The annual Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah wrapped up its 2015 festival on Monday, Feb. 1. Sundance has produced movies of notoriety such as “Whiplash” and “Fruitvale Station” as of late, and is regarded as one of the premier independent film festivals in the world alongside the Cannes and Toronto Film Festivals.

This year’s major winner is “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl,” which stars Jon Bernthal (“The Walking Dead”) and Nick Offerman (“Parks and Recreation), telling the story of a high school film maker who becomes friends with a peer suffering from cancer.

“Me and Earl and the Dying Girl” succeeds “Whiplash” (2014) and “Fruitvale Station” (2013) not only as the winner of Grand Jury Prize for a Drama but also Audience Award for a Drama. By winning both awards, the film became the third consecutive film in a lineage of double-winners at Sundance.

“Whiplash” has also been nominated for this year’s Academy Awards for Best Motion Picture among others. Other films that were successful at Sundance that were then recognized with nominations at the Oscars are “Beasts of the Southern Wild,” “Precious,” and “Winter’s Bone,” the last of which jump-started the success of Jennifer Lawrence’s career.

While “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl” certainly took the attention of those of us not fortunate enough to attend, many other films received raving reviews from those lucky enough to be in attendance.

Lenny Kravitz’s daughter, Zoe Kravitz (“Divergent”), excelled alongside Shameik Moore (“Joyful Noise”) in the coming age dramedy, “Dope,” which tells the story of teenagers living a rough and tumble suburb in Los Angeles. Forrest Whitaker (“The Last King of Scotland”) also provides name recognition within the cast.

Additionally, “Slow West,” starring Michael Fassbender (“12 Years a Slave”) walked away with the World Cinema Jury Prize for a drama. It chronicles a young man’s journey across the American Frontier in the 19th Century in search of a woman with whom he is in love. Fassbender plays the role of a mysterious traveler by the name of Silas Selleck.

A number of other familiar faces appeared on the silver screen at Sundance this year. Jesse Eisenberg (“The Social Network”), Jason Segel (“How I Met Your Mother”), Adam Scott (“Parks and Recreation”) and Jason Sudeikis (“Horrible Bosses”) accompany Fassbender, Whitaker, Bernthal and Offerman as A-List actors to make appearances at Sundance.

“The Wolfpack,” which provides a look into the life of the Angulo brothers and their passion for learning about the world outside their East Manhattan neighborhood through film, took home the Grand Jury Prize for a documentary. “The Wolfpack” received praise in this category as did “Meru,” which took home the Audience Prize for a documentary. Not unlike the drama films, many Sundance award-winners in the documentary genre have also seen representation at the Academy Awards in the past.

With the festival having reached its end, indie film lovers have many great things to look forward to this year. Films featured in Sundance are always a great indicator of what is to come in the independent film industry.

Audiences can only hope that “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl,” among the other successful films from Sundance 2015, turn out to be as widely distributed and well-received as its predecessors “Whiplash” and “Fruitvale Station.”