The nonprofit Sundance Institute announced the 16 jurors granting awards for artistic and cinematic excellence at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, along with the five jury members who present the Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize. The 2024 Festival will take place January 18–28, 2024, in person in Park City and Salt Lake City, Utah along with a selection of films available online across the country from January 25–28, 2024. Films in competition categories awarded by the jury will be screened in person and via the online Festival platform from January 27-28. Both online and in-person Award Winners Packages, which include eight tickets for award-winner screenings, are on sale through January 5. Single film ticket sales begin on January 11 at 10 a.m. MT. This year marks the 40th edition of the Festival, bringing together audiences in Utah and beyond to celebrate Sundance’s rich history of supporting engaging new stories and groundbreaking independent artists.
The 16-member jury is composed of a diverse range of critical voices across film, art, and culture. In honor of the upcoming Festival marking the 40th edition, all 16 members are Festival alumni, who are returning not only to serve on the jury but also to partake in celebratory programming, ranging from talks and panels, to a special 40th edition trivia night, and party for artist alumni. The jury will announce the awards for feature films — across five competition sections — at an intimate award ceremony held at The Ray Theatre in Park City on Friday, January 26, 2024 and the short film jury winners will be announced at the Shorts Awards & Party presented by Argo and WeShort on Tuesday, January 23, 2024.
The 2024 Sundance Film Festival jury includes: Debra Granik, Adrian Tomine, and Lena Waithe for U.S. Dramatic Competition; Shane Boris, Nicole Newnham, and Rudy Valdez for U.S. Documentary Competition; Jennifer Kent, Mira Nair, and Rui Poças for World Cinema Dramatic Competition; Mandy Chang, Monica Hellström, and Shaunak Sen for World Cinema Documentary Competition; Christina Oh, Danny Pudi, and Charlotte Regan for Short Film Program Competition; and Zal Batmanglij for the NEXT competition section.
The jury for the Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize deliberated ahead of the Festival and awarded the prize to Love Me, directed by Sam and Andy Zuchero. The jury, which includes both film and science professionals, presents the award to an outstanding feature film focusing on science or technology as a theme, or depicting a scientist, engineer or mathematician as a major character. This jury includes: Dr. Mandë Holford, Dr. Nia Imara, Matt Johnson, Theresa Park, and Courtney Stephens.
“The Sundance Film Festival is known for discovering and platforming visionary emerging artists. We cannot do this without our jury, who so thoughtfully help us recognize and amplify the next generation of independent storytellers,” said Eugene Hernandez, Festival Director. “We are thrilled to announce the talented, accomplished artists who comprise this year’s jury.”
“For our 40th Festival, the jury members this year are all artists who have had films at prior Festivals. They know what it is to introduce new work to the Sundance community and we are so pleased to be able to welcome them back to Sundance to take in the films our programming team has curated. We can’t wait to see what resonates with them,” said Kim Yutani, Director of Programming.
Festival audiences attending in person will have a role in voting for the 2024 Audience Awards, open to films in the U.S. Competition, World Competition, and NEXT categories. Attendees are also able to vote for the Festival Favorite, which is selected across all in-person eligible feature film screenings.
