In this year's "standout" dramedy 'Therapy Dogs,' two best friends set out to create the ultimate senior video for their graduating class of 2019. Photo: Slamdance Film Festival

PARK CITY, Utah — The 28th annual Slamdance Film Festival, which was scheduled to take place in Park City during the initial days of the Sundance Film Festival prior to Covid cancellations, announced the winners of their Sparky Awards earlier this month.

Slamdance is unique in that films are exclusively feature-length, directorial debuts without US distribution, with budgets less than $1 million. “We are anti-algorithm,” co-founder Peter Baxter has said.

The 2022 Audience Awards were given to two films and one episodic that “captured the hearts of audiences around the globe.”

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The Civil Dead (USA), directed by Clay Tatum, took home the Audience Award for Narrative Feature, while Iron Family (USA) directed by Patrick Longstreth won the 2022 Audience Award for Documentary Feature.

The Ember Knight Show: “Getting Mad” (USA) directed by Bobby McCoy took home the Audience Award for Episodes.

“The future of film depends on these unique voices who defy simple classification and transcend analytics,” Baxter said in a statement. “Key to supporting this endeavor is accessibility and the major growth of our online audience who’ve tuned into the new Slamdance Channel.”

Full list of winners:

GRAND JURY AWARDS – FEATURES

Narrative Feature Grand Jury Prize: Hannah Ha Ha (Dir: Jordan Tetewsky and Joshua Pikovsky)
Honorable Mentions: Ultrainocencia (Dir: Manuel Arija)

Documentary Feature Grand Jury Prize: Forget Me Not (Dir: Olivier Bernier)
Honorable Mention: Fury (Dir: Krzysztof Kasior)

Breakouts Feature Grand Jury Prize: Killing the Eunuch KHAN (Dir: Abed Abest)
Honorable Mentions: Retrograde (Dir: Adrian Murray)

Unstoppable Feature Grand Jury Prize: Straighten Up And Fly Right (Dir: Kristen Abate and Steven Tanenbaum)
Honorable Mentions: Selahy (My Weapon) (Dir: Alaa Zabara)

JURY AWARDS – SHORTS

Narrative Shorts Grand Jury Prize: Ratking (Dir: Eric Colonna)
Honorable Mention: See You, Garbage! (Dir: Romain Dumont)

Documentary Short Grand Jury Prize: The Ritual to Beauty (Dir: Shenny de Los Angeles and Maria Marrone)
Honorable Mention: Walls Cannot Keep Us From Flying (Dir: Jonathan Haff Mehring)

Experimental Shorts Grand Jury Prize: Chameleon (Dir: Ima Iduozee and Jaamil Olawale Kosoko)
Honorable Mention: Compositions for Understanding Relationships (Dir: David De La Fuente)

Animated Shorts Grand Jury Prize: I’m Here (Dir: Julia Orlik)
Honorable Mention: Oldboy’s Apples (Dir: Brad Hock)

FESTIVAL WIDE AWARDS:

The AGBO Fellowship, presented by Joe and Anthony Russo, Award Winner: Ethan Eng, director of Therapy Dogs

Slamdance Acting Award: Hannah Lee Thompson of Hannah Ha Ha
Honorable Mention: Batel Moseri of Bracha

George Starks Spirit of Slamdance Award Winner: Sasha Levinson, director of Sylvie of the Sunshine State

CreativeFuture Innovation Award: My Parent, Neal (Dir: Hannah Saidiner)

AUDIENCE AWARDS:

Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature: The Civil Dead (Dir. Clay Tatum)

Audience Award for Documentary Feature: Iron Family (Dir. Patrick Longstreth)

Audience Award for Episodes: The Ember Knight Show: “Getting Mad” (Dir. Bobby McCoy)