Sundance Producers Celebration 2026 Honors Apoorva Guru Charan and Dawne Langford With Amazon MGM Studios Awards
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At Sundance’s annual producers gathering, two standout voices behind ‘Take Me Home’ and ‘Who Killed Alex Odeh?’ earned $10,000 grants — plus a keynote that doubled as a roadmap for surviving the unknown.
PARK CITY, UTAH — Sundance didn’t just spotlight directors and stars this weekend — it put producers front and center.
At the 2026 Sundance Film Festival Producers Celebration presented by Amazon MGM Studios, the independent filmmaking community gathered at The Park in Park City for a ceremony built around the people who hold projects together long before a premiere ever happens. The event included a keynote address from producer Shane Boris, as well as the announcement of the Sundance Institute | Amazon MGM Studios Producers Awards — two $10,000 grants recognizing excellence in fiction and nonfiction producing.
Boris, whose producing credits include Academy Award winner ‘Navalny’ and Oscar-nominated ‘Fire of Love,’ delivered a keynote that spoke directly to the realities of independent filmmaking: the constant uncertainty, the long stretches of improvisation, and the way collaboration often becomes the only thing that feels stable. He described his path into producing as a natural extension of connection — building creative relationships by listening closely, spotting sparks, and helping turn them into something real.
Throughout his remarks, Boris emphasized the importance of community as both a practical lifeline and an emotional anchor, particularly in an industry that can feel increasingly fragmented. He framed producing as a role defined by support, trust, and persistence — the work of showing up repeatedly in the face of not knowing what comes next, and learning to create inside that unknown anyway.
The Producers Awards recognized two films premiering at this year’s festival, honoring producers whose work reflects the kind of risk-taking and commitment Sundance was built to champion.
The Amazon MGM Studios Fiction Producers Award went to Apoorva Guru Charan, producer of ‘Take Me Home,’ which is set to premiere in the U.S. Dramatic Competition. Guru Charan is an LA-based producer whose debut feature ‘Joyland’ premiered at Cannes in 2022, won the Un Certain Regard Jury Prize, and later earned the Independent Spirit Award for Best International Feature. ‘Take Me Home’ also arrives at Sundance with momentum, having previously won the Tribeca Festival’s AT&T Untold Stories prize.
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The Amazon MGM Studios Nonfiction Producers Award went to Dawne Langford, producer of ‘Who Killed Alex Odeh?,’ premiering in the U.S. Documentary Competition. Langford’s work includes a range of independent documentary projects, including ‘The Body Politic,’ which aired on PBS’ POV in 2024 and received an Emmy nomination. With ‘Who Killed Alex Odeh?,’ her Sundance selection continues a career rooted in mission-driven nonfiction storytelling.
The celebration also featured remarks from Sundance Institute leadership and partners, including Sundance Institute’s Michelle Satter, Kristin Feeley, Shira Rockowitz, and Maria Clement, along with Rachel Kiner-Lucas, Senior Acquisitions Executive at Amazon MGM Studios.
As Sundance approaches its final year in Park City, the Producers Celebration landed like a reminder of what the festival has always been at its best: a place where the industry’s most essential work — the behind-the-scenes building, protecting, and shepherding of films — is treated like the art form it truly is.
