Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibilityAudience Award: U.S. Dramatic Winner | Josephine | 2026 Sundance Film Festival
Accessibility

Award Winners

Audience Award: U.S. Dramatic Winner | Josephine

sd_star_fav_icon
United States2025120 min
Audience Award: U.S. Dramatic Winner | Josephine

After 8-year-old Josephine accidentally witnesses a crime in Golden Gate Park, she acts out in search of a way to regain control of her safety while adults are helpless to console her.

+ More

After 8-year-old Josephine accidentally witnesses a crime in Golden Gate Park, she acts out in search of a way to regain control of her safety while adults are helpless to console her.

Writer-director Beth de Araújo creates a tense, devastating, and transcendently empathetic portrait of a young girl wrestling with a newly discovered fear and anger she can neither escape nor fully comprehend after her encounter with violence. Greta Zozula’s precise cinematography escalates the unease, frequently placing us in Josephine’s vulnerable, frustrated perspective as the film finds a bold and unique visual language to represent how the experience continues to haunt her.

Mason Reeves delivers a searching, tender performance as Josephine. As her fiercely protective father and sensitive mom, Channing Tatum and Gemma Chan give keenly felt turns as parents who are totally devoted to their struggling, beloved child but are ill-equipped to navigate the upheaval their family faces. Philip Ettinger does unforgettable work in a crucial, complex supporting role. — HZ

The following film contains mature content and is not recommended for audiences 17 and under.

Award WinnersAll FeaturesU.S. Only- less

Credits

  • Director(s)

    Beth de Araújo

    Meet the Artist

    Panelist Name

    Beth de Araújo

      Beth de Araújo’s debut feature film, Soft & Quiet, premiered in 2022 at SXSW and was acquired by Blumhouse. She was nominated for the 2022 Gotham Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Award.

      You May Also Like

      Award Winners
      sd_banner_img

      Audience Award: World Cinema Documentary Winner | One In A Million

      FilmUnFillFavIcon

      Filmed over 10 years, one girls epic journey from Syria to Germany and back again. She and her family navigate war, exile, and heartbreak in a foreign land, illuminating the complexities of the refugee experience.

      (1hr 42mins)
      Award Winners
      sd_banner_img

      World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Documentary Winner | To Hold a Mountain

      FilmUnFillFavIcon

      World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Documentary Winner

      In the remote highlands of Montenegro, a shepherd mother and daughter proudly defend their ancestral mountain from the threat of becoming a NATO military training ground, stirring memories of the violence that shattered their family.

      (2hrs)
      Award Winners
      sd_banner_img

      U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Documentary Winner | Nuisance Bear

      FilmUnFillFavIcon

      A polar bear is forced to navigate a human world of tourists, wildlife officers, and hunters as its ancient migration collides with modern life. When a sacred predator is branded a nuisance, it becomes unclear who truly belongs in this shared landscape.

      (1hr 30mins)
      Award Winners
      sd_banner_img

      Audience Award: World Cinema Dramatic Winner | HOLD ONTO ME (Κράτα Με)

      FilmUnFillFavIcon

      11-year-old Iris learns her estranged father, Aris, is back in town for his own father’s funeral. Determined to know him, Iris tracks him down to a dilapidated shipyard, where he’s been keeping to himself. What begins as a stubborn attempt to reconnect slowly unfolds into a fragile bond.

      (1hr 42mins)

      FESTIVAL HOST STATE

      Sponsor

      FESTIVAL HOST STATE

      FESTIVAL HOST STATE

      FESTIVAL HOST STATE