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antiTainment NEWS: Sundance 2004- Return of the Indie Film


01-25-04 Keavin
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The Sundance Film Festival had a return to form this year as real independent films stole most of the glory. The annual festival takes over Park City, Utah and gives the fans and stars a chance to view cutting edge films and allows the big studios to scoop up the best of the bunch (or rather the most commercially viable).  

This year was no exception with a low budget sci-fi time-travel thriller �Primer� taking the Dramatic Grand Jury Prize and �DIG!,� which chronicles the rivalry of two musicians, took the Documentary Grand Jury Prize. 

Films about addiction are a favorite in indie circles and this year is no exception. �Down to the Bone�, the tale of a house wife�s battle with cocaine addiction gave director Debra Granik the best Dramatic Directing Award. 

The winners (according to Hollywood.com)

Dramatic Grand Jury Prize: Primer, directed, written, and produced by Shane Carruth

Documentary Grand Jury Prize: DIG!, directed and produced by Ondi Timoner

Documentary Audience Award: Born Into Brothels, directed by Ross Kauffman and Zana Briski

Dramatic Audience Award: Maria Full of Grace, directed by Joshua Marston

Documentary Directing Award: Morgan Spurlock , Super Size Me

Dramatic Directing Award: Debra Granik, Down To the Bone

World Cinema Dramatic Audience Award: Seducing Doctor Lewis, directed by Jean-François Pouliot

Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award: Larry Gross, We Don't Live Here Anymore

Documentary Special Jury Prize: Farmingville, directed by Catherine Tambini and Carlos Sandoval

Dramatic Special Jury Prizes: Brother to Brother, directed by Rodney Evans; and
 Vera Farmiga for her performance in Down To the Bone

World Cinema Documentary Audience Award: The Corporation, directed by Mark Achbar and Jennifer Abbott

Excellence in Cinematography Award: Ferne Pearlstein, Imelda (documentary) -  Nancy Schreiber, November (dramatic)

Freedom of Expression Award: Repatriation, directed by Dong-won Kim

Jury Prize in Short Filmmaking: When the Storm Came, directed by Shilpi Gupta; and Gowanus, Brooklyn, directed by Ryan Fleck

Jury Prize in International Short Filmmaking: Tomo, directed by Paul Catling

Honorable Mentions in Short Filmmaking: Curtis, directed by Jacob Akira Okada; Harvie Krumpet, directed by Adam Elliot; Krumoed, directed by David LaChapelle; Papillion d'Amour, directed by Nicholas Provost; and Spokane, directed by Larry Kennar

2004 Sundance Online Film Festival Viewers Awards: Bathtime in Clerkenwell, directed by Alex Budovsky (Animation); Wet Dreams False Images, directed by Jesse Epstein (Short Subject); and The Dawn at my Back: Memoir of a Texas Upbringing, directed by Carroll Parrott Blue and Kristy H.A. Kang (New Forms Gallery)

Sundance/NHK International Filmmakers Award: Gyorgy Palfi, Taxidermia from Europe; Andrucha Waddington, House of Sand from Latin America; Miranda July, Me You and Everyone We Know from the United States.

Kosuke Hosokaim, director of Tepid Love from Japan received an honorable mention
 


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