È Whiplash il vincitore dell'edizione 2014 del Sundance Film Festival, il celebre festival di cinema indipendente che si tiene ogni anno a gennaio a Park City (Utah). La pellicola diretta da Damien Chazelle e interpretata da Miles Teller e JK Simmons ha vinto sia il Gran Premio della Giuria che il Premio del Pubblico per il miglior film drammatico: sin da subito era stata molto apprezzata e infatti è stata la prima a trovare un distributore appena approdata al Festival.

Doppio premio anche per il documentario 20,000 Days on Earth, che ha ottenuto il premio per la miglior regia e il miglior montaggio per un documentario. Premiato anche Dear White People, il cui regista Justin Simien (qui al suo esordio) ha ottenuto un Premio Speciale della Giuria per i nuovi talenti.

Questi tutti i premi assegnati:

U.S. Films

  • Winner of the U. S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic: Whiplash, directed by Damien Chazelle
  • Winner of the Directing Award: U.S. Dramatic: Fishing Without Nets, directed by Cutter Hodierne
  • Winner of the U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Documentary: Rich Hill, directed by Tracy Droz Tragos and Andrew Droz Palermo
  • Winner of the Editing Award: U.S. Documentary: Watchers of the Sky, edited by Jenny Golden and Karen Sim
  • Winner of the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award: U.S. Dramatic: The Skeleton Twins, screenplay by Craig Johnson and Mark Heyman
  • Winner of the Directing Award: U.S. Documentary: The Case Against 8, directed by Ben Cotner and Ryan White
  • Winner for U. S. Documentary Special Jury award for Intuitive Filmmaking: The Overnighters, directed by Jesse Moss
  • Winner of the U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Use of Animation: Watchers in the Sky, directed by Edet Belzberg
  • Winner of the U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Musical Score Musical Score: Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter, composed by The Octopus Project
  • Winner of the U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Breakthrough Talent: Dear White People, directed by Justin Simien
  • Winner of the Cinematography Award: U.S. Documentary: E-TEAM, Ross Kauffman, Director of Photography; Rachel Beth Anderson, Ross Kauffman, Cinematographers
  • Winner of the Cinematography Award: U.S. Dramatic: Low Down, cinematography by Christopher Blauvelt

Audience Awards

  • Winner of the Audience Award: Imperial Dreams, directed by Malik Vitthal         
  • Winner of the Audience Award for World Cinema Documentary: The Green Prince, directed Nadav Schirman
  • Winner of the Audience Award for World Cinema Dramatic: Difret, directed by Zeresenay Berhane Mehari
  • Winner of Audience Award: U.S. Documentary: Alive Inside, directed by Michael Rossato-Bennett
  • Winner of the Audience Award: U.S. Dramatic: Whiplash, directed by Damien Chazelle

World Cinema Dramatic Films

  • Winner of the World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Ensemble Performance: God Help the Girl, directed by Stuart Murdoch, and starring Emily Browning, Olly Alexander, Hannah Murray, Pierre Boulanger, and Cora Bissett.
  • Winner of the World Cinema Dramatic Cinematography Award: Lilting, cinematography by Ula Pontikos  
  • Winner of the World Cinema Dramatic Screenwriting Award: Blind, written and directed by Eskil Vogt
  • Winner of the World Cinema Dramatic Directing Award: 52 Tuesdays, directed by Sophie Hyde     
  • Winner of the World Cinema Dramatic Grand Jury Prize: To Kill a Man, directed by Alejandro Fernandez Almendras

World Cinema Documentary Films

  • Winner of the World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Cinematic Bravery: We Come As Friends, directed Hubert Sauper
  • Winner of the World Cinema Documentary Cinematography Award: Happiness, cinematography by Thomas Balmes and Nina Bernfeld. Directed by Thomas Balmes
  • Winner of the World Cinema Documentary Editing Award: 20,000 Days on Earth, edited by Jonathan Amos
  • Winner of the World Cinema Documentary Directing Award: 20,000 Days on Earth, directed by Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard
  • Winner of the World Cinema Documentary Grand Jury Prize: Return to Homs, directed by Talal Derki

Sundance Institute/Mahindra Global Filmmaking Awards

  • From Vietnam and the UK, Hong Khaou for Monsoon.
  • From Denmark, Tobias Lindholm for A War.
  • From Australia, Ashlee Page for Archive.
  • From India, Neeraj Ghaywan for Fly Away Solo.

Winner of the Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize: I Origins, written and directed by Mike Cahill

Questi i premi per i cortometraggi, assegnati qualche giorno fa:

  • Short Film Special Jury Award for Direction and Ensemble Acting: Burger, written and directed by Magnus Mork.
  • Short Film Special Jury Award for Non Fiction: Love. Love. Love., directed by Sandhya Daisy Sundaram.
  • Short Film Special Jury Award for Unique Vision: Rat Pack Rat, written and directed by Todd Rohal.
  • Short Film Jury Award: Animation: Yearbook, written and directed by Bernardo Britto.
  • Short Film Jury Award: Non Fiction: I Think This Is the Closest to How the Footage Looked, directed by Yuval Hamieri and Michal Vaknin.
  • Short Film Jury Award: International Fiction: The Cut, written and directed by Geneviève Dulude-Decelles.
  • Short Film Jury Award: US Fiction: Gregory Go Boom, written and directed by Janicza Bravo.
  • Short Film Grand Jury Prize: Of God and Dogs, directed by the Abounaddara Collective.
  • Winner of the 2014 Shorts Audience Award, presented by YouTube: Chapel Perilous directed by Matthew Lessner.