Come See Me in the Good Light is the audience favourite at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. Sundance announced the news today via a release that Ryan White’s documentary won the Festival Favourite Award as top film of Sundance 2025 as voted by the audience. Come See Me in the Good Light offers a cathartic portrait of spoken word poet Andrea Gibson and their experience with cancer following a terminal diagnosis. White’s intimate observation of Gibson’s journey with partner Megan Falley considers embracing life and savouring every moment as the poet strives to return to the stage one last time.
The film debuted in the Premieres section at Sundance with extra screenings added to feed the enthusiastic response on the ground. (Read the POV review of Come See Me in the Good Light here.) Come See Me in the Good Light marks White’s return to Sundance after films such as Ask Dr. Ruth, Assassins, and The Case Against 8, which won the directing prize.
“Throughout the Festival we saw audiences moved by Andrea Gibson’s and Megan Falley’s journeys in Come See Me in the Good Light,” said Kim Yutani, Sundance Film Festival Director of Programming, in a release. “Festival goers embraced the humor and heartbreak of this intimate documentary directed by Ryan White, as it speaks to art and love and reminds us what it means to be alive as we face mortality.” Previous winners of the Festival Favourite include Daughters and Navalny.
“The past 11 days of the Festival have been a meaningful opportunity to connect as a community in support of independent storytelling,” added Amanda Kelso, Acting CEO, Sundance Institute. “We look forward to being reunited with audiences, artists, industry, and press next January for another edition of the Festival.”
Sundance announced the top five overall audience favourites. Runners-up were Deaf President Now! by Davis Guggenheim and Nyle DiMarco, which examines the 1988 student protests at Gallaudet University for the Deaf; Andrew Jarecki and Charlotte Kaufman’s examination of the prison system, The Alabama Solution; James Griffiths’ drama The Ballad of Wallis Island; Anthony Benna’s darkly funny André Is an Idiot about marketer André Ricciardi’s self-deprecating journey with terminal cancer; and Michelle Walshe and Lindsay Utz’s portrait of New Zealand politician Jacinda Ardern in Prime Minister. André Is an Idiot and Prime Minister won the Audience Awards for U.S. Documentary and World Cinema Documentary earlier this week.
Other winners previously announced included Seeds with the Grand Jury Prize for U.S. Documentary and Cutting Through Rocks with the Grand Jury Prize for World Cinema Documentary.
Sundance also announced that next year’s festival would run in person in Salt Lake City and Park City, Utah from January 22–February 1, 2026 as the festival considers a future move.
“As this year’s Festival comes to a close, we’re already looking ahead to 2026 and what will no doubt be an unforgettable experience!” said Eugene Hernandez, Director, Sundance Film Festival and Public Programming. “We invite you to save the date and get ready to join us in Park City and Salt Lake City one year from now at Sundance 2026; it will be a Festival you won’t want to miss!”
