Nonfiction Films Get Their Due at Cinema Eye Honors

***FEBRUARY 2, 2010 UPDATE: As of this morning, Cinema Eye Winners "Burma VJ," "The Cove," and "Food, Inc" received Academy Award nominations for Best Documentary Feature. Congratulations and good luck to all!


The stellar third annual Cinema Eye Honors for Nonfiction Filmmaking, produced by founding sponsor Indiepix, came back to the TimesCenter in New York City with a new co-hostess, Esther Robinson, along with co-host and Cinema Eye veteran AJ Schnack, who delighted us mid-way through the ceremony with an audience participation Mad Lib. Always the charmer, about half-way through the show, Schnack carried in a bucket of Kentucky Grilled Chicken after showing a clip of the nominated Food Inc., where a woman reveals the horrible conditions of chicken coup where chickens are overfed for mass-consumption. At the beginning of the show, during a pre-taped introduction, Stranger Than Fiction’s Thom Powers hilariously expounded on the glorious nominees, while preggers wife Raphaela Neihausen goes into labor. Lots of humor abounded throughout the ceremony, keeping things running fresh and smooth. While an occasional long-winded acceptance speech may have slowed things down a little, overall, the third outing of the Cinema Eye Honors was one of the best so far. It is superbly wonderful that there is an awards show of this caliber like no other recognizing nonfiction filmmaking, with such presenters as Albert Maysles, Barbara Kopple, Amir Bar-Lev, Carl Deal, Tia Lessin, Doug Block and more.

Top prizes went to “The Cove” for Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Feature Filmmaking and “October Country” for Outstanding Achievement in a Debut Feature Film.  

So what does it take to win a Cinema Eye Honor, you might ask? “Burma VJ” co-editor Thomas Papapetros told me exclusively at one of the after parties, “I got crapped on by a bird and won!” Not once, not twice, not even just three times, but a total of four times did Papapetros get a present from the sky on four different occasions, sealing “Burma VJ”s many festival wins. The first time he was crapped on by a bird was in Amsterdam during IDFA, and the film took home the top prize. The second time was in Copenhagen during CPH:DOX, and the film won. The third time he was actually home in Denmark, but he won an editing award at Sundance that same day. And finally, he got his latest gift in New York, before receiving his latest accomplishment, Outstanding Achievement in Editing at the Cinema Eye Honors. I guess getting crapped on by a bird is good luck after all, as they say, but in all seriousness, “Burma VJ” deservedly received all of its accolades on its own merit.

For the past two incarnations of the Cinema Eye Honors, Thom Powers had moderated roundtable discussions with some of the nominated filmmakers. This year instead of a panel, Thom conducted a brief Q&A with Cinema Eye Legacy Award honoree, “Sherman’s March,” by filmmaker Ross McElwee. Barbara Kopple introduced McElwee saying that in “Sherman’s March,” McElwee’s very outspoken, passionate, and direct friend Charleen decided she was the perfect woman for him, and they would grow old together and told him to shut the camera off saying “this is not about art, it’s about your life.” Kopple said that personally nailed it for her as what McElwee is all about and how much art he puts into his life being so honest and real, a pure filmmaker. Later on, Powers pointed out that McElwee will be at Stranger Than Fiction on February 2 showing two films, “Charleen” and “Backyard.” (I know where I’ll be that night.)

For the Q&A, Powers said he was shocked to read about “Sherman’s March” that for a two and a half hour film, McElwee only shot 25 hours of footage, which by today’s standards is something a filmmaker might accomplish in 2 days…has McElwee’s discipline changed at all moving from film to video and what was it like shooting so little footage? McElwee said he grew up shooting 16mm film. With the discipline it enforces as a crew of one person, he had to develop a way of shooting very little film. After his last film completed in 2004, he finally made the decision to switch to digital video. He said the easiest thing to do, especially for young filmmakers, is to overshoot everything. Powers next mentioned a scene in the film where McElwee’s father asks him how certain things that he shot would be useful for the film. “What’s remarkable about ‘Sherman’s March’…is that it was such a landmark film for opening up this kind of personal documentary,” Powers said. As McElwee was making it, what did he think was going to be useful, how was he choosing what to film? McElwee said that you might get the impression that it’s about nothing but him searching for a woman, but the challenge to him was to weave together several different themes and keep them into some sort of equilibrium moving forward. It’s a matter of developing a kind of intuition, thinking this might be amusing, it might turn up to be funny or poignant. It’s developing a set of radar. Spontaneity is important. 

