Sundance Film Festival Winners
The 2020 Sundance Film Festival, the largest independent film festival in the United States, is coming right up (January 23rd – February 2nd). In this week's Spotlight we look back at some of the past winners of World Cinema Grand Jury Prize and World Cinema Audience Award.
Honeyland
Hatidze Muratova, one of the last "bee hunters" in Europe, raises bees based in a sustainable and minimally invasive manner.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Macedonia • 2019
- Director Tamara Kotevska
- Cast Hatidzhe Muratova, Nazife Muratova, Hussein Sam, Ljutvie Sam
- Genre Documentary
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Tubi TV, Kanopy
The Souvenir
A young film student struggles to find her voice while navigating a relationship with a troubled man.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom, United States • 2019
- Director Joanna Hogg
- Cast Honor Swinton Byrne, Tom Burke, Tilda Swinton, Richard Ayoade, Ariane Labed, Jaygann Ayeh
- Genre Romance, Mystery, Drama
- Available on Max Amazon Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube
Last Men in Aleppo
(De sidste mænd i Aleppo)
A documentary about the White Helmets, ordinary citizens who rush towards military strikes in the hope of saving lives.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Denmark, Syria • 2017
- Director Feras Fayyad
- Cast Khaled Umar Harah, Batul
- Genre Documentary
- Available on Fandor, Fandor Amazon Channel, Apple TV, Amazon Video, Kanopy, Hoopla
The Nile Hilton Incident
A police officer investigates the murder of a woman in a luxurious hotel in the days leading up to the Egyptian revolution.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Morocco, Sweden, Denmark • 2017
- Director Tarik Saleh
- Cast Fares Fares, Mari Malek, Yasser Ali Maher, Ahmed Fouad Selim, Slimane Dazi, Hania Amar
- Genre Drama, Thriller
- Available on Strand Releasing Amazon Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, Tubi TV, VUDU Free, Kanopy
Sand Storm
(Sufat Chol)
When Jalila's husband marries a second woman, Jalila and her daughter's worlds are shattered.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Israel, Germany, France • 2016
- Director Elite Zexer
- Cast Lamis Ammar, Ruba Blal, Hitham Omari, Shaden Kanboura, Khadija Al Akel, Jalal Masrwa
- Genre Drama
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Slow West
A 17-year-old Scottish boy teams up with a mysterious gunman to find the woman he loves.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom, New Zealand • 2015
- Director John Maclean
- Cast Michael Fassbender, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Ben Mendelsohn, Caren Pistorius, Rory McCann, Brooke Williams
- Genre Drama, Romance, Thriller, Western
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, FlixFling, Kanopy
The Russian Woodpecker
As his country is gripped by revolution, a Ukrainian victim of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster discovers a dark secret.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States • 2015
- Director Chad Gracia
- Cast Fedor Alexandrovich, Andrei Alexandrovich, Igor Alexandrovich, Natalia Barabovskaya, Andrei Bilyk
- Genre Documentary, History
- Available on fuboTV, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, Hoopla, Plex Channel
To Kill a Man
(Matar a un hombre)
Jorge, a hardworking family man, tries to keep the peace when he’s attacked by a local gang led by Kalule.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Chile, France • 2014
- Director Alejandro Fernández Almendras
- Cast Daniel Antivilo, Daniel Candia, Ariel Mateluna, Alejandra Yañez, Jennifer Salas
- Genre Drama
- Available on Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, FlixFling, Tubi TV, The Roku Channel, Pluto TV, Freevee, Kanopy, Hoopla, Plex, Plex Channel
A River Changes Course
A poignant exposé of the dark underbelly of rapid development in Cambodia.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Cambodia • 2013
- Director Kalyanee Mam
- Cast
- Genre Drama, Documentary
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Amazon Video, YouTube
Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer
(Показательный процесс: История Pussy Riot)
A group of radical-feminist punk rockers protested Putin's reelection in 2011. Now they are victims of a show trial.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Russia, United Kingdom • 2013
- Director Maxim Pozdorovkin
- Cast Mariya Alyokhina, Yekaterina Samutsevich, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Andrey Tolokonnikov, Pussy Riot, Petr Verzilov
- Genre Documentary, Music
- Available on Fandor, Fandor Amazon Channel, FlixFling, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Tubi TV, Freevee, Cineverse
Return to Homs
Filmed over three years in Homs, this film accompanies two young men as the war alters their lives.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Syria, Germany • 2013
- Director Talal Derki
- Cast
- Genre Documentary
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Amazon Video, YouTube, Kanopy
The Law in These Parts
(Shilton Ha Chok)
Explores the history of Israel's military legal system in the Occupied Palestinian Territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Israel • 2011
- Director Ra'anan Alexandrowicz
- Cast
- Genre Documentary
- Available on Apple TV, Amazon Video, Kanopy
Violeta Went to Heaven
(Violeta se fue a los cielos)
This portrait of famed Chilean poet, singer, and folklorist Violeta Parra explores her hopes, dreams, memories, loves, and, of course, her music.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Chile, Argentina, Brazil • 2011
- Director Andrés Wood
- Cast Francisca Gavilán, Gabriela Aguilera, Stephania Barbagelata, Thomas Durand, Roberto Farías, Vanesa González
- Genre Drama
- Available on OVID, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, YouTube, Tubi TV, VUDU Free, Kanopy
Animal Kingdom
J finds himself at the center of a cold-blooded revenge plot that turns his family upside down.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Australia • 2010
- Director David Michôd
- Cast James Frecheville, Ben Mendelsohn, Joel Edgerton, Guy Pearce, Luke Ford, Jacki Weaver
- Genre Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
- Available on Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube
Happy, Happy
(Sykt lykkelig)
Kaja escapes her loveless marriage in an affair with the husband of a new couple who moves in next door.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Norway • 2010
- Director Anne Sewitsky
- Cast Agnes Kittelsen, Maibritt Saerens, Henrik Rafaelsen, Joachim Rafaelsen, Oskar Hernæs Brandsø, Ram Shibab Ebedy
- Genre Comedy, Drama, Romance
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, Kanopy, Hoopla, Plex Channel
The Red Chapel
(Det røde kapel)
Two Korean-Danish comics accompany the director on a trip to satirize North Korea, disguised as a vaudeville tour.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Denmark • 2009
- Director Mads Brügger
- Cast Simon Jul Jørgensen, Jacob Nossell, Mads Brügger
- Genre Comedy, Documentary
- Available on Fandango At Home, VUDU Free, Kanopy