Lee Isaac Chung's Minari Wins US Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award at 2020 Sundance Film Fest

Filmmaker Lee Isaac Chung's semi-autobiographical feature Minari and Iranian director Massoud Bakhshi's "Yalda, a Night for Forgiveness" were awarded Grand Jury honours at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival. Minari, about a seven-year-old Korean-American boy whose life turns upside down when his father decides to move their family to rural Arkansas and start a farm in the mid-1980s, was adjudged the winner of the US Grand Jury Prize (Dramatic). Claire Danes Has Zero Regret on Turning Down Kate Winslet’s Role In Leonardo DiCaprio’s Titanic.

On the other hand, "Yalda", about a woman who is sentenced to death for accidentally killing her husband, bagged the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize (Dramatic). The jury, headed by Hollywood actor Ethan Hawke, also gave the directing prize to Radha Blank for her movie "The 40-Year-Old Version". In the world cinema segment, the award went to French filmmaker Maimouna Doucoure for "Cuties". Mark Ruffalo Gains 30 Pounds in Five Weeks to Play Twins in the Upcoming HBO Series ‘I Know This Much Is True’.

The jury also announced three special jury awards. They honoured the cast of "Charm City Kings", about the dirt-bike riders who do dangerous stunts on Baltimore city streets, while Eliza Hittman, director of abortion-themed "Never Rarely Sometimes Always", received the award for its Neorealism. Josephine Decker accepted an "auteur award" for "Shirley", the biopic on acclaimed American writer Shirley Jackson.