The following is complete list of last night’s Cinema Eye Honorees:

Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Feature Filmmaking: “The Cove,” directed by Louie Psihoyos, produced by Paula DuPre Pesman and Fisher Stevens

Outstanding Achievement in a Debut Feature Film: “October Country, directed by Michael Palmieri and Donal Mosher

Outstanding Achievement in Direction: Agnes Varda, “The Beaches of Agnes”

Outstanding Achievement in Production: Paula DuPre Pressman and Fisher Stevens, “The Cove”

Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography: Brook Aitken for “The Cove”

Outstanding Achievement in Editing: Janus Billeskov-Jansen and Thomas Papapetros for “Burma VJ”

Outstanding Achievement in Grapic Design and Animation: Tie: Big Star for “Food, Inc” and “RIP - Remix Manifesto”

Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Score: “October Country”: Danny Grody, Donal Mosher, Michael Palmieri and Kenric Taylor

Outstanding Achievement in an International Feature: “Burma VJ,” directed by Anders Ostergard, produced by Lise-Lense Moeller

Audience Choice Prize: “The September Issue,” directed by RJ Cutler

Spotlight Award: “Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo,” directed by Jessica Oreck

Cinema Eye Legacy Award: “Sherman’s March, directed by Ross McElwee

2009 Cinema Eye Honors Roundtable Discussion

Round 2 of the Cinema Eye Honors for Nonfiction Filmmaking, presented by Indiepix and supporting sponsor ArtsEngine (home of DocuClub), saw its festivities move from last year’s location of the IFC Center to this year’s at TheTimesCenter. In the tradition of last year’s surprise roundtable discussion in the middle of the awards ceremony, another stellar panel of distinguished nominees was questioned by Cinema Eye Co-Founder and Stranger Than Fiction head honcho Thom Powers. This time around, Powers probed The Order of Myths director Margaret Brown, The Betrayal - Nerakhoon co-directors Ellen Kuras and Thavisouk (Thavi) Phrasavath, Man on Wire director James Marsh, and My Winnipeg producer Jody Shapiro. Below are some highlights from that discussion.

(L to R: Margaret Brown, Ellen Kuras, Thavisouk Phrasavath, James Marsh, and Jody Shapiro. Photo courtesy of Indiepix.)

Powers: (To Brown) It’s been a year since your film played at Sundance. It’s quite a remarkable film that’s so rooted in the community you came from. What was this year’s journey like with the film…taking down to Mobile (Alabama)?

Brown: I think that night was probably the most surreal night out of my life because it’s the audience that gave the movie and also you’re sort of giving it back. The film had a standing ovation after we showed it there, but there were some walk outs, too. It was definitely mixed. It was really weird because the audience was talking to the film. It was a very interactive experience.

Powers: (To Kuras) With your film, you worked on it for over 20 years.

Kuras: (She invites Thavi to the stage and he gets a round of applause.) Thavi and I worked on this film for 23 years. It started out back in 1984 before I met Thavi. I started making a film about another family. When I met Thavi and when he wanted to learn how to speak the language, he was living in Brooklyn. I put the word out in the community that I wanted to speak Lao. Thavi called me up and said, ‘Who are you? Why do you want to speak Lao? Do you even know where Laos is?’ Since that time, I ended up working with Thavi making the film about him and we made the film together. It was really a film where two people came from two different cultures and could speak the same language, that’s the film language. It really was an amazing creative exploration of ideas and making documentary a different form, because Thavi was the subject of the film and ultimately became one of the filmmakers. I worked with him to make a film with a personal point of view, which is a very difficult place to be.

Powers (To Phrasavath): You were also the editor of the film. With such close personal material, what was that like for you to spend all that time editing it?

Phrasavath: To look at myself on the screen and also thinking there’s a character to tell the story…and tell the story that needs to be told instead of ‘G-d, look at my teeth, why did they film it that way?’ It’s been a phenomenal experience for me.

Powers (To Marsh): One of the things that we observe is the way critics and reviewers and the way documentaries get digested is often as individual films and not really recognizing a director’s career. How do you see Man on Wire fitting into your overall career?

