The American Film Institute’s AFI Fest wraps on November 7, which means it’s time to hand out the juried prize winners in the short films section. These honorees are eligible to compete at next year’s Academy Awards in the Best Live Action Short, Best Documentary Short, and Best Animated Short categories.
This year’s AFI Fest, which included 125 films overall, opened with the world premiere of the documentary “Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me” and closed with Steven Spielberg’s “The Fabelmans,” already a top pick in this year’s Oscar race. Also screening at the festival were awards contenders “Bardo” from Alejandro G. Iñárritu, “Pinocchio” from Guillermo del Toro, “Living” from Oliver Hermanus, and “She Said” from Maria Schrader. Ava DuVernay served as this year’s Guest Artistic Director.
Here are all the juried AFI Fest award winners.
Grand Jury Prize – Live Action Short
“Birds” (dir. Katherine Propper...
This year’s AFI Fest, which included 125 films overall, opened with the world premiere of the documentary “Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me” and closed with Steven Spielberg’s “The Fabelmans,” already a top pick in this year’s Oscar race. Also screening at the festival were awards contenders “Bardo” from Alejandro G. Iñárritu, “Pinocchio” from Guillermo del Toro, “Living” from Oliver Hermanus, and “She Said” from Maria Schrader. Ava DuVernay served as this year’s Guest Artistic Director.
Here are all the juried AFI Fest award winners.
Grand Jury Prize – Live Action Short
“Birds” (dir. Katherine Propper...
- 11/7/2022
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
Chicago – Groundbreaking filmmakers often start at the South by Southwest Festival. Influencers like the Duplass brothers, Chicago’s Joe Swanberg and Lena Dunham got their first prominent notices at the fest. In that spirit, the 2022 SXSW Grand Jury Awards were announced on March 15th.
The top film in Narrative Features was “I Love My Dad” by writer/director James Morosini, featuring Patton Oswalt and Morosini himself as father and son reconnecting under odd circumstances. The Documentary Feature awardee was “Master of Light” by Rosa Ruth Boesten, an unusual profile of painter George Anthony Morton, as he struggles to render his mother. And the Narrative Short deemed best is by writer/director Tang Yi, entitled “All the Crows in the World,” with its “inventive story and critiques of patriarchal culture.”
The following is the list of top honorees …
Grand Jury Prize - Narrative Feature
I Love My Dad
Photo credit: SXSW.
The top film in Narrative Features was “I Love My Dad” by writer/director James Morosini, featuring Patton Oswalt and Morosini himself as father and son reconnecting under odd circumstances. The Documentary Feature awardee was “Master of Light” by Rosa Ruth Boesten, an unusual profile of painter George Anthony Morton, as he struggles to render his mother. And the Narrative Short deemed best is by writer/director Tang Yi, entitled “All the Crows in the World,” with its “inventive story and critiques of patriarchal culture.”
The following is the list of top honorees …
Grand Jury Prize - Narrative Feature
I Love My Dad
Photo credit: SXSW.
- 3/17/2022
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Back together in person after two years of going virtual during the pandemic, the Austin-based SXSW Film Festival has announced its juried prizes. As in previous editions, the awards show happened at the midpoint of the nine-day event, before SXSW’s music events suck much of the attention away from film screenings.
The top prize in narrative feature competition went to “I Love My Dad,” written and directed by James Morosini, who also stars as a younger version of himself in this uncomfortable retelling of how he was catfished by his father (played by Patton Oswalt).
“Morosini displays massive empathy as a filmmaker to get into the mind of the father he feels betrayed by, and also as an actor portraying the impact of that betrayal,” said the jury, who also gave special jury prizes to the cast and crew of “It Is in Us All” and Elizaveta Yankovskaya, star of the Russian film “Nika.
The top prize in narrative feature competition went to “I Love My Dad,” written and directed by James Morosini, who also stars as a younger version of himself in this uncomfortable retelling of how he was catfished by his father (played by Patton Oswalt).
“Morosini displays massive empathy as a filmmaker to get into the mind of the father he feels betrayed by, and also as an actor portraying the impact of that betrayal,” said the jury, who also gave special jury prizes to the cast and crew of “It Is in Us All” and Elizaveta Yankovskaya, star of the Russian film “Nika.
- 3/16/2022
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
The 2022 jury and special award winners of the 29th SXSW Film Festival were unveiled on Tuesday night out of Austin, Texas. Feature films receiving jury awards were selected from the narrative and documentary competitions. Juried awards for shorts, design, and Xr experience were also announced.
Special awards announced included: Louis Black “Lone Star” Award, Adobe Editing Award, Adam Yauch Hörnblowér Award, Zeiss Cinematography Award, the Mailchimp Support the Shorts Award, and the Fandor New Voices Award.
All 2022 film categories will be eligible for category-specific audience awards, which will be certified by the accounting firm of Maxwell Locke & Ritter. Online screenings and audience award voting will conclude 9 a.m. Ct on Monday, March 21. Winners will be announced via sxsw.com that week.
“It was extraordinary to gather together in person again after so long and we are so grateful to the filmmakers and audience who joined us at SXSW 2022 in...
Special awards announced included: Louis Black “Lone Star” Award, Adobe Editing Award, Adam Yauch Hörnblowér Award, Zeiss Cinematography Award, the Mailchimp Support the Shorts Award, and the Fandor New Voices Award.
All 2022 film categories will be eligible for category-specific audience awards, which will be certified by the accounting firm of Maxwell Locke & Ritter. Online screenings and audience award voting will conclude 9 a.m. Ct on Monday, March 21. Winners will be announced via sxsw.com that week.
“It was extraordinary to gather together in person again after so long and we are so grateful to the filmmakers and audience who joined us at SXSW 2022 in...
- 3/16/2022
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
Nick Waterman’s The Flame has lit up the 30th annual Flickerfest in Sydney, awarded Best Australian Short Film at the festival’s awards ceremony on Sunday.
Other winners included Tilda Cobham-Hervey and Dev Patel’s Roborovski, which was crowned Best Australian Short Animation, and Naomi Fryer, who won Best Direction in an Australian Short Film for her work on River.
The Flame, which was directed in collaboration with Dayannah Baker Barlow, Tyrese Fernando and Lance Whitton Jr, is about a young boy and girl in a remote town who remember a time before a cold wind first swept across the land; when fire meant something different.
The film was written by Nick Waterman, Megan Washington, Dayannah Baker Barlow, Tyrese Fernando, Paul Spearim, Connie Taylor, and Lance Whitton Jr, and produced by Beyond Empathy.
It was one of four Australian films to be selected for last year’s Berlin International Film Festival.
Other winners included Tilda Cobham-Hervey and Dev Patel’s Roborovski, which was crowned Best Australian Short Animation, and Naomi Fryer, who won Best Direction in an Australian Short Film for her work on River.
The Flame, which was directed in collaboration with Dayannah Baker Barlow, Tyrese Fernando and Lance Whitton Jr, is about a young boy and girl in a remote town who remember a time before a cold wind first swept across the land; when fire meant something different.
