Sundance 2026 Awards – ‘Josephine’ & ‘Nuisance Bear’ Prime Winners
by Alex Billington January 30, 2026Source: Sundance
The official awards for the 2026 Sundance Movie Competition, held in Utah each January, have been introduced this morning at a ceremony held in individual in Utah. This all the time marks the top of the fest, with just a few days of screenings left. The competition wraps this week with at-home viewings along with all of the in-person occasions. This 12 months’s line-up featured a grand whole of 90 function movies, with a handful of high notch movies however not as many because the years earlier than. The principle winners for 2026 embrace Josephine, taking house Grand Jury Prize; together with the polar bear movie Nuisance Bear profitable Grand Jury Prize for Documentary. The Viewers Awards went to Josephine once more + (the doc) American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis Valdez. I’ve to say – these Sundance winners are lastly proper on level this 12 months. All one of the best movies have been given some prize, particularly the stand outs like Josephine and Everyone To Kenmure Avenue and To Maintain a Mountain and lots of others. As all the time, if any of those movies talked about curiosity you, we hope you word them down and meet up with them as quickly as you may every time they play close to you. All the primary 2026 winners listed beneath.
This is the announcement of winners with the jury’s rationalization included. The 2026 competition is nearly over.
2026 SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL JURY AWARDS:
The U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic was introduced to Josephine – “For the depth and nuance of storytelling. For the fragile and stylish execution of a difficult material. The expert course of efficiency from the forged. The humanistic view of the filmmaker and the way they withheld judgment of these coping with the influence of victimization. This filmmaker supplied an empathetic view into the various alternative ways we as people cope and attempt to set the wrongs proper.”
The Directing Award: U.S. Dramatic was introduced to Josef Kubota Wladyka for Ha-chan, Shake Your Booty! – “For bringing us right into a inventive world that allowed us to discover love, loss, and grief by means of dance with deep emotion and shocking pleasure and laughter. We are going to carry Rinko Kikuchi’s efficiency in our hearts and thank this movie for reminding us that when magical realism works, it’s actually a feat to behold.”
The Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award: U.S. Dramatic was introduced to Liz Sargent for Take Me House – “For modeling a distinct option to inform a narrative. It is a film that embraced the reality of the second on set, necessitating the filmmaker be totally current to shift, replicate, and belief her imaginative and prescient with a view to seize the miracle that she did.”
The U.S. Dramatic Particular Jury Award for Debut Characteristic was introduced to Stephanie Ahn for Bedford Park – “For inviting us right into a world we’ve by no means seen depicted on movie and daring to share the very private, the filmmaker upended all of our assumptions of a narrative advised with depth and talent.”
The U.S. Dramatic Particular Jury Award for Ensemble Forged was introduced to The Buddy’s Home is Right here – “For delivering performances that every of us may discover ourselves in, revealing a narrative that’s frighteningly common. The ensemble injects the world with gravity, love, and humor and exhibits us the best way neighborhood and connection are sometimes our key to survival.”
The U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Documentary was introduced to Nuisance Bear – “This movie tells an unlimited story with nice drama, magnificence, and verve and powerfully confronts the realities of local weather change, the tensions between Indigenous custom and Western capitalist encroachment, and the complexities of humanity’s relationship with the pure world. It additionally contains a standout sequence that’s, just like the movie itself, humorous, terrifying, and unforgettable. Of all of the documentaries we noticed, this one was the least… polarizing.”
The Directing Award: U.S. Documentary was introduced to J.M. Harper for Soul Patrol – “With outstanding intelligence and resourcefulness and a sublime consideration to cultural context, this filmmaker achieves a skillful stability of archival footage, vivid reenactments, and troubling hallucinations. In doing so, he makes palpable the trauma of Black Individuals who’ve by no means gotten due recognition for his or her sacrifices in struggle.”
The Jonathan Oppenheim Modifying Award: U.S. Documentary was introduced to Matt Hixon for Barbara Eternally – “Drawing on an artist’s deep archive of unique work and forming beautiful connections between historical past and biography, artwork, and life, this intimate and expansive portrait provides a pioneering determine in queer experimental filmmaking her rightful due.”
The U.S. Documentary Particular Jury Award for Impression for Change was introduced to The Lake – “This environmental disaster story is a probing and provocative take a look at the interdependency of science and religion and the ability of people and communities to avert catastrophe by working collectively. We have been moved and inspired by its imaginative and prescient of individuals working throughout political divides.”
The U.S. Documentary Particular Jury Award for Journalistic Excellence was introduced to Who Killed Alex Odeh? – “This engrossing and shocking true crime saga begins as an investigation into an unsolved homicide and, with nice procedural rigor, excavates a nefarious historical past about America’s position in suppressing justice for a Palestinian American household.”
