The 14th annual Television Academy Honors list is out, recognizing seven exceptional TV programs and their producers who used powerful and innovative storytelling to advance social change.
The list spans three documentaries, two dramas, an anthology series and a late-night comedy news show: For Life, I Am Greta, I May Destroy You, Little America, The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, The Social Dilemma and Welcome to Chechnya. Read details on each program below.
Television Academy Honors annually celebrates programs across numerous platforms and genres that elevate complex issues facing society. This year’s honorees addressed racism, criminal justice, social justice, sexual assault, LGBTQ+ persecution, immigration and climate change — energizing, educating and challenging audiences around the world.
“During one of the most challenging years in television history, these seven extraordinary programs illuminated and championed some of the most critical issues facing our communities,” said Television Academy Chairman and CEO Frank Scherma.
The list spans three documentaries, two dramas, an anthology series and a late-night comedy news show: For Life, I Am Greta, I May Destroy You, Little America, The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, The Social Dilemma and Welcome to Chechnya. Read details on each program below.
Television Academy Honors annually celebrates programs across numerous platforms and genres that elevate complex issues facing society. This year’s honorees addressed racism, criminal justice, social justice, sexual assault, LGBTQ+ persecution, immigration and climate change — energizing, educating and challenging audiences around the world.
“During one of the most challenging years in television history, these seven extraordinary programs illuminated and championed some of the most critical issues facing our communities,” said Television Academy Chairman and CEO Frank Scherma.
- 5/3/2021
- by Erik Pedersen
- Deadline Film + TV
Steve McQueen’s anthology series leads the pack with 15 nominations.
Small Axe leads the nominations for this year’s Bafta Television and Bafta Craft awards, which take place on June 6 and May 24, respectively.
The BBC mini-series, created and directed by Steve McQueen, is up for 15 awards (six television and three craft), including best mini-series, John Boyega and Shaun Parkes for leading actor, Letitia Wright for leading actress, and Malachi Kirby and Michael Ward for supporting actor.
Small Axe was produced by Turbine Studios and Lammas Park alongside the BBC and Amazon Studios. Two episodes – Mangrove and Lovers Rock – were picked...
Small Axe leads the nominations for this year’s Bafta Television and Bafta Craft awards, which take place on June 6 and May 24, respectively.
The BBC mini-series, created and directed by Steve McQueen, is up for 15 awards (six television and three craft), including best mini-series, John Boyega and Shaun Parkes for leading actor, Letitia Wright for leading actress, and Malachi Kirby and Michael Ward for supporting actor.
Small Axe was produced by Turbine Studios and Lammas Park alongside the BBC and Amazon Studios. Two episodes – Mangrove and Lovers Rock – were picked...
- 4/28/2021
- by Orlando Parfitt
- ScreenDaily
Variety's Awards Circuit is home to the official predictions for the upcoming Oscars from Film Awards Editor Clayton Davis. Following Academy Awards history, buzz, news, reviews and sources, the Oscar predictions are updated regularly with the current year's contenders in all categories. Variety's Awards Circuit Prediction schedule consists of four phases, running all year long: Draft, Pre-Season, Regular Season and Post Season. Eligibility calendar and dates of awards will determine how long each phase lasts and will be displayed next to revision date.
To see all the latest predictions, of all the categories, in one place, visit The Collective
Draft>>>Pre Season>>>Regular Season>>>Post Season
2021 Oscars Predictions:
Best Documentary Feature
Updated: Mar. 4, 2021
Awards Prediction Commentary: The documentary branch has a lot of international voters that have been added over the last few years. Some of the American stories that center around politics and social issues may get passed over...
To see all the latest predictions, of all the categories, in one place, visit The Collective
Draft>>>Pre Season>>>Regular Season>>>Post Season
2021 Oscars Predictions:
Best Documentary Feature
Updated: Mar. 4, 2021
Awards Prediction Commentary: The documentary branch has a lot of international voters that have been added over the last few years. Some of the American stories that center around politics and social issues may get passed over...
- 3/4/2021
- by Clayton Davis
- Variety Film + TV
Another precursor has chimed in, this one focused on the documentary genre. Last night, the International Documentary Association held their 36th Annual awards ceremony. There, the IDA Awards tapped Crip Camp as its Best Feature winner, beating fellow nominees Collective, Gunda, MLK/FBI, The Reason I Jump, Reunited, Time, The Truffle Hunters, and Welcome to Chechnya. It was a good victory for Netflix and Higher Ground (Barack Obama and Michelle Obama’s company), as they seek to make it back to back wins at the Academy Awards in Best Documentary Feature. Will an Oscar follow? Stay tuned to find out, but the winners are below… Here are the full results from the 2020 IDA Awards: Best Feature Nominees “Collective” “Crip Camp” – ***Winner*** “Gunda” “MLK/FBI” (USA / IFC Films. Director: Sam Pollard. Producer: Benjamin Hedin) “The Reason I Jump” “Reunited” (Denmark. Director: Mira Jargil. Producer: Kirstine Barfod) Softie (Kenya / Pov . Director/Producer: Sam Soko.
- 1/17/2021
- by Joey Magidson
- Hollywoodnews.com
The HBO Max documentary “Welcome to Chechnya” won a big award recently from Doc NYC, the largest documentary festival in the United States. The film, which documents the efforts to protect LGBTQ youth escaping abuse from the Chechen Republic of Russia, claimed the Doc NYC Producing Award, honoring producers Alice Henty, Joy A. Tomchin, Askold Kurov and David France.
Seedoc NYC: Will it preview Oscar winner for Best Documentary Feature again?
“The jury is proud to acknowledge the delicate touch, human care and creative gymnastics necessary to produce this powerful film,” the Doc NYC jury said in a statement. “The filmmakers gained access to this dangerous world in which the film’s subjects took great risks, and then used innovative technology to protect them, allowing these men and women to share their heartbreaking stories and inspirational acts of bravery with the world. Hats off.”
The documentary was filmed in secrecy...
Seedoc NYC: Will it preview Oscar winner for Best Documentary Feature again?
“The jury is proud to acknowledge the delicate touch, human care and creative gymnastics necessary to produce this powerful film,” the Doc NYC jury said in a statement. “The filmmakers gained access to this dangerous world in which the film’s subjects took great risks, and then used innovative technology to protect them, allowing these men and women to share their heartbreaking stories and inspirational acts of bravery with the world. Hats off.”
The documentary was filmed in secrecy...
- 11/27/2020
- by Kevin Jacobsen
- Gold Derby
“Crip Camp” leads all films in nominations for the 36th annual IDA Documentary Awards, the International Documentary Association announced on Tuesday.
The film by directors Nicole Newnham and Jim LeBrecht deals with a New York summer camp in the early 1970s that became a key launching pad for the disability rights movement. It was an opening-night film at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, where it won the documentary audience award.
“Crip Camp” received five IDA doc awards nominations, including Best Feature, Best Director, Best Editing and Best Writing. Four films received three nominations each: Sam Pollard’s “MLK/FBI,” Garrett Bradley’s “Time,” Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw’s “The Truffle Hunters” and Pippa Ehrlich and James Reed’s “My Octopus Teacher,” the only film whose three nominations did not include the Best Feature category.
Other Best Feature nominees are “Collective,” “Gunda,” “The Reason I Jump,” “Reunited,” “Softie” and “Welcome to Chechnya.
The film by directors Nicole Newnham and Jim LeBrecht deals with a New York summer camp in the early 1970s that became a key launching pad for the disability rights movement. It was an opening-night film at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, where it won the documentary audience award.
“Crip Camp” received five IDA doc awards nominations, including Best Feature, Best Director, Best Editing and Best Writing. Four films received three nominations each: Sam Pollard’s “MLK/FBI,” Garrett Bradley’s “Time,” Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw’s “The Truffle Hunters” and Pippa Ehrlich and James Reed’s “My Octopus Teacher,” the only film whose three nominations did not include the Best Feature category.
Other Best Feature nominees are “Collective,” “Gunda,” “The Reason I Jump,” “Reunited,” “Softie” and “Welcome to Chechnya.
- 11/24/2020
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
Leading the International Documentary Association Documentary Awards nominees with five nominations is “Crip Camp,” Netflix’s look back at an influential activist summer camp for the disabled, followed by Garrett Bradley’s poetic black-and-white “Time” (Amazon Studios) and Sam Pollard’s 60s archival dive “MLK/FBI” (IFC Films) with four noms each.
“The Truffle Hunters” (Sony Pictures Classics) scored three nods. All four films landed nods for Best Feature and Director, along with Jerry Rothwell’s “The Reason I Jump.” Netflix also landed multiple nominations for “Dick Johnson Is Dead” And “My Octopus Teacher.”
The IDAs are among the most reliable bellwethers of the Oscar documentary feature race. Last year’s IDA Best Feature winner, “For Sama,” was among the final five Oscar nominees, along with three out of 10 IDA nominees, including eventual Oscar-winner “American Factory.”
Starting December 7, IDA members are invited to vote online for Best Feature and Best...
“The Truffle Hunters” (Sony Pictures Classics) scored three nods. All four films landed nods for Best Feature and Director, along with Jerry Rothwell’s “The Reason I Jump.” Netflix also landed multiple nominations for “Dick Johnson Is Dead” And “My Octopus Teacher.”
The IDAs are among the most reliable bellwethers of the Oscar documentary feature race. Last year’s IDA Best Feature winner, “For Sama,” was among the final five Oscar nominees, along with three out of 10 IDA nominees, including eventual Oscar-winner “American Factory.”
Starting December 7, IDA members are invited to vote online for Best Feature and Best...
- 11/24/2020
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
Leading the International Documentary Association Documentary Awards nominees with five nominations is “Crip Camp,” Netflix’s look back at an influential activist summer camp for the disabled, followed by Garrett Bradley’s poetic black-and-white “Time” (Amazon Studios) and Sam Pollard’s 60s archival dive “MLK/FBI” (IFC Films) with four noms each.
“The Truffle Hunters” (Sony Pictures Classics) scored three nods. All four films landed nods for Best Feature and Director, along with Jerry Rothwell’s “The Reason I Jump.” Netflix also landed multiple nominations for “Dick Johnson Is Dead” And “My Octopus Teacher.”
The IDAs are among the most reliable bellwethers of the Oscar documentary feature race. Last year’s IDA Best Feature winner, “For Sama,” was among the final five Oscar nominees, along with three out of 10 IDA nominees, including eventual Oscar-winner “American Factory.”
Starting December 7, IDA members are invited to vote online for Best Feature and Best...
“The Truffle Hunters” (Sony Pictures Classics) scored three nods. All four films landed nods for Best Feature and Director, along with Jerry Rothwell’s “The Reason I Jump.” Netflix also landed multiple nominations for “Dick Johnson Is Dead” And “My Octopus Teacher.”
The IDAs are among the most reliable bellwethers of the Oscar documentary feature race. Last year’s IDA Best Feature winner, “For Sama,” was among the final five Oscar nominees, along with three out of 10 IDA nominees, including eventual Oscar-winner “American Factory.”
Starting December 7, IDA members are invited to vote online for Best Feature and Best...
