Filmmaker Shaunak Sen's documentary 'All That Breathes' has won the world Cinema Grand Jury Prize in the documentary section at the recently concluded Sundance Film Festival.&nbsp; 
 
The 2022 edition of the festival, which was held virtually, saw juries choose the best from the 84 feature and 59 short films-- selected from 14,849 submissions. 
 
Sen's documentary is set against the "darkening" backdrop of the capital's "apocalyptic air and escalating violence" and chronicles how two brothers devote their lives to "protect one casualty of the turbulent times: the bird known as the Black Kite".

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🏆 World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Documentary goes to ALL THAT BREATHES, directed by Shaunak Sen. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/sundance?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#sundance</a> <a href="https://t.co/Fy1j2s3e2x">pic.twitter.com/Fy1j2s3e2x</a>
— SundanceFilmFestival (@sundancefest) <a href="https://twitter.com/sundancefest/status/1487200610013171712?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 28, 2022</a></blockquote>
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In an announcement video posted by the official Twitter account of Sundance Film Festival on Saturday, Sen said he was thrilled with the big win. 
 
"I am absolutely speechless and utterly beaming... The film simply came into existence to a large part because of Sundance support. I am unequivocally overwhelmed and thrilled. 
 
"From the entire team to everybody at Sundance, we can't thank you enough. It feels utterly surreal and absurd. I feel like there is no non-cliche way of saying this, but I can't thank you enough," he said in the video. 
 
The World Cinema Documentary Competition jury included filmmaker Dawn Porter, Emilie Bujes and Patrick Gaspard. 
 
In her citation for the 90-min docu, Bujes described "All That Breathes" as a "poetic film" that delivers an "urgent political story". 
 
The World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic was presented to Alejandro Loayza Grisi for 'Utama'. 
 
Hollywood star Dakota Johnson-starrer 'Cha Cha Real Smooth' bagged the Audience Award: US Dramatic. Directed by Cooper Raiff, the film follows a directionless college graduate embarking on a relationship with a young mom and her teenage daughter while learning the boundaries of his new bar mitzvah party-starting gig. 
 
The Festival Favorite award was presented to director: Daniel Roher for 'Navalny', a fly-on-the-wall documentary thriller about anti-authoritarian Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.&nbsp;

Filmmaker Shaunak Sen's documentary 'All That Breathes' has won the world Cinema Grand Jury Prize in the documentary section at the recently concluded Sundance Film Festival.

Filmmaker Shaunak Sen's documentary 'All That Breathes' has won the world Cinema Grand Jury Prize in the documentary section at the recently concluded Sundance Film Festival. The 2022 edition of the festival, which was held virtually, saw juries choose the best from the 84 feature and 59 short films-- selected from 14,849 submissions. Sen's documentary is set against the "darkening" backdrop of the capital's "apocalyptic air and escalating violence" and chronicles how two brothers devote their lives to "protect one casualty of the turbulent times: the bird known as the Black Kite". 🏆 World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Documentary goes to ALL THAT BREATHES, directed by Shaunak Sen. #sundance pic.twitter.com/Fy1j2s3e2x — SundanceFilmFestival (@sundancefest) January 28, 2022 × In an announcement video posted by the official Twitter account of Sundance Film Festival on Saturday, Sen said he was thrilled with the big win. "I am absolutely speechless and utterly beaming... The film simply came into existence to a large part because of Sundance support. I am unequivocally overwhelmed and thrilled. "From the entire team to everybody at Sundance, we can't thank you enough. It feels utterly surreal and absurd. I feel like there is no non-cliche way of saying this, but I can't thank you enough," he said in the video. The World Cinema Documentary Competition jury included filmmaker Dawn Porter, Emilie Bujes and Patrick Gaspard. In her citation for the 90-min docu, Bujes described "All That Breathes" as a "poetic film" that delivers an "urgent political story". The World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic was presented to Alejandro Loayza Grisi for 'Utama'. Hollywood star Dakota Johnson-starrer 'Cha Cha Real Smooth' bagged the Audience Award: US Dramatic. Directed by Cooper Raiff, the film follows a directionless college graduate embarking on a relationship with a young mom and her teenage daughter while learning the boundaries of his new bar mitzvah party-starting gig. The Festival Favorite award was presented to director: Daniel Roher for 'Navalny', a fly-on-the-wall documentary thriller about anti-authoritarian Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

