Slamdance 2024 Announces Winners, The Accident and Inheritance Take Top Prizes
The 2024 Slamdance Film Festival, which returned this year to its original home at the Doubletree Park City (i.e., the Yarrow), announced the winners of its Sparky Awards on Friday. Giuseppe Garau’s The Accident, a 16mm-shot film about a newly separated woman finding employment within the tow-truck industry, won the Narrative Feature Grand Jury Prize. The Documentary Feature Grand Jury Prize went to Matt Moyer’s and Amy Toensing’s Inheritance, an Appalachia-set film dealing with the opioid epidemic. Kiarash Dadgar, whose short film The Steak played the festival, was awarded the AGBO Fellowship, which comes with $25,000 in prize money and mentorship from Joe and Anthony Russo.
The Slamdance lineup is available to stream through January 28, with a “Best of Slamdance ’24” streaming from February 2 – 4. The complete list of winners follows.
GRAND JURY AWARDS – FEATURES
Narrative Feature Grand Jury Prize: The Accident (Giuseppe Garau, Italy)
Honorable Mention: The Complex Forms (Fabio D’Orta, Italy)
Documentary Feature Grand Jury Prize: Inheritance (Matt Moyer, Amy Toensing, United States)
Honorable Mention: Petro (Sean Mattison, United States)
Breakouts Feature Grand Jury Prize: CHAPERONE (Zoe Eisenberg, United States)
Honorable Mention: Slide (Bill Plympton, United States)
Episodes Grand Jury Prize: Restorage (E’an Verdugo, United States)
Honorable Mention: Dog Spelled Backwards (Tim Almeida, United States)
GRAND JURY AWARDS – UNSTOPPABLE
Unstoppable Grand Jury Prize: Good Bad Things (Dir. Shane Stanger)
Honorable Mention: Makayla’s Voice: A Letter to the World (Dir. Julio C. Palacio)
JURY AWARDS – SHORTS
Narrative Shorts Grand Jury Prize: Fishing (Josie Charles, United Kingdom)
Honorable Mention: European Man…American Beach (Rex Shannon, United States)
Documentary Short Grand Jury Prize: Friends on the Outside (Annabel Moodie, Scotland)
Honorable Mention: Remember, Broken Crayons Colour Too (Ursa Kastelic, Shannet Clemmings, Switzerland)
Experimental Shorts Grand Jury Prize: Light of Light (Neritan Zinxhiria, Greece)
Honorable Mention: Entrance Wounds (Calum Walter, United States)
Animated Shorts Grand Jury Prize: Edith And The Tall Child (Kohana Wilson, United States)
Honorable Mention: Lil Sherbet (Xinhe Zhao, United States)
FESTIVAL WIDE AWARDS:
The AGBO Fellowship, presented by Joe and Anthony Russo, Award Winner: Kiarash Dadgar Mohebi director of The Steak (Canada, Iran)
Summer Chastant Episodic Award: Jono Hunter director of Night Drives (Canada)
Slamdance Acting Award: John Lawson for Daruma (United States)
George Starks Spirit of Slamdance Award Winner: Radha Mehta, director of DOSH (United States)
AUDIENCE AWARDS:
Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature: African Giants (Dir. Omar Kamara)
Audience Award for Documentary Feature: Demon Mineral (Dir. Hadley Austin)
Audience Award for Episodes: Night Drive (Dir. Jono Hunter)
Audience Award for Unstoppable: Good Bad Things (Dir. Shane Stanger)