The film was written by Nick Waterman, Megan Washington, Dayannah Baker Barlow, Tyrese Fernando, Paul Spearim, Connie Taylor, and Lance Whitton Jr, and produced by Beyond Empathy.
It was one of four Australian films to be selected for last year’s Berlin International Film Festival.
- 1/31/2021
- by Sean Slatter
- IF.com.au
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
"It's really overwhelming for me," says one man. He's not alone, either physically or in sentiment, just one of dozens of inmates who have just been released from Huntsville State Penitentiary with a bus ticket and $100 release check and who are heading to the nearest Greyhound bus station.
Directors Chris Filippone, Jamie Meltzer largely take a fly-on-the-wall approach for their short documentary, showing how a small economy has sprung up around the men, who are immediately being hawked phones to call home and aftershave at two squirts for 50 cents. This moment at the bus station is a sort of limbo, with these ex-cons briefly poised between their old life and the new.
For some, it's only been a handful of years, for one man, it's been 30 - "a lifetime" he says, before tears begin to roll down his face.
Filippone and Meltzer find power in silence, content to watch and keep themselves out of.
Directors Chris Filippone, Jamie Meltzer largely take a fly-on-the-wall approach for their short documentary, showing how a small economy has sprung up around the men, who are immediately being hawked phones to call home and aftershave at two squirts for 50 cents. This moment at the bus station is a sort of limbo, with these ex-cons briefly poised between their old life and the new.
For some, it's only been a handful of years, for one man, it's been 30 - "a lifetime" he says, before tears begin to roll down his face.
Filippone and Meltzer find power in silence, content to watch and keep themselves out of.
- 1/8/2021
- by Amber Wilkinson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
The influential Cinema Eye Honors nominations, voted on by documentary filmmakers, help to narrow the wide field for documentary awards contenders. Amazon Studios release “Time,” Garrett Bradley’s poetic black-and-white portrait of one family’s struggle through years of incarceration, leads the field with six nominations, including Outstanding Feature, Direction, Editing, Score and Debut.
Garnering four nominations: Alexander Nanau’s Romanian health system exposé “Collective” (Magnolia), Victor Kossakovsky’s story of a mother pig, “Gunda” (Neon), and David France’s “Welcome to Chechnya” (HBO) with four.
With three nominations each: Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss’ “Boys State” (Apple), Kirsten Johnson’s “Dick Johnson is Dead” (Netflix), Liz Garbus’ series “I’ll Be Gone in the Dark” (HBO), Gianfranco Rosi’s Italian Oscar submission “Notturno” (Super Ltd), and Michael Dweck & Gregory Kershaw’s “The Truffle Hunters” (Sony Pictures Classics).
Per usual, prolific Netflix leads all distributors/broadcasters with thirteen nominations, while HBO Documentary Films grabbed ten,...
Garnering four nominations: Alexander Nanau’s Romanian health system exposé “Collective” (Magnolia), Victor Kossakovsky’s story of a mother pig, “Gunda” (Neon), and David France’s “Welcome to Chechnya” (HBO) with four.
With three nominations each: Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss’ “Boys State” (Apple), Kirsten Johnson’s “Dick Johnson is Dead” (Netflix), Liz Garbus’ series “I’ll Be Gone in the Dark” (HBO), Gianfranco Rosi’s Italian Oscar submission “Notturno” (Super Ltd), and Michael Dweck & Gregory Kershaw’s “The Truffle Hunters” (Sony Pictures Classics).
Per usual, prolific Netflix leads all distributors/broadcasters with thirteen nominations, while HBO Documentary Films grabbed ten,...
- 12/10/2020
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
The influential Cinema Eye Honors nominations, voted on by documentary filmmakers, help to narrow the wide field for documentary awards contenders. Amazon Studios release “Time,” Garrett Bradley’s poetic black-and-white portrait of one family’s struggle through years of incarceration, leads the field with six nominations, including Outstanding Feature, Direction, Editing, Score and Debut.
Garnering four nominations: Alexander Nanau’s Romanian health system exposé “Collective” (Magnolia), Victor Kossakovsky’s story of a mother pig, “Gunda” (Neon), and David France’s “Welcome to Chechnya” (HBO) with four.
With three nominations each: Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss’ “Boys State” (Apple), Kirsten Johnson’s “Dick Johnson is Dead” (Netflix), Liz Garbus’ series “I’ll Be Gone in the Dark” (HBO), Gianfranco Rosi’s Italian Oscar submission “Notturno” (Super Ltd), and Michael Dweck & Gregory Kershaw’s “The Truffle Hunters” (Sony Pictures Classics).
Per usual, prolific Netflix leads all distributors/broadcasters with thirteen nominations, while HBO Documentary Films grabbed ten,...
Garnering four nominations: Alexander Nanau’s Romanian health system exposé “Collective” (Magnolia), Victor Kossakovsky’s story of a mother pig, “Gunda” (Neon), and David France’s “Welcome to Chechnya” (HBO) with four.
With three nominations each: Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss’ “Boys State” (Apple), Kirsten Johnson’s “Dick Johnson is Dead” (Netflix), Liz Garbus’ series “I’ll Be Gone in the Dark” (HBO), Gianfranco Rosi’s Italian Oscar submission “Notturno” (Super Ltd), and Michael Dweck & Gregory Kershaw’s “The Truffle Hunters” (Sony Pictures Classics).
Per usual, prolific Netflix leads all distributors/broadcasters with thirteen nominations, while HBO Documentary Films grabbed ten,...
- 12/10/2020
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
“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
David France’s “Welcome to Chechnya,” a documentary about LGBTQ activists trying to help during the Chechnya government’s brutal crackdown on gays and lesbians, leads all films in nominations in the Cinema Eye Honors’ broadcast categories, which were announced on Thursday during a virtual edition of its annual fall lunch.
Cinema Eye, a New York-based organization founded in 2007 to recognize all aspects of nonfiction filmmaking, also announced its new Stay Focused initiative. The program spotlights 12 films by up-and-coming filmmakers who lost the chance for theatrical exhibition and film-festival exposure because of the coronavirus pandemic. Cinema Eye has pledged to find “in-person opportunities” for the filmmakers once the pandemic subsides, starting with theatrical screenings at the new Vidiots Theatre in Los Angeles in late 2021.
The 12 films include Cecilia Aldorondo’s “Landfall,” which recently won a jury award at Doc NYC; David Osit’s “Mayor,” about the Christian mayor of a...
Cinema Eye, a New York-based organization founded in 2007 to recognize all aspects of nonfiction filmmaking, also announced its new Stay Focused initiative. The program spotlights 12 films by up-and-coming filmmakers who lost the chance for theatrical exhibition and film-festival exposure because of the coronavirus pandemic. Cinema Eye has pledged to find “in-person opportunities” for the filmmakers once the pandemic subsides, starting with theatrical screenings at the new Vidiots Theatre in Los Angeles in late 2021.
