‘A Thousand and One’ wins Sundance grand jury prize

"A Thousand and One," a drama about an impoverished single mother and her son in New York City, won the Sundance Film Festival's grand jury prize in the U.S. dramatic competition, while "Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project" was awarded the top prize in the U.S. documentary category. This year's winners were announced at an awards ceremony Friday afternoon in Park City, Utah, which included an audience prize for the documentary " 20 Days in Mariupol."

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Writer Jeremy O. Harris, filmmaker Eliza Hittman and actor Marlee Matlin judged the U.S. dramatic competition.

Harris, through tears, said he asked to give the grand jury prize to "A Thousand and One" and writer-director A.V. Rockwell himself.

"Never have I seen a life so similar to my own rendered with such nuance and tenderness" Harris said. "This film reached into my gut and pulled from it every emotion I've learned to mask in these spaces."

A scene from the film "Scrapper"

Other grand jury prizes winners were: "Scrapper," in world cinema, about a 12-year-old girl living alone on the outskirts of London after her mother's death; and "The Eternal Memory," in world cinema documentary, about the effects of Alzheimer's on a relationship of 25 years. "Kokomo City," about the lives of Black, trans sex workers, won the NEXT innovator award and the audience award in the NEXT category.

Other audience award winners included "The Persian Version," for U.S. Dramatic, "Beyond Utopia," for U.S. Documentary and "Shayda" for World Cinema Dramatic. The "festival favorite" award went to "Radical," starring Eugenio Derbez as an inspirational teacher in a Mexican border town.

In total, 12 films premiered in the world cinema documentary section, including films about climate change, Syria, growing up during apartheid and the International Chopin Piano Competition. "The Eternal Memory," about a couple dealing with Alzheimer's, won the category's grand jury prize.

A scene from the film 'Eternal Memory'

This year's festival, the first in-person gathering since 2020, debuted 111 feature films and 64 short films. Over 75% of the films are available on Sundance's online platform through Sunday, January 29.