Ryan Coogler's Fruitvale Tops 2013 Sundance Film Festival Awards

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The 2013 Sundance Film Festival announced the feature film winners at an Awards Ceremony, hosted by Joseph Gordon-Levitt on Saturday night in Park City, Utah. Fruitvale directed and written by Ryan Coogler was the big winner of the festival, winning both the U.S. Grand Jury Prize - Dramatic and Audience Award - U.S. Dramatic. The film is the true story of Oscar, a 22-year-old Bay Area resident who crosses paths with friends, enemies, family and strangers on the last day of 2008

The complete list of 2013 Sundance Film Festival Awards:

Kentaro Hagiwara Wins 2013 Sundance/NHK International Filmmaker Award

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Kentaro Hagiwara, director of the upcoming film, Spectacled Tiger is the winner of the 2013 Sundance/NHK International Filmmaker Award. The award was presented at a private ceremony at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.

Spectacled Tiger, co-written by Kyohta Fujimoto, is a romantic, coming-of-age film about a high school trivia quiz wunderkind, Taiga Suzuki, who lives in a world where things are only black or white, correct or incorrect. But when Taiga finds himself smitten by a new girl in the school, Misaki, he encounters the difficulty of forcing his restrictive world view upon her. Struggling to deal with new feelings, Taiga gradually loses his grip on what is true and begins searching for the real meaning of correctness.

The Sundance/NHK International Filmmaker Award recognizes and supports a visionary filmmaker on his or her next film. Films previously supported by this award include Beasts of the Southern Wild, by Benh Zeitlin, and May in the Summer, by Cherien Dabis, which had its world premiere at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival.

Andrew Bujalski's Computer Chess Wins 2013 Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize at Sundance Film Festival

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Computer Chess, directed and written by Andrew Bujalski, has been awarded the 2013 Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize and will receive a $20,000 cash award by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. Now in its tenth year, the Prize is selected by a jury of film and science professionals and presented to outstanding feature films focusing on science or technology as a theme, or depicting a scientist, engineer or mathematician as a major character.

Computer Chess is an existential comedy about the brilliant men who taught machines to play chess – back when the machines seemed clumsy and we seemed smart. The cast includes Patrick Riester, Myles Paige, James Curry, Robin Schwartz, Gerald Peary and Wiley Wiggins. The jury presented the award to the film for its “off-beat and formalistically adventurous exploration of questions of artificial intelligence and human connections, unfolding during an early computer chess tournament.”

HBO Grabs TV Rights for Pussy Riot Documentary from 2013 Sundance Film Festival

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HBO Documentary Films has snapped up the U.S. television rights for the documentary “Pussy Riot – A Punk Prayer” which had its world premiere Friday night to a sold out crowd at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. Directed by Mike Lerner and Maxim Pozdorovkin, the film is expected to premiere on the HBO channel at a future date.

“Pussy Riot – A Punk Prayer” tells the incredible story of three young women: Nadia, Masha and Katia.   As members of the feminist art collective Pussy Riot, they performed a 40 second “punk prayer” inside Russia’s main cathedral. This performance led to their arrest on charges of religious hatred and culminated in a trial that has reverberated around the world and transformed the face of Russian society forever.  With unparalleled access and exclusive footage, this film looks at the real people behind their now famous colorful balaclavas.

CBS Films to Release Toy's House from 2013 Sundance Film Festival

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CBS Films has grabbbed the coming-of-age comedy film TOY’S HOUSE, that premiered on Saturday at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival.

TOY’S HOUSE, directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts, from a screenplay by Chris Galletta,stars Nick Robinson, Gabriel Basso, Moises Arias, Nick Offerman, Megan Mullally, Alison Brie, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Erin Moriarty, Marc Evan Jackson, Thomas Middleditch and Tony Hale. TOY’S HOUSE follows three teenage boys (Robinson, Basso and Arias) as they head into the wilderness with a plan to build a house and live off the land. The film marks the feature directorial debut of Jordan Vogt-Roberts.

2013 Sundance Film Festival Short Film Jury Awards, Polish Film The Whistle Wins Tops Prize

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The 2013 Sundance Film Festival presented the awards for the jury prizes and honorable mentions in short filmmaking at a ceremony in Park City, Utah.

The Short Film Grand Jury Prize was awarded to The Whistle / Poland (Director: Grzegorz Zariczny) — Marcin, a lowest-leagues football referee who lives in a small town near Krakow, dreams of better times. At his mother’s urging, he decides to change his life and find himself a girlfriend and a better job.

The Short Film Jury Award: U.S. Fiction was presented to Whiplash / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Damien Chazelle) — An aspiring drummer enters an elite conservatory’s top jazz orchestra.

Other Short Film Awards include

Magnolia Pictures Picks Up Prince Avalanche for US Release After 2013 Sundance Film Festival Premiere

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Magnolia Pictures has picked up the film PRINCE AVALANCHE after its Sunday premiere at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. The new film from writer/director David Gordon Green, PRINCE AVALANCHE stars Paul Rudd and Emile Hirsch.

Loosely adapted from an Icelandic film called Either Way, PRINCE AVALANCHE is described as an offbeat comedy about two men played by Rudd and Hirsch, painting traffic lines on a desolate country highway that’s been ravaged by wildfire. Against this dramatic setting, the men bicker and joke with each other, eventually developing an unlikely friendship. 

“All of us at Magnolia are huge fans of David Gordon Green, and it’s been a dream for a long time to work with him,” said Magnolia President Eamonn Bowles. “PRINCE AVALANCHE is incredibly smart, funny, warm and engaging film, with indelible, iconic performances from both Paul Rudd and Emile Hirsch.”

“Prince Avalanche was a strange joy to make and the reaction by audiences has been beautiful,” said David Gordon Green. “The pleasure continues as we join with Magnolia to distribute the movie. I couldn’t be more proud.”

Joseph Gordon-Levitt to Host 2013 Sundance Film Festival Awards Ceremony

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Actor, writer and director Joseph Gordon-Levitt who has appeared in seven films at the Sundance Film Festival, including Mysterious Skin, Brick, and (500) Days of Summer will host this year's, 2013 Sundance Film Festival feature film Awards Ceremony on January 26, 2013, in Park City, Utah.

Gordon-Levitt's feature film directorial debut, Don Jon’s Addiction, will also screen in the out-of-competition Premieres section at the 2013 Festival, and Gordon-Levitt is an Artist Trustee of Sundance Institute.

The Festival takes place January 17-27, 2013 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah.

Ed Burns, Davis Guggenheim Among Jury Members for 2013 Sundance Film Festival

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Academy Award® winning director and producer Davis Guggenheim,  Ed Burns and  director Brett Morgen are among the 19 members of five juries awarding prizes at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, January 17-27 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah. Short Film Awards will be announced at a ceremony on January 22 at Park City’s Jupiter Bowl, with feature film awards announced at a separate ceremony on January 26.

Members of the Alfred P. Sloan Jury will be announced in January.

Four More Films Added to 2013 Sundance Film Festival

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The Sundance Film Festival added four films to the 2013 Festival, including Magic Magic (Director: Sebastián Silva), Muscle Shoals (Director: Greg 'Freddy' Camalier) and Wrong Cops (Director: Quentin Dupieux) as well as El Mariachi (1993) for the From the Collection screening. The 2013 Festival will be January 17-27 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah.

El Mariachi is part of The Sundance Collection at UCLA (The Collection), a film preservation program established in 1997. 

With the addition of these four films, the 2013 Sundance Film Festival will present 119 feature-length films, representing 32 countries and 51 first-time filmmakers, including 27 in competition.