The 12 films include Cecilia Aldorondo’s “Landfall,” which recently won a jury award at Doc NYC; David Osit’s “Mayor,” about the Christian mayor of a...
- 11/19/2020
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
The 23rd annual Scad Savannah Film Festival has announced this year’s competition award winners. Best narrative feature went to “Killing Eleanor,” while “Kusasa” won best documentary feature. “My Brother’s Keeper” won the Jury Award for exceptional storytelling.
A key stop on the festival circuit leading up to the Academy Awards, Scad screened more than 150 films ranging from narrative features to documentaries and shorts with 14 world premieres.
Thirty-three awards were announced from the 122 films selected to compete in the categories of narrative features, documentary features, professional shorts, animated shorts, student shorts, Global Shorts Forum, Shorts Spotlight and Southern Voices.
“Killing Eleanor,” directed by Rich Newey, is about a terminally ill elderly woman who convinces a self-destructive addict to help her die on her terms in exchange for clean urine. Meanwhile, “Our Side,” directed by Nicola Rinciari, won best live action short by a Scad student. The story follows an African...
A key stop on the festival circuit leading up to the Academy Awards, Scad screened more than 150 films ranging from narrative features to documentaries and shorts with 14 world premieres.
Thirty-three awards were announced from the 122 films selected to compete in the categories of narrative features, documentary features, professional shorts, animated shorts, student shorts, Global Shorts Forum, Shorts Spotlight and Southern Voices.
“Killing Eleanor,” directed by Rich Newey, is about a terminally ill elderly woman who convinces a self-destructive addict to help her die on her terms in exchange for clean urine. Meanwhile, “Our Side,” directed by Nicola Rinciari, won best live action short by a Scad student. The story follows an African...
- 10/30/2020
- by Natalie Oganesyan
- Variety Film + TV
The 2020 Palm Springs International ShortFest announced its juried award winners from the 332 shorts films that were part of the Official Selection.
Awards and cash prizes worth $25,000, including five Academy Award qualifying awards, will be presented to the winners. The winner of these awards may be eligible to submit their short to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for Oscar consideration.
The festivals is designated by AMPAS, BAFTA, Bifa and Goya Awards as an award-qualifying festival and accredited by the International Short Film Conference. More information is at www.psfilmfest.org.
The award-winners:
Greater Palm Springs Cvb Best of the Festival Award – Winner received $5,000 cash prize courtesy of the Greater Palm Springs Convention & Visitors Bureau.
Jury: Megan Halpern (Black List), Marie-Louise Khonndji (Le Cinéma Club), Jacqueline Lyanga (Global Cinematheque)
Matriochkas (Belgium/France), Directed by Bérangère Mc Neese
Anna is 16, and lives with her young mother, Rebecca. It is the...
Awards and cash prizes worth $25,000, including five Academy Award qualifying awards, will be presented to the winners. The winner of these awards may be eligible to submit their short to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for Oscar consideration.
The festivals is designated by AMPAS, BAFTA, Bifa and Goya Awards as an award-qualifying festival and accredited by the International Short Film Conference. More information is at www.psfilmfest.org.
The award-winners:
Greater Palm Springs Cvb Best of the Festival Award – Winner received $5,000 cash prize courtesy of the Greater Palm Springs Convention & Visitors Bureau.
Jury: Megan Halpern (Black List), Marie-Louise Khonndji (Le Cinéma Club), Jacqueline Lyanga (Global Cinematheque)
Matriochkas (Belgium/France), Directed by Bérangère Mc Neese
Anna is 16, and lives with her young mother, Rebecca. It is the...
- 6/21/2020
- by Bruce Haring
- Deadline Film + TV
The 2020 Palm Springs International ShortFest has announced its festival juried award winners from the 332 shorts films featured throughout this year’s virtual edition, running June 16-22. Awards and cash prizes worth $25,000 were handed out, and a number of the winners are now eligible for the 2021 Academy Awards short film categories. See the full list of winners below.
At a time when all festivals have been forced to go virtual, there’s no telling how much buzz these events can generate, but the Oscar eligibility provides a nice boost for rising filmmakers coming out of ShortFest. It’s a long road ahead for festival films since the Oscars have now been pushed back to April 25 next year, with other awards ceremonies, including the Film Independent Spirit Awards (now April 24), falling in line. Expect a packed fall season as the backlog of titles from postponed dates, canceled festivals, and shuttered productions get unleashed.
At a time when all festivals have been forced to go virtual, there’s no telling how much buzz these events can generate, but the Oscar eligibility provides a nice boost for rising filmmakers coming out of ShortFest. It’s a long road ahead for festival films since the Oscars have now been pushed back to April 25 next year, with other awards ceremonies, including the Film Independent Spirit Awards (now April 24), falling in line. Expect a packed fall season as the backlog of titles from postponed dates, canceled festivals, and shuttered productions get unleashed.
- 6/21/2020
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
The 2020 Palm Springs International ShortFest has announced its festival juried award winners from the 332 shorts films featured throughout this year’s virtual edition, running June 16-22. Awards and cash prizes worth $25,000 were handed out, and a number of the winners are now eligible for the 2021 Academy Awards short film categories. See the full list of winners below.
At a time when all festivals have been forced to go virtual, there’s no telling how much buzz these events can generate, but the Oscar eligibility provides a nice boost for rising filmmakers coming out of ShortFest. It’s a long road ahead for festival films since the Oscars have now been pushed back to April 25 next year, with other awards ceremonies, including the Film Independent Spirit Awards (now April 24), falling in line. Expect a packed fall season as the backlog of titles from postponed dates, canceled festivals, and shuttered productions get unleashed.
At a time when all festivals have been forced to go virtual, there’s no telling how much buzz these events can generate, but the Oscar eligibility provides a nice boost for rising filmmakers coming out of ShortFest. It’s a long road ahead for festival films since the Oscars have now been pushed back to April 25 next year, with other awards ceremonies, including the Film Independent Spirit Awards (now April 24), falling in line. Expect a packed fall season as the backlog of titles from postponed dates, canceled festivals, and shuttered productions get unleashed.
- 6/21/2020
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Thompson on Hollywood
Belgian-French drama “Matriochkas,” the documentary “The Heart Still Hums” and the animated film “The Fabric of You” have won the top prizes at the Palm Springs International ShortFest.
The festival unveiled the juried award winners Sunday from the 332 short films that were part of the official selection. Some of the winners are now qualified to enter the shorts categories for the Oscars.
The Best of the Festival Award, including a $5,000 prize from the Greater Palm Springs Convention & Visitors Bureau, went to “Matriochkas,” directed by Bérangère McNeese. The film centers on a 16-year-old who lives with her young mother and begins to discover her own sexuality. As she learns she is pregnant, her mother sees herself in her daughter, at the same age, facing the same choices.
“Writer/Director Bérangère McNeese brings a complex and bold point of view to the page and screen, drawing unexpected turns from the script and nuanced performances from her cast,...
