The 2026 Sundance Film Festival Awards Are Being Announced Now — Full List

It’s almost time to say goodbye to Park City, Utah and this year’s Sundance Film Festival. But, before we put a pin in the 2026 edition of the fest (and its last in Utah), it’s time to fete the best offerings of the annual gathering of indie film elite. On Friday morning, Sundance announced its annual winners in a live ceremony at the Ray Theatre, and IndieWire is sharing each pick as they are announced.

Today’s award winners include both jury and audience prizes, along with a number of special jury prizes for films, performances, and more. The 17-member jury cohort included an unusually high number of filmmaker alumni, including names like A.V. Rockwell, Janicza Bravo, Bao Nguyen, Azazel Jacobs, Jennie Livingston, Nisha Ganatra, So Yong Kim, and many more.

They picked winners in a number of sections, including the U.S. Dramatic Competition, U.S. Documentary Competition, World Cinema Dramatic Competition, World Cinema Documentary Competition, and the NEXT lineup. In-person audiences participated in selecting the 2026 Audience Awards, which are available to films in the U.S. Competition, World Competition, and NEXT.

Check out the full list of today’s winners below, including previously announced winners in other sections. Winners will be updated as they are announced, and you can follow along in the livestream video posted below.

U.S. DRAMATIC COMPETITION AWARDS

U.S. DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION AWARDS

WORLD CINEMA DRAMATIC COMPETITION AWARDS

The World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic was presented to “Shame and Money” / Germany, Kosovo, Slovenia, Albania, North Macedonia, Belgium (Director, Screenwriter, and Producer: Visar Morina, Screenwriter: Doruntina Basha, Producers: Fabian Altenried, Sophie Ahrens, Kristof Gerega, Pia Hellenthal).

The Directing Award: World Cinema Dramatic was presented to Andrius Blaževičius for “How to Divorce During the War” / Lithuania, Luxembourg, Ireland, Czech Republic (Director and Screenwriter: Andrius Blaževičius, Producer: Marija Razgutė).

WORLD CINEMA DOCUMENTARY AWARDS

The World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Documentary was presented to “To Hold a Mountain” / Serbia, France, Montenegro, Slovenia, Croatia (Directors, Screenwriters, and Producers: Biljana Tutorov, Petar Glomazić, Producers: Quentin Laurent, Rok Biček).

The Directing Award: World Cinema Documentary was presented to Itab Azzam and Jack MacInnes for “One in a Million” / U.K. (Directors: Itab Azzam, Jack MacInnes, Producers: Raney Aronson-Rath, Will Anderson, James Bluemel, Andrew Palmer).

‘The Incomer’Anthony Dickenson

NEXT AWARD

The NEXT Innovator Award Presented by Adobe was awarded to “The Incomer” / U.K. (Director and Screenwriter: Louis Paxton, Producers: Shirley O’Connor, Emily Gotto).

SPECIAL JURY AWARDS

A World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Acting Ensemble was presented to “LADY” / U.K., Nigeria (Director and Screenwriter: Olive Nwosu, Producer: Alex Polunin). Cast: Jessica Gabriel’s Ujah, Amanda Oruh, Tinuade Jemiseye, Binta Ayo Mogaji, Seun Kuti, Bucci Franklin. World Premiere. Available online for public.

A World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Creative Vision was presented to “Filipiñana” / Singapore, U.K., Philippines, France, Netherlands (Director and Screenwriter: Rafael Manuel, Producers: Jeremy Chua, Alex Polunin, Bianca Balbuena, Bradley Liew, Nadia Turincev, Omar El Kadi).

A World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Journalistic Impact was presented to “Birds of War” / U.K., Syrian Arab Republic, Lebanon (Directors, Screenwriters, and Producers: Janay Boulos, Abd Alkader Habak, Producer: Sonja Henrici).

A World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Civil Resistance was presented to “Everybody to Kenmure Street” / U.K. (Director and Producer: Felipe Bustos Sierra, Producer: Ciara Barry).

The NEXT Special Jury Award for Creative Expression was awarded to “TheyDream” / U.S.A. (Director, Screenwriter, and Producer: William David Caballero, Screenwriters and Producers: Erin Ploss-Campoamor, Elaine del Valle, Producer: Brad Jones).

AUDIENCE AWARDS

The Audience Award: U.S. Dramatic, Presented by Acura was awarded to “Josephine” / U.S.A. (Director, Screenwriter, and Producer: Beth de Araújo, Producers: David Kaplan, Josh Peters, Marina Stabile, Mark H. Rapaport, Crystine Zhang).

The Audience Award: U.S. Documentary, Presented by Acura was awarded to “American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis Valdez” / U.S.A. (Director, Screenwriter, and Producer: David Alvarado, Producers: Lauren DeFilippo, Everett Katigbak, Amanda Pollak).

The Audience Award: World Cinema Dramatic, Presented by United Airlines was awarded to “HOLD ONTO ME (Κράτα Με)” / Cyprus, Denmark, Greece (Director, Screenwriter, and Producer: Myrsini Aristidou, Producer: Monica Nicolaidou).

The Audience Award: World Cinema Documentary, Presented by United Airlines was awarded to “One in a Million” / U.K. (Directors: Itab Azzam, Jack MacInnes, Producers: Raney Aronson-Rath, Will Anderson, James Bluemel, Andrew Palmer).

The Audience Award: NEXT, Presented by Adobe was awarded to “Aanikoobijigan [ancestor/great-grandparent/great-grandchild]” / U.S.A., Denmark (Directors and Producers: Adam Khalil, Zack Khalil, Producers: Steve Holmgren, Grace Remington, Jacque Clark, Franny Alfano).

SHORT FILM AWARDS

The festival’s short film awards were previously announced on Monday, January 26. The Grand Jury Prize was awarded to “The Baddest Speechwriter of All” (Nonfiction). Short Film Jury Awards went to “Crisis Actor” (U.S. Fiction), “Jazz Infernal: (International Fiction), “The Boys and the Bees” (Nonfiction), and “Living with a Visionary” (Animation).

Two Special Jury Awards were also presented: Short Film Special Jury Award for Creative Vision to Don Hertzfeldt for “Paper Trail” (Animation) and Short Film Special Jury Award for Acting to Noah Roja and Filippo Carrozza for “The Liars” (Argentina). This year the Festival short film jury members were: A.V. Rockwell, Liv Constable-Maxwell, and Martin Starr.

OTHER AWARDS

Also previously announced: the jury for the Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize, which deliberated ahead of the festival and included Sophie Barthes, Dr. Heather Berlin, Dr. Andrea Ghez, Ari Handel, and Nicole Perlman. The jury awarded the prize to “In the Blink of a Eye” director Andrew Stanton and screenwriter Colby Day. The jury, which includes both film and science professionals, presents the award to an outstanding feature film focusing on science or technology as a theme or depicting a scientist, engineer, or mathematician as a major character.

Plus, the Sundance Institute Producers Award for Nonfiction, presented by Amazon MGM Studios, went to Dawne Langford for “Who Killed Alex Odeh?” and the Sundance Institute Producers Award for Fiction, presented by Amazon MGM Studios, went to Apoorva Guru Charan for “Take Me Home.”

All of the winners will be available to watch imminently on Sundance’s online at-home platform.