The World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic was introduced to Disgrace and Cash – “For his highly effective and distinctive portrayal of human dignity in up to date Kosovo that universally resonates. A delicate filmmaker who masterfully attracts the viewers into the every day struggles of a household. For his deep empathy for his characters in an important second through which they’re starting once more.”
The Directing Award: World Cinema Dramatic was introduced to Andrius Blaževičius for Easy methods to Divorce Throughout the Conflict – “For his immense expertise and regular hand in a darkly comedic movie about life in instances of struggle, this director’s delicate remark holds a mirror to our contradictions with out neglecting the humanity of his characters.”
The World Cinema Dramatic Particular Jury Award for Inventive Imaginative and prescient was introduced to Filipiñana – “With gorgeous visible command and sensitivity to the setting, the filmmaker thoughtfully evokes a world the place characters languish. Via its static type, the filmmaker highlights insidious pressure between luxurious and labor.”
The World Cinema Dramatic Particular Jury Award for Appearing Ensemble was introduced to Woman – “For a movie stuffed with depth and texture and with a rhythm all its personal, with an electrical ensemble forged that brings life and humor and perception to a narrative about day-to-day challenges and discovering security in sudden friendships.”
The World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Documentary was introduced to To Maintain a Mountain – “This visually and emotionally gorgeous movie transported us to a distant mountaintop and into essentially the most intimate moments of a household preventing to guard not solely their land, however their lifestyle. The truest instance of the ability of cinema to make the non-public political.”
The Directing Award: World Cinema Documentary was introduced to Itab Azzam & Jack MacInnes for One In A Million – “Elegantly exploring the concepts of freedom and the significance of house within the aftermath of struggle, this movie impressed us with its sense of scale and decade-long directorial dedication to its individuals. It’s a lovely synthesis of 1 household’s migration throughout a number of international locations as they search refuge from societal upheaval.”
The World Cinema Documentary Particular Jury Award for Civil Resistance was introduced to Everyone To Kenmure Avenue – “Not your typical social concern movie, this documentary makes use of a contact of humor and a large range of views to name upon folks to face up for his or her neighbors. In a time when xenophobia and authoritarianism are on the rise, the ability of collective motion here’s a international rallying cry.”
The World Cinema Documentary Particular Jury Award for Journalistic Impression was introduced to Birds of Conflict – “By turning the digital camera on themselves, the co-directors observe the arc of their very own love story because the automobile for a deeply transferring narrative concerning the complexity of revolution and struggle. This movie showcases the ability of journalism by means of emotion and vulnerability; enduring, bearing witness, and telling one’s personal story oftentimes has essentially the most influence.”
The NEXT Innovator Award, Introduced by Adobe was awarded to The Incomer – “This award goes to a boldly unique comedian fable that blends folklore with formal playfulness. Deadpan humor, animation, and delusion collide — proof that fearless invention may be each uproarious and deeply humane.”
The NEXT Particular Jury Award for Inventive Expression, Introduced by Adobe was awarded to TheyDream – “For totally exploring a number of filmmaking strategies, mixing craft and emotion to inform a private story of these usually missed — extra importantly with loving humor and brutal honesty.”
2026 SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL AUDIENCE AWARDS:
The Viewers Award: U.S. Dramatic, Introduced by Acura was awarded to Josephine
The Viewers Award: U.S. Documentary, Introduced by Acura was awarded to American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis Valdez
The Viewers Award: World Cinema Dramatic, Introduced by United Airways was awarded to HOLD ONTO ME (Κράτα Με)
The Viewers Award: World Cinema Documentary, Introduced by United Airways was awarded to One In A Million
The Viewers Award: NEXT, Introduced by Adobe was awarded to Aanikoobijigan [ancestor/great-grandparent/great-grandchild]
Congrats to all of 2026’s winners! Control all these movies, catch them once they present in your space or at one other competition quickly. I’m very pleased with most of those! Josephine is my Better of the Fest decide as effectively – a very phenomenal movie that deserves all these awards and extra. Particularly as a result of this can assist carry much more consideration to it, since it is a difficult matter to make a movie about and a tough movie to look at due to the disturbing material. I am additionally a fan of offbeat kooky comedy The Incomer which gained in NEXT. As for the documentaries, I additionally favored Joybubbles within the competitors however my favourite docs aren’t within the comp sections. I am additionally an enormous fan of the movie Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty! which might’ve been a great alternate decide for the Grand Jury Prize as a substitute of Josephine as effectively. Within the World Cinema part, the movie Disgrace and Cash is superb however probably not on the identical degree as Josephine. Nonetheless, I am simply glad to see most of the higher movies awarded anyway because it’ll assist them acquire extra consideration. Each final one among these is price your time and ought to be seen anyway – Sundance all the time brings nice new filmmakers to the fest 12 months after 12 months.
For more information, go to Sundance.org. Additionally see final 12 months’s winners right here. Observe all our Sundance 2026 protection.
