The record-breaking coming-of-age drama Coda won the top prize at the Sundance Film Festival.
Coda stands for child of deaf adults and the movie tells the story of a teenage girl who is the only hearing member of her family and dreams of becoming a singer.
It was reportedly sold to Apple for 25 million dollars (about £18 million), a record at the Sundance Film Festival.
🏆 US Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic goes to Siân Heder for CODA. #Sundance pic.twitter.com/sYG44OcEdF
— SundanceFilmFestival (@sundancefest) February 3, 2021
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Coda won top honours at the festival, which usually takes place in the snowy Park City, Utah, but was largely virtual this year due to the pandemic.
It won four awards, including headline honour US dramatic grand jury prize, the US dramatic audience award and the US dramatic special jury award for ensemble cast.
Sian Heder won a directing prize for her work on the film.
Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson earned the documentary US grand jury prize for Summer Of Soul (…Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised) and took home the US audience award during a virtual ceremony hosted by comedian and actor Patton Oswalt.
The US documentary directing award was presented to Natalia Almada for Users.
Clifton Collins Jr won the US dramatic special jury award for best actor in recognition of his starring role in sports drama Jockey.
The documentary world cinema grand jury prize was won by Flee while the dramatic prize went to Hive.
Sundance said 73 films were shown over six days at this year’s festival, with Cynthia Erivo among the judges.
Keri Putnam, Sundance Institute CEO, said: “This has been a singular Festival for a singular moment. We’ve been able to elevate independent art and celebrate a wonderful slate of films by gathering in new ways, ways that worked thanks to adventurous audiences everywhere, eager to connect and engage with the work and with one another.”
