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The big winners were some of the hottest at this year’s festival.
With Sundance going virtual for the second year in a row, audiences were once again able to explore programming from around the world, including accredited critics and journalists. This year, 135 of them took part in IndieWire’s annual Sundance Critics’ survey of the festival’s best films, and the results speak to the range of films that stood out in this year’s lineup.
While several films from the festival have yet to secure distribution, those with the most support in our survey have found it in the past two weeks, suggesting that buyers and critics were on board this year. “Cha Cha Real Smooth,” the second effort from 24-year-old filmmaker Cooper Raiff, topped the poll in the Best Picture, Best Director and Best Screenplay categories. The film marks Raiff’s second in two years, following his 2020 debut “Shithouse,” which won the Grand Jury Prize at SXSW.
In “Cha Cha Real Smooth,” Raiff plays the role of bar and bat mitzvah initiator adrift in life when he develops a complicated friendship with a young mother (Dakota Johnson) and her teenage daughter (Vanessa Burghardt). . The film secured a $15 million distribution deal with Apple during the festival.
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Notably, another big winner in this year’s poll landed a big contract at the start of the festival. Sara Dosa’s “Fire of Love,” which premiered on opening night at Sundance, has been sold to National Geographic for an undisclosed seven-figure sum after a fierce bidding war. The story of married volcanologists Katia and Maurice Krafft, who died watching an eruption in Japan in 1991, is inspired by years of never-before-seen footage the couple shot while traveling to volcanoes around the world.
The winner for Best Debut Film was another opening night selection, the midnight entry “Fresh.” Acquired by Searchlight Pictures for an exclusive Hulu streaming deal ahead of the festival, “Fresh” marks the directorial debut of filmmaker Mimi Cave and stars Daisy Edgar-Jones as a woman whose date with a mysterious man (Sebastian Stan) goes horribly wrong when he turns out to be a psychopath. “Fresh” also came in second in the overall Best Picture category, while Cave was a runner-up for Best Director and Katy Brand was a runner-up for Best Screenplay.
As usual, the top winners in each category only tell part of the story. Critics were asked to rank their picks, which provided insight into several films that resonated in the lineup. This includes another debut album, the winner of this year’s American Grand Jury Prize. “Nanny,” Nikyatu Jusu’s feature debut, follows the experiences of an African babysitter (Anna Diop) who struggles against supernatural forces while working for a wealthy white family in New York City. The film surfaced in three categories – Best Picture (where it tied with the queer romantic comedy “Am I OK?”), Best Screenplay and Best First Feature.
“Nanny” has yet to gain US distribution, and it’s not the only finalist in that situation. Other major entries that landed in multiple categories include “God’s Country,” director Julian Higgins’ tense debut, which stars Thandiwe Newton as a woman who faces simmering racism in a small town. Higgins’ debut film was a finalist for Best Picture as well as Best First Picture.
We invite readers to browse the full list below and follow the links to additional information. For IndieWire’s full coverage of the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, go here.
Best film
1. “Really Smooth Cha Cha”
2. “Fees”
3. “Live”
4. “Good luck to you, Leo Grande”
5. “Emily the Criminal”
6. “Emergency”
7. “Resurrection”
8. “You won’t be alone”
9. TIE: “Nanny”/”Are you okay?”
10. “God’s Country”
Best Documentary
1. “Fire of Love”
2. “Navalny”
3. “Lucy and Desi”
4. “Riotsville, USA”
5. “Descending”
Best Director
1. Cooper Raiff, “Cha Cha Real Smooth”
2. Mimi’s Cave, “Fresh”
3. Oliver Hermanus, “Live”
4. Nikyatu Jusu, “Nanny”
5. Julian Higgins, “God’s Country”
Best Screenplay
1. Cooper Raiff, “Cha Cha Real Smooth”
2. Katy Brand, “Good luck to you, Leo Grande”
3. KD Davila, “Emergency”
4. Lauryn Kahn, “Fresh”
5. John Patton Ford, “Emily the Criminal”
Best First Film
1. “Fees”
2. “Emily the Criminal”
3. “Main”
4. “Nanny”
5. “God’s Country”
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