Sundance 2015 Winners: 'Me and Earl and the Dying Girl' by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon Wins Big at Film Fest
Director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon's drama film, titled "Me and Earl and the Dying Girl," was a clear breakout hit at Sundance.
The film bagged top awards from the judging panel and from the audience in the U.S. films category at the 31st Sundance Film Festival, as announced by the organization at a ceremony in Park City, Utah on Sunday, Fox News Latino reported. The movie, which stars Olivia Cooke, Thomas Mann, and Connie Britton, centers on a socially awkward cinematography student who has his life upended when his mother forces him to begin a relationship with a girl suffering from leukemia.
According to a report from Deadline, the film won the U.S. Dramatic Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award, which "Whiplash" took both last year. Gomez-Rejon dedicated the award to "all the young filmmakers" in his hometown of Laredo, Texas.
"Me and Earl and the Dying Girl" was penned by Jesse Andrews, and also stars RJ Cyler, Molly Shannon, and Nick Offerman. Fox Searchlight and Indian Paintbrush paired up for the 2015 release of the movie through "frenzied bidding," Deadline noted.
Gomez-Rejon was involved in the technical teams of several films such as Alejandro Gonzalez Iñarritu's "Babel" and "21 Grams," Nora Ephron's "Julie and Julia," Kevin MacDonald's "The Eagle, Ben Affleck's "Argo," and also in Martin Scorsese's "Casino," Fox News Latino added.
According to an AFP report published on Yahoo, "Me and Earl and the Dying Girl" strongly competed against other entries, such as "The Witch" and the coming-of-age comedy drama "Dope."
The Sundance Film Festival started on January 22 and will end on Sunday. This year's edition of the independent filmmaking festival screened 123 movies, with 56 of them in the competition, AFP listed.
Other winners included John Maclean's "Slow West" for the grand jury award in the best international dramatic film category, while the documentary "The Russian Woodpecker" bagged the recognition for best international cinema documentary. "The Stanford Prison Experiment," a film about one of the most controversial social experiments, won the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award, Deadline reported.
American director Chad Garcia spoke about "The Russian Woodpecker," which features the story of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster and the revolution in Ukraine. The filmmaker said, as quoted by AFP, "I don't think we can stop Russia with bombs, but I think with a little bit of art and truth maybe we can make some progress.".
For the complete set of Sundance winners, go to Sundance Institute's official website.