Marsh: Before I made Man on Wire I made a feature film called The King that was widely loathed by many people…Man on Wire came along as a way of salvaging my career because The King had sort of become a dead end. It was much more of a hostile world the world of fiction filmmaking. People are much more unpleasant in it just generally. The great kind of discovery on Man on Wire was the film playing at festivals and meeting a lot of people who are in this room and having passionate respectful conversations with other filmmakers…As far as my career goes, I didn’t really feel I got one. It’s what Philippe (Petit) says, you sort of blunder on from one fool hearty adventure to the next and sometimes you get lucky and on this one, we got lucky.

Powers: (To Shapiro) You had produced Guy Maddin’s fiction films before this. Was there anything different about doing a documentary for him and the process?

Shapiro: It actually was a very difficult project for him to tackle. As a fiction filmmaker, and he’s even made autobiographical films as a fictional filmmaker, he’ll tell stories about himself, but they’re totally fabricated. This time, he actually had to be truthful and reach inside himself and figure out what Winnipeg meant for him. It actually proved to be a long process. We thought when the film was commissioned we could do it in six months, but it actually ended up taking over two years.

Powers: (To Brown) What do you see your future (for your career)?

Brown: I think actually I’m working on a narrative next. I shouldn’t say that in front of this audience…I think of myself as a storyteller and not just documentary. I want to be able to do both. I’m not sure what I’m doing next. I’m still thinking about it.

Powers (To Kuras) With 23 years from the first one, do you think you can maybe do one for ten?

Kuras: Very funny. I’ve made about 40 films in between as a cinematographer. I think when you become a director…everybody asks you, ‘are you going to direct?’ As a cinematographer, I’ve made so many films and I really enjoy being a cinematographer. I love working with directors. I love having that collaboration. It really depends on the project. I’m not about to leap into doing the next romantic comedy…I think it’s really like as Margaret said, telling stories…and having an aesthetic and having a more eclectic taste…these are ideas I want to explore.

2009 Cinema Eye Honors Winners

A sold-out crowd attended last night's Cinema Eye Honors at TheTimesCenter in New York, hosted by co-chairs Thom Powers and AJ Schnack, who made a grand entrance sporting Mardi Gras regalia, as seen in Margaret Brown's The Order of Myths. Stay tuned for my notes from the mid-awards ceremony roundtable discussion moderated by Powers that included the previously mentioned Ms. Brown, The Betrayal - Nerakhoon co-directors Ellen Kuras and Thavisouk Phrasavath , Man on Wire director James Marsh, and My Winnipeg producer Jody Shapiro.

Here is the list of last night's outstanding achievement winners for nonfiction filmmaking:

Debut Feature: Up The Yangtze (Yung Chang)

Graphic Design and Animation: Waltz with Bashir (Yoni Goodman & David Polansky)

Music Composition: Waltz with Bashir (Max Richter)

Outstanding Editing: Man on Wire (Jinx Godfrey)

Outstanding Cinematography: Encounter at the End of the World (Peter Zeitlinger)

Audience Choice Award: Up the Yangtze (Yung Chang)

Outstanding Production: Man on Wire (Simon Chinn)

International Feature: Waltz with Bashir (Ari Folman)

Outstanding Direction: Waltz with Bashir (Ari Folman)

Outstanding Achievement in Non-Fiction Filmmaking: Man on Wire (Dir: James Marsh; Prod: Simon Chinn)

Cinema Eye Selects 2nd Annual Nominees at Sundance

At Sundance yesterday, nominees for the 2nd annual Cinema Eye Honors for Nonfiction Filmmaking were announced. The Film Panel Notetaker will bring you coverage of the ceremony taking place March 29 in New York. In the mean time, here's various reportage from Stranger Than Fiction blog, All These Wonderful Things and indieWIRE from the nominations ceremony. And for a look back at last year's #2 panel discussion from the Cinema Eye Roundtable Discussion, click here.

Thom Powers Top 10 Favorite Doc Events 2008

Stranger Than Fiction's Thom Powers offers his Top 10 Favorite Documentary Events in 2008 over at the STF Blog. Thom's #2 (March: Cinema Eye Honors) is similarily my #2 from last week's Top 10 Favorite Panels and Q&As of 2008.

As a tribute to Stranger Than Fiction, here's my notes from the STFs I attended in 2008.

"Film As a Subversive Art" - Jan. 29, 2008
WHOLPHIN - February 12, 2008
"Join Us" - April 8, 2008
"My Generation" - May 13, 2008
"When We Were Kings" - May 20, 2008

Be sure to check out the schedule for Stranger Than Fiction's upcoming season at stfdocs.com.