- 11/24/2020
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
The International Documentary Association has announced the nominees for its 36th Annual IDA Documentary Awards, and a certain streaming service dominates. Netflix scored a leading 18 noms for the 2020 IDAs, more than three times its nearest rival. PBS is second with five, followed by HBO (four).
The IDA also said today that its 2020 ceremony is going virtual on January 21.
“The nominees present an inspiring and urgent range of stories from around the globe,” said Simon Kilmurry, executive director of the IDA. “The broad range of subjects and approaches to storytelling underscores that documentary is our most exciting form of cultural expression, a vital art form and a crucial element of democratic dialogue.”
Ten films are up for the marquee Best Feature award: Collective, Crip Camp (Netflix), Gunda (Neon), MLK/FBI (IFC Films), The Reason I Jump (Kino Lorber), Reunited, Softie, Time, The Truffle Hunters (Sony Pictures Classics) and Welcome to Chechnya (HBO).
The helmers of five of those films also are up for Best Director: Garrett Bradley (Time), Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw (The Truffle Hunters), Nicole Newnham and Jim LeBrecht (Crip Camp), Sam Pollard (MLK/FBI) and Jerry Rothwell (The Reason I Jump).
On the TV side, five programs will vie for Best Curated Series): ESPN’s 30 for 30, PBS’ American Experience, Thirteen Productions’ American Masters, Illinois Public Media’s Reel Midwest and PBS/World Channel’s Reel South.
The nominees for Best Episodic Series are Cheer (Netflix), Hip Hop: The Songs That Shook America (AMC), Last Chance U (Netflix), Seven Planets, One World (BBC America) and We’re Here (HBO).
Up for Best Multi-Part Documentary are Asian Americans (PBS), Atlanta’s Missing and Murdered (HBO), City So Real (National Geographic), Hillary (Hulu) and Lenox Hill (Netflix).
“This is a year that has been one of reflection, looking inwards, and living life differently than we have always known it to be,” said James Costa, co-chair of the Feature Documentary Nominating Committee and IDA Board of Directors’ co-vice president. “Through the art of filmmaking these films gave us an opportunity to truly look and learn through the lenses of others.”
Here is the full list of nominees for the 2020 IDA Documentary Awards:
Best Feature
Collective
Director/Producer: Alexander Nanau
Producer: Bianca Oana
Crip Camp (USA / Netflix)
Directors/Producers: Nicole Newnham, Jim LeBrecht
Producer: Sara Bolder
Gunda
Director: Victor Kossakovsky
Producer: Anita Rehoff Larsen
MLK/FBI (USA / IFC Films)
Director: Sam Pollard
Producer: Benjamin Hedin
The Reason I Jump
Director: Jerry Rothwell
Producers: Jeremy Dear, Stevie Lee, Al Morrow
Reunited (Denmark)
Director: Mira Jargil
Producer: Kirstine Barfod
Softie (Kenya / Pov)
Director/Producer: Sam Soko
Producer: Toni Kamau
Time
Director/Producer: Garrett Bradley
Producers: Lauren Domino, Kellen Quinn
The Truffle Hunters
Directors/Producers: Michael Dweck, Gregory Kershaw
Welcome to Chechnya (USA / HBO)
Director/Producer: David France
Producers: Alice Henty, Joy A. Tomchin and Askold Kurov
Best Director
Garrett Bradley
Time
USA / Amazon Studios, Concordia Studio, The New York Times
Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw
The Truffle Hunters
USA, Italy, Greece / Sony Pictures Classics
Nicole Newnham and Jim LeBrecht
Crip Camp
USA / Netflix
Sam Pollard
MLK/FBI
USA / IFC Films
Jerry Rothwell
The Reason I Jump
USA, UK / Kino Lorber
Best Short
Abortion Helpline, This is Lisa
Directors/Producers: Barbara Attie, Mike Attie, Janet Goldwater
All That Perishes at the Edge of Land (Pakistan)
Director/Producer: Hira Nabi
Producer: Till Passow
Huntsville Station (USA / New York Times Op-Docs)
Directors/Producers: Jamie Meltzer, Chris Filippone
Hysterical Girl (USA / New York Times Op-Docs)
Director: Kate Novack
Producer: Andrew Rossi
John Was Trying to Contact Aliens (USA / Netflix)
Director/Producer: Matthew Killip
The Lost Astronaut (USA / New York Times Op-Docs)
Director: Ben Proudfoot
Producers: Abby Lynn Kang Davis, Gabriel Berk Godoi
Mizuko
Directors/Producers: Kira Dane, Katelyn Rebelo
sống ở đây
Director/Producer: Melanie Ho
To Calm the Pig Inside (Ang Pagpakalma sa Unos) (Philippines)
Director/Producer: Joanna Vasquez Arong
Unforgivable (El Salvador)
Director/Producer: Marlén Viñayo
Producer: Carlos Martínez
Best Curated Series
30 for 30 (USA / ESPN)
Executive Producers: John Dahl, Libby Geist, Rob King, Erin Leyden, Connor Schell
American Experience (USA / PBS)
Executive Producers: Susan Bellows and Mark Samels
American Masters
Executive Producer: Michael Kantor
Reel Midwest (USA / Illinois Public Media)
Executive Producer: Moss Bresnahan
Reel South
Executive Producers: Don Godish and Rachel Raney
Best Episodic Series
Cheer (USA / Netflix)
Director/Executive Producer: Greg Whiteley
Producers: Adam Leibowitz, Arielle Kilker, Chelsea Yarnell
Executive Producers: Andrew Fried, Dane Lillegard, Jasper Thomlinson, Bert Hamelinck
Hip Hop: The Songs That Shook America (USA / AMC)
Executive Producers: Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter, Shawn Gee, Alex Gibney, Stacey Offman, Richard Perello, Shea Serrano, Angie Day, One9, Erik Parker, Isaac Bolden
Last Chance U (USA / Netflix)
Director/Executive Producer: Greg Whiteley
Executive Producers: Joe Labracio, James D. Stern, Lucas Smith, Andrew Fried, Dane Lillegard
Seven Planets, One World (UK / BBC America)
Directors: Fredi Devas, Emma Napper, Giles Badger, Chadden Hunter
Executive Producer: Jonny Keeling
We’re Here (USA / HBO)
Executive Producers: Eli Holzman, Aaron Saidman, Stephen Warren, Johnnie Ingram, Peter LoGreco, Erin Gamble
Best Multi-Part Documentary
Asian Americans (USA / PBS)
Directors: Leo Chiang, Geeta Gandbhir, Grace Lee
Producers: Renee Tajima-Peña, Mark Jonathan Harris
Executive Producers: Jeff Bieber, Sally Jo Fifer, Stephen Gong, Jean Tsien, Donald Young
Atlanta’s Missing and Murdered (USA / HBO)
Directors/Executive Producers: Sam Pollard, Maro Chermayeff, Joshua Bennett, Jeff Dupre
Executive Producers: John Legend, Mike Jackson, Ty Stiklorious, Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller
City So Real (USA / National Geographic)
Director/ Producer: Steve James.
Producer: Zak Piper.
Executive Producers: Jeff Skoll, Diane Weyermann, Alex Kotlowitz, Gordon Quinn, Betsy Steinberg, Jolene Pinder
Hillary (USA / Hulu)
Director: Nanette Burstein
Producers: Isabel San Vargas, Timothy Moran, Chi-Young Park, Tal Ben-David
Executive Producers: Ben Silverman, Howard T. Owens, Nanette Burstein, Sierra Kos, Laurie Girion
Lenox Hill (USA / Netflix)
Directors/Executive Producers: Adi Barash and Ruthie Shatz.
Executive Producer: Josh Braun
Best Short Form Series
Almost Famous (USA / New York Times Op-Docs)
Producers: Abby Lynn Kang Davis, Gabriel Berk Godoi and Jeremy Lambert
Executive Producer: Adam Ellick
Director: Ben Proudfoot
Guardian Documentaries
Producers: Shanida Scotland, Natasha Dack Ojumu and Nikki Parrott
Executive Producers: Charlie Phillips. Lindsay Poulton, Jess Gormley
Directors: Irene Baque, Laurence Topham, Sara Khaki, Mohammad Reza Eyni, Rebecca Lloyd-Evans, Laura Dodsworth, Dan McDougall
Last Call For The Bayou: 5 Stories from Louisiana’s Disappearing Delta (USA / Smithsonian Channel Plus)
Producer: Nadia Gill
Executive Producer: Gina Hutchinson
Director: Dominic Gill
Pov Shorts (USA / PBS)
Producer: Opal H. Bennett
Executive Producers: Justine Nagan and Chris White
Run This City (USA / Quibi)
Director: Brent Hodge
Producer: Prince Vaughn
Executive Producers: Mark Wahlberg, Stephen Levinson, Archie Gips, Brent Hodge
Best Audio Documentary
Crosses in the Desert / Cruces en el desierto
Reporter: Dennis Maxwell
Producers: Catalina May, Martín Cruz
Executive Producer: Martina Castro
Fiasco: Bush v. Gore (USA / Luminary)
Producers: Leon Neyfakh, Andrew Parsons
Girl Taken (UK / British Broadcasting Corporation)
Reporter: Sue Mitchell
Producer: Richard Hannaford
Executive Producer: Philip Sellars
Heavyweight – The Marshes (USA / Gimlet Media)
Reporter, Producer and Executive Producer: Jonathan Goldstein
Reporter and Producer: Kalila Holt.
