Boulder stories

Sundance 2027 Winners: Every Award, Updated as They're Announced

Published October 2026

The awards are the crescendo of every Sundance Film Festival, and the 2027 Boulder edition will be no different. This page is a living results tracker — we update it the night each prize is announced, working through the official ceremony category by category. Until winners are confirmed via the official Sundance announcements, you'll find a full breakdown of the award structure below so you know exactly what to watch for.

Heads up: The 2027 Sundance Film Festival runs January 21–31, 2027, in Boulder, Colorado. Award announcements are expected near the end of the festival. No winners have been confirmed yet — every result section below will be filled in as official announcements are made. Check back nightly during the final days of the festival.

How the Sundance Awards Are Structured

Sundance hands out prizes across several competition sections. Here's what each one means:

### U.S. Dramatic Competition - Grand Jury Prize — the top honor for a U.S. narrative feature, voted by a jury of film-industry peers. Historically one of the most career-defining prizes a filmmaker can receive at this stage. - Audience Award — voted by festivalgoers, this prize often signals the film with the broadest commercial appeal and emotional punch. - Directing Award — recognizes singular vision behind the camera, independent of the film's overall reception. - Screenwriting Award — highlights excellence on the page, rewarding original voice and narrative craft. - Special Jury Award — a flexible prize the jury can give to honor a performance, ensemble, or quality that doesn't fit neatly into another category.

### U.S. Documentary Competition - Grand Jury Prize (Documentary) — the documentary equivalent of the top dramatic honor. - Audience Award (Documentary) — reflects which nonfiction film moved festivalgoers most. - Directing and Special Jury Awards mirror the dramatic section's structure.

### World Cinema Dramatic & Documentary Competitions These sections celebrate international voices with their own parallel Grand Jury Prizes, Audience Awards, and Directing honors — a reminder that Sundance's reach extends well beyond American cinema.

### NEXT Section The NEXT Audience Award goes to the boldest, most innovative low-budget work in the festival's boundary-pushing sidebar. Films in this section are typically made for under a set budget threshold and selected for their raw originality.

### Additional Honors - Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize — awarded to a film that engages meaningfully with science or technology themes. - Sundance Institute Vanguard Award and other special recognitions may be presented at the jury's discretion.

For a deeper dive into what each award signifies and how juries are chosen, visit our Sundance Awards Explained guide (link active closer to the festival).

2027 Winners — Updated as Announced

No awards have been announced yet. The sections below will be populated with confirmed winners during the final days of the festival. All results will be cross-referenced with sundance.org before posting.

U.S. Dramatic Competition - Grand Jury Prize: *To be announced* - Audience Award: *To be announced* - Directing Award: *To be announced* - Screenwriting Award: *To be announced*

U.S. Documentary Competition - Grand Jury Prize: *To be announced* - Audience Award: *To be announced*

World Cinema Dramatic Competition - Grand Jury Prize: *To be announced*

World Cinema Documentary Competition - Grand Jury Prize: *To be announced*

NEXT - Audience Award: *To be announced*

Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize: *To be announced*

---

Bookmark this page and check back during the final weekend of the festival. We'll be updating the night awards are announced so you never have to wait for the morning recap.