2016 Sundance Film Festival

The 2016 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 21 to January 31, 2016. The first lineup of competition films was announced on December 2, 2015. The opening night film was Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You, directed by Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady. The closing night film was Louis Black and Karen Bernstein's Richard Linklater: Dream Is Destiny.

Awards

The following awards were presented:

Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic – The Birth of a Nation by Nate Parker
Directing Award: Dramatic – Daniel Scheinert and Daniel Kwan for Swiss Army Man
Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award – Chad Hartigan for Morris From America
U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award – Miles Joris-Peyrafitte for As You Are
U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Breakthrough Performance – Joe Seo for Spa Night
U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Individual Performance – Melanie Lynskey for The Intervention and Craig Robinson for Morris from America
Grand Jury Prize: Documentary – Weiner by Elyse Steinberg and Josh Kriegman
Directing Award: Documentary – Roger Ross Williams for Life, Animated
U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Editing – Penny Lane and Thom Stylinski for NUTS!
Special Jury Prize for Social Impact: Documentary – Trapped by Dawn Porter
U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Writing – Robert Greene for Kate Plays Christine
Special Jury Prize for Verité Filmmaking: Documentary – The Bad Kids by Keith Fulton and Lou Pepe
World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic – Sand Storm by Elite Zexer
World Cinema Directing Award: Dramatic – Felix van Groeningen for Belgica
World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Acting – Vicky Hernandez and Manolo Cruz for Between Land and Sea
World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Screenwriting – Ana Katz and Inés Bortagaray for Mi Amiga del Parque
World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Unique Vision & Design – The Lure by Agnieszka Smoczyńska
World Cinema Jury Prize: Documentary – Sonita by Rokhsareh Ghaemmaghami
World Cinema Directing Award: Documentary – Michal Marczak for All These Sleepless Nights
World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Best Debut Feature – Heidi Brandenburg and Mathew Orzel for When Two Worlds Collide
World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Best Cinematography – Pieter-Jan De Pue for The Land of the Enlightened
World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Editing – Mako Kamitsuna and John Maringouin for We Are X
Audience Award: Dramatic – The Birth of a Nation (2016 film) by Nate Parker
Audience Award: Documentary – Jim: The James Foley Story by Brian Oakes
World Cinema Audience Award: Dramatic – Between Sea and Land by Manolo Cruz and Carlos del Castillo
World Cinema Audience Award: Documentary – Sonita by Rokhsareh Ghaemmaghami
Best of NEXT Audience Award – First Girl I Loved by Kerem Sanga
Short Film Grand Jury Prize – Thunder Road by Jim Cummings
Short Film Jury Award: US Fiction – The Procedure by Calvin Lee Reeder
Short Film Jury Award: International Fiction – Maman(s) by Maïmouna Doucouré
Short Film Jury Award: Non-fiction – Bacon and God's Wrath by Sol Friedman
Short Film Jury Award: Animation – Edmond by Nina Gantz
Short Film Special Jury Award for Outstanding Performance – Grace Glowicki for Her Friend Adam
Short Film Special Jury Award for Best Direction – Ondřej Hudeček for Peacock
Alfred P. Sloan Prize – Embrace of the Serpent by Ciro Guerra

Films

U.S. Dramatic Competition

U.S. Documentary Competition

Audrie & Daisy by Bonni Cohen, Jon Shenk
Author: The JT LeRoy Story by Jeff Feuerzeig
The Bad Kids by Keith Fulton & Lou Pepe
Gleason by Clay Tweel
Holy Hell by Will Allen
How to Let Go of the World (and Love All the Things Climate Can’t Change) by Josh Fox
Jim: The James Foley Story by Brian Oakes
Kate Plays Christine by Robert Greene
Kiki by Sara Jordenö
Life, Animated by Roger Ross Williams
Newtown by Kim A. Snyder
NUTS! by Penny Lane
Suited by Jason Benjamin
Trapped by Dawn Porter
Uncle Howard by Aaron Brookner
Weiner by Josh Kriegman & Elyse Steinberg

Premieres

Agnus Dei by Anne FontaineAli and Nino by Asif KapadiaCaptain Fantastic by Matt RossCertain Women by Kelly ReichardtComplete Unknown by Joshua MarstonFrank & Lola by Matthew RossHunt for the Wilderpeople by Taika Waititi

Midnight

31 by Rob ZombieAntibirth by Danny PerezThe Blackout Experiments by Rich FoxCarnage Park by Mickey KeatingThe Greasy Strangler by Jim HoskingOutlaws and Angels by JT MollnerTrash Fire by Richard Bates, Jr.Under the Shadow by Babak AnvariYoga Hosers by Kevin Smith

World Cinema Dramatic Competition

Belgica by Felix van GroeningenBetween Sea and Land by Manolo Cruz & Carlos del CastilloBrahman Naman by Qaushiq MukherjeeA Good Wife by Mirjana KaranovićHalal Love (and Sex) by Assad FouladkarThe Lure by Agnieszka SmoczynskaMale Joy, Female Love by Yao HuangMammal by Rebecca DalyMy Friend from the Park by Ana KatzMuch Ado About Nothing by Alejandro Fernández AlmendrasSand Storm by Elite ZexerWild by Nicolette Krebitz

World Cinema Documentary Competition

All These Sleepless Nights by Michal MarczakA Flag Without a Country by Bahman GhobadiHooligan Sparrow by Nanfu WangThe Land of the Enlightened by Pieter-Jan De PueThe Lovers and the Despot by Robert Cannan & Ross AdamPlaza de la Soledad by Maya GodedThe Settlers by Shimon DotanSky Ladder: The Art of Cai Guo-Qiang by Kevin MacdonaldSonita by Rokhsareh GhaemmaghamiWe Are X by Stephen KijakWhen Two Worlds Collide by Heidi Brandenburg & Mathew Orzel

Juries

Jury members, for each program of the festival, including the Alfred P. Sloan Jury, which also took part in the Science in Film Forum Panel, were announced on January 12, 2016.
;U.S. Documentary Jury

;U.S. Dramatic Jury

;World Documentary Jury

;World Dramatic Jury

Mark Adams*
Fernanda Solorzano*
Apichatpong Weerasethakul*

;Alfred P. Sloan Jury

;Short Film Jury

Acquisitions

Ahead of the festival opening distributor Netflix obtained worldwide streaming rights to Tallulah and Iranian horror film Under the Shadow. Oscilloscope Laboratories also obtained U.S. distribution rights to The Fits before its Sundance debut. Amazon also acquired the rights to Manchester by the Sea and Love & Friendship, later releasing both films in association with Roadside Attractions.