Producers: Stevie Lane, Jorge Just, BA Parker, Bobby Lord
Somebody (USA / iHeartRadio)
Reporters and Producers: Alison Flowers, Bill Healy
Reporters: Sam Stecklow, Ellen Glover, Annie Nguyen, Kahari Blackburn, Rajiv Sinclair, Henri Adams, Matilda Vojak, Dana Brozost-Kelleher, Frances McDonald, Diana Akmajian, Andrew Fan and Maddie Anderson
Producers: Shapearl Wells, Sarah Geis
Executive Producers: Jamie Kalven, Maria Zuckerman, Christy Gressman, Leital Molad
Best Music Documentary
Beastie Boys Story (USA / Apple TV+)
Director/Producer: Spike Jonze
Producers: Jason Baum and Amanda Adelson
Billie (UK / Greenwich Entertainment)
Director: James Erskine
Crock of Gold (USA / Magnolia Pictures)
Director/Producer: Julien Temple
Producers: Johnny Depp, Stephen Deuters, Stephen Malit
Los Hermanos / The Brothers
Directors/Producers: Marcia Jarmel and Ken Schneider
Universe (USA)
Directors: Sam Osborn and Nicholas Capezzera
Producers: Esther Dere and Leah Natasha Thomas
David L. Wolper Student Documentary Award
Bananas (UK / National Film and Television School)
Director/Producer: Sara Montoya Sepúlveda
Isle of Us (UK / National Film and Television School)
Director: Laura Wadha
Na Luta Delas (Brazil / Uc Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism)
Directors/Producers: Orion Rose Kelly and Pedro Cota
People Like Me (USA / University of California Santa Cruz)
Director/Producer: Marrok Sedgwick
Susana (USA / Stanford University)
Director: Laura Gamse
Producer: James Davis
Trees (UK / National Film and Television School)
Director: Rosie Morris
Producer: Jesse Romain
Best Cinematography
Acasă, My Home
Cinematographers: Radu Ciorniciuc and Mircea Topoleanu
Boys State
Director of Photography: Thorsten Thielow
The Earth is Blue as an Orange
Cinematographer: Viacheslav Tsvietkov
The Truffle Hunters
Cinematographers: Michael Dweck, Gregory Kershaw
Time
Cinematographers: Zac Manuel, Justin Zweifach, Nisa East
Best Editing
Boys State
Editor: Jeff Gilbert
Crip Camp (USA / Netflix)
Editors: Eileen Meyer and Andrew Gersh
Disclosure (USA / Netflix)
Editor: Stacy Goldate
Dick Johnson is Dead (USA / Netflix)
Editor: Nels Bangerter
Through the Night
Editor: Malika Zouhali-Worrall
Best Writing
Crip Camp (USA / Netflix)
Writers: Nicole Newnham and Jim LeBrecht
Dick Johnson is Dead
(USA / Netflix)
Writers: Nels Bangerter and Kirsten Johnson
I Am Not Alone (USA / Netflix)
Writer: Garin Hovannisian
My Octopus Teacher (USA / Netflix)
Writers: Pippa Ehrlich and James Reed
Socks on Fire (USA)
Writers: Max Allman, Bo McGuire
Best Music Score
Dancing with the Birds (USA / Netflix)
Composer: David Mitcham
David Attenborough: Life On Our Planet
Composer: Steven Price
Hope Frozen: A Quest to Live Twice (USA / Netflix)
Composer: Chapavich Temnitikul)
My Octopus Teacher (USA / Netflix)
Composer: Kevin Smuts
Rising Phoenix (USA / Netflix)
Composer: Daniel Pemberton
ABC News VideoSource Award
#Unfit: The Psychology of Donald Trump (USA / Dark Star)
Director/Producer: Dan Partland
Producer: Art Horan
Bully. Coward. Victim.: The Story of Roy Cohn (USA / HBO)
Director: Ivy Meeropol
Producers: Julie Goldman, Christopher Clements, Carolyn Hepburn
Crip Camp (USA / Netflix)
Directors/Producers: Nicole Newnham, Jim LeBrecht
Producer: Sara Bolder
Kill Chain: The Cyber War on America’s Elections (USA / HBO)
Director: Sarah Teale
Directors/Producers: Simon Ardizzone and Russell Michaels
Producers: Michael Hirschorn and Jessica Antonini
MLK/FBI (USA / IFC Films)
Director: Sam Pollard
Producer: Benjamin Hedin
The First Rainbow Coalition
Director/Producer: Ray Santisteban
Pare Lorentz Award
Winner
My Octopus Teacher (USA / Netflix)
Director: Pippa Ehrlich, James Reed
Producer: Craig Foster
Honorable Mention
Crip Camp (USA / Netflix)
Directors/Producers: Nicole Newnham, Jim LeBrecht
Producer: Sara Bolder
Honorary Awards
Amicus Award
Regina K. Scully
Career Achievement Award
Sam Pollard (MLK/FBI)
Courage Under Fire Award
David France, David Isteev and Olga Baranova (Welcome to Chechnya)
Emerging Documentary Filmmaker Award
Garrett Bradley (Time)
Pioneer Award
Firelight Media
Truth to Power Award
Maria Ressa and Rappler (A Thousand Cuts)...
The IDA also said today that its 2020 ceremony is going virtual on January 21.
“The nominees present an inspiring and urgent range of stories from around the globe,” said Simon Kilmurry, executive director of the IDA. “The broad range of subjects and approaches to storytelling underscores that documentary is our most exciting form of cultural expression, a vital art form and a crucial element of democratic dialogue.”
Ten films are up for the marquee Best Feature award: Collective, Crip Camp (Netflix), Gunda (Neon), MLK/FBI (IFC Films), The Reason I Jump (Kino Lorber), Reunited, Softie, Time, The Truffle Hunters (Sony Pictures Classics) and Welcome to Chechnya (HBO).
The helmers of five of those films also are up for Best Director: Garrett Bradley (Time), Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw (The Truffle Hunters), Nicole Newnham and Jim LeBrecht (Crip Camp), Sam Pollard (MLK/FBI) and Jerry Rothwell (The Reason I Jump).
On the TV side, five programs will vie for Best Curated Series): ESPN’s 30 for 30, PBS’ American Experience, Thirteen Productions’ American Masters, Illinois Public Media’s Reel Midwest and PBS/World Channel’s Reel South.
The nominees for Best Episodic Series are Cheer (Netflix), Hip Hop: The Songs That Shook America (AMC), Last Chance U (Netflix), Seven Planets, One World (BBC America) and We’re Here (HBO).
Up for Best Multi-Part Documentary are Asian Americans (PBS), Atlanta’s Missing and Murdered (HBO), City So Real (National Geographic), Hillary (Hulu) and Lenox Hill (Netflix).
“This is a year that has been one of reflection, looking inwards, and living life differently than we have always known it to be,” said James Costa, co-chair of the Feature Documentary Nominating Committee and IDA Board of Directors’ co-vice president. “Through the art of filmmaking these films gave us an opportunity to truly look and learn through the lenses of others.”
Here is the full list of nominees for the 2020 IDA Documentary Awards:
Best Feature
Collective
Director/Producer: Alexander Nanau
Producer: Bianca Oana
Crip Camp (USA / Netflix)
Directors/Producers: Nicole Newnham, Jim LeBrecht
Producer: Sara Bolder
Gunda
Director: Victor Kossakovsky
Producer: Anita Rehoff Larsen
MLK/FBI (USA / IFC Films)
Director: Sam Pollard
Producer: Benjamin Hedin
The Reason I Jump
Director: Jerry Rothwell
Producers: Jeremy Dear, Stevie Lee, Al Morrow
Reunited (Denmark)
Director: Mira Jargil
Producer: Kirstine Barfod
Softie (Kenya / Pov)
Director/Producer: Sam Soko
Producer: Toni Kamau
Time
Director/Producer: Garrett Bradley
Producers: Lauren Domino, Kellen Quinn
The Truffle Hunters
Directors/Producers: Michael Dweck, Gregory Kershaw
Welcome to Chechnya (USA / HBO)
Director/Producer: David France
Producers: Alice Henty, Joy A. Tomchin and Askold Kurov
Best Director
Garrett Bradley
Time
USA / Amazon Studios, Concordia Studio, The New York Times
Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw
The Truffle Hunters
USA, Italy, Greece / Sony Pictures Classics
Nicole Newnham and Jim LeBrecht
Crip Camp
USA / Netflix
Sam Pollard
MLK/FBI
USA / IFC Films
Jerry Rothwell
The Reason I Jump
USA, UK / Kino Lorber
Best Short
Abortion Helpline, This is Lisa
Directors/Producers: Barbara Attie, Mike Attie, Janet Goldwater
All That Perishes at the Edge of Land (Pakistan)
Director/Producer: Hira Nabi
Producer: Till Passow
Huntsville Station (USA / New York Times Op-Docs)
Directors/Producers: Jamie Meltzer, Chris Filippone
Hysterical Girl (USA / New York Times Op-Docs)
Director: Kate Novack
Producer: Andrew Rossi
John Was Trying to Contact Aliens (USA / Netflix)
Director/Producer: Matthew Killip
The Lost Astronaut (USA / New York Times Op-Docs)
Director: Ben Proudfoot
Producers: Abby Lynn Kang Davis, Gabriel Berk Godoi
Mizuko
Directors/Producers: Kira Dane, Katelyn Rebelo
sống ở đây
Director/Producer: Melanie Ho
To Calm the Pig Inside (Ang Pagpakalma sa Unos) (Philippines)
Director/Producer: Joanna Vasquez Arong
Unforgivable (El Salvador)
Director/Producer: Marlén Viñayo
Producer: Carlos Martínez
Best Curated Series
30 for 30 (USA / ESPN)
Executive Producers: John Dahl, Libby Geist, Rob King, Erin Leyden, Connor Schell
American Experience (USA / PBS)
Executive Producers: Susan Bellows and Mark Samels
American Masters
Executive Producer: Michael Kantor
Reel Midwest (USA / Illinois Public Media)
Executive Producer: Moss Bresnahan
Reel South
Executive Producers: Don Godish and Rachel Raney
Best Episodic Series
Cheer (USA / Netflix)
Director/Executive Producer: Greg Whiteley
Producers: Adam Leibowitz, Arielle Kilker, Chelsea Yarnell
Executive Producers: Andrew Fried, Dane Lillegard, Jasper Thomlinson, Bert Hamelinck
Hip Hop: The Songs That Shook America (USA / AMC)
Executive Producers: Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter, Shawn Gee, Alex Gibney, Stacey Offman, Richard Perello, Shea Serrano, Angie Day, One9, Erik Parker, Isaac Bolden
Last Chance U (USA / Netflix)
Director/Executive Producer: Greg Whiteley
Executive Producers: Joe Labracio, James D. Stern, Lucas Smith, Andrew Fried, Dane Lillegard
Seven Planets, One World (UK / BBC America)
Directors: Fredi Devas, Emma Napper, Giles Badger, Chadden Hunter
Executive Producer: Jonny Keeling
We’re Here (USA / HBO)
Executive Producers: Eli Holzman, Aaron Saidman, Stephen Warren, Johnnie Ingram, Peter LoGreco, Erin Gamble
Best Multi-Part Documentary
Asian Americans (USA / PBS)
Directors: Leo Chiang, Geeta Gandbhir, Grace Lee
Producers: Renee Tajima-Peña, Mark Jonathan Harris
Executive Producers: Jeff Bieber, Sally Jo Fifer, Stephen Gong, Jean Tsien, Donald Young
Atlanta’s Missing and Murdered (USA / HBO)
Directors/Executive Producers: Sam Pollard, Maro Chermayeff, Joshua Bennett, Jeff Dupre
Executive Producers: John Legend, Mike Jackson, Ty Stiklorious, Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller
City So Real (USA / National Geographic)
Director/ Producer: Steve James.
Producer: Zak Piper.
Executive Producers: Jeff Skoll, Diane Weyermann, Alex Kotlowitz, Gordon Quinn, Betsy Steinberg, Jolene Pinder
Hillary (USA / Hulu)
Director: Nanette Burstein
Producers: Isabel San Vargas, Timothy Moran, Chi-Young Park, Tal Ben-David
Executive Producers: Ben Silverman, Howard T. Owens, Nanette Burstein, Sierra Kos, Laurie Girion
Lenox Hill (USA / Netflix)
Directors/Executive Producers: Adi Barash and Ruthie Shatz.