The festival unveiled the juried award winners Sunday from the 332 short films that were part of the official selection. Some of the winners are now qualified to enter the shorts categories for the Oscars.
The Best of the Festival Award, including a $5,000 prize from the Greater Palm Springs Convention & Visitors Bureau, went to “Matriochkas,” directed by Bérangère McNeese. The film centers on a 16-year-old who lives with her young mother and begins to discover her own sexuality. As she learns she is pregnant, her mother sees herself in her daughter, at the same age, facing the same choices.
“Writer/Director Bérangère McNeese brings a complex and bold point of view to the page and screen, drawing unexpected turns from the script and nuanced performances from her cast,...
- 6/21/2020
- by Dave McNary
- Variety Film + TV
“Matriochkas,” a French and Belgian short-film directed by Bérangère Mc Neese, has been named the best film of the 2020 Palm Springs International Shortfest, which announced its winners on Sunday. The film, about the sexual awakening of a 16-year-old girl over the course of a summer, is one of five films that can qualify for the Academy Awards in the short-film categories because of jury awards in Palm Springs.
The other Oscar-qualifying winners are Josephine Lohoar Self’s “The Fabric of You,” which was named best animated short; Savanah Leaf and Taylor Russell’s “The Heart Still Hums,” best documentary short; Inbar Horesh’s “Birth Right,” best live-action short over 15 minutes; and Laurynas Bareisa’s “Dummy,” best live-action short 15 minutes and under.
A total of 332 short films were part of the official selection at the festival, which did not physically take place this year because of the coronavirus. A number of...
The other Oscar-qualifying winners are Josephine Lohoar Self’s “The Fabric of You,” which was named best animated short; Savanah Leaf and Taylor Russell’s “The Heart Still Hums,” best documentary short; Inbar Horesh’s “Birth Right,” best live-action short over 15 minutes; and Laurynas Bareisa’s “Dummy,” best live-action short 15 minutes and under.
A total of 332 short films were part of the official selection at the festival, which did not physically take place this year because of the coronavirus. A number of...
- 6/21/2020
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
Jamie Meltzer’s True Conviction explores a quasi-detective agency in Dallas (seemingly run out of the the Hickory House BBQ restaurant) founded by three men who were wrongfully convicted of crimes they did not commit. Granted $80,000 for each year of wrongful imprisonment by the government, they take on select cases that resemble their own circumstances where either the punishment does not fit the crime or the physical evidence contradicts the testimony given. The justice system should backstop flawed cases but often does not, and in one case, we learn a convict was given a public defender who showed up in court drunk and could not locate a witness in the room.
Led by Christopher Scott, exonerated after spending 13 years in prison for a crime he did not commit once the actual killer confessed, the agency takes on similar cases as Scott balances his obligations to his once estranged family. He...
Led by Christopher Scott, exonerated after spending 13 years in prison for a crime he did not commit once the actual killer confessed, the agency takes on similar cases as Scott balances his obligations to his once estranged family. He...
- 5/4/2017
- by John Fink
- The Film Stage
The Tribeca Film Festival has announced the winners of its 16th edition, with “Keep the Change” (U.S. Narrative), “Son of Sofia” (International Narrative) and “Bobbi Jene” (Documentary) taking home the top prizes. 97 features and 57 shorts comprised the main lineup of this year’s fest, which began on April 19 and ends on April 30.
“It is more important than ever to celebrate artists both in front of and behind the camera who have the unique ability to share different viewpoints to inspire, challenge and entertain us,” said Jane Rosenthal, Tribeca’s executive chair and co-founder. “The winning creators from across the Festival program shared stories that did exactly that, and we are honored to recognize them tonight. And how wonderful is it that the top awards in all five feature film categories were directed by women.”
Full list of winners below.
The 2017 IndieWire Tribeca Bible: Every Review, Interview and News Item Posted During the Festival
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“It is more important than ever to celebrate artists both in front of and behind the camera who have the unique ability to share different viewpoints to inspire, challenge and entertain us,” said Jane Rosenthal, Tribeca’s executive chair and co-founder. “The winning creators from across the Festival program shared stories that did exactly that, and we are honored to recognize them tonight. And how wonderful is it that the top awards in all five feature film categories were directed by women.”
Full list of winners below.
The 2017 IndieWire Tribeca Bible: Every Review, Interview and News Item Posted During the Festival
U.
- 4/27/2017
- by Michael Nordine
- Indiewire
I’ve seen my share of prison -themed films and documentaries, but none quite like Jamie Meltzer’s “True Conviction.” In our mangled and corrupted criminal justice and prison systems, once people are deemed guilty, they are ushered away and locked behind… Continue Reading →...
- 4/22/2017
- by Aramide A. Tinubu
- ShadowAndAct
The Sisyphean struggle to turn far too many wrongs in the Texas judicial system into rights is the noble subject of True Conviction, a straightforward, right-minded documentary blessed by the central presence of a dogged and charismatic champion of justice. Stylistically old-school in the traditional PBS manner, Jamie Meltzer's single-track film focuses on the efforts of three men who, after wrongful convictions and eventual exoneration, have dedicated themselves to helping other prisoners who may not deserve to be behind bars. After its Tribeca debut and PBS broadcast, the film will no doubt serve its purpose of reigniting attention...
- 4/21/2017
- by Todd McCarthy
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Festival receives record number of submissions as top brass trim roster by 20%.
World premieres of Michael Winterbottom’s The Trip To Spain (pictured), Nick Broomfield and Rudi Dolezal’s Whitney. “can I be me,”, and Hell On Earth: The Fall Of Syria And The Rise Of Isis by Sebastian Junger and Nick Quested are among the line-up at the 16th annual Tribeca Film Festival (April 19-30).
Festival top brass led by new director of programming Cara Cusumano and artistic director Frédéric Boyer unveiled on Thursday 82 of the 98 features that will screen at this year’s edition.
Trimmed down by 20%, the festival received a record number 8,700 submissions, of which 3,362 were features – and includes 32 films in competition comprising 12 documentaries, 10 Us narratives and 10 international narratives. Films in competition will compete for cash prizes totalling $160,000.
Spotlight Narrative section features 15 fiction films, while Spotlight Documentary includes 16 non-fiction films. Five fiction and one documentary film play in Midnight.
The 2017 roster...
World premieres of Michael Winterbottom’s The Trip To Spain (pictured), Nick Broomfield and Rudi Dolezal’s Whitney. “can I be me,”, and Hell On Earth: The Fall Of Syria And The Rise Of Isis by Sebastian Junger and Nick Quested are among the line-up at the 16th annual Tribeca Film Festival (April 19-30).
Festival top brass led by new director of programming Cara Cusumano and artistic director Frédéric Boyer unveiled on Thursday 82 of the 98 features that will screen at this year’s edition.
Trimmed down by 20%, the festival received a record number 8,700 submissions, of which 3,362 were features – and includes 32 films in competition comprising 12 documentaries, 10 Us narratives and 10 international narratives. Films in competition will compete for cash prizes totalling $160,000.
