Gritty drama Fruitvale by first-time director Ryan Coogler wins top Sundance prize
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LOS ANGELES (AFP) - Fruitvale, about a young black man shot by police in a gritty California neighbourhood, won the top prize on Saturday at the Sundance Film Festival, America's premier independent movie showcase.
The movie by first-time writer and director Ryan Coogler won the US drama Grand Jury award, as well as the US drama audience award at the end of the 11-day filmfest in the snowy Utah mountains.
In the non-US categories, winners included a film about Russia's Pussy Riot feminist group - whose makers used their acceptance speech to hail the group's cause - as well as South Korean director O Meul's Jiseul. Fruitvale - named after the San Francisco Bay-area neighbourhood where the action takes place - tells the real-life story of Oscar Grant, shot dead by police in the early hours of New Year's Day 2009.
It's co-stars include Octavia Spencer, who won best supporting actress Oscar last year for her role in civil rights drama The Help. The Grand Jury Prize for a US documentary went to Blood Brother, an American's work on behalf of an AIDS-afflicted community in India. It also took the audience award for US documentary.
