Grad Film Sweeps Sundance 2022

At the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, the Grad Film community won several major categories and enjoyed World Premieres at one of the biggest festivals in the industry.

WINNERS:

U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic:

Nanny, directed, written and executive produced by alum Nikyatu Jusu, and produced by alum Ryan Heller: The film follows an undocumented nanny working for a privileged couple in New York City. As she prepares for the arrival of the son she left behind in Senegal, a violent supernatural presence invades her reality, threatening the American dream she is painstakingly piecing together. The film was selected for the 2019 Sundance Institute Creative Producing Labs & Summit, the 2020 Screenwriters Lab and the 2019 IRP Project Forum. 

Jury Award for Directing: U.S. Dramatic:

Palm Trees and Power Lines, written, directed and produced by alumna Jamie Dack, produced by MFA Candidate Leah Chen Baker, cinematography by Chananun Chotrungroj, production design by alum Yu-Hsuan Chen, costume design by alum Aaron Crosby: A disconnected teenage girl enters a relationship with a man twice her age. She sees him as the solution to all her problems, but his intentions are not what they seem. Dack’s short film of the same title premiered at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival as a Cinefondation Selection, and received the 2nd Place King Award at New York University’s Graduate Film Wasserman Awards.

Audience Award: World Cinema Dramatic

Girl Picture, directed by alum Alli Haapasalo: Mimmi, Emma and Rönkkö are girls at the cusp of womanhood, trying to draw their own contours. In three consecutive Fridays, two of them experience the earth moving effects of falling in love, while the third goes on a quest to find something she's never experienced before: pleasure.

U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award: Creative Vision:

Descendant, directed by alum Margaret Brown: Clotilda, the last ship carrying enslaved Africans to the United States, arrived in Alabama 40 years after African slave trading became a capital offense. It was promptly burned, and its existence denied. After a century shrouded in secrecy and speculation, descendants of the Clotilda’s survivors are reclaiming their story.

Short Film Jury Award: International Fiction

Warsha, written and directed by alum Dania Bdeir: Warsha follows Mohammad, a Syrian migrant working as a crane operator in Beirut. One morning he volunteers to take on one of the tallest and notoriously most dangerous cranes in Lebanon. Away from everyone's eyes, he is able to live out his secret passion and find freedom. Dania, a filmmaker from Lebanon, continues the tradition of Raed Alsemari and Zamarin Wahdat who won this top international short award in 2019 and 2021.

U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award: Upcoming Artistic Vision:

Blood, Cinematography by Eric Lin: After the death of her husband, a young woman travels to Japan where she finds solace in an old friend. But when comforting turns to affection, she realizes she must give herself permission before she can fall in love again.

NHK Sundance Award:

The President's Cake, from MFA Candidate and adjunct professor Hasan Hadi, produced by student Leah Chen Baker: While everyday people struggle daily to survive under sanctions in Saddam’s Iraq, nine-year-old Saeed must use his wits to gather the ingredients for the required cake to celebrate President Saddam Hussein’s birthday or face the consequences alongside his family. The award gives Hadi $10,000 and bodes well for the promising upcoming feature.

PATICIPANTS:

FEATURES:

A Love Song” written and directed by alumnus Max Walker-Silverman, cinematography by alumnus Alfonso Herrera Salcedo, composed by alum Ramzi Bashour, production design by Juliana Barreto

Mija, documentary feature by alumna Isabel Castro

We need to talk about Cosby, edited by alumna Jen Brooks

SHORTS:

The Inside World (alumna and faculty Annie Howell)

Sikumi (alumnus Andrew Maclean)

Trevor (Peggy Rajski, edited by Professor John Tintori)

Boneshaker (alumna Nuotama Frances Bodomo)

Family Remains (alumna Tamara Jenkins)

You can access a full list of Tisch alumni participants here and also watch the fireside chats.

For a full list of winners, visit Sundance.