Spotlight Narrative section features 15 fiction films, while Spotlight Documentary includes 16 non-fiction films. Five fiction and one documentary film play in Midnight.
The 2017 roster...
- 3/2/2017
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Here’s your daily dose of an indie film, web series, TV pilot, what-have-you in progress — at the end of the week, you’ll have the chance to vote for your favorite.
In the meantime: Is this a project you’d want to see? Tell us in the comments.
Red Heaven
Logline: In a small dome on a remote volcano in Hawaii, six adventurers are simulating life in the first human habitat on Mars. “Red Heaven” follows their experience over an entire year in isolation, asking why do we dream of living on Mars?
Elevator Pitch:
With unprecedented exclusive access to a simulated Mars mission, “Red Heaven” provides a raw and intimate look into what living on Mars might actually be like for human beings. The crew – all in their 30s – have backgrounds ranging from astrobiology to forestry and even space architecture, and this adventure challenges the very core of their personal beliefs.
In the meantime: Is this a project you’d want to see? Tell us in the comments.
Red Heaven
Logline: In a small dome on a remote volcano in Hawaii, six adventurers are simulating life in the first human habitat on Mars. “Red Heaven” follows their experience over an entire year in isolation, asking why do we dream of living on Mars?
Elevator Pitch:
With unprecedented exclusive access to a simulated Mars mission, “Red Heaven” provides a raw and intimate look into what living on Mars might actually be like for human beings. The crew – all in their 30s – have backgrounds ranging from astrobiology to forestry and even space architecture, and this adventure challenges the very core of their personal beliefs.
- 8/31/2016
- by Steve Greene
- Indiewire
While not all receive the golden ticket for a Park City premiere, the invaluable support available at the Sundance Institute is ongoing and takes several shapes and forms. Last year’s batch of Documentary Edit and Story Labs attendees included Anna Sandilands & Ewan McNicol who trimmed Uncertain, while Lyric Cabral & David Felix Sutcliffe spliced into shape (T)Error. As underlined in the press release, this year’s eight projects touches of subjects of transgender parents, the aftermath of Sandy Hook tragedy, exonerated death row inmates and AIDS. Among the noteworthy names attending (June 19-27 and July 3-11) we find Lost in La Mancha duo of Keith Fulton & Lou Pepe (see pic above) and Informant director Jamie Meltzer’s tentatively titled Freedom Fighters. Here are the participants and creative folk for ’15.
Editors serving as Creative Advisors for the June 19-27 session are Marshall Curry (Point and Shoot), Ra’anan Alexandrowicz (The...
Editors serving as Creative Advisors for the June 19-27 session are Marshall Curry (Point and Shoot), Ra’anan Alexandrowicz (The...
- 6/15/2015
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
Sundance Institute today announced the eight projects selected for the annual Documentary Edit and Story Labs in Utah from June 19-27 and July 3-11.
The Labs focus on projects in the latter stages of post-production and this year’s topics include transgender parents, the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre and education and poverty.
Recent participants in the Documentary Edit and Story Lab include (T)Error, The Queen Of Versailles (pictured) and The Kill Team.
“The work of this year’s fellows is a reflection of some of the richness and purpose to be found in contemporary non-fiction storytelling,” said Documentary Film Program director Tabitha Jackson.
“We are excited not just about the projects, but also about the alchemy that will happen on the mountain when these directors and editors, first-time and mid-career, national and international come together to form the creative connections that will continue to inspire them in their brave and challenging work.”
Creative Advisors...
The Labs focus on projects in the latter stages of post-production and this year’s topics include transgender parents, the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre and education and poverty.
Recent participants in the Documentary Edit and Story Lab include (T)Error, The Queen Of Versailles (pictured) and The Kill Team.
“The work of this year’s fellows is a reflection of some of the richness and purpose to be found in contemporary non-fiction storytelling,” said Documentary Film Program director Tabitha Jackson.
“We are excited not just about the projects, but also about the alchemy that will happen on the mountain when these directors and editors, first-time and mid-career, national and international come together to form the creative connections that will continue to inspire them in their brave and challenging work.”
Creative Advisors...
- 6/15/2015
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Whether you are a filmmaker, or one of the Sundance programmers whose task it is to identify the films that make up a line-up, it is indeed the most wonderful, panic-filled and nerve racking time of the year. The 31st edition of the Sundance Film Festival kicks off on January 22nd with Park City and Salt Lake City playing host to some of the more innovative, thought-provoking narrative and non-fiction films of 2015. Last year, a Jenga tall order of 4,057 features and 8,161 shorts were submitted. Now let’s think about those numbers for a second.
Twenty years ago, Terry Zwigoff’s Crumb claimed the Grand Jury Prize Documentary award, Living in Oblivion‘s Tom Dicillo was honored with the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award, and Edward Burns’ micro-budgeted The Brothers McMullen (there is a read-worthy, lively, eleventh hour account on how it was submitted to the fest in Ted Hope’s “Hope...
Twenty years ago, Terry Zwigoff’s Crumb claimed the Grand Jury Prize Documentary award, Living in Oblivion‘s Tom Dicillo was honored with the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award, and Edward Burns’ micro-budgeted The Brothers McMullen (there is a read-worthy, lively, eleventh hour account on how it was submitted to the fest in Ted Hope’s “Hope...
- 11/17/2014
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
Kids. Such as Sex, Lies, and Videotape or Reservoir Dogs before it, and such as Winter’s Bone, Blue Valentine and Fruitvale Station after it, Larry Clark & Harmony Korine’s seminal film is forever connected in “spirit” to the lieu where it received its secret midnight premiere screening in 1995. The Sundance Film Festival might be known as the birthplace of U.S indie filmmaking innovation, avant-gardism, a larger definition of the low budgeted film response to Hollywood in not only narrative but in the non-fiction form, but it is a festival made strong by its renewal and familiarity. That close acquaintanceness exists in Kids‘ starlets Rosario Dawson and Chloë Sevigny filmography/career path trajectory and connection to Park City (both have several indie films slated for ’14 – of which I’ve included in our predictions list) and it is that “familiarity” that is visibly noticeable in how I map out my annual predictions list.
- 11/18/2013
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: Nov. 19, 2013
Price: DVD $29.95
Studio: Music Box
Brandon Darby (l.) working with Common Ground Collective, as seen in Informant.
The 2012 documentary Informant presents a portrait of Brandon Darby, a left-wing activist turned FBI informant and then Tea Party conservative whose actions led to the arrest of two protesters at the 2008 Republican National Convention.
In 2005, Texas-born Brandon Darby became an overnight hero when he traveled to Katrina-devastated New Orleans and braved toxic floodwaters to rescue a friend stranded in the Ninth Ward. Soon after, he became a co-founder and spokesperson for Common Ground, a successful grassroots relief organization. But over the next few years, he began hiding a shocking secret. After two young protestors, David McKay and Bradley Crowder, were arrested at the 2008 Republican National Convention, Darby revealed he had been instrumental in the indictment as an FBI informant. Today, having renounced his Left-wing past, Darby is a...