Executive Producer: Josh Braun
Best Short Form Series
Almost Famous (USA / New York Times Op-Docs)
Producers: Abby Lynn Kang Davis, Gabriel Berk Godoi and Jeremy Lambert
Executive Producer: Adam Ellick
Director: Ben Proudfoot
Guardian Documentaries
Producers: Shanida Scotland, Natasha Dack Ojumu and Nikki Parrott
Executive Producers: Charlie Phillips. Lindsay Poulton, Jess Gormley
Directors: Irene Baque, Laurence Topham, Sara Khaki, Mohammad Reza Eyni, Rebecca Lloyd-Evans, Laura Dodsworth, Dan McDougall
Last Call For The Bayou: 5 Stories from Louisiana’s Disappearing Delta (USA / Smithsonian Channel Plus)
Producer: Nadia Gill
Executive Producer: Gina Hutchinson
Director: Dominic Gill
Pov Shorts (USA / PBS)
Producer: Opal H. Bennett
Executive Producers: Justine Nagan and Chris White
Run This City (USA / Quibi)
Director: Brent Hodge
Producer: Prince Vaughn
Executive Producers: Mark Wahlberg, Stephen Levinson, Archie Gips, Brent Hodge
Best Audio Documentary
Crosses in the Desert / Cruces en el desierto
Reporter: Dennis Maxwell
Producers: Catalina May, Martín Cruz
Executive Producer: Martina Castro
Fiasco: Bush v. Gore (USA / Luminary)
Producers: Leon Neyfakh, Andrew Parsons
Girl Taken (UK / British Broadcasting Corporation)
Reporter: Sue Mitchell
Producer: Richard Hannaford
Executive Producer: Philip Sellars
Heavyweight – The Marshes (USA / Gimlet Media)
Reporter, Producer and Executive Producer: Jonathan Goldstein
Reporter and Producer: Kalila Holt.
Producers: Stevie Lane, Jorge Just, BA Parker, Bobby Lord
Somebody (USA / iHeartRadio)
Reporters and Producers: Alison Flowers, Bill Healy
Reporters: Sam Stecklow, Ellen Glover, Annie Nguyen, Kahari Blackburn, Rajiv Sinclair, Henri Adams, Matilda Vojak, Dana Brozost-Kelleher, Frances McDonald, Diana Akmajian, Andrew Fan and Maddie Anderson
Producers: Shapearl Wells, Sarah Geis
Executive Producers: Jamie Kalven, Maria Zuckerman, Christy Gressman, Leital Molad
Best Music Documentary
Beastie Boys Story (USA / Apple TV+)
Director/Producer: Spike Jonze
Producers: Jason Baum and Amanda Adelson
Billie (UK / Greenwich Entertainment)
Director: James Erskine
Crock of Gold (USA / Magnolia Pictures)
Director/Producer: Julien Temple
Producers: Johnny Depp, Stephen Deuters, Stephen Malit
Los Hermanos / The Brothers
Directors/Producers: Marcia Jarmel and Ken Schneider
Universe (USA)
Directors: Sam Osborn and Nicholas Capezzera
Producers: Esther Dere and Leah Natasha Thomas
David L. Wolper Student Documentary Award
Bananas (UK / National Film and Television School)
Director/Producer: Sara Montoya Sepúlveda
Isle of Us (UK / National Film and Television School)
Director: Laura Wadha
Na Luta Delas (Brazil / Uc Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism)
Directors/Producers: Orion Rose Kelly and Pedro Cota
People Like Me (USA / University of California Santa Cruz)
Director/Producer: Marrok Sedgwick
Susana (USA / Stanford University)
Director: Laura Gamse
Producer: James Davis
Trees (UK / National Film and Television School)
Director: Rosie Morris
Producer: Jesse Romain
Best Cinematography
Acasă, My Home
Cinematographers: Radu Ciorniciuc and Mircea Topoleanu
Boys State
Director of Photography: Thorsten Thielow
The Earth is Blue as an Orange
Cinematographer: Viacheslav Tsvietkov
The Truffle Hunters
Cinematographers: Michael Dweck, Gregory Kershaw
Time
Cinematographers: Zac Manuel, Justin Zweifach, Nisa East
Best Editing
Boys State
Editor: Jeff Gilbert
Crip Camp (USA / Netflix)
Editors: Eileen Meyer and Andrew Gersh
Disclosure (USA / Netflix)
Editor: Stacy Goldate
Dick Johnson is Dead (USA / Netflix)
Editor: Nels Bangerter
Through the Night
Editor: Malika Zouhali-Worrall
Best Writing
Crip Camp (USA / Netflix)
Writers: Nicole Newnham and Jim LeBrecht
Dick Johnson is Dead
(USA / Netflix)
Writers: Nels Bangerter and Kirsten Johnson
I Am Not Alone (USA / Netflix)
Writer: Garin Hovannisian
My Octopus Teacher (USA / Netflix)
Writers: Pippa Ehrlich and James Reed
Socks on Fire (USA)
Writers: Max Allman, Bo McGuire
Best Music Score
Dancing with the Birds (USA / Netflix)
Composer: David Mitcham
David Attenborough: Life On Our Planet
Composer: Steven Price
Hope Frozen: A Quest to Live Twice (USA / Netflix)
Composer: Chapavich Temnitikul)
My Octopus Teacher (USA / Netflix)
Composer: Kevin Smuts
Rising Phoenix (USA / Netflix)
Composer: Daniel Pemberton
ABC News VideoSource Award
#Unfit: The Psychology of Donald Trump (USA / Dark Star)
Director/Producer: Dan Partland
Producer: Art Horan
Bully. Coward. Victim.: The Story of Roy Cohn (USA / HBO)
Director: Ivy Meeropol
Producers: Julie Goldman, Christopher Clements, Carolyn Hepburn
Crip Camp (USA / Netflix)
Directors/Producers: Nicole Newnham, Jim LeBrecht
Producer: Sara Bolder
Kill Chain: The Cyber War on America’s Elections (USA / HBO)
Director: Sarah Teale
Directors/Producers: Simon Ardizzone and Russell Michaels
Producers: Michael Hirschorn and Jessica Antonini
MLK/FBI (USA / IFC Films)
Director: Sam Pollard
Producer: Benjamin Hedin
The First Rainbow Coalition
Director/Producer: Ray Santisteban
Pare Lorentz Award
Winner
My Octopus Teacher (USA / Netflix)
Director: Pippa Ehrlich, James Reed
Producer: Craig Foster
Honorable Mention
Crip Camp (USA / Netflix)
Directors/Producers: Nicole Newnham, Jim LeBrecht
Producer: Sara Bolder
Honorary Awards
Amicus Award
Regina K. Scully
Career Achievement Award
Sam Pollard (MLK/FBI)
Courage Under Fire Award
David France, David Isteev and Olga Baranova (Welcome to Chechnya)
Emerging Documentary Filmmaker Award
Garrett Bradley (Time)
Pioneer Award
Firelight Media
Truth to Power Award
Maria Ressa and Rappler (A Thousand Cuts)...
- 11/24/2020
- by Erik Pedersen
- Deadline Film + TV
The documentaries “Landfall” and “Five Years North” have won the top jury prizes at the 2020 Doc NYC film festival, the largest festival in the United States devoted to nonfiction filmmaking.
“Landfall,” director Cecilia Aldarondo’s portrait of a Puerto Rican community in the wake of Hurricane Maria, won the Grand Jury Prize in the Viewfinders Competition, with a special jury prize going to “Through the Night.” In the Metropolis Competition, made up of films about New York City, the top winner was “Five Years North,” Zach Ingrasci and Chris Temple’s film about a Cuban-American Ice agent and a teenage Guatemalan immigrant. “Wojnarowicz” received a special award for its use of archival material.
Jury prizes in the Short List: Features section, which was made up of 15 films deemed by Doc NYC programmers to be likely awards contenders, were awarded to “Time” for directing, “Welcome to Chechnya” for producing, “Boys State...
“Landfall,” director Cecilia Aldarondo’s portrait of a Puerto Rican community in the wake of Hurricane Maria, won the Grand Jury Prize in the Viewfinders Competition, with a special jury prize going to “Through the Night.” In the Metropolis Competition, made up of films about New York City, the top winner was “Five Years North,” Zach Ingrasci and Chris Temple’s film about a Cuban-American Ice agent and a teenage Guatemalan immigrant. “Wojnarowicz” received a special award for its use of archival material.
Jury prizes in the Short List: Features section, which was made up of 15 films deemed by Doc NYC programmers to be likely awards contenders, were awarded to “Time” for directing, “Welcome to Chechnya” for producing, “Boys State...
- 11/18/2020
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
Ten-day Doc NYC Encore runs through November 29.
Landfall and Five Years North are among the Doc NYC juried award winners announced on Wednesday (November 18), which just announced it will take the unprecedented step of extending its programme for 10 days.
Cecilia Aldarondo’s disaster capitalism film Landfall examines the relationship between the US and Puerto Rico and prevailed over 10 other selections to take the grand jury prize in the Viewfinders Competition.
A special jury recognition went to Loira Limbal’s Ethics Of Care: Through The Night.
The Metropolis Competition grand jury prize from 10 films exploring New Yorkers and New York City...
Landfall and Five Years North are among the Doc NYC juried award winners announced on Wednesday (November 18), which just announced it will take the unprecedented step of extending its programme for 10 days.
Cecilia Aldarondo’s disaster capitalism film Landfall examines the relationship between the US and Puerto Rico and prevailed over 10 other selections to take the grand jury prize in the Viewfinders Competition.
A special jury recognition went to Loira Limbal’s Ethics Of Care: Through The Night.
The Metropolis Competition grand jury prize from 10 films exploring New Yorkers and New York City...
- 11/18/2020
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
HBO is North American distributor on acclaimed documentary.
Brian O’Shea’s The Exchange has acquired international sales rights to David France’s Sundance documentary and Berlin Panorma selection Welcome To Chechnya.
HBO is the North American distributor of the highly regarded film, one of the stand-out titles in Park City that chronicles the current anti-lgbtq persecution raging in the Russian republic of Chechnya.
France shadows the Lgbtq activists who risk their lives to rescue victims from a targeted campaign of torture and brutality.
HBO is the North American distributor on Welcome To Chechnya, a Public Square Films production produced by Alice Henty and Askold Kurov.
Brian O’Shea’s The Exchange has acquired international sales rights to David France’s Sundance documentary and Berlin Panorma selection Welcome To Chechnya.
HBO is the North American distributor of the highly regarded film, one of the stand-out titles in Park City that chronicles the current anti-lgbtq persecution raging in the Russian republic of Chechnya.
France shadows the Lgbtq activists who risk their lives to rescue victims from a targeted campaign of torture and brutality.
HBO is the North American distributor on Welcome To Chechnya, a Public Square Films production produced by Alice Henty and Askold Kurov.
- 2/14/2020
- by 36¦Jeremy Kay¦54¦
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: HBO Documentary Films has acquired North American television and streaming rights to Welcome to Chechnya, the documentary by David France, the Oscar-nominated director of How to Survive a Plague and The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson. The deal was struck in advance of the film making its world premiere in the U.S. Documentary Competition section of the 2020 Sundance Film Festival.
The film has been set for a June debut on HBO. The searing documentary shadows a group of brave activists who risk their lives to confront the ongoing anti-lgbtq persecution in the repressive and closed Russian republic of Chechnya. With unfettered access and a commitment to protecting anonymity, this documentary exposes under-reported atrocities, while highlighting an extraordinary group of heroic people confronting crushing brutality.
France said he is “thrilled to have partnered with HBO to help shed light on this ongoing humanitarian crisis. Welcome to Chechnya...
