Sundance honors go to ‘Primer,’ ‘DIG!’

? The high-tech thriller “Primer,” about two get-rich-quick inventors whose time-travel device complicates their lives, won the top dramatic honor at the Sundance Film Festival.

Sundance jurors gave the documentary grand prize to “DIG!”, director Ondi Timoner’s portrait of the friendship and rivalry between musicians Anton Newcombe of the Brian Jonestown Massacre and Courtney Taylor of the Dandy Warhols.

Awards were presented Saturday night, with top winners expected to screen one last time today as the 11-day independent film showcase ends.

“Primer” — written and directed by Shane Carruth, who co-stars — won the grand jury prize as well as the festival’s Alfred P. Sloane Prize, a $20,000 cash award for films that showcase science and technology.

The audience award for dramatic films, chosen by Sundance moviegoers, went to “Maria Full of Grace,” writer-director Joshua Marston’s Spanish-language tale of a young Colombian woman (Catalina Sandino Moreno) in peril after she becomes a “mule” carrying heroin to the United States.

“Born Into Brothels,” which examines the hardships endured by impoverished children of prostitutes in Calcutta, won the documentary audience honor. The film was directed by Ross Kauffman and Zana Briski.

The directing prize for dramatic features was given to Debra Granik for “Down to the Bone,” her tale of a lower-middle-class wife and mother struggling to kick a cocaine habit. “Down to the Bone” star Vera Farmiga also earned a special jury prize for her performance.

Morgan Spurlock won the documentary directing prize for “Super Size Me,” his indictment of the fast-food industry that chronicles the deterioration of his health during a monthlong experiment eating nothing but McDonald’s food.

Kansas University professor Kevin Willmott’s “CSA: The Confederate States of America” did not win any major awards.

Among other winners:

  • The Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award went to Larry Gross for “We Don’t Live Here Anymore,” a marital drama starring Mark Ruffalo, Laura Dern, Naomi Watts and Peter Krause.
  • Nancy Schreiber won the dramatic cinematography award for “November,” a cryptic thriller starring Courteney Cox as a woman experiencing visions after a tragedy.
  • Ferne Pearlstein received the documentary cinematography award for “Imelda,” chronicling the life of former Philippines first lady Imelda Marcos.