Iran actor Payman Maadi among Sundance 2022 jury members

Comprising six juries awarding prizes for artistic and cinematic achievement, the jurors include Marielle Heller (“A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood”), Andrew Haigh (“Looking”), Maadi (“A Separation”) and more.

Chelsea Barnard, a producer on “C’mon C’mon” and “Booksmart”, serves alongside Heller and Maadi on the jury for US dramatic competition. US documentary competition jurors include Garrett Bradley (“Time”), Peter Nicks (“The Force”) and veteran documentary cinematographer Joan Churchill.

Haigh joins Mohamed Hefzy (“The Walls of the Moon”) and film curator La Frances Hui on the world cinema dramatic competition jury, while Cannes artistic adviser Emilie Bujès, former US ambassador Patrick Gaspard and Dawn Porter (“The Way I See It”) will judge the world cinema documentary competition.

Joey Soloway, the creator, writer, director and executive producer of “Transparent”, serves as juror of the NEXT competition section, while Criterion Channel director of programming Penelope Bartlett, Kevin Jerome Everson (“Ears, Nose and Throat”), and Blackhorse Lowe (“Reservation Dogs”) jury the short film program competition.

Awarding Kogonada’s “After Yang” with the Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize are Dr. Heather Berlin, Dr. Mandë Holford, Tenoch Huerta, Lydia Dean Pilcher and Shawn Snyder.

Maadi is one of the most important Iranian American actors, screenwriters, and directors working today. He is best known for starring in the Academy Award-winning film “A Separation” and “About Elly” by director Asghar Farhadi. For his role in “A Separation”, Maadi won the Silver Bear for Best Actor at the Berlin Film Festival. His recent film credits include “Night Shift”, “6 Underground”, “13 “Hours”, “Camp X-Ray” and “Just 6.5”, and his recent TV credits include HBO’s “The Night of” and “Westworld”.

This year, due to rising COVID-19 cases, Sundance will take place online at festival.sundance.org and in person at seven Satellite Screens venues across the US during the festival’s second weekend. Awards for feature-length and short films will be announced on Jan. 29.