The film has been set for a June debut on HBO. The searing documentary shadows a group of brave activists who risk their lives to confront the ongoing anti-lgbtq persecution in the repressive and closed Russian republic of Chechnya. With unfettered access and a commitment to protecting anonymity, this documentary exposes under-reported atrocities, while highlighting an extraordinary group of heroic people confronting crushing brutality.
France said he is “thrilled to have partnered with HBO to help shed light on this ongoing humanitarian crisis. Welcome to Chechnya...
- 12/12/2019
- by Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
Film will screen at Outfest Los Angeles this summer.
Netflix has acquired worldwide rights to The Death And Life Of Marsha P. Johnson, David France’s follow-up to How To Survive A Plague.
The film premiered at Tribeca and explores the murder of the transgender legend and ‘street queen’ of NYC’s gay ghetto, who played a pivotal role in the Stonewall Riots of 1969 and established with fellow icon Sylvia Rivera the world’s first trans-rights organization, Star, in 1970.
When Johnson’s body was found floating in the Hudson River in 1992, police refused to investigate the case and presumed Johnson committed suicide. Twenty-five years after her death, activist Victoria Cruz picks up the case.
Netflix plans a global launch later this year on The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson, which is presented by Public Square Films. L.A. Teodosio produced and Joy A. Tomchin and Sara Ramirez served as executive producers.
“Almost single-handedly...
Netflix has acquired worldwide rights to The Death And Life Of Marsha P. Johnson, David France’s follow-up to How To Survive A Plague.
The film premiered at Tribeca and explores the murder of the transgender legend and ‘street queen’ of NYC’s gay ghetto, who played a pivotal role in the Stonewall Riots of 1969 and established with fellow icon Sylvia Rivera the world’s first trans-rights organization, Star, in 1970.
When Johnson’s body was found floating in the Hudson River in 1992, police refused to investigate the case and presumed Johnson committed suicide. Twenty-five years after her death, activist Victoria Cruz picks up the case.
Netflix plans a global launch later this year on The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson, which is presented by Public Square Films. L.A. Teodosio produced and Joy A. Tomchin and Sara Ramirez served as executive producers.
“Almost single-handedly...
- 6/2/2017
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Cynthia Nixon joined a glittering crowd of celebrities, activists and other personalities at the Gay Men's Health Crisis' (Gmhc) fifth annual Savor dinner, held at New York's Ciprani 42nd Street.
The Emmy and Tony Award-winning "Sex and the City" star, 46, served as host of the event, which honored the Keith Haring Foundation and Joy A. Tomchin. Tomchin, a former Gmhc board president who executive produced the Oscar-nominated documentary "How To Survive A Plague," was given the Judith Peabody Humanitarian Award for her advocacy work.
Calling Gmhc "a organization I can trust," Nixon told CEO Marjorie Hill in an interview for HuffPost Gay Voices, "I think it's really important to work with groups that were formed in the crucible of the early days of the epidemic. We saw how bad it was in NYC then, and now we see how bad it is across the world, and it's not unfamiliar."
Check...
The Emmy and Tony Award-winning "Sex and the City" star, 46, served as host of the event, which honored the Keith Haring Foundation and Joy A. Tomchin. Tomchin, a former Gmhc board president who executive produced the Oscar-nominated documentary "How To Survive A Plague," was given the Judith Peabody Humanitarian Award for her advocacy work.
Calling Gmhc "a organization I can trust," Nixon told CEO Marjorie Hill in an interview for HuffPost Gay Voices, "I think it's really important to work with groups that were formed in the crucible of the early days of the epidemic. We saw how bad it was in NYC then, and now we see how bad it is across the world, and it's not unfamiliar."
Check...
- 3/22/2013
- by Curtis M. Wong
- Huffington Post
Vol. I Issue 6
Send us links to your sizzle reels and film sites.
Note: See Issues 1, 2, 3, and 4 for reviews and clips of the Academy documentary films and short films. Additional reviews of the documentary features follow in this issue.
Best documentary feature
5 Broken Cameras Emad Burnat and Guy Davidi
The Gatekeepers Nominees to be determined *See note below
How to Survive a Plague Nominees to be determined
The Invisible War Nominees to be determined
Searching for Sugar Man Nominees to be determined
Best documentary short subject
Inocente Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine
Kings Point Sari Gilman and Jedd Wider
Mondays at Racine Cynthia Wade and Robin Honan
Open Heart Kief Davidson and Cori Shepherd Stern
Redemption Jon Alpert and Matthew O'Neill
Best animated short film
Adam and Dog Minkyu Lee
Fresh Guacamole Pes
Head over Heels Timothy Reckart and Fodhla Cronin O'Reilly
Maggie Simpson in The Longest Daycare David Silverman
Paperman John Kahrs
Best live action short film
Asad Bryan Buckley and Mino Jarjoura
Buzkashi Boys Sam French and Ariel Nasr
Curfew Shawn Christensen
Death of a Shadow (Dood van een Schaduw) Tom Van Avermaet and Ellen De Waele
Henry Yan England
Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song) from a documentary
Before My Time from The documentary feature Chasing Ice Music and Lyric by J. Ralph
Note: *Nominees to be determined* The Documentary Brand gives the nomination to the individual(s) most involved in the key creative aspects of the filmmaking process. A maximum of two persons may be designated as nominees, one of whom must be the credited director who exercised directorial control, and the other of whom must have a producer or director credit. If a producer is named, that individual must have performed a major portion of the producing functions, in accordance with Academy producer criteria. No more than two statuettes will normally be given in the Documentary Feature category. All individuals with a “Producer” or “Produced by” credit on films that reach the semifinal round will automatically be vetted.
The Documentary Branch Executive Committee will determine which producers, if any, are eligible to receive an Oscar. In the unlikely event of a dispute, filmmakers may appeal the committee’s decision. In extremely rare circumstances, a third statuette may be awarded.
Production companies or persons with the screen credit of executive producer, co-producer or any credit other than director or producer shall not be eligible as nominees for the motion picture.
DGA Documentary Award Nominations
Kirby Dick The Invisible War
This is Mr. Dick’s first DGA Award nomination.
Malik Bendjelloul Searching For Sugar Man
This is Mr. Bendjelloul’s first DGA Award nomination.
Lauren Greenfield The Queen of Versailles
This is Ms. Greenfield’s first DGA Award nomination.
David France How To Survive A Plague
This is Mr. France’s first DGA Award nomination.
Alison Klayman Ai WeiWei: Never Sorry
This is Ms. Klayman’s first DGA Award nomination.
Two Academy Nominated Documentary Features
& One Academy Short Listed Documentary Reviewed
The Gatekeepers, directed by Dror Moreh
Documentary Feature Nominee
Six former heads of Israel’s domestic secret service agency, the Shin Bet, share their insights and reflect publicly on their actions and decisions in The Gatekeepers, a film by Dror Moreh. These six heads of the Shin Bet stood at the center of Israel's decision-making process in all matters pertaining to security. They worked closely with every Israeli prime minister, and their assessments and insights had—and continue to have—a profound impact on Israeli policy. The Gatekeepers is an exclusive account of their successes and failures.
I find The Gatekeepers remarkable. Not for its craft but for its concept and vision. Imagine
J Edger Hoover talking about his tenure at the FBI, his successes and his failures, his interactions with the Presidents and members of Congress, and his critical self-evaluation of his mission and how his agency’s work affected our nation. Imagine. Dror Moreh accomplished this feat when he convinced these six surviving members of the Shin Bet, to speak on camera.
The film provides a historical perspective of Israel that is both candid and critical of the successive governments in this rare Middle Eastern democracy. The Shin Bet was created in 1949 by David Ben-Gurion’s government to focus on the internal affairs of Israel and evolved into dealing with counterterrorism and intelligence gathering in the West Bank and Gaza.
These intelligence heads, like ours, report to the President/Prime Minister. They are not part of the military complex. It is this context that gives this work its power. We hear the story of Israel’s struggle to protect itself from both its internal and external enemies; the bombers, terrorists, agents and others who worked to destroy this small country. These men are not glamorous or like the fictional heads of the spy agencies we have seen in James Bond and Bourne films. They are bald or balding grandfather-types. Articulate, highly educated, calm and yet we know that they protected Israel from its enemies even if they had them killed.
This is one of the strongest of the nominated docs. It raises significant issues of personal responsibilities. Despite the lack of oversight we don’t feel that this is an organization gone amuck like the Catholic Church not protecting children or the Us Military not protecting its members from sexual harassment. We see these articulate men as guardians and protectors of their nation steadfastly doing their duty within the confines of their moral beliefs. What is scary about The Gatekeepers is that clearly there could have been abuses and wrongs done by the Shin Bet if these six had less character or their mission was redefined by the government without regard to moral or ethical standards. The film on reflection is troubling for regardless of how the spectator might feel about Israel it forces us to look at this conflict through the lenses of these six guardians and we can only wonder what they don’t tell us about what they did in the name of their country.
Credits:
Director: Dror Moreh
Camera: Avner Shahaf
Producers: Dror Moreh, Estelle Fialon, Philippa Kowarsky
Co Producer: Anna Van Der Wee
Sound: Amos Zipori
Sound Design: Aex Claude
Music: Ab Ovo, Jérôme Chassagnard, Régis Baillet
Editor: Oron Adar
Production Companies: Dror Moreh Productions, Les Films du Poisson, Cinephil
In Co-Production with: Mac Guff, Wild Heart Productions, Arte France, Iba, Ndr, Rtbf
With the support of: Cnc, Media, Région Ile-de-France, Procirep, Angoa, The Rabinovich Foundation for the Arts – Cinema Project
Distribution: Sony Classics
Trailer: http://www.sonyclassics.com/thegatekeepers/
The House I Live In, directed by Eugene Jarecki
Short Listed Documentary Feature for Academy Award nomination
The House I Live In looks at how America has waged war on some of its poorest citizens, costing countless lives, destroying families, and inflicting untold damage on future generations of Americans. It posits that over the last forty years, the War on Drugs has accounted for more than 45 million arrests and shows how America became the world’s largest jailer, damaging poor communities at home and abroad. Yet today drugs are cheaper, purer and more available than ever before. It shows that drug abuse is a public health issue. Despite this, it is treated by our society as a criminal matter and a vast machine has been created that feeds on the men and women who are incarcerated. Because of this, the prisoners are not offered help or a cure for their underlying problems, so they return to prison in a never ending cycle.
Eugene Jarecki, whose previous films looked at the military industrial complex (Why We Fight and The Trials of Henry Kissinger), won the Grand Jury Prize for Documentary at Sundance in both 2005 and 2010. The film tackles difficult material. Material that has been in scores of documentaries and television shows over the years. Yet Jarecki, using his personal experience, a wealth of interviews and strong case studies, builds a compelling case for changing the sentencing guidelines for crack (and cocaine) and for dealing with both addiction and the underlying causes of addiction. Jarecki is a skillful filmmaker who has picked a vast and complex subject and has created a work that while rich in content moves along at a good pace although it might have been stronger if it had tried to do less. The film editor Paul Frost and the composer Robert Miller do an excellent job building strong sequences with evocative music. It was nicely shot by Sam Cullman and Derek Hallquist. Richard Abramowitz’s Abramorama handled the distribution and was successful getting the work out which is never easy for such an issue oriented film.
