World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Unparalleled Access – ''The Chinese Mayor''
* U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Social Impact – ''3½ Minutes''
* U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Vérité Filmmaking – ''Western''
* U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Collaborative Vision – ''Advantageous''
* Special Jury Award for Breakout First Feature – ''
(T)ERROR''
*
Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize – ''
The Stanford Prison Experiment''
Additional awards were presented at separate ceremonies. The Shorts Awards were presented January 28, 2015 at the ceremony in Park City, Utah.
* Short Film Grand Jury Prize –
''World of Tomorrow''
* Short Film Jury Award: U.S. Fiction – ''SMILF''
* Short Film Jury Award: International Fiction – ''Oh Lucy!''
* Short Film Jury Award: Non-fiction – ''The Face of Ukraine: Casting Oksana Baiul''
* Short Film Jury Award: Animation – ''Storm hits jacket''
* Short Film Special Jury Award for Acting – ''Back Alley''
* Short Film Special Jury Award for Visual Poetry – ''Object''
* Sundance Institute/Mahindra Global Filmmaking Awards –
Haifaa al-Mansour for ''Be Safe I Love You'', K'naan for ''The Poet'',
Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy for ''Luxembourg'', Oskar Sulowski for ''Rosebuds''.
* Sundance Institute/NHK Filmmaker Award –
Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre for ''Mustang''.
* 2015 Red Crown Producer’s Award –
Stephanie Langhoff for ''
The Bronze''.
Juries
Jury members, for each program of the festival, including the Alfred P. Sloan Jury, which also took part in the Science in Film Forum Panel, were announced on December 18, 2014. Presenters of awards are followed by asterisks:
;U.S. Documentary Jury
*Eugene Hernandez*
*
Kirsten Johnson*
*
Michele Norris*
*
Gordon Quinn
Gordon Quinn is Artistic Director and founding member of Kartemquin Films and a 2007 recipient of the MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions. Gordon Quinn has been making documentaries for over 45 years and has produced or dire ...
*
*
Roger Ross Williams
Roger Ross Williams (born September 16, 1962) is an American director, producer and writer and the first African American director to win an Academy Award (Oscar), with his short film '' Music by Prudence''; this film won the Academy Award for Be ...
*
;U.S. Dramatic Jury
*
*
*
Sarah Flack
Sarah Flack is an American film editor. She frequently worked with American independent film directors Steven Soderbergh (''Schizopolis'', '' The Limey'', '' Full Frontal'') and Sofia Coppola ('' Lost in Translation'', ''Marie Antoinette'', '' S ...
*
*
Cary Fukunaga*
*
Winona Ryder
Winona Laura Horowitz (born October 29, 1971), professionally known as Winona Ryder, is an American actress. Originally playing quirky roles, she rose to prominence for her more diverse performances in various genres in the 1990s. She has recei ...
*
*
Edgar Wright
Edgar Howard Wright (born 18 April 1974) is an English filmmaker. He is known for his fast-paced and kinetic, satirical genre films, which feature extensive utilisation of expressive popular music, Steadicam tracking shots, dolly zooms and a ...
*
;World Documentary Jury
*Elena Fortes Acosta*
*
Mark Cousins*
*Ingrid Kopp*
;World Dramatic Jury
*
Mia Hansen-Løve
Mia Hansen-Løve (born 5 February 1981) is a French film director, screenwriter, and former actress. She has won several accolades for her work. Her first feature film, '' All Is Forgiven'', won the Louis Delluc Prize for Best First Film in 2007 ...
*
*
Col Needham*
*
Taika Waititi
Taika David Cohen (born 16 August 1975), known professionally as Taika Waititi ( ), is a New Zealand filmmaker, actor, and comedian. He is a recipient of an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, and a Grammy Award, and has received two nominations at ...
*
;
Alfred P. Sloan
Alfred Pritchard Sloan Jr. ( ; May 23, 1875February 17, 1966) was an American business executive in the automotive industry. He was a long-time president, chairman and CEO of General Motors Corporation. Sloan, first as a senior executive and l ...