Sundance Film Festival: Indian filmmaker's documentary 'All That Breathes' wins top prize

The Sundance Film Institute made a novel move as it announced that Fox Maxy is the recipient for this year’s Merata Mita Fellowship. This only strengthens their work towards acknowledging Indigenous artists.

Fox Maxy is a filmmaker and artist based in San Diego. Her work has screened at BAM CinemaFest, International Film Festival Rotterdam, imagineNATIVE Festival, MoMAs Doc Fortnight, LACMA, AFI Docs and the Camden Film Festival, among other places.&nbsp;

Her first feature film, Watertight, is described as “a collection of interviews about mental health and suicide, interrupted by fake commercials, reality TV parodies, animations and archival footage.”

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For those unversed, the fellowship is in honour of the late Merata Mita, one of the first Māori women to write and direct a dramatic feature film, who also served as an advisor and artistic director of the Sundance Institute’s Native Lab from 2000-2009. Through it, Maxy will receive a cash grant and yearlong support, with access to the Sundance Film Festival, strategic and creative services offered by Sundance Institute’s artist programs, and mentorship opportunities. She was also recently recognized at the festival’s Native Forum Celebration, which took place on its bespoke immersive platform The Spaceship.

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This year’s virtual Sundance Film Festival will run through January 30.

The Sundance Film Institute made a novel move as it announced that Fox Maxy is the recipient for this year’s Merata Mita Fellowship. This only strengthens their work towards acknowledging Indigenous artists.

The Sundance Film Institute made a novel move as it announced that Fox Maxy is the recipient for this year’s Merata Mita Fellowship. This only strengthens their work towards acknowledging Indigenous artists. Fox Maxy is a filmmaker and artist based in San Diego. Her work has screened at BAM CinemaFest, International Film Festival Rotterdam, imagineNATIVE Festival, MoMAs Doc Fortnight, LACMA, AFI Docs and the Camden Film Festival, among other places. Her first feature film, Watertight, is described as “a collection of interviews about mental health and suicide, interrupted by fake commercials, reality TV parodies, animations and archival footage.” Bella Hadid has quit drinking for this reason For those unversed, the fellowship is in honour of the late Merata Mita, one of the first Māori women to write and direct a dramatic feature film, who also served as an advisor and artistic director of the Sundance Institute’s Native Lab from 2000-2009. Through it, Maxy will receive a cash grant and yearlong support, with access to the Sundance Film Festival, strategic and creative services offered by Sundance Institute’s artist programs, and mentorship opportunities. She was also recently recognized at the festival’s Native Forum Celebration, which took place on its bespoke immersive platform The Spaceship. Box office: 'Spider-Man: No Way Home' is now world's number 6 on all-time rankings Post split with Emma Roberts, Garrett Hedlund arrested for public intoxication This year’s virtual Sundance Film Festival will run through January 30.

Fox Maxy is 2022 Merata Mita Fellow at Sundance Film Institute

The in-person return of the Sundance Film Festival has been cancelled due to a surge in COVID-19 cases spurred by the Omicron variant, with the festival going completely virtual. 
 
As per Variety, the festival was scheduled to take place from January 20-30, and offer a virtual component for those who could not attend in person.However, due to the rise in COVID-19 cases, fuelled by the Omicron variant, the film festival had to do away with the in-person event. The organisers of the festival made the announcement on Wednesday.&nbsp; 
 
"Despite the most ambitious protocols, the Omicron variant with its unexpectedly high transmissibility rates is pushing the limits of health safety, travel and other infrastructures across the country," organisers said in a statement. 
 
