Navalny, this documentary feature film devoted to Russian dissident Alexei Navalny in his political quest opposing him to Vladimir Putin, won two major awards at the Sundance festival. The work is a realization of the Canadian Daniel Roher.
Posted at 7:33 p.m.
Updated at 8:07 p.m.
The film won the Audience Award for Best American Documentary as well as the festival’s Favorite Award, which represents the Audience Award in all categories.
The 84 feature films of the festival were eligible in this category.
“I want to express my incredible gratitude to all the audiences at the festival,” said the director. Navalny would be so excited to know that the public voted for the film dedicated to him. »
Lawyer and biggest critic of Vladimir Putin’s government, Alexei Navalny was arrested by the Russian authorities exactly a year ago on his return to Moscow. He had just returned from a stay of several months in Germany where he was recuperating from an attempted poisoning. During this stay, Navalny, with the help of a small team of journalists and activists, was able to unmask the perpetrators of this attempted murder and their close ties with the highest levels of the Kremlin.
At present, the Russian dissident is still imprisoned.
These are also feature-length fiction films Nanny by Nikyatu Jusu and utama by Alejandro Loayza Grisi who won the Grand Jury Prizes for Best American Film and Best International Film.
Nannywhich stars Anna Diop (Quantico) tells the story of a Senegalese and undocumented nanny who, working for a very comfortable New York couple, prepares for the arrival of her son when unexpected events upset her daily life.
utamathe favorite film of The Press in this festival, is the intimate and often silent chronicle of an elderly couple who, living in the highlands of Bolivia, see their way of life threatened by a long drought. This film is characterized by an exceptional cinematography and a timeless atmosphere.
The jury also chose the films The Exiles and All That Breathes as the best documentaries in the United States and internationally.
The documentary fire of love by Sara Dosa, much of whose post-production was done in Montreal, won the Jonathan Oppenheim Award for Best Editing for an American Documentary. The two editors of the film are Erin Casper and Jocelyne Chaput.
Elsewhere, in this very long list, the documentary Framing Agnes by Canadian filmmaker Chase Joynt won two awards, namely Innovation and an Audience Award. In this 75-minute film, the director went to strip archives allowing us to follow the lives of some transgender people in post-World War II America.
Held online due in sanitary conditions, the 38and edition of Sundance ends on Sunday.