Price: DVD $29.95
Studio: Music Box
Brandon Darby (l.) working with Common Ground Collective, as seen in Informant.
The 2012 documentary Informant presents a portrait of Brandon Darby, a left-wing activist turned FBI informant and then Tea Party conservative whose actions led to the arrest of two protesters at the 2008 Republican National Convention.
In 2005, Texas-born Brandon Darby became an overnight hero when he traveled to Katrina-devastated New Orleans and braved toxic floodwaters to rescue a friend stranded in the Ninth Ward. Soon after, he became a co-founder and spokesperson for Common Ground, a successful grassroots relief organization. But over the next few years, he began hiding a shocking secret. After two young protestors, David McKay and Bradley Crowder, were arrested at the 2008 Republican National Convention, Darby revealed he had been instrumental in the indictment as an FBI informant. Today, having renounced his Left-wing past, Darby is a...
- 10/14/2013
- by Laurence
- Disc Dish
Director: Jamie Meltzer It’s good to be reminded every now and then that if the truth exists, you’ll probably never know for sure if you’ve found it. Take the story of Brandon Darby, the once-upon-a-time Austin anarchist activist turned FBI informant and Andrew Breitbart-endorsed Tea Party darling. Depending on who you ask, he’s either a […]...
- 9/13/2013
- by Linc Leifeste
- SmellsLikeScreenSpirit
When the late malevolent rightwing carny Andrew Breitbart provides your sole positive character reference out of nearly a dozen people speaking about you—some of whom were once your best friends—you might want to re-think your existence. In director Jamie Meltzer's mesmerizing documentary Informant, Brandon Darby—a onetime lefty activist darling turned FBI informant and rightwing spokesman—is slowly filleted by former associates. None, however, are more damning than his own documented actions, or the original interviews he gives Meltzer; he's tense, combative, defensive, and unconvincing as he argues on his own behalf. As is true with many fallen heroes, Darby's strength and Achilles heel were (are) one and the same. A handsome, magnetic alpha male, he's ...
- 9/11/2013
- Village Voice
Title: Informant Music Box Films Director: Jamie Meltzer Screenwriter: Jamie Meltzer Cast: Brandon Darby, Scott Crow, Lisa Fithian, Caroline Heldman, Michael May, David Hanners Screened at: Review 2, NYC, 8/5/13 Opens: September 13, 2013 There’s a saying, “If you’re not liberal when you’re young, you have no heart. And if you’re not conservative when you’re older, you have no brains.” People do tend to become gradually more conservative as the years roll by, but there are extremes. Think of Italy’s Benito Mussolini, a socialist in his youth, a fascist when that served him politically. On the other hand, think of the retired Israeli information- gathering, terrorist fighting Shin Bet (in [ Read More ]
The post Informant Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
The post Informant Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
- 8/27/2013
- by Harvey Karten
- ShockYa
"How does a radical activist end up working for the FBI as an informant?" Today's trailer is for a doc that premiered last year and is just now being released by Music Box. It's called Informant and profiles radical left-wing activist turned FBI informant Brandon Darby. The doc won top prize at the Doc NYC Festival and also played the San Francisco & Austin Film Festivals. Not to be confused with Steven Soderbergh's The Informant! or the doc The Imposter, Informant dives into the mysterious story of an activist who turned out to be an FBI informant. Was he duping all of his friends? What's the real story? This looks quite fascinating. Watch the official Us trailer for Jamie Meltzer's documentary Informant, in high def from Apple: "What is the truth?" Winner of Best Documentary at the 2012 Doc NYC Festival, Informant is a fascinating, gripping portrait of Brandon Darby,...
- 8/25/2013
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
In an age of massive surveillance and whistle-blowing, trust is quickly becoming the most valuable currency of them all. As activists continue to congregate online (and offline), knowing who you can confide in with complete confidence and solidarity can be at tricky business. But what if the one person you thought you could rely on, turned out to be working for the enemy? That's at the core of "Informant," an upcoming documentary with a rather remarkable story to tell. Described as a kind of " 'Fog Of War' for the age of Occupy" by Indiewire brethren Anthony Kaufman, Jamie Meltzer's Doc NYC Grand Jury Prize winning film tells the true tale of Brandon Darby, who co-founded grassrooots organization Common Ground, and seemed to fit every description you might have of someone committed to the left. Instead, to the shock and surprise of his friends and fellow activists, Darby had been...
- 8/20/2013
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
The recipients of 2013 San Francisco Film Society Documentary Film Fund awards totalling $100,000 are Anne Bogart and Holly Morris’ The Babushkas Of Chernobyl, Jamie Meltzer’s Freedom Fighters and Jimmy Goldblum and Adam Weber’s Tomorrow We Disappear.
Previous Documentary Film Fund winners include Shaul Schwarz’s Narco Cultura, which premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival and Zachary Heinzerling’s Cutie And The Boxer, which won Sundance’s directing award for documentary and screens next month in the Sundance Los Angeles event Next Weekend
Since 2011 Sffs has distributed $100,000 annually in grants to advance new work by documentary filmmakers nationwide.
“These three projects exhibit exactly the kind of compelling storytelling and creative approach to their subjects that the Doc Film Fund was created to support, and I can’t wait to see the finished products,” said Sffs executive director Ted Hope.
“Our deepest thanks go to Sharon and Larry Malcomson, whose inspiring...
Previous Documentary Film Fund winners include Shaul Schwarz’s Narco Cultura, which premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival and Zachary Heinzerling’s Cutie And The Boxer, which won Sundance’s directing award for documentary and screens next month in the Sundance Los Angeles event Next Weekend
Since 2011 Sffs has distributed $100,000 annually in grants to advance new work by documentary filmmakers nationwide.
“These three projects exhibit exactly the kind of compelling storytelling and creative approach to their subjects that the Doc Film Fund was created to support, and I can’t wait to see the finished products,” said Sffs executive director Ted Hope.
“Our deepest thanks go to Sharon and Larry Malcomson, whose inspiring...
- 7/25/2013
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Congratulations are in order for Darius Clark Monroe whose Evolution of a Criminal is one of 13 selected finalists for the San Francisco Film Society's 2013 Documentary Film Fund, which was created to support nonfiction cinema, distinguished by compelling stories, intriguing characters and an innovative visual approach. Also, a similar tip-of-the-hat to Jamie Meltzer's Freedom Fighters - another project on S&A's watch-list, that made the cut of 13 - each contending for awards totaling $100,000, to assist in post-production. Finalists were selected from more than 200 applications, and winners will be announced in late July.Since 2011, Sffs Fund...
- 6/18/2013
- by Tambay A. Obenson
- ShadowAndAct
The San Francisco Film Society has announced the contenders for the 2013 Sffs Documentary Film Fund awards totalling $100,000.