Credits:
Director, Producer, Screenwriter: Eugene Jarecki
Producers: Melinda Shopsin, Sam Cullman, Christopher St. John
Executive Producers: Eugene Jarecki, Nick Fraser, Joslyn Barnes, Danny Glover, Russell Simmons, Roy Ackerman, John Legend, Sally Jo Feifer, Nick Fraser
Camera: Sam Cullman, Derek Hallquist
Sound: Matthew Freed, Art Jaso
Music: Robert Milller
Editor: Paul Frost
Production Companies: Charlotte Street Films, Zdf Enterprises, Independent Television Services, BBC, Aljazeera Documentary Channel, Vpro, Special Broadcasting Service Corporation, Louverture Films, Nhk
Distribution (Us): Abramorama Entertainment, Snag Films
How to Survive a Plague, directed by David France
Documentary Feature Nominee
How to Survive a Plague by writer and filmmaker David France tells the story of how two coalitions came together to lobby for effective treatments and funding for treatments of AIDS in the late 1980s when it was evident that the Us government and its health and other agencies were not being very effective dealing with the AIDS epidemic. The coalitions, Act Up and Tag (Treatment Action Group) helped to make AIDS more treatable. While there is still no cure for AIDS and thousands of people globally still die from the virus, it is now possible to prolong life with treatments that have been developed.
Despite having no scientific training, these self-made activists infiltrated the pharmaceutical industry and helped identify promising new drugs, moving them from experimental trials to patients in record time. With access to never-before-seen archival footage from the 1980s and '90s, filmmaker David France puts the viewer smack in the middle of the controversial actions, the heated meetings, the heartbreaking failures, and the exultant breakthroughs. Faced with their own mortality an improbable group of young men and women, many of them HIV-positive took on Washington and the medical establishment.
While there have been a handful of outstanding films dealing with the AIDS epidemic including Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt, The Broadcast Tapes of Dr. Peter and Silverlake Life, to name a few, How to Survive a Plague picks up on the story begun in the landmark Common Threads and updates the struggle, looking at the quest to find a treatment and possibly a cure for this vicious disease. The film weaves together stories of activism and shows how a small determined group can effect change not just nationally but globally. While the film is not as well made as Common Threads or Dr. Peter, it’s powerful. The archival footage manages to capture some of the key figures of Act Up and Tag showing actions as they take place. Instead of relying on talking heads to tell this amazing story, it is presented with footage shot as the story unfolded. This footage and its solid editing distinguishes this film from so many of the works that have tried to tell this story.
Few documentaries have such powerful antagonists, the government, incompetence, a lack of urgency on the part of the medical community and fear. Throw in homophobia and it is evident that the dramatic actions of these heroes saved hundreds of thousands of possible victims from this mostly sexually spread plague.
My only serious criticism of this documentary is its failure to be clearer that the plague continues, that there is no cure for HIV/AIDS and that the community continues to give a false sense of hope. Currently the Cdc states:
” ..estimates that 1,148,200 persons aged 13 years and older are living with HIV infection, including 207,600 (18.1%) who are unaware of their infection1. Over the past decade, the number of people living with HIV has increased, while the annual number of new HIV infections has remained relatively stable. Still, the pace of new infections continues at far too high a level—particularly among certain groups.
HIV Incidence(new infections): The estimated incidence of HIV has remained stable overall in recent years, at about 50,000 new HIV infections per year.2 Within the overall estimates, however, some groups are affected more than others. Msm (men who have sex with men) continue to bear the greatest burden of HIV infection, and among races/ethnicities, African Americans continue to be disproportionately affected.”
This information could have been contained in the last few minutes of this powerful work, to inspire and warn the audience that testing is critical and that safe sex is still the only way to contain AIDS.
The Filmmaker
David France, Director, Producer
David France is an award-winning journalist and New York Times best-selling author who has been writing about AIDS since 1982 and today is one of the best-known chroniclers of the epidemic. His work has appeared in the New York Times, Newsweek, GQ, and New York magazine, where he is a contributing editor, and has received the National Headliner Award and the GLAAD Media Award, among others. Several films have been inspired by his work, most recently the Emmy-nominated Showtime film Our Fathers, for which he received a WGA nomination. He is at work on a major history of AIDS, due from Alfred A. Knopf in 2013. Based on decades of reporting, How to Survive a Plague is his directorial debut.
Credits
Director: David France
Writers: David France, Todd Woody Richman, Tyler H. Walk
Producers: David France, Howard Gertler
Executive Producers: Dan Cogan, Joy A. Tomchin
Co-Producer: Todd Woody Richman
Camera: Derek Wieshahn
Sound: Stuart Deutsch, Topher Reifeiss
Original Music: Stuart Bogie
Editor: Todd Woody Richman, Tyler H. Walk
Production Companies: Public Square Films, Ninety Thousand Words
Distribution (Us): Sundance Selects
Short Notes and Update:
The International Documentary Association in Los Angeles presents Doc U: The Doc Reporter
Navigating the Intersection of Documentary and Journalism
Moderated by: Karin Skellwagen (The Brooks Institute)
With Panelists:
Sarah Burns (The Central Park Five)
Michael Donaldson (Partner, Donaldson & Callif)
David France (How To Survive A Plague)
For information: http://doc-u-jan-2013-la.eventbrite.com/
Sundance Announces 2013 International Documentary Competition:
Fallen City/ China (Director: Qi Zhao) — Fallen City spans four years to reveal how three families who survived the 2008 Sichuan earthquake to embark on a journey searching for hope, purpose, identity, and to rebuild their lives in a new China torn between tradition and modernity. North American Premiere
Fire in the Blood/ India (Director: Dylan Mohan Gray) — In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Western governments and pharmaceutical companies blocked low-cost antiretroviral drugs from reaching AIDS-stricken Africa, causing 10 million or more unnecessary deaths. An improbable group of people decided to fight back. North American Premiere
Google and the World Brain/ Spain, United Kingdom (Director: Ben Lewis) — In the most ambitious Internet project ever conceived, Google is working to scan every book in the world. Google says it is building a library for mankind. But some are trying to stop it, claiming that Google may have other intentions. World Premiere
The Machine Which Makes Everything Disappear/ Georgia, Germany (Director: Tinatin Gurchiani) — A film director casting a 15-23-year-old protagonist visits villages and cities to meet people who answer her call. She follows those who prove to be interesting enough through various dramatic and funny situations. North American Premiere
The Moo Man/ United Kingdom (Directors: Andy Heathcote, Heike Bachelier) — A year in the life of heroic farmer Steve, scene stealing Ida (queen of the herd), and a supporting cast of 55 cows. When Ida falls ill, Steve’s optimism is challenged and their whole way of life is at stake. World Premiere
Pussy Riot – A Punk Prayer/ Russian Federation, United Kingdom (Directors: Mike Lerner, Maxim Pozdorovkin) — Three young women face seven years in a Russian prison for a satirical performance in a Moscow cathedral. But who is really on trial: the three young artists or the society they live in? World Premiere
A River Changes Course/ Cambodia, U.S.A. (Director: Kalyanee Mam) — Three young Cambodians struggle to overcome the crushing effects of deforestation, overfishing, and overwhelming debt in this devastatingly beautiful story of a country reeling from the tragedies of war and rushing to keep pace with a rapidly expanding world. World Premiere
Salma/ United Kingdom, India (Director: Kim Longinotto) — When Salma, a young girl in South India, reached puberty, her parents locked her away. Millions of girls all over the world share the same fate. Twenty-five years later, Salma has fought her way back to the outside world. World Premiere
The Square (Al Midan)/ Egypt, U.S.A. (Director: Jehane Noujaim) — What does it mean to risk your life for your ideals? How far will five revolutionaries go in defending their beliefs in the fight for their nation? World Premiere
The Stuart Hall Project/ United Kingdom (Director: John Akomfrah) — Antinuclear campaigner, New Left activist and founding father of Cultural Studies, this documentary interweaves 70 years of Stuart Hall’s film, radio and television appearances, and material from his private archive to document a memorable life and construct a portrait of Britain’s foremost radical intellectual. World Premiere
The Summit/ Ireland, United Kingdom (Director: Nick Ryan) — Twenty-four climbers converged at the last stop before summiting the most dangerous mountain on Earth. Forty-eight hours later, 11 had been killed or simply vanished. Had one, Ger McDonnell, stuck to the climbers' code, he might still be alive. International Premiere
Who is Dayani Cristal?/ United Kingdom (Director: Marc Silver) — An anonymous body in the Arizona desert sparks the beginning of a real-life human drama. The search for its identity leads us across a continent to seek out the people left behind and the meaning of a mysterious tattoo. World Premiere. Day One Film
Producer’s Guild Announces Nominations for the Award for Outstanding Producer of Documentary Theatrical Motion Pictures and Non-Fiction Television:
A People Uncounted(Urbinder Films)
Producers: Marc Swenker, Aaron Yeger
The Gatekeepers(Sony Pictures Classics)
Producers: Estelle Fialon, Philippa Kowarsky, Dror Moreh
The Island President(Samuel Goldwyn Films)
Producers: Richard Berge, Bonni Cohen
The Other Dream Team(The Film Arcade)
Producers: Marius Markevicius, Jon Weinbach
Searching For Sugar Man(Sony Pictures Classics)
Producers: Malik Bendjelloul, Simon Chinn
Nominations for the Award for Outstanding Producer of
Non-Fiction Television:
American Masters(PBS)
Producers: Prudence Glass, Susan Lacy, Julie Sacks
Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations(Travel Channel)
Producers: Anthony Bourdain, Christopher Collins, Lydia Tenaglia, Sandy Zweig
Deadliest Catch(Discovery Channel)
Producers: Thom Beers, Jeff Conroy, Sean Dash, John Gray, Sheila McCormack, Bill Pruitt, Decker Watson
Inside the Actors Studio(Bravo)
Producers: James Lipton, Shawn Tesser, Jeff Wurtz
Shark Tank(ABC)
Producers: Rhett Bachner, Becky Blitz, Mark Burnett, Bill Gaudsmith, Yun Lingner, Brien Meagher, Clay Newbill, Jim Roush, Laura Skowlund, Paul Sutera, Patrick Wood
BAFTA Short and Documentary Feature Nominations (British Academy of Film and Television Arts, London)
Documentary Feature
The ImposterBart Layton, Dimitri Doganis
Marley Kevin Macdonald, Steve Bing, Charles Steel
McCullin David Morris, Jacqui Morris
Searching for Sugar Man Malik Bendjelloul, Simon Chinn
West of Memphis Amy Berg
Short Animation
Here to Fall Kris Kelly, Evelyn McGrath
I’m Fine Thanks Eamonn O'Neill
The Making of Longbird Will Anderson, Ainslie Henderson
Short Film
The Curse Fyzal Boulifa, Gavin Humphries
Good Night Muriel d'Ansembourg, Eva Sigurdardottir
Swimmer Lynne Ramsay, Peter Carlton, Diarmid Scrimshaw
Tumult Johnny Barrington, Rhianna Andrews
The Voorman Problem Mark Gill, Baldwin Li
The Broadcast Film Critics Association (Bfca)
Documentary Feature Nominations
Bully
The Imposter
Queen of Versailles
Searching for Sugar Man (Winner)
The Central Park Five
West of Memphis
________________________________________________________________________
Credits: Editing by Jessica Just for SydneysBuzz
________________________________________________________________________
Block Doc Workshops in Los Angeles February 2013 Ida Doc U
The International Documentary Association will be hosting Documentary Funding and Documentary Tune-Up Workshops with Block on February 9/10. http://www.documentary.org/news/february-documentary-producing-workshops-mitchell-block
Mitchell Block specializes in conceiving, producing, marketing & distributing independent features & consulting. He is an expert in placing both completed works into distribution & working with producers to make projects fundable. He conducts regular workshops in film producing in Los Angeles and most recently in Maine, Russia and in Myanmar (Burma).