Jury
*
Paula S. Apsell
Paula S. Apsell (born July 4, 1947) is the television Executive Producer Emerita of PBS's '' NOVA'' and was director of the WGBH Science Unit.
Among Apsell's signature award-winning NOVA productions are "The Elegant Universe" with Dr. Brian Gree ...
*
Janna Levin
*
Brit Marling
Brit Heyworth Marling (born August 7, 1982) is an American actress and screenwriter. She rose to prominence after starring in several films that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, including '' Sound of My Voice'' (2011), '' Another Earth'' ...
*
Jonathan Nolan
Jonathan Nolan (born 6 June 1976) is a British-American screenwriter, producer, director and author. He is the creator of the CBS science fiction series ''Person of Interest'' (2011–2016) and co-creator of the HBO science fiction western s ...
*
Adam Steltzner
Adam Diedrich Steltzner (born 1963) is an American NASA engineer who works for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). He worked on several flight projects including Galileo, Cassini, Mars Pathfinder, Mars Exploration Rovers (MER). He was the lea ...
;Short Film Jury
*
K. K. Barrett
*
Alia Shawkat
Alia Martine Shawkat ( ; ar, عليا مارتين شوكت; born April 18, 1989) is an American actress. She is known for her roles in '' The Old Man'', '' State of Grace'', Maeby Fünke in the Fox/Netflix television sitcom '' Arrested Devel ...
*
Autumn de Wilde
Others who presented awards included
Adam Scott,
Kevin Pollak
Kevin Elliot Pollak (born October 30, 1957) is an American actor, comedian, impressionist and podcast host. He has appeared in over 80 films; his roles include Sam Weinberg in Rob Reiner's legal film ''A Few Good Men'', Jacob Goldman in '' Grump ...
,
Kevin Corrigan,
Patrick Fugit and Trevor Groth.
Films
For a full list of films appeared at the festival, see
List of films at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival
The following is a list of all films shown at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival.
Feature competition
The following films were shown in competition at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival.
U.S. Documentary
The following 16 films were selected for a wor ...
.
Festival theaters
The number of seats available at the festival theaters, where films were shown is listed below:
Park City
*Eccles Theatre – 1,270 seats
*
Egyptian Theatre – 282 seats
*Holiday Village Cinema 4 – 162 seats
*Library Center Theatre – 486 seats
*The MARC Theatre – 550 seats
*Prospector Square Theatre – 324 seats
*Redstone Cinema 1 – 188 seats
*Redstone Cinema 2 – 175 seats
*Redstone Cinema 7 – 176 seats
*Temple Theatre – 840 seats
*Yarrow Hotel Theatre – 295 seats
Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...
*Broadway Cinema 3 – 243 seats
*Broadway Cinema 6 – 245 seats
*
Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center
The Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center is a three-venue arts complex in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah that is home to various performing arts organizations, such as Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company, the Gina Bachauer International Piano Foundation ...
– 495 seats
*SLC Library – 300 seats
*
Tower Theatre – 349 seats
*The Grand Theatre – 1,100 seats
Sundance Resort
Sundance Resort, also known as Sundance Mountain Resort, is a ski resort located northeast of Provo, Utah. It includes more than on the slopes of Mount Timpanogos in Utah's Wasatch Range. Alpine skiing began on the site in 1944. Actor Robert Re ...
*Sundance Resort Screening Room – 164 seats
Ogden
*
Peery's Egyptian Theatre – 840 seats
Acquisitions
Acquisitions at the festival included the following:
*
A24
**''
The End of the Tour''
**''
The Witch''
**''
Mississippi Grind''
*
Alchemy
Alchemy (from Arabic: ''al-kīmiyā''; from Ancient Greek: χυμεία, ''khumeía'') is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practiced in China, India, the Muslim wo ...
**''
Strangerland
''Strangerland'' is a 2015 drama suspense film directed by Kim Farrant in her directorial debut, and written by Michael Kinirons and Fiona Seres. The film stars Nicole Kidman, Joseph Fiennes, and Hugo Weaving. The film premiered at the Sundanc ...
