Overview
- Writer-director Beth de Araújo’s Josephine won both the U.S. Grand Jury Prize and the U.S. Dramatic Audience Award, with the film drawing on the filmmaker’s childhood experience.
- Nuisance Bear captured the U.S. Documentary Grand Jury Prize for its portrait of polar bears contending with human impact in Churchill, Manitoba.
- A24 acquired Olivia Wilde’s The Invite after a reported multi-day bidding war in the low tens of millions, marking the festival’s biggest deal to date.
- This edition concluded Sundance’s four-decade run in Park City, with organizers confirming the relocation to Boulder for 2027 and honoring founder Robert Redford’s legacy.
- Programming emphasized discovery with about 40% first features, while visible activism and a reported assault involving a Florida congressman reflected real-world tensions at the festival.