The Sundance film festival is an exciting melting pot of movies – one minute you're watching a film about a girl with teeth instead of a vagina and the next you're watching Dakota Fanning get raped – but only two films can be named as Sundance's best.

The two big winners of the Sundance grand-jury prize that were named this weekend are Padre Nuestro and Manda Bala – a heartbreaking film about an immigrant's depressing search to find his father and a heartbreaking documentary about the depressing corruption of the Brazilian government. But just to show that Sundance has a lighter side too, the Sundance audience award went to Grace Is Gone, a heartbreaking drama about a depressing road-trip where John Cusack tells his children that their mother was killed in Iraq. Congratulations Sundance, you've picked the only three films in the whole wide world less depressing that the sight of a 12-year-old girl getting raped.

To a casual observer this year's Sundance Film Festival has been a cavalcade of non-stop celebrities being boring and Dakota Fanning getting uptight about being raped, but there's much more to Sundance than that. Sundance is also where all the studios head to buy all the films where Dakota Fanning doesn't get raped, and it's also a traditional film competition like Cannes or Venice.

And, as is fitting for a film festival that Robert Redford opened with the topical attention-grabber impassioned tirade against George Bush and the war, the winning films of the Sundance competition were all slightly more depressing than watching an old man being forced to stab a dirty syringe into his eye while some hoodies film him on their phones. The winner of the Sundance grand-jury prize for best US drama went to Padre Nuestro, which Sundance says is about:

Fleeing a criminal past, Juan hops a truck transporting illegal immigrants from Mexico to New York City, where he meets Pedro, who is seeking his rich father.

So basically it's An American Tail, only with less mice and more gut-busting misery. Then the winner of the Sundance grand-jury prize for documentary was Manda Bala, and here's the Sundance summary for that:

In Brazil, known as one of the world's most corrupt and violent countries, Manda Bala follows a politician who uses a frog farm to steal billions of dollars, a wealthy businessman who spends a small fortune bulletproofing his cars, and a plastic surgeon who reconstructs the ears of mutilated kidnapping victims.

There were plenty of other awards handed out by Sundance – covering everything from Afghanistan to mental illness to happy dancing Irishmen. The other big Sundance award – the Audience award – was given to Grace Is Gone, about John Cusack going on a road trip to an amusement park to tell his children that their mother was killed in Iraq, which sounds a lot like Little Miss Sunshine, although it probably doesn't have the big dance scene at the end.

What's the greater significance of Sundance awarding prizes to films about corruption, immigration and war? None, probably. Just nice that Helen Mirren hasn't won anything for once, isn't it?

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Padre Nuestro wins top Sundance award – MSNBC