''
**''
Zipper
A zipper, zip, fly, or zip fastener, formerly known as a clasp locker, is a commonly used device for binding together two edges of fabric or other flexible material. Used in clothing (e.g. jackets and jeans), luggage and other bags, camping ...
''
*
Bleecker Street
Bleecker Street is an east–west street in the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is most famous today as a Greenwich Village nightclub district. The street connects a neighborhood today popular for music venues and comedy, but which ...
**''
I'll See You In My Dreams''
*Broad Green
**''
A Walk in the Woods''
*
Discover Channel
**''
Racing Extinction''
*Film Arcade
**''Unexpected''
*
Focus
**''Cop Car''
*Fortissimo
**''Songs My Brothers Taught Me''
*
Fox Searchlight
**''
Mistress America''
**''
Me, Earl And The Dying Girl''
**''
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
''
*
Gravitas Ventures
**''Being Evel''
*
HBO
**''3 1/2 Minutes''
*
IFC Films
IFC Films is an American film production and distribution company based in New York. It is an offshoot of IFC owned by AMC Networks. It distributes mainly independent films under its own name, select foreign films and documentaries under its ...
**''
The D Train''
**''
Sleeping with Other People''
*IFC Midnight
**''Reversal''
**''The Hallow''
*
Kino Lorber
Kino Lorber is an international film distribution company based in New York City. Founded in 1977, it was originally known as Kino International until it was acquired by and merged into Lorber HT Digital in 2009. It specializes in art house films ...
**''The Forbidden Room''
*
Lionsgate
Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation, doing business as Lionsgate, is a Canadian-American entertainment company. It was formed by Frank Giustra on July 10, 1997, domiciled in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and is currently headquartered ...
**''
Don Verdean
''Don Verdean'' is a 2015 American comedy film directed by Jared Hess and written by Jared Hess and Jerusha Hess. The film stars Sam Rockwell, Amy Ryan, Jemaine Clement, Danny McBride, and Will Forte. The film was released in a limited release a ...
''
**''
Knock Knock''
*
Magnolia
''Magnolia'' is a large genus of about 210 to 340The number of species in the genus ''Magnolia'' depends on the taxonomic view that one takes up. Recent molecular and morphological research shows that former genera ''Talauma'', ''Dugandiodendr ...
**''Results''
**''Tangerine''
**''Best of Enemies''
**''The Wolfpack''
*
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...
**''Hot Girls Wanted''
*
Open Road
**''Dope''
*Orchard
**''The Overnight''
**''Digging for Fire''
**''Finders Keepers''
**''Cartel Land''
*Oscilloscope
**''
The Second Mother''
*
Relativity Sports
**''In Football We Trust''
*
Samuel Goldwyn Films
Samuel Goldwyn Films is an American film company that licenses, releases and distributes art-house, independent and foreign films. It was founded by Samuel Goldwyn Jr., the son of the Hollywood business magnate/mogul, Samuel Goldwyn. The curr ...
**''Fresh Dressed''
**''Lila & Eve''
*
Screen Media Films
Screen Media Ventures, LLC. is an American-Canadian distribution company founded in 2001. In 2008, Screen Media selected The Creative Coalition as its exclusive nonprofit partner in launching the Spotlight Initiative. The partnership permits the p ...
**''
Ten Thousand Saints
''Ten Thousand Saints'' is a 2015 American drama film written and directed by Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini. It is based on the novel of the same name by Eleanor Henderson. The film stars Asa Butterfield as Jude Keffy-Horn, the protago ...
''
*
Showtime
**''Dreamcatcher''
*
Sony Pictures Classics
**''
The Diary of a Teenage Girl''
**''Grandma''
**''Dark Horse''
*Sundance Selects
**''City of Gold''
*Tribeca Film
**''Misery Loves Comedy''
*
Relativity
**''
The Bronze''
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sundance Film Festival, 2015
2015 film festivals
2015 in Utah
2015
File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...
2015 in American cinema
2015 festivals in the United States
January 2015 events in the United States