Kristen Stewart to Receive Visionary Award at 2024 Sundance Film Festival

The nonprofit Sundance Institute announced today that Academy Award–nominated actress Kristen Stewart will be honored with the Visionary Award at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival’s fundraiser Opening Night Gala: Celebrating 40 Years Presented by Chase Sapphire, which will take place on January 18, 2024, at the DeJoria Center in Utah. The annual gala enables the nonprofit to raise critical funds to support independent artists year-round through labs, grants, and public programming that nurture artists globally. The 2024 event is made possible with the generous support of Chase Sapphire, the George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Foundation, Acura, and Google TV. The upcoming Sundance Film Festival will take place January 18–28, 2024, in Park City and Salt Lake City, Utah, as well as online from January 25–28.

Kristen Stewart will receive the Visionary Award in recognition of her work as an uncompromising artist and contributions to the field of independent film. She was nominated for an Academy Award for her performance as Princess Diana in Spencer and was the first American actress to receive a César Award for her role in Clouds of Sils Maria. Stewart’s profound work as an actor has exemplified the bold, risk-taking storytelling that Sundance has championed for many years. Throughout her impressive career, she has had 10 films screen at the Festival, including The Runaways, Adventureland, and Lizzie. She made her directorial debut with Come Swim at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival. For the upcoming 2024 Sundance Film Festival, Stewart will be returning with Love Me, premiering in the U.S. Dramatic Competition section and the recipient of the Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize, and Love Lies Bleeding, premiering in the Midnight section. 

“We are thrilled to honor the immensely talented Kristen Stewart at our Opening Night Gala,” said Joana Vicente, Sundance Institute CEO. “Kristen’s captivating performances across a wide, diverse body of work make her a truly unique talent. With over 10 Sundance films under her belt, she has always remained committed to the art of independent cinema. We are excited to welcome her back to the Festival and can’t wait to see what she has in store for our 40th year.”

“Sundance’s purity, lack of fussy pretension, and its commitment to supporting independence in an industry that doesn’t always value the radical or the sidelined is what makes it by far the homiest place for me to go see, discuss, and present films,” said Kristen Stewart. “Truly honored to be acknowledged by this beloved institution.”

As previously announced, Christopher Nolan will be honored with the inaugural Sundance Institute Trailblazer Award, recognizing an artist’s unwavering dedication and notable contributions to the field of independent film. The annual Vanguard Awards, presented by Acura, honor artists whose work highlights the art of storytelling and creative independence in both nonfiction and fiction. The Vanguard Award for Fiction will be presented to Celine Song, director and writer of Past Lives, and the Vanguard Award for Nonfiction will go to Maite Alberdi, director of The Eternal Memory. Award-winning journalist and producer Pat Mitchell will receive the Vanguard Award for Philanthropy in recognition of her exemplary commitment to the Institute’s support and to philanthropy for social impact.

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Erik Anderson

Erik Anderson is the founder/owner and Editor-in-Chief of AwardsWatch and has always loved all things Oscar, having watched the Academy Awards since he was in single digits; making lists, rankings and predictions throughout the show. This led him down the path to obsessing about awards. Much later, he found himself in film school and the film forums of GoldDerby, and then migrated over to the former Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), before breaking off to create AwardsWatch in 2013.

He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Critics Choice Association (CCA), San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle (SFBAFCC) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.

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