Chinonye Chukwu is First Black Woman to Win Grand Jury Prize
“Clemency” filmmaker Chinonye Chukwu joins Ryan Coogler, Desiree Akhavan, Damien Chazelle, Rebecca Miller, and many more as winning the Grand Jury Prize for their U.S. Dramatic entries
Chukwu has broken down a new barrier as the first black woman to win the Sundance Film Festival biggest prize, the Grand Jury Prize for her U.S Dramatic entry. She wrote and directed the death row drama in which actress, Alfre Woodard stars as a prison warden struggling with the emotional demands of her job.
On Woodard’s performance and Chinonye’s second feature in the movie, critics stated that she embodied the extraordinary challenge of a woman tasked with the job of sending men to their death while holding tight her emotions so closely to herself that she looked like she might explode.
They further shared that “Writer-director Chinonye Chukwu’s maintains the quiet, steady rhythms of a woman so consumed by her routine that by the end of the opening credits, it appears to have consumed her humanity as well.”
It is turning out to be a year for the women as an analysis of the 56 films in about four categories had over 46 percent directed by women. Also, in the U.S Dramatic Feature category, female filmmakers were the majority as they made of about 56 percent of all directors by directing about 16 films.
To note, Ava DuVernay was the first black woman to win a directing award at the annual festival for her narrative offering “Middle of Nowhere”.