Poster Girl, produced by Block was nominated for a Documentary Academy Award and selected by the Ida as the Best Doc Short 2011. It was also nominated for two Emmy Awards and aired on HBO. He is an executive producer of the Emmy Award-winning PBS series Carrier, a 10-hour series that he conceived & co-created. Block is a graduate of Tisch School and Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business. He is a member of Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, the Television Academy, a founding member of BAFTA-la and has been teaching at USC School of Cinematic Arts since 1979. Currently Block teaches a required class in the USC Peter Stark Producing Program.
______________________________________________________________________
©2013Mwb All Rights Reserved All Rights Reserved. All information and designs on the Sites are copyrighted material owned by Block. Reproduction, dissemination, or transmission of any part of the material here without the express written consent of the owner is strictly prohibited.All other product names and marks on Block Direct, whether trademarks, service marks, or other type, and whether registered or unregistered, is the property of Block.
Send us links to your sizzle reels and film sites.
Note: See Issues 1, 2, 3, and 4 for reviews and clips of the Academy documentary films and short films. Additional reviews of the documentary features follow in this issue.
Best documentary feature
5 Broken Cameras Emad Burnat and Guy Davidi
The Gatekeepers Nominees to be determined *See note below
How to Survive a Plague Nominees to be determined
The Invisible War Nominees to be determined
Searching for Sugar Man Nominees to be determined
Best documentary short subject
Inocente Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine
Kings Point Sari Gilman and Jedd Wider
Mondays at Racine Cynthia Wade and Robin Honan
Open Heart Kief Davidson and Cori Shepherd Stern
Redemption Jon Alpert and Matthew O'Neill
Best animated short film
Adam and Dog Minkyu Lee
Fresh Guacamole Pes
Head over Heels Timothy Reckart and Fodhla Cronin O'Reilly
Maggie Simpson in The Longest Daycare David Silverman
Paperman John Kahrs
Best live action short film
Asad Bryan Buckley and Mino Jarjoura
Buzkashi Boys Sam French and Ariel Nasr
Curfew Shawn Christensen
Death of a Shadow (Dood van een Schaduw) Tom Van Avermaet and Ellen De Waele
Henry Yan England
Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song) from a documentary
Before My Time from The documentary feature Chasing Ice Music and Lyric by J. Ralph
Note: *Nominees to be determined* The Documentary Brand gives the nomination to the individual(s) most involved in the key creative aspects of the filmmaking process. A maximum of two persons may be designated as nominees, one of whom must be the credited director who exercised directorial control, and the other of whom must have a producer or director credit. If a producer is named, that individual must have performed a major portion of the producing functions, in accordance with Academy producer criteria. No more than two statuettes will normally be given in the Documentary Feature category. All individuals with a “Producer” or “Produced by” credit on films that reach the semifinal round will automatically be vetted.
The Documentary Branch Executive Committee will determine which producers, if any, are eligible to receive an Oscar. In the unlikely event of a dispute, filmmakers may appeal the committee’s decision. In extremely rare circumstances, a third statuette may be awarded.
Production companies or persons with the screen credit of executive producer, co-producer or any credit other than director or producer shall not be eligible as nominees for the motion picture.
DGA Documentary Award Nominations
Kirby Dick The Invisible War
This is Mr. Dick’s first DGA Award nomination.
Malik Bendjelloul Searching For Sugar Man
This is Mr. Bendjelloul’s first DGA Award nomination.
Lauren Greenfield The Queen of Versailles
This is Ms. Greenfield’s first DGA Award nomination.
David France How To Survive A Plague
This is Mr. France’s first DGA Award nomination.
Alison Klayman Ai WeiWei: Never Sorry
This is Ms. Klayman’s first DGA Award nomination.
Two Academy Nominated Documentary Features
& One Academy Short Listed Documentary Reviewed
The Gatekeepers, directed by Dror Moreh
Documentary Feature Nominee
Six former heads of Israel’s domestic secret service agency, the Shin Bet, share their insights and reflect publicly on their actions and decisions in The Gatekeepers, a film by Dror Moreh. These six heads of the Shin Bet stood at the center of Israel's decision-making process in all matters pertaining to security. They worked closely with every Israeli prime minister, and their assessments and insights had—and continue to have—a profound impact on Israeli policy. The Gatekeepers is an exclusive account of their successes and failures.
I find The Gatekeepers remarkable. Not for its craft but for its concept and vision. Imagine
J Edger Hoover talking about his tenure at the FBI, his successes and his failures, his interactions with the Presidents and members of Congress, and his critical self-evaluation of his mission and how his agency’s work affected our nation. Imagine. Dror Moreh accomplished this feat when he convinced these six surviving members of the Shin Bet, to speak on camera.
The film provides a historical perspective of Israel that is both candid and critical of the successive governments in this rare Middle Eastern democracy. The Shin Bet was created in 1949 by David Ben-Gurion’s government to focus on the internal affairs of Israel and evolved into dealing with counterterrorism and intelligence gathering in the West Bank and Gaza.
These intelligence heads, like ours, report to the President/Prime Minister. They are not part of the military complex. It is this context that gives this work its power. We hear the story of Israel’s struggle to protect itself from both its internal and external enemies; the bombers, terrorists, agents and others who worked to destroy this small country. These men are not glamorous or like the fictional heads of the spy agencies we have seen in James Bond and Bourne films. They are bald or balding grandfather-types. Articulate, highly educated, calm and yet we know that they protected Israel from its enemies even if they had them killed.
This is one of the strongest of the nominated docs. It raises significant issues of personal responsibilities. Despite the lack of oversight we don’t feel that this is an organization gone amuck like the Catholic Church not protecting children or the Us Military not protecting its members from sexual harassment. We see these articulate men as guardians and protectors of their nation steadfastly doing their duty within the confines of their moral beliefs. What is scary about The Gatekeepers is that clearly there could have been abuses and wrongs done by the Shin Bet if these six had less character or their mission was redefined by the government without regard to moral or ethical standards. The film on reflection is troubling for regardless of how the spectator might feel about Israel it forces us to look at this conflict through the lenses of these six guardians and we can only wonder what they don’t tell us about what they did in the name of their country.
Credits:
Director: Dror Moreh
Camera: Avner Shahaf
Producers: Dror Moreh, Estelle Fialon, Philippa Kowarsky
Co Producer: Anna Van Der Wee
Sound: Amos Zipori
Sound Design: Aex Claude
Music: Ab Ovo, Jérôme Chassagnard, Régis Baillet
Editor: Oron Adar
Production Companies: Dror Moreh Productions, Les Films du Poisson, Cinephil
In Co-Production with: Mac Guff, Wild Heart Productions, Arte France, Iba, Ndr, Rtbf
With the support of: Cnc, Media, Région Ile-de-France, Procirep, Angoa, The Rabinovich Foundation for the Arts – Cinema Project
Distribution: Sony Classics
Trailer: http://www.sonyclassics.com/thegatekeepers/
The House I Live In, directed by Eugene Jarecki
Short Listed Documentary Feature for Academy Award nomination
The House I Live In looks at how America has waged war on some of its poorest citizens, costing countless lives, destroying families, and inflicting untold damage on future generations of Americans. It posits that over the last forty years, the War on Drugs has accounted for more than 45 million arrests and shows how America became the world’s largest jailer, damaging poor communities at home and abroad. Yet today drugs are cheaper, purer and more available than ever before. It shows that drug abuse is a public health issue. Despite this, it is treated by our society as a criminal matter and a vast machine has been created that feeds on the men and women who are incarcerated. Because of this, the prisoners are not offered help or a cure for their underlying problems, so they return to prison in a never ending cycle.
Eugene Jarecki, whose previous films looked at the military industrial complex (Why We Fight and The Trials of Henry Kissinger), won the Grand Jury Prize for Documentary at Sundance in both 2005 and 2010. The film tackles difficult material. Material that has been in scores of documentaries and television shows over the years. Yet Jarecki, using his personal experience, a wealth of interviews and strong case studies, builds a compelling case for changing the sentencing guidelines for crack (and cocaine) and for dealing with both addiction and the underlying causes of addiction. Jarecki is a skillful filmmaker who has picked a vast and complex subject and has created a work that while rich in content moves along at a good pace although it might have been stronger if it had tried to do less. The film editor Paul Frost and the composer Robert Miller do an excellent job building strong sequences with evocative music. It was nicely shot by Sam Cullman and Derek Hallquist. Richard Abramowitz’s Abramorama handled the distribution and was successful getting the work out which is never easy for such an issue oriented film.
Credits:
Director, Producer, Screenwriter: Eugene Jarecki
Producers: Melinda Shopsin, Sam Cullman, Christopher St. John
Executive Producers: Eugene Jarecki, Nick Fraser, Joslyn Barnes, Danny Glover, Russell Simmons, Roy Ackerman, John Legend, Sally Jo Feifer, Nick Fraser
Camera: Sam Cullman, Derek Hallquist
Sound: Matthew Freed, Art Jaso
Music: Robert Milller
Editor: Paul Frost
Production Companies: Charlotte Street Films, Zdf Enterprises, Independent Television Services, BBC, Aljazeera Documentary Channel, Vpro, Special Broadcasting Service Corporation, Louverture Films, Nhk
Distribution (Us): Abramorama Entertainment, Snag Films
How to Survive a Plague, directed by David France
Documentary Feature Nominee
How to Survive a Plague by writer and filmmaker David France tells the story of how two coalitions came together to lobby for effective treatments and funding for treatments of AIDS in the late 1980s when it was evident that the Us government and its health and other agencies were not being very effective dealing with the AIDS epidemic. The coalitions, Act Up and Tag (Treatment Action Group) helped to make AIDS more treatable. While there is still no cure for AIDS and thousands of people globally still die from the virus, it is now possible to prolong life with treatments that have been developed.
Despite having no scientific training, these self-made activists infiltrated the pharmaceutical industry and helped identify promising new drugs, moving them from experimental trials to patients in record time. With access to never-before-seen archival footage from the 1980s and '90s, filmmaker David France puts the viewer smack in the middle of the controversial actions, the heated meetings, the heartbreaking failures, and the exultant breakthroughs. Faced with their own mortality an improbable group of young men and women, many of them HIV-positive took on Washington and the medical establishment.
