“Cha Cha Real Smooth,” the sophomore effort from 24-year-old filmmaker Cooper Raiff, dominated the survey in the categories of Best Film, Best Director, and Best Screenplay. The movie marks Raiff’s second in two years, following his 2020 debut “Shithouse,” which won the Grand Jury Prize at SXSW. In “Cha Cha Real Smooth,” Raiff stars as a bar and bat mitzvah party-starter adrift in life when he develops a complicated friendship with a young mother (Dakota Johnson) and her teen daughter (Vanessa Burghardt). The movie secured a $15 million distribution deal with Apple during the festival.
Source: Cinema Chat: The best films from Sundance, ‘Who We Are,’ and more | WEMU