My wife and I picked well when we chose our films from the offering of international dramatic offerings at Sundance. All three of them got an award of some sort.

The Incomer, directed by Louis Paxton, was a very entertaining story with a hit of the Eden story, but with Scottish humor. Isla and Sandy (Gayle Rankin and Grant O’Rourke) are brother and sister who have lived their whole life on an island of the northern Scottish coast. For the last thirty years, since the death of their father, they have been alone here. They catch gulls and talk to mythical creatures. Their father had warned them about those from the city, and they understand their mission is to protect the island from “incomers.”

When the local government council learns that the supposedly uninhabited island has people living on it, they dispatch Daniel (Domhnall Gleeson), a nerdy paper shuffler to evict them. Since they have no references to anything from the outside world, there is some comedy in their interaction. Stories are important to Isla and Sandy, especially those that involve magic and wonder. Daniel wins them over by creating a Lord of the Rings story about the bureaucracy. But soon the council sends others to complete the job where Daniel has failed. The three of them team up to fight off the attack, but their time of innocence is coming to an end.

The mixture of Celtic mythology and the interaction of modernity and tradition make for a great time. Isla and Sandy aren’t exactly Adam and Eve, nor is Daniel a perfect analog for the serpent, but his arrival does bring new visions and temptations—and a chance for new ways of fulfillment to this imperfect Eden.

The Incomer was the winner of the NEXT Innovator Award. The Jury’s citation said: “This award goes to a boldly original comic fable that blends folklore with formal playfulness. Deadpan humor, animation, and myth collide — proof that fearless invention can be both uproarious and deeply humane.”

Astrit Kabashi, Flonja Kodheli, Kumrije Hoxha, Abdinaser Beka, Tristan Halilaj, Aria Shala, Riga Morina and Melika Gashi appear in Shame and Money by Visar Morina, an official selection of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Janis Mazuch

Shame and Money, directed by Visar Morina, is a story of struggle. When a Kosovar family must leave their rural village, they move to the capital. Although some relatives offer some help, the father, Shaban (Astrit Kabashi) pridefully seeks to provide for the family himself. His brother-in-law is embarrassed when a neighbor discovers Shaban seeking day work on the street. The amount of work he gets is not enough for them to progress in the city. His brother-in-law wants Shaban to make a CV to look for work. But what can someone like him put in a resume that would attract employers?

This is a look at the immigrant (even within a country) experience. Shaban, even though he is in his native land, is a stranger in a strange land when he moves to the city. He is not looking for charity, just a chance to use the few skills he has. But forces are working against him. The film has a somewhat confusing double ending, suggesting that perhaps viewers get to pick the ending they want.

Shame and Money was awarded the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize for dramatic film. The jury’s citation said, “For his powerful and unique portrayal of human dignity in contemporary Kosovo that universally resonates. A sensitive filmmaker who masterfully draws the audience into the daily struggles of a family. For his deep empathy for his characters in a crucial moment in which they are beginning again, the World Cinematic Grand Jury Prize goes to Shame and Money.”

Christos Passalis and Maria Petrova appear in HOLD ONTO ME (Κράτα Με) by Myrsini Aristidou, an official selection of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Lasse Ulvedal Tolbøll.

Hold Onto Me (Κράτα Με), directed by Myrsini Aristidou, looks at a girl’s longing for a bond with her estranged father. When eleven-year-old Iris (Maria Petrova) learns that her father (Christos Passalis) has returned to Cypress for his father’s funeral, she goes to sneak a look. After she sees him pick a pocket, she begins to want to help him in the various scams he works. She begins to see her life with him as exciting, but she doesn’t really know the kind of crimes that he is involved in. In her effort to imitate him, she is treading on dangerous ground.

This is a morality tale in which we see Iris making more and more wrong choices, and knowing that there will be a terrible price to be paid at some point. The ending of the film ended up shifting a bit too much to provide a happy ending.

Hold Onto Me won the Audience Award for the World Cinema Dramatic section.