The finallists are: John Fiege for Above All Else; Jennifer Grausman and Sam Cullman for Art And Craft; Anne Bogart and Holly Morris for The Babushkas Of Chernobyl; Darius Clark Monroe for Evolution Of A Criminal; Jamie Meltzer for Freedom Fighters; Anne De Mare and Kristen Kelly for Homestretch; and Catherine Gund for How To Become An Extreme Action Hero.
The list continues with Geeta Patel and Ravi V Patel for One In A Billion; Hillevi Loven for Radical Love; Amir Soltani and Chihiro Wimbush for Redemption; Tracy Tragos and Andrew Droz Palermo for Rich Hill; Andrew James for Street Fighting Man; and Jimmy Goldblum and Adam Weber for Tomorrow We Disappear.
The contenders were selected from more than 200 applicants and winners will be announced in late July.
The Sffs Documentary Film Fund has distributed $100,000 annually and was set up...
The finallists are: John Fiege for Above All Else; Jennifer Grausman and Sam Cullman for Art And Craft; Anne Bogart and Holly Morris for The Babushkas Of Chernobyl; Darius Clark Monroe for Evolution Of A Criminal; Jamie Meltzer for Freedom Fighters; Anne De Mare and Kristen Kelly for Homestretch; and Catherine Gund for How To Become An Extreme Action Hero.
The list continues with Geeta Patel and Ravi V Patel for One In A Billion; Hillevi Loven for Radical Love; Amir Soltani and Chihiro Wimbush for Redemption; Tracy Tragos and Andrew Droz Palermo for Rich Hill; Andrew James for Street Fighting Man; and Jimmy Goldblum and Adam Weber for Tomorrow We Disappear.
The contenders were selected from more than 200 applicants and winners will be announced in late July.
The Sffs Documentary Film Fund has distributed $100,000 annually and was set up...
- 6/17/2013
- ScreenDaily
Music Box Films announced today that it has acquired U.S. rights to three new documentaries: Jamie Meltzer 's "Informant," Treva Wurmfeld 's "Shepard & Dark" and Klaartje Quirijn's "Anton Corbijn Inside Out." Synopses of the films provided by Music Box: Informant, directed by Jamie Meltzer, is the fascinating psychological portrait of Brandon Darby, a radical leftist activist who shocked friends and colleagues when he was exposed as an FBI informant at the 2008 Republican National Convention. Informant won the Grand Jury Prize at Doc NYC. Director Jamie Meltzer and producer George Rush negotiated the deal with Music Box Films. A summer release is planned. Treva Wurmfeld s Shepard & Dark captures the complex relationship between playwright/actor Sam Shepard and his close friend Johnny Dark as they prepare forty years of their correspondence for publication. Shepard & Dark was named one of the 50 Best Undistributed Films of 2012 by Film Comment, and won the Best.
- 4/9/2013
- by Peter Knegt
- Indiewire
New York's Doc NYC festival, which ran November 8-15, announces its jury and audience award winners. Included are Jamie Meltzer's "Informant," a portrait of radical activist-turned-fbi informant Brandon Darby, and Jehane Noujaim and Mona Eldaief's "Rafea: Solar Mama," with follows an illiterate Jordanian woman who becomes a solar panel engineer. Full list below. Viewfinders Competition: The jury selected from among ten films in this section, chosen by the programmers for their distinct directorial visions. Grand Jury Prize Winner - Informant, directed by Jamie Meltzer, probes the radical activist turned FBI informant Brandon Darby Special Jury Prize Winner - Rafea: Solar Mama, directed by Jehane Noujaim and Mona Eldaief, follows an illiterate Jordanian woman who becomes a solar panel engineer Metropolis Competition: The jury selected from among seven films in this section, which showcases films that exemplify the diverse range of stories...
- 11/16/2012
- by Beth Hanna
- Thompson on Hollywood
Following a week of over 100 films and events, the third edition of the ever-growing Doc NYC Festival came to a close Thursday night with a Closing Night screening of Ken Burns, Sarah Burns, and David McMahon's "The Central Park Five." But before the screening, Artistic Director Thom Powers led an awards presentation to hand out the prizes in the Festival's three Jury Prizes-the Viewfinder Competition, Metropolis Competition, and the Shorts Competition-as well as the SundanceNOW Audience Award. Of the ten films vying for the Viewfinders Compeition, chosen by the programmers for their "distinct directorial vision," the Grand Jury Prize went to Jamie Meltzer's "Informant," which investigates the radical activist turned FBI informant Brandon Darby. The Special Jury Prize went to Jehane Noujaim and Mona Eldaief's "Rafea: Solar Mama," which follows an illiterate woman from Jordon who becomes a solar panel engineer. Among...
- 11/16/2012
- by Eric Mattina
- Indiewire
After Better This World (which was one of my favorite documentaries of 2011), I admittedly questioned whether or not the world would need another documentary about Brandon Darby and the "Texas Two" -- David McKay and Bradley Crowder. Luckily Jamie Meltzer's Informant takes a different approach from what had already been done before in Better This World. While both films bring to question Darby's precarious role as an FBI informant, Meltzer's documentary opts to focus primarily on Darby, allowing him ample opportunity to spew his side of the story. From most accounts an ego-maniacal jerk, it is no surprise that Darby seems to enjoy having his time in the spotlight. It is impossible to tell if Darby has even considered whether or not he should trust Meltzer; if anything, Darby is so damn confident in his side of the story that he probably assumes that everyone will agree that he was right in his actions.
- 11/8/2012
- by Don Simpson
- SmellsLikeScreenSpirit
This week marks the start of Manhattan's third annual documentary festival, Doc NYC, at the IFC Center in Greenwich Village and Chelsea's Sva Theatre. The eight-day presentation boasts big names like Ken Burns, Barbara Kopple and Jonathan Demme as well as a significant roster from the indie underworld: Rufus Wainwright, Antony Hegarty, and Sophie Fiennes, to name but a few.
To help you sift through the massive schedule of documentaries, we've created our own guide to the must-see films of this year. Our list is as much a grab bag as the 115-item Doc NYC list, but we've picked the ones that we know you just can't miss:
1. How to Survive a Plague (directed by David France)
A powerful overview of Act Up and its science-savvy subgroup, Tag (Treatment Action Group); its members worked tirelessly to bring awareness to the plight of AIDS victims in the mid-1980s and early 1990s.
To help you sift through the massive schedule of documentaries, we've created our own guide to the must-see films of this year. Our list is as much a grab bag as the 115-item Doc NYC list, but we've picked the ones that we know you just can't miss:
1. How to Survive a Plague (directed by David France)
A powerful overview of Act Up and its science-savvy subgroup, Tag (Treatment Action Group); its members worked tirelessly to bring awareness to the plight of AIDS victims in the mid-1980s and early 1990s.
- 11/6/2012
- by The Huffington Post
- Huffington Post
Informant, a thrilling documentary from Jamie Meltzer, tells the story of Austinite Brandon Darby, the former anarchist who turned in Brad Crowder and David McKay during the Rnc protests in 2008. How did Darby morph from someone who "would've attacked the government for what it was doing to people" in New Orleans during Katrina to someone who trusted governmental authority so much that he would inform on a planned/possible attack? Meltzer's film, through intimate interviews (almost like on-camera confessions) with Darby and some of his former associates, attempts to explain.
The movie introduces the viewer to Darby through his work with other activists co-founding the Common Ground Collective in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. He comes off as determined in his work to serve the people in the Ninth Ward. He and his pal Scott Crow (also an Austinite) brought guns to the city to combat the violence against "looters.
The movie introduces the viewer to Darby through his work with other activists co-founding the Common Ground Collective in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. He comes off as determined in his work to serve the people in the Ninth Ward. He and his pal Scott Crow (also an Austinite) brought guns to the city to combat the violence against "looters.
- 10/22/2012
- by Elizabeth Stoddard
- Slackerwood
The Austin Film Festival has announced its 2012 Film Competition winners from its seven categories. The films were selected from a record number of entries this year and were all chosen by industry jurors. "Sparrows Dance" by writer/director Noah Buschel prevailed in the Narrative Feature category, while Jamie Meltzer's "Informant" won best Documentary Feature; Bryan Buckley's "Asad," which he wrote and directed, took home the award for Narrative Short; "Hatch" by writer/director Christoph Kuschnig and writer Karl Goldblat topped the Narrative Student Short category; Timothy Reckart's "Head Over Heels" won for Animated Short; best Documentary Short went to Chelsea Hernandez and Erik Mauck's "See The Dirt"; and "Crumbs," directed by Nicco Vasquez and written by Keith Limon, won the Young Filmmakers Competition. The Austin Film Festival is recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts...
- 10/22/2012
- by Justin Krajeski
- Indiewire
Here's the latest Austin and Texas film news.
Austin Film Festival announced its 2012 film competition awards, which includes the locally made short documentary, See The Dirt. Chelsea Hernandez's and Erik Mauck's film, about a Georgetown teen who collects vacuum cleaners, won Best Documentary Short. Director Jamie Meltzer's documentary Informant, about Austinite Byron Darby's turn from left-wing protestor to FBI informant, won Best Documentary Feature at this year's festival.Austin Film Society is hosting a member mixer with beer, snacks and short film clips from local filmmakers on Friday, October 26 from 5:30-7:30 pm at Austin Studios. The mixer is also providing info about the Love Austin initiative, which supports the municipal bond on the Austin ballot in November. Proposition 18 includes provisions to expand Austin Studios by transforming the neighboring National Guard Building into 50,000 square feet of office space for creative media professionals.In more festival news,...
Austin Film Festival announced its 2012 film competition awards, which includes the locally made short documentary, See The Dirt. Chelsea Hernandez's and Erik Mauck's film, about a Georgetown teen who collects vacuum cleaners, won Best Documentary Short. Director Jamie Meltzer's documentary Informant, about Austinite Byron Darby's turn from left-wing protestor to FBI informant, won Best Documentary Feature at this year's festival.Austin Film Society is hosting a member mixer with beer, snacks and short film clips from local filmmakers on Friday, October 26 from 5:30-7:30 pm at Austin Studios. The mixer is also providing info about the Love Austin initiative, which supports the municipal bond on the Austin ballot in November. Proposition 18 includes provisions to expand Austin Studios by transforming the neighboring National Guard Building into 50,000 square feet of office space for creative media professionals.In more festival news,...
- 10/22/2012
- by Jordan Gass-Poore'
- Slackerwood
Writer-director Bryan Buckley's "Asad" was named best narrative short and Timothy Reckart's "Head Over Heels" was chosen top animated short by the Austin Film Festival, which announced its winners Sunday. Winners were selected from a record number of entries this year by a panel of industry jurors. Also read: Michael Moore's New Plan: Eliminate the Oscar Documentary Rules The following winners were selected by category: Narrative Feature: "Sparrows Dance," writer/director Noah Buschel; Documentary Feature: "Informant," director Jamie Meltzer; Narrative Short: "Asad," writer/director Bryan Buckley (pictured above); Narrative Student Short: "Hatch," writer/director Christoph Kuschnig, writer...
- 10/21/2012
- by Todd Cunningham
- The Wrap
Informant, an intense documentary which focuses on Austinite Brandon Darby, is documentarian Jamie Meltzer's latest film. The movie is made up of interviews with Darby, a former anarchist who informed on two young men during the 2008 Rnc, and his (former) friends and co-workers.
Meltzer is currently an assistant professor in the Mfa program in Documentary Film and Video at Stanford, and his previous films include Off the Charts: The Song-Poem Story, Welcome to Nollywood and the short La Caminata. His Informant will show as part of Austin Film Festival on Sunday 10/21 and Wednesday 10/24.
Before the fest kicked off, Meltzer answered some questions I had via email.
Slackerwood: Why did you decide to make a film about Brandon Darby? Did you know him before you started working on the movie?
Jamie Meltzer: I first discovered this story when Brandon posted his "open letter" declaring he was an informant, which...
Meltzer is currently an assistant professor in the Mfa program in Documentary Film and Video at Stanford, and his previous films include Off the Charts: The Song-Poem Story, Welcome to Nollywood and the short La Caminata. His Informant will show as part of Austin Film Festival on Sunday 10/21 and Wednesday 10/24.
Before the fest kicked off, Meltzer answered some questions I had via email.
Slackerwood: Why did you decide to make a film about Brandon Darby? Did you know him before you started working on the movie?
Jamie Meltzer: I first discovered this story when Brandon posted his "open letter" declaring he was an informant, which...
- 10/18/2012
- by Elizabeth Stoddard
- Slackerwood
Better This World, The Tiniest Place and the other nominations for the 2011 Ida Awards have been announced. The 27th Annual Ida Awards (documentary awards) are presented by the International Documentary Association (Ida) “a non-profit organization promoting documentary film, video and new media, to support the efforts of documentary filmmaking and video production makers around the world and to increase public appreciation and demand for the art of the documentary…the Ida has approximately 2,800 members in 53 countries, providing a forum for supporters and suppliers of documentary film making.”
This years presentation will see “the 2011 Career Achievement Award [awarded] to legendary documentary filmmaker Les Blank. He will be presented his award by Werner Herzog. Director Danfung Dennis (Hell and Back Again) will receive the 2011 Jacqueline Donnet Emerging Documentary Filmmaker Award.”
The full listing of the 2011 Ida Awards nominations is below.
Best Feature Award
Better This World
Directors/Producers/Writers: Katie Galloway & Kelly Duane de la Vega...
This years presentation will see “the 2011 Career Achievement Award [awarded] to legendary documentary filmmaker Les Blank. He will be presented his award by Werner Herzog. Director Danfung Dennis (Hell and Back Again) will receive the 2011 Jacqueline Donnet Emerging Documentary Filmmaker Award.”
The full listing of the 2011 Ida Awards nominations is below.
Best Feature Award
Better This World
Directors/Producers/Writers: Katie Galloway & Kelly Duane de la Vega...
- 10/28/2011
- by filmbook
- Film-Book
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