Sundance 2025 Awards: ‘Atropia’ and ‘Seeds’ Win Jury Prizes, Dylan O’Brien-Led ‘Twinless’ Takes Audience Award

Sundance 2025 Awards: ‘Atropia’ and ‘Seeds’ Win Jury Prizes, Dylan O’Brien-Led ‘Twinless’ Takes Audience Award
Sundance 2025 Recap
"Seeds" and "André Is an Idiot" were honored with the top documentary awards.

Sundance 2025 Awards Highlights
On Friday morning, the winners of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival were announced, with Twinless, a dark comedy starring Dylan O'Brien, taking home the Audience Award in the U.S. Dramatic Competition. The film, which debuted to strong reactions early in the festival, was written, directed, and co-starring James Sweeney. It follows two strangers who meet in a support group for those grieving the loss of their twin siblings. Dylan O’Brien also received a special jury acting award for his performance in the film.

Hailey Gates’ Atropia claimed the U.S. Grand Jury Prize in the Dramatic category. Originally conceived as a documentary, the film tells the story of an aspiring actress at a military role-playing facility who falls for a soldier cast as an insurgent. The film stars Alia Shawkat, Callum Turner, Chloë Sevigny, and Tim Heidecker.

Brittany Shyne's Seeds won the U.S. Grand Jury Prize in the Documentary category, offering a poignant exploration of Black generational farmers in the South. TheWrap critic Ronda Racha Penrice praised the film as a "visual love letter to the Black, rural South."

Meanwhile, André Is an Idiot received the Audience Award in the Documentary category, telling the story of a man who’s dying due to not getting a colonoscopy.

In other notable awards, Geeta Gandbhir earned the U.S. Documentary Directing Award for The Perfect Neighbor, which uses bodycam footage to examine Florida's controversial Stand Your Ground laws. Rashad Frett won the U.S. Dramatic Directing Award for Ricky, while Eva Victor’s Sorry, Baby earned her the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award for her debut feature.

This year’s festival has seen slower acquisitions, with only two films selling so far: Neon bought Together (Midnight section), and Netflix acquired Train Dreams, a drama by Joel Edgerton.

This year’s Sundance jury included Reinaldo Marcus Green, Arian Moayed, and Celine Song for the U.S. Dramatic Competition; Steven Bognar, Vinnie Malhotra, and Marcia Smith for U.S. Documentary; Ava Cahen, Wanuri Kahiu, and Daniel Kaluuya for World Cinema Dramatic; and many others for various categories.

Full List of Winners:

Grand Jury Prizes

• U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic – Atropia (USA), Directed by Hailey Gates.
  Jury citation: A singular first feature with biting criticism of American imperialism, blending humor with a timeless message.
• U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Documentary – Seeds (USA), Directed by Brittany Shyne.
  Jury citation: A breathtaking exploration of Black generational farming and land ownership in the South.

World Cinema Grand Jury Prizes

• World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic – Sabar Bonda (Cactus Pears) (India, UK, Canada), Directed by Rohan Parashuram Kanawade.
  Jury citation: A modern love story marked by tenderness, intimacy, and humor.
• World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Documentary – Cutting Through Rocks (Iran, Germany, USA, Netherlands, Qatar, Chile, Canada), Directed by Sara Khaki and Mohammadreza Eyni.
  Jury citation: A stunning portrait of a woman confronting patriarchal traditions in her Iranian village.

NEXT Innovator Award

• Zodiac Killer Project (USA, UK), Directed by Charlie Shackleton.
  Jury citation: A completely original and innovative true-crime commentary film.

Audience Awards

• U.S. Dramatic Audience Award – Twinless (USA), Directed by James Sweeney.
• U.S. Documentary Audience Award – André Is an Idiot (USA), Directed by Anthony Benna.
• World Cinema Dramatic Audience Award – DJ Ahmet (North Macedonia, Czech Republic, Serbia, Croatia), Directed by Georgi M. Unkovski.
• World Cinema Documentary Audience Award – Prime Minister (USA), Directed by Michelle Walshe and Lindsay Utz.
• NEXT Audience Award – East of Wall (USA), Directed by Kate Beecroft.

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