Sexual abuse family drama Precious with Gabourey Sidibe: Rare Sundance double winner. Adapted by Geoffrey Fletcher from the novel Push by Sapphire (a.k.a. Ramona Lofton), Lee Daniels’ sexual abuse family drama Precious (initially known as Push) stars Brooklyn-born newcomer Gabourey Sidibe as Claireece Precious Jones, a Harlem adolescent who has consistently suffered psychological and sexual abuse at home. As her monstrous mom, TV actress Mo’Nique received the 2009 Sundance Film Festival’s Special Jury Prize for Acting. The film itself became only the third Sundance title to win both the Grand Jury and Audience U.S. Dramatic awards.
Sexual abuse family drama tops Sundance Film Festival Awards
The top winner at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival was Grand Jury and Audience U.S. Dramatic pick Push: Based on a Novel by Sapphire*. Directed by Lee Daniels and adapted by Geoffrey Fletcher (using the pseudonym “Damien Paul”), the sexual abuse family drama follows an overweight, pregnant Harlem teenager struggling to keep afloat in a world ruled by her tyrannical mother.
Gabourey Sidibe stars as the psychologically and sexually abused teen while Special Jury Prize for Acting winner Mo’Nique plays the mother. Also in the Push cast: Paula Patton, Mariah Carey, and Lenny Kravitz.
To date, Sundance has had only two previous Grand Jury and Audience U.S. Dramatic double-whammy winners: Tony Bui’s Three Seasons (1999), and Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland’s Quinceañera (2006). (Check out: 2006 Sundance Film Festival winners.)
* Push: Based on a Novel by Sapphire has been renamed Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire, or more simply, Precious. The initial lengthy title was supposed to have helped avoid confusion between Lee Daniels’ sexual abuse family drama and Paul McGuigan’s sci-fi thriller Push, starring Chris Evans, Dakota Fanning, and Camilla Belle.
More Sundance winners
Not every Sundance 2009 winner has as heavy a theme as Lee Daniels’ sexual abuse drama – though some sure do. Here are a few more titles:
- Directed by Sebastián Silva, World Cinema Grand Jury Prize Dramatic winner The Maid / La Nana (Chile | Mexico) tells the story of a highly territorial house servant who does her best to prevent her boss from hiring more help. As the righteously outraged title character, Catalina Saavedra received the World Cinema Special Jury Prize for Acting. Claudia Celedón plays the mistress of the household.
- Directed by Ondi Timoner, Grand Jury Prize U.S. Documentary winner We Live in Public tries to show the impact the Internet has had on human interactions by focusing on web artist Josh Harris’ experimental public art projects.
- Directed by Kim Longinotto, World Cinema Grand Jury Prize Documentary winner Rough Aunties (South Africa | U.K.) follows a group of women determined to protect abused and neglected children in Durban, South Africa.
- Directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel and written by Guy Hibbert, the Irish political/psychological drama Five Minutes of Heaven was the winner of Sundance’s World Cinema directing and screenwriting prizes. The Irish Troubles-themed story stars Liam Neeson as a former Ulster Volunteer Force member and James Nesbitt as the Catholic man whose brother the UVF terrorist had murdered three decades earlier.
Among the members of Sundance’s various juries were Academy Award-nominated Sideways actress Virginia Madsen, last year’s Sundance contender Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired director Marina Zenovich, European Film Award-winning Dancer in the Dark producer Vibeke Windeløv, Australian Film Institute Award-winning My Brilliant Career director Gillian Armstrong, and Berlin Film Festival-winning Thumbsucker actor Lou Taylor Pucci.
More award winners: Alzheimer’s & motherhood + greed & oil in California
From Sundance to Utah’s other early-year film festival: Directed by Mo Perkins from a screenplay by Perkins, Mary Elizabeth Ellis, and Cy Carter, A Quiet Little Marriage was the Grand Jury Award winner at the 2009 Slamdance Film Festival. Sundance’s smaller-scale rival was held between Jan. 15–23.
A Quiet Little Marriage revolves around a married woman (Ellis) who decides to have a baby while witnessing her father succumb to Alzheimer’s. Her husband (Carter), however, is none too eager to procreate. Lies and deception ensue. (It’s unclear whether the film deals with the issue of hereditary diseases.)
Below is a partial list of winners at the Sundance and Slamdance film festivals.
Sundance Film Festival Awards 2009 (partial list)
GRAND JURY AWARDS
Grand Jury Prize U.S. Dramatic: Precious
World Cinema Grand Jury Prize Dramatic: The Maid / La nana
Grand Jury Prize U.S. Documentary: We Live in Public
World Cinema Grand Jury Prize Documentary: Rough Aunties
Directing Award U.S. Dramatic: Cary Jôji Fukunaga – Sin Nombre
World Cinema Directing Award Dramatic: Oliver Hirschbiegel – Five Minutes of Heaven
Directing Award U.S. Documentary: Natalia Almada – El General
World Cinema Directing Award Documentary: Havana Marking – Afghan Star
Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award: Nicholas Jasenovec & Charlyne Yi, Paper Heart
World Cinema Screenwriting Award: Guy Hibbert, Five Minutes of Heaven
Excellence in Cinematography Award U.S. Dramatic: Adriano Goldman, Sin Nombre
World Cinema Cinematography Award Dramatic: John De Borman, An Education
AUDIENCE AWARDS
U.S. Dramatic: Precious
U.S. Documentary: The Cove – Dir.: Louie Psihoyos
World Cinema Audience Award: Dramatic: An Education – Dir.: Lone Scherfig
World Cinema Audience Award: Documentary: Afghan Star
Alfred E. Sloan Award: Adam – Dir.: Max Mayer
Slamdance winners (partial list)
GRAND JURY AWARDS
Best Narrative Feature: A Quiet Little Marriage
Best Documentary Feature: Strongman – Dir.: Zachary Levy
Special Jury Mention for Best Performance: Larry Fessenden, I Sell the Dead
AUDIENCE AWARDS
Best Narrative Feature: Punching the Clown – Dir.: Gregory Viens
Best Documentary Feature: Heart of Stone / It’s Hard to Be an Indian – Dir.: Beth Toni Kruvant
“Sundance Film Festival Awards 2009” notes
Sundance Film Festival website.
Gabourey Sidibe Precious image: Lionsgate Pictures.