While there have been a handful of outstanding films dealing with the AIDS epidemic including Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt, The Broadcast Tapes of Dr. Peter and Silverlake Life, to name a few, How to Survive a Plague picks up on the story begun in the landmark Common Threads and updates the struggle, looking at the quest to find a treatment and possibly a cure for this vicious disease. The film weaves together stories of activism and shows how a small determined group can effect change not just nationally but globally. While the film is not as well made as Common Threads or Dr. Peter, it’s powerful. The archival footage manages to capture some of the key figures of Act Up and Tag showing actions as they take place. Instead of relying on talking heads to tell this amazing story, it is presented with footage shot as the story unfolded. This footage and its solid editing distinguishes this film from so many of the works that have tried to tell this story.
Few documentaries have such powerful antagonists, the government, incompetence, a lack of urgency on the part of the medical community and fear. Throw in homophobia and it is evident that the dramatic actions of these heroes saved hundreds of thousands of possible victims from this mostly sexually spread plague.
My only serious criticism of this documentary is its failure to be clearer that the plague continues, that there is no cure for HIV/AIDS and that the community continues to give a false sense of hope. Currently the Cdc states:
” ..estimates that 1,148,200 persons aged 13 years and older are living with HIV infection, including 207,600 (18.1%) who are unaware of their infection1. Over the past decade, the number of people living with HIV has increased, while the annual number of new HIV infections has remained relatively stable. Still, the pace of new infections continues at far too high a level—particularly among certain groups.
HIV Incidence(new infections): The estimated incidence of HIV has remained stable overall in recent years, at about 50,000 new HIV infections per year.2 Within the overall estimates, however, some groups are affected more than others. Msm (men who have sex with men) continue to bear the greatest burden of HIV infection, and among races/ethnicities, African Americans continue to be disproportionately affected.”
This information could have been contained in the last few minutes of this powerful work, to inspire and warn the audience that testing is critical and that safe sex is still the only way to contain AIDS.
The Filmmaker
David France, Director, Producer
David France is an award-winning journalist and New York Times best-selling author who has been writing about AIDS since 1982 and today is one of the best-known chroniclers of the epidemic. His work has appeared in the New York Times, Newsweek, GQ, and New York magazine, where he is a contributing editor, and has received the National Headliner Award and the GLAAD Media Award, among others. Several films have been inspired by his work, most recently the Emmy-nominated Showtime film Our Fathers, for which he received a WGA nomination. He is at work on a major history of AIDS, due from Alfred A. Knopf in 2013. Based on decades of reporting, How to Survive a Plague is his directorial debut.
Credits
Director: David France
Writers: David France, Todd Woody Richman, Tyler H. Walk
Producers: David France, Howard Gertler
Executive Producers: Dan Cogan, Joy A. Tomchin
Co-Producer: Todd Woody Richman
Camera: Derek Wieshahn
Sound: Stuart Deutsch, Topher Reifeiss
Original Music: Stuart Bogie
Editor: Todd Woody Richman, Tyler H. Walk
Production Companies: Public Square Films, Ninety Thousand Words
Distribution (Us): Sundance Selects
Short Notes and Update:
The International Documentary Association in Los Angeles presents Doc U: The Doc Reporter
Navigating the Intersection of Documentary and Journalism
Moderated by: Karin Skellwagen (The Brooks Institute)
With Panelists:
Sarah Burns (The Central Park Five)
Michael Donaldson (Partner, Donaldson & Callif)
David France (How To Survive A Plague)
For information: http://doc-u-jan-2013-la.eventbrite.com/
Sundance Announces 2013 International Documentary Competition:
Fallen City/ China (Director: Qi Zhao) — Fallen City spans four years to reveal how three families who survived the 2008 Sichuan earthquake to embark on a journey searching for hope, purpose, identity, and to rebuild their lives in a new China torn between tradition and modernity. North American Premiere
Fire in the Blood/ India (Director: Dylan Mohan Gray) — In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Western governments and pharmaceutical companies blocked low-cost antiretroviral drugs from reaching AIDS-stricken Africa, causing 10 million or more unnecessary deaths. An improbable group of people decided to fight back. North American Premiere
Google and the World Brain/ Spain, United Kingdom (Director: Ben Lewis) — In the most ambitious Internet project ever conceived, Google is working to scan every book in the world. Google says it is building a library for mankind. But some are trying to stop it, claiming that Google may have other intentions. World Premiere
The Machine Which Makes Everything Disappear/ Georgia, Germany (Director: Tinatin Gurchiani) — A film director casting a 15-23-year-old protagonist visits villages and cities to meet people who answer her call. She follows those who prove to be interesting enough through various dramatic and funny situations. North American Premiere
The Moo Man/ United Kingdom (Directors: Andy Heathcote, Heike Bachelier) — A year in the life of heroic farmer Steve, scene stealing Ida (queen of the herd), and a supporting cast of 55 cows. When Ida falls ill, Steve’s optimism is challenged and their whole way of life is at stake. World Premiere
Pussy Riot – A Punk Prayer/ Russian Federation, United Kingdom (Directors: Mike Lerner, Maxim Pozdorovkin) — Three young women face seven years in a Russian prison for a satirical performance in a Moscow cathedral. But who is really on trial: the three young artists or the society they live in? World Premiere
A River Changes Course/ Cambodia, U.S.A. (Director: Kalyanee Mam) — Three young Cambodians struggle to overcome the crushing effects of deforestation, overfishing, and overwhelming debt in this devastatingly beautiful story of a country reeling from the tragedies of war and rushing to keep pace with a rapidly expanding world. World Premiere
Salma/ United Kingdom, India (Director: Kim Longinotto) — When Salma, a young girl in South India, reached puberty, her parents locked her away. Millions of girls all over the world share the same fate. Twenty-five years later, Salma has fought her way back to the outside world. World Premiere
The Square (Al Midan)/ Egypt, U.S.A. (Director: Jehane Noujaim) — What does it mean to risk your life for your ideals? How far will five revolutionaries go in defending their beliefs in the fight for their nation? World Premiere
The Stuart Hall Project/ United Kingdom (Director: John Akomfrah) — Antinuclear campaigner, New Left activist and founding father of Cultural Studies, this documentary interweaves 70 years of Stuart Hall’s film, radio and television appearances, and material from his private archive to document a memorable life and construct a portrait of Britain’s foremost radical intellectual. World Premiere
The Summit/ Ireland, United Kingdom (Director: Nick Ryan) — Twenty-four climbers converged at the last stop before summiting the most dangerous mountain on Earth. Forty-eight hours later, 11 had been killed or simply vanished. Had one, Ger McDonnell, stuck to the climbers' code, he might still be alive. International Premiere
Who is Dayani Cristal?/ United Kingdom (Director: Marc Silver) — An anonymous body in the Arizona desert sparks the beginning of a real-life human drama. The search for its identity leads us across a continent to seek out the people left behind and the meaning of a mysterious tattoo. World Premiere. Day One Film
Producer’s Guild Announces Nominations for the Award for Outstanding Producer of Documentary Theatrical Motion Pictures and Non-Fiction Television:
A People Uncounted(Urbinder Films)
Producers: Marc Swenker, Aaron Yeger
The Gatekeepers(Sony Pictures Classics)
Producers: Estelle Fialon, Philippa Kowarsky, Dror Moreh
The Island President(Samuel Goldwyn Films)
Producers: Richard Berge, Bonni Cohen
The Other Dream Team(The Film Arcade)
Producers: Marius Markevicius, Jon Weinbach
Searching For Sugar Man(Sony Pictures Classics)
Producers: Malik Bendjelloul, Simon Chinn
Nominations for the Award for Outstanding Producer of
Non-Fiction Television:
American Masters(PBS)
Producers: Prudence Glass, Susan Lacy, Julie Sacks
Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations(Travel Channel)
Producers: Anthony Bourdain, Christopher Collins, Lydia Tenaglia, Sandy Zweig
Deadliest Catch(Discovery Channel)
Producers: Thom Beers, Jeff Conroy, Sean Dash, John Gray, Sheila McCormack, Bill Pruitt, Decker Watson
Inside the Actors Studio(Bravo)
Producers: James Lipton, Shawn Tesser, Jeff Wurtz
Shark Tank(ABC)
Producers: Rhett Bachner, Becky Blitz, Mark Burnett, Bill Gaudsmith, Yun Lingner, Brien Meagher, Clay Newbill, Jim Roush, Laura Skowlund, Paul Sutera, Patrick Wood
BAFTA Short and Documentary Feature Nominations (British Academy of Film and Television Arts, London)
Documentary Feature
The ImposterBart Layton, Dimitri Doganis
Marley Kevin Macdonald, Steve Bing, Charles Steel
McCullin David Morris, Jacqui Morris
Searching for Sugar Man Malik Bendjelloul, Simon Chinn
West of Memphis Amy Berg
Short Animation
Here to Fall Kris Kelly, Evelyn McGrath
I’m Fine Thanks Eamonn O'Neill
The Making of Longbird Will Anderson, Ainslie Henderson
Short Film
The Curse Fyzal Boulifa, Gavin Humphries
Good Night Muriel d'Ansembourg, Eva Sigurdardottir
Swimmer Lynne Ramsay, Peter Carlton, Diarmid Scrimshaw
Tumult Johnny Barrington, Rhianna Andrews
The Voorman Problem Mark Gill, Baldwin Li
The Broadcast Film Critics Association (Bfca)
Documentary Feature Nominations
Bully
The Imposter
Queen of Versailles
Searching for Sugar Man (Winner)
The Central Park Five
West of Memphis
________________________________________________________________________
Credits: Editing by Jessica Just for SydneysBuzz
________________________________________________________________________
Block Doc Workshops in Los Angeles February 2013 Ida Doc U
The International Documentary Association will be hosting Documentary Funding and Documentary Tune-Up Workshops with Block on February 9/10. http://www.documentary.org/news/february-documentary-producing-workshops-mitchell-block
Mitchell Block specializes in conceiving, producing, marketing & distributing independent features & consulting. He is an expert in placing both completed works into distribution & working with producers to make projects fundable. He conducts regular workshops in film producing in Los Angeles and most recently in Maine, Russia and in Myanmar (Burma).
Poster Girl, produced by Block was nominated for a Documentary Academy Award and selected by the Ida as the Best Doc Short 2011. It was also nominated for two Emmy Awards and aired on HBO. He is an executive producer of the Emmy Award-winning PBS series Carrier, a 10-hour series that he conceived & co-created. Block is a graduate of Tisch School and Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business. He is a member of Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, the Television Academy, a founding member of BAFTA-la and has been teaching at USC School of Cinematic Arts since 1979. Currently Block teaches a required class in the USC Peter Stark Producing Program.
______________________________________________________________________
©2013Mwb All Rights Reserved All Rights Reserved. All information and designs on the Sites are copyrighted material owned by Block. Reproduction, dissemination, or transmission of any part of the material here without the express written consent of the owner is strictly prohibited.All other product names and marks on Block Direct, whether trademarks, service marks, or other type, and whether registered or unregistered, is the property of Block.
- 1/17/2013
- by Mitchell Block
- Sydney's Buzz
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.