Reflections on 2008 and Top 10 Favorite Panel Discussions and Q&As

2008 saw the birth of the One-on-One Q&A, where I interviewed a number of filmmakers including Lucia Small and Ed Pincus (The Axe in the Attic), Leah Meyerhoff (Unicorns), Paul Krik (Able Danger), Fritz Donnelly (To the Hills 2), Phillip Van (Come Wander With Me), Sue Williams (Young & Restless in China), Daniel Robin (My Olympic Summer), Josh Koury (We Are Wizards), Lucía Gajá (My Life Inside), Tambay Obenson (Beautiful Things), Dawn Scibilia and Alan Cooke (Home), Richard LeMay & Jason Brown (Whirlwind), and Paul Lovelace & Sam Douglas (The Holy Modal Rounders: Bound to Lose).

New to the contributing notetaker team was Erin Scherer (Are You From Bingo?), who helped me tremendously at South by Southwest, and contributions by aliases Majimafia and Ultradevotion. AMPeters and Jennifer Warren were back with more notes this year, as well. I also want to thank my friends Adolfo Doring and Amanda Zackem, whose film Blind Spot played at the Woodstock Film Festival, for taking me to the mansion on top of the hill :)

And before I forget, thanks to IndieGoGo for making The Film Panel Notetaker one of its resources, to indieWIRE for listing it as one of their Blogs They Love, Infincine and any other blog or website that linked to here.

I made my first trip to Austin, Texas for SXSW and a return trip to Silver Spring, Maryland for Silverdocs, while also staying on the home front for the New Directors, New Films, Tribeca Film Festival, New York Film Festival, IFP’s Independent Filmmaker Conference and Woodstock Film Festival. I also made appearances at a number of very-well programmed film series, screenings, and discussions including Stranger Than Fiction, Rooftop Films, the Museum of the Moving Image, and MoMA. And in March, I was very fortunate to attend the first ever Cinema Eye Honors for nonfiction film presented by Indiepix.

And I cannot close this year off without mentioning fellow indie film blogger and DIY filmmaker extraordinaire Sujewa Ekanyake’s documentary Indie Film Blogger Road Trip, in which Sujewa generously interviews me and several other indie film bloggers about the rise and somewhat unseen future of indie film blogs. Just trying to see how many times I could put the phrase ‘indie film blogs’ in one paragraph :)

Like last year, it was very hard for me to narrow it down to just 10, as there were so many interesting and wonderful conversations from which to choose. (If you would like to share some of your favorite panel discussions of 2008, please leave a comment.) I don’t know if it’s a coincidence or just my love of non-fiction films, but most of the Top 10 has something to do in one way or another with documentaries. But much of my underlying reasoning can really be attuned to the following criteria: Information and material that I learned and haven’t seen before at panel discussions, diversity in the members on the panels, great moderators, the way in which the panel or discussion was presented, and the ability to entertain, enlighten, and inspire my readers…as well as those that made me laugh my ass off...you know who you are :)

Here’s hoping for more of these wonderful attributes…as well as new surprises…in the year to come.

#1
A Tribute to St. Clair Bourne

Museum of the Moving Image
Astoria, NY

February 10, 2008
This was a very lively discussion that introduced me to the work of the late St. Clair Bourne, who produced and directed many documentaries about prominent figures in African American culture and history including Paul Robeson, John Henrik Clarke, Gordon Parks, and Langston Hughes. Moderated with much respect and appreciation for Bourne and his work, Warrington Hudlin led a great mix of scholars and critics. Nonso Christian Ugbode also presented a clip montage that he edited of Bourne’s films. That same montage would be screened a month later during a tribute to Bourne during the first annual Cinema Eye Honors, which leads into the perfect segway for my #2 pick…

#2
Cinema Eye Honors Roundtable Discussion
New York, NY
March 18, 2008
To my surprise and delight, halfway through the ceremony for the Cinema Eye Honors, co-chair Thom Powers gathered to the stage four directors whose films were nominated for awards that evening including Alex Gibney (Taxi to the Darkside), Esther B. Robinson (A Walk Into the Sea: Danny Williams and the Warhol Factory), Jason Kohn (Manda Bala) and Pernille Rose Grønkjær (The Monastery: Mr. Vig and the Nun) for a roundtable discussion. While I did kvetch about the lack of light in the seating area for me to see my own notes I was taking, the whole experience of it all trumps that, and I therefore bestow #2 to this very clever and might I say daring idea to break up an award show with a discussion with its honorees.

#3
Stanley Nelson: History in the Making
SXSW Film Conference & Festival
Austin, Texas

March 9, 2008

Stanley Nelson is one of my favorite historical documentary filmmakers. Not only did he show clips from a few of his docs (Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple, The Murder of Emmett Till), he also screened a sneak peek clip of his upcoming film Wounded Knee that is now an official selection of the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. It was the first time Nelson showed this clip to the public. I noted in my notes that I often like panels that include film clips because they bring a lot of perspective into the discussion.

#4
Behind the Screens - Under Our Skin
Tribeca Film Festival

New York, NY

April 27, 2008
While I attended several filmmaker conversations myself at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival, the notes provided by contributing notetaker AMPeters helped this particular discussion on the documentary Under Our Skin make it to #4. Peters’ notes solicited the most comments than any other notes on The Film Panel Notetaker this year. It was clear by the subject matter of the film, lyme disease, and the information presented in her notes that people were clearly affected.

#5
My Olympic Summer
New Directors/New Films

New York, NY

March 30, 2008
The Q&A with My Olympic Summer director Daniel Robin at New Directors, New Films is clearly an example of fiction blurring the lines of non-fiction, a topic addressed by many a film blogger this past year. A re-telling of the events of the 1972 Munich Olympics with real home movies that are manipulated into what I felt to be an artitistic and compelling story, the reaction by audience members during the Q&A who thought it was all real, only to learn that it was non-fiction, seemed to shock and irk many of them, which made for a tense, yet very important discussion.

#6
Acting Out
NewFest
June 14, 2008
Notetaking newcomer Ultradevotion provided notes from the Acting Out panel featuring out actors and filmmakers such as Heather Matarazzo. 2008 was the first year The Film Panel Notetaker attended NewFest, and ultimately a milestone year for the LGBT community as same sex marriages were declared consitutional in the state of Califoria, but then upsettlingly repealed in November when Proposition 8 received the majority vote, which has since then lead to nationwide protests.

#7
No Borders Case Study with John Hadity

Independent Film Week

Wednesday, September 17, 2008
New York, NY
2008 marked my 8th visit to IFP’s annual Filmmaker Conference (fka IFP Market & Conference), but the first year I was invited to attend a seminar that was not a part of the conference itself, but rather the No Borders International Co-Production section. That seminar was a rather interesting and informative talk on single picture financing presented by finance guru John Hadity.

#8
Shooting in India
Mahindra Indo-American Arts Council (MIAAC) Film Festival

New York, NY

November 8, 2008
This was also my first time at the MIAAC Film Festival and since I’ve never heard people talk about what it’s like to shoot a movie in India before, my interests were immediately sparked. Parvez Sharma (A Jihad for Love) did a nice job moderating a group of panelists who were either from India and shot a movie in India or weren’t from India and shot a movie in India. Either way, all had interesting stories to share.

#9
Herb and Dorothy
Silverdocs AFI/Discovery Channel Documentary Festival

Silver Spring, MD
June 21, 2008
Herb and Dorothy the movie was quite a nice change of pace with its light-hearted subject matter compared to more hard-hitting, yet equally well-made documentaries I saw at Silverdocs. So it was even nicer a treat to see Herb and Dorothy the people make an appearance at the Q&A after the screening along with the director Megumi Sasaki.

#10
Actors Dialogue: Mary Stuart Masterson & Melissa Leo
2008 Woodstock Film Festival

October 5, 2009

Woodstock, NY
Martha Frankel nearly brought me to tears with laughter for a second straight year in a row with her casual yet very-well researched moderation for a conversation with actresses Mary Stuart Masterson and Melissa Leo at the Woodstock Film Festival. Hey, Martha…stop being so funny so I can let other panels have a chance to be on here next year, will ya?

Honorary #11
Here's to Life: A 40th Anniversary Tribute to One Life to Live

New York, NY

June 10, 2008
I try not to veer off topic too much on The Film Panel Notetaker, but how can I leave out one of my very favorite panels of the year? Thanks again to Ultradevotion for her very colorful commentary!

2009 Cinema Eye Honors Announced at Silverdocs

Here's some news from the 2008 AFI Silverdocs Film Festival. On Friday, a reception was held to announce the 2nd Annual Cinema Eye Honors for Nonfiction Filmmaking that will take place in March 2009. (