They added, "The festival`s in-person Utah elements will be moving online this year. While we`re disappointed to not provide the full hybrid experience and gather in-person as intended, audiences this year will still experience the magic and energy of our festival." 
 
The Sundance Institute added how difficult the decision was to make given that "as a nonprofit, our Sundance spirit is in making something work against the odds. But with case numbers forecasted to peak in our host community the week of the festival we cannot knowingly put our staff and community at risk. The undue stress to Summit County`s health services and our more than 1,500 staff and volunteers would be irresponsible in this climate." 
 
New films, extended reality ("XR") programming, artists conversations and more content will all be accessible through virtual portals, they added. Sundance had planned to institute COVID safety measures such as requiring booster shots as well as negative test results, plus banning food and drink at screenings. Organisers were hopeful that Sundance could proceed in person, given that domestic movie theatres have not yet closed in the wake of the new variant -- and in fact, Sony's 'Spider-Man: No Way Home'&nbsp;continues to drive the public to the cineplex in record pandemic numbers. Sundance, of course, is not just a series of spartan film screenings. Panel discussions, filmmaker dinners, late-night after-parties and hospitality lounges all draw creative and industry players over the 10-day event. 
 
Other notable events recently affected due to the Omicron surge include the Grammy Awards, the Palm Springs International Film Festival, the film academy`s annual Governors Awards, and the planned broadcast of the Critics Choice Awards. Sundance held a virtual edition in 2021 and offered select physical screenings in markets across the US.&nbsp;

The in-person return of the Sundance Film Festival has been cancelled due to a surge in COVID-19 cases spurred by the Omicron variant, with the festival going completely virtual.

The in-person return of the Sundance Film Festival has been cancelled due to a surge in COVID-19 cases spurred by the Omicron variant, with the festival going completely virtual. As per Variety, the festival was scheduled to take place from January 20-30, and offer a virtual component for those who could not attend in person.However, due to the rise in COVID-19 cases, fuelled by the Omicron variant, the film festival had to do away with the in-person event. The organisers of the festival made the announcement on Wednesday. "Despite the most ambitious protocols, the Omicron variant with its unexpectedly high transmissibility rates is pushing the limits of health safety, travel and other infrastructures across the country," organisers said in a statement. They added, "The festival`s in-person Utah elements will be moving online this year. While we`re disappointed to not provide the full hybrid experience and gather in-person as intended, audiences this year will still experience the magic and energy of our festival." The Sundance Institute added how difficult the decision was to make given that "as a nonprofit, our Sundance spirit is in making something work against the odds. But with case numbers forecasted to peak in our host community the week of the festival we cannot knowingly put our staff and community at risk. The undue stress to Summit County`s health services and our more than 1,500 staff and volunteers would be irresponsible in this climate." New films, extended reality ("XR") programming, artists conversations and more content will all be accessible through virtual portals, they added. Sundance had planned to institute COVID safety measures such as requiring booster shots as well as negative test results, plus banning food and drink at screenings. Organisers were hopeful that Sundance could proceed in person, given that domestic movie theatres have not yet closed in the wake of the new variant -- and in fact, Sony's 'Spider-Man: No Way Home' continues to drive the public to the cineplex in record pandemic numbers. Sundance, of course, is not just a series of spartan film screenings. Panel discussions, filmmaker dinners, late-night after-parties and hospitality lounges all draw creative and industry players over the 10-day event. Other notable events recently affected due to the Omicron surge include the Grammy Awards, the Palm Springs International Film Festival, the film academy`s annual Governors Awards, and the planned broadcast of the Critics Choice Awards. Sundance held a virtual edition in 2021 and offered select physical screenings in markets across the US.

Sundance Film Festival to go virtual due to Omicron surge