The Baddest Speechwriter of All Leads Sundance Shorts Winners

The Baddest Speechwriter of All is the winner of the Short Film Grand Jury Prize at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. Sundance announced the short film jury prize winners overnight in a release. The documentary directed by Ben Proudfoot and Stephen Curry tells the story of Clarence B. Jones, Martin Luther King Jr.’s lawyer and speechwriter who reflects upon his career and the Civil Rights Movement at age 93. Proudfoot and Curry produced the film with Erick Peyton.

“This film implores us to take action with a message that is timeless and timely,” remarked the jury in a statement. “Through the eyes of its subject, we find one of the most important moments in modern history has a new perspective.” The jury also called it a “portrait of a strong willed, hilarious, compassionate man, and the instrumental role he played in kicking ass, non-violently, against division and hate.”

The Baddest Speechwriter of All marks Curry’s directorial debut, although the basketball star is no stranger to documentary having stepped before the camera himself with Stephen Curry: Underrated. The two-time Oscar winner Proudfoot (The Last Repair Shop, The Queen of Basketball), meanwhile, nets his first Sundance win with the documentary.

Sundance also announced the Short Film Jury Award: Nonfiction to The Boys and the Bees, directed by Arielle C. Knight, who produced the doc with Sean Weiner. The film tells the stories of two Black beekeepers in Georgia who pass down their knowledge to the next generations.

“This film is a beautiful and bold story, in which we see two young boys as they are taught what it means to be strong without disregarding feelings; to learn about oneself and our place in nature; and ultimately to understand our capacity to reimagine the lineages we pass down to our children,” said the jury in a statement.

Additionally, the Short Film Jury Award: U.S. Fiction was awarded to Crisis directed by Lily Platt, and produced by Platt, Sophie Seyd, Alex Bendo, and Lexi Preiser. While the Short Film Jury Award: International Fiction was awarded to the Canadian drama Jazz Infernal directed by Will Niava and produced by Zion Lipstein-Saffer and Samuel Caro.

On the animation front, the Short Film Jury Award: Animation was awarded to: Stephen P. Neary for Living with a Visionary, while veteran Don Hertzfeldt received the Short Film Special Jury Award for Creative Vision for his film Paper Trail.

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