As with 2021, the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, the largest showcase of independent film in the United States, had to turn its cinematic spotlight on virtually as the latest COVID outbreak kept filmmakers, critics, and revelers, away from Park City, Utah. Even with the pivot, the ten-day showcase welcomed 82 feature films screened from January 20-30. Of those 82 films, 42% were directed by first-time filmmakers. The program included nearly two dozen documentaries exploring such diverse themes as volcanoes, missionaries, TikTok, midwives, abortion, metal bands, and Bill Cosby.

“Even though this year’s festival venue has changed,” proclaimed Joana Vicente, the new CEO of the Sundance Institute on the opening of the 2022 edition, “so much remains the same. We are coming together to celebrate extraordinary work, elevate independent voices, and honor the central power of storytelling. A festival is about more than watching films, although I can’t think of a better way to spend 10 days. Whether in a theater or at home, the magic comes from the shared experience.”

Since Robert Redford reframed the festival forty years ago to create a place for new voices to develop and be heard, his vision and tireless efforts on behalf of artists became the heart of the Institute’s work. It drives their commitment to support diverse perspectives and bold, risk-taking stories.

Among this year’s slate of films that pushed some of those boundaries with provocative material were Alice, Palm Trees and Power Lines, Emily the Criminal, Call Jane, Am I Ok?, Sharp Stick and Good Luck to You, Leo GrandeEmma Thompson, Elizabeth Banks, Golden Globe winner Lena Dunham, Keke Palmer, and Aubrey Plaza. Dakota Johnson presented two films during the festival, the second being Cha Cha Real Smooth, which took home the economic brass ring from Apple for the highest price paid for a title, $15 million. It’s almost double what Fox Searchlight and Hulu paid for Leo Grande. Still, it was $10 million less than last year’s record of $25 million, for Golden Globe nominee CODA.

The after-screening interviews, normally at the Eccles, Marc, or Library Theaters, were all held virtually, with Sundance programmers zoom guiding each of the films, documentary filmmakers, and talent through their work. Their insight into the work and what they hope the films represented can be found on the Golden Globe website (click here). Many detailed articles are available.

To create a more user-friendly virtual experience beyond just the screenings, Sundance, as part of their New Frontier section showing innovative work, introduced the Spaceship. It’s a digital experience that invites the viewer to teleport their body and launch it into outer space. In avatar form, you can reach beyond the boundaries of space and time to experience this year’s lineup of thought-provoking projects, attend screenings, gather for premiere parties and filmmaker receptions in real-time. The Explorer Pass set voyagers back a cool $50 but they were able to intermingle with people from all over the world and share their love of all things film.

Though many people perceive Sundance as a showcase limited to American products, the inclusion of work by artists from Finland, Mexico, Hungary, France, Spain, Denmark, Myanmar, Israel, Brazil, and Vietnam confirmed the importance of international talent and new voices at Sundance. It should be noted, as the Academy Awards will soon reveal their nominations for 2021, how many of the potential nominees had their first platform at Sundance – among them the aforementioned CODA but also Flee, Summer of Soul, Passing, and Mass.

For anyone who has shared the energy in Sundance, part of the dynamism of the festival is trudging through the snow, standing in long lines, maneuvering to get into after-parties, hobnobbing with up-and-coming talent or, at least, with those who haven’t been overtaken by the fame machinery. Sitting comfortably on your sofa and eating too much food in your best sweatpants, while admittedly tranquil and warmer, isn’t quite the same experience. Bring back the freezing temperatures, the food grabbed on the go, and the desperate search for parking spots. It couldn’t be better!

Here are some of the winners for Sundance 2022:

U.S. DRAMATIC COMPETITION

Grand Jury Prize: Nanny

Audience Award: Cha Cha Real Smooth

Directing: Jamie Dack, Palm Trees and Power Lines

Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award: K.D. Dávila, Emergency

Special Jury Award for Uncompromising Artistic Vision: Bradley Rust Gray, Blood

Special Jury Award for Ensemble Cast: John Boyega, Nicole Beharie, Selenis Leyva, Connie Britton, Olivia Washington, London Covington, and Michael K Williams, in 892

 

U.S. DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION

Grand Jury Prize: The Exiles

Audience Award: Navalny

Directing: Reid Davenport, I Didn’t See You There

Jonathan Oppenheim Editing Award: Erin Casper and Jocelyne Chaput, Fire of Love

Special Jury Award for Impact for Change: Aftershock

Special Jury Award for Impact for Creative Vision: Descendant

 

WORLD CINEMA DRAMATIC COMPETITION

Grand Jury Prize: Utama

Audience Award: Girl Picture

Directing Award: Maryna Er Gorbach, Klondike

Special Jury Award: Leonor Will Never Die

Special Jury Award for Acting for Innovative Spirit: Teresa Sánchez, Dos Estaciones

 

WORLD CINEMA DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION

Grand Jury Prize: All That Breathes

Audience Award: The Territory

Directing Award: A House Made of Splinters

Special Jury Award for Documentary Craft: The Territory

Special Jury Award for Excellence in Verité Filmmaking: Midwives

 

OTHER AWARDS

NEXT Audience Award: Framing Agnes

NEXT Innovator Award: Chase Joynt, Framing Agnes

Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize: After Yang

Sundance Institute NHK Award: Hasan Hadi, The President’s Cake

Sundance Institute/Amazon Studios Producers Award for Narrative Features: Amanda Marshall, God’s Country

Sundance Institute/Amazon Studios Producers Award for Documentary Features: Su Kim, Free Chol Soo Lee

Sundance Institute/Adobe Mentorship Award for Editing Documentary: Toby Shimin

 

The U.S. Dramatic Grand Jury Prize has been claimed over the years by such films as Blood Simple, The Brothers McMullen, Welcome to the Dollhouse, You Can Count on Me, American Splendor, Precious, Winter’s Bone, Beasts of the Southern Wild, and Fruitvale Station.

Joining them in the elite circle is Nanny, from director-screenwriter Nikyatu Jusu. In it, Anna Diop plays a Senegalese woman working for an Upper East Side family in New York City. She is trying to earn enough money to bring her son from Africa to the United States.

Member of the Jury, Chelsea Bernard, in her Juror’s statement, declared “This film cannot be contained by any one genre — it’s visually stunning, masterfully acted, impeccably designed from sound to visual effects. The overall vision, expertly guided by Nikyatu Jusu, comes together offering its audience an electrifying experience.”

In her closing statement, Festival Director Tabitha Jackson proclaimed, “The 2022 Sundance Film Festival once again met our audience wherever they happened to be. Whether you watched from home or one of our seven satellite screens, this year’s Festival expressed a powerful convergence; we were present, together, as a community connected through the work. And it is work that has already changed those who experienced it.”