Linh Tran’s Waiting For The Light To Change and Law Chen’s Starring Jerry As Himself have won the 2023 Slamdance grand jury narrative and documentary awards this week.
The 2023 Slamdance Unstoppable Grand Jury Prize was awarded to Peter Hoffman Kimball’s, while the Breakouts Feature Grand Jury Prize went to Shujaat Saudagar’s The Underbug (India), and the 2023 Episodes Grand Jury Prize was awarded to Theodore Collatos’s Palookaville.
The AGBO Fellowship, presented by 2022 recipient and current Slamdance jury member Ethan Eng, went to Tij D’Oyen at the January 26 ceremony. His short film Lollygag screened in the Narrative Shorts competition.
The 2023 Audience Awards went to Nina Ognjanovic’s narrative feature Where The Road Leads (Serbia) Chen’s documentary feature Starring Jerry as Himself, and Dan Katzir and Ravit Markus’s Unstoppable feature American Pot Story: Oaksterdam. The Audience Award for Episodes went to Sam Roden’s Honeycomb.
“Slamdance ’23 has showcased an incredible array of new independent work that pushes the boundaries of cinematic language while expressing what it means to be alive in today’s world. We celebrate our winners and, crucially, the overall strength of the programme that elevates filmmaking,” said Peter Baxter, founder of Slamdance.
The festival was screened in person in Park City and Salt Lake City at University of Utah. The ticket and pass sales increased by 20% over the previous in-person event in 2020. 2023 Slamdance was held from January 20 to 29. The full list of winners appears below.
Grand Jury Awards – Features
Narrative Feature Grand Jury Prize: Waiting For The Light To Change (Linh Tran)
Honorable Mention: Where The Road Leads (Nina Ognjanovic)
Documentary Feature Grand Jury Prize: Starring Jerry As Himself (Law Chen)
Honorable Mention: Silent Love (Mark Kozakiewicz)
Breakouts Feature Grand Jury Prize: The Underbug (Shujaat Saudagar)
Honorable Mention: Onlookers (Kimi Takesue)
Episodes Grand Jury Prize: Palookaville (Theodore Collatos)
Honorable Mention: Off Fairfax (Erica Eng)
Grand Jury Awards – Unstoppable
Unstoppable Grand Jury Prize: Millstone (Peter Hoffman Kimball)
Honorable Mention: My Eyes Are Up Here (Nathan Morris)
Jury Awards – Shorts
Narrative Shorts Grand Jury Prize: The Sidewalk Artist (David Velez and Brandon Rivera)
Honorable Mention: Gwendoline (Joaquim Bayle)
Documentary Short Grand Jury Prize: The Unicorn In Snowpants Suddenly Ran Off (Philipp Schaeffer)
Honorable Mention: Moomin (Zach Dorn)
Experimental Shorts Grand Jury Prize: Red Threads (Yuchi Ma)
Honorable Mention: Grillz & Mirrors (Michael U. Olowu)
Animated Shorts Grand Jury Prize: Hot Dogs! (Frank Volk)
Honorable Mention: Silver Cave (Caibei Cai)
Festival Wide Awards:
The AGBO Fellowship Award Winner: Tij D’Oyen, Lollygag
Slamdance Acting Award: Jerry Hsu, Starring Jerry As Himself
George Starks Spirit of Slamdance Award Winner: Aaron David Harris, H-Squad: The Interactive Experience.
Audience Awards
Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature:
Where The Road Leads (Nina Ognjanovic)
Audience Award for Documentary Feature:
Starring Jerry As Himself (Law Chen)
Audience Award for Episodes:
Honeycomb (Sam Roden)
Audience Award for Unstoppable:
American Pot Story: Oaksterdam (Dan Katzir and Ravit Markus)
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