Gemma Chan, Mason Reeves and Channing Tatum in 'Josephine' Greta Zozula/Courtesy of Sundance Share on Facebook Share on X Google Preferred Share to Flipboard Show additional share options Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share on Tumblr Share on Whats App Send an Email Print the Article Post a Comment Beth de Araújo's Josephine - a drama that centers on an 8-year-old girl who witnesses a rape in Golden Gate Park and the fallout that comes as her parents, played by Channing Tatum and Gemma Chan, struggle to find a path forward - won two awards during the Sundance Film Festival's closing ceremony. The film, which is among the hot acquisition titles at the festival, picked up a grand jury prize and an audience award, both in dramatic categories. Mason Reeves stars alongside Tatum, Chan, Philip Ettinger, Syra McCarthy and Eleanore Pienta. De Araújo directed from her own script. The film was produced by David Kaplan, Josh Peters, Marina Stabile, Mark H. Rapaport and Crystine Zhang. Related Stories Movies The Oscars Are Giving Serious '70s Vibes Movies 'Shame and Money' Review: A Tense and Crushing View of the Global Economy Through the Eyes of a Farmer in Kosovo Chan, Tatum and Mason Reeves at the Josephine premiere inside the Eccles on Jan. 23. Jemal Countess The awards ceremony, attended by filmmakers, jury members and other festival insiders, came ahead of the final Saturday at Sundance, which will finish out its run in Park City, Utah, before moving to a new home in Boulder, Colorado for 2027 and beyond. All feature award-winning films are now online nationwide through Feb. 1. It proved to be a politically-charged event with a handful of winners speaking out about the fractured U.S. landscape and calling out the U.S. government's deployment of ICE officers across the country. Others paid tribute to Sundance's crucial role in supporting independent film and bidding adieu to Park City while the Josephine filmmaker focused her comments on rape culture. "It's very hard to talk about rape," said de Araújo in accepting. "Even just saying the word makes people uncomfortable, but because of this there only leaves more shame and silence for survivors to cope with the affects alone. In order to honor survivors, we must try to understand the people who rape and prevent it from happening again. We have the resources but don't make it a priority." She continued by saying that rape culture is "deeply woven" into the fabric of society. "It is rooted in the idea that masculine male can dominate whatever they come across because it is inherently theirs through violence. That is the very core belief of chauvinistic roots that have found favor among the highest ranks of this administration.
It is not the time to empathize or understand them. It is the time to stop them." Said Eugene Hernandez, director of the Sundance Film Festival and public programming: "Thank you to all of the artists and audiences who made this Festival one we'll remember for a long time, and we're deeply grateful to our friends and partners in Park City, Salt Lake City, and all across Utah, home to so many cherished festivals. We salute and thank Utah's moviegoers who have embraced this festival and our founder Robert Redford's vision." This year's jury: Janicza Bravo, Nisha Ganatra and Azazel Jacobs for the U.S. Dramatic; Natalia Almada, Justin Chang and Jennie Livingston for the U.S. Documentary; Ana Katz, So Yong Kim and Tatiana Maslany for the World Cinema Dramatic; Toni Kamau, Bao Nguyen and Kirsten Schaffer for World Cinema Documentary; A.V. Rockwell, Liv Constable-Maxwell and Martin Starr for the Short Film Program; and John Cooper and Trevor Groth for Next section. The list of award winners is below. Previously announced short film award winners can be found here. Grand Jury Prizes Dramatic - Josephine (Director, screenwriter and producer Beth de Araújo, producers David Kaplan, Josh Peters, Marina Stabile, Mark H. Rapaport and Crystine Zhang) Jury citation: "For the depth and nuance of storytelling. For the delicate and elegant execution of a challenging subject matter. The skilled direction of performance from the cast. The humanistic view of the filmmaker and how they withheld judgment of those dealing with the impact of victimization. This filmmaker offered an empathetic view into the many different ways we as humans cope and try to set the wrongs right." Documentary - Nuisance Bear (Directors Gabriela Osio Vanden and Jack Weisman; producers Michael Code, Will N. Miller and Teddy Leifer) Jury citation: "This film tells an enormous story with great drama, beauty and verve, and powerfully confronts the realities of climate change, the tensions between Indigenous tradition and Western capitalist encroachment, and the complexities of humanity's relationship with the natural world. It also features a standout sequence that is, like the film itself, humorous, terrifying, and unforgettable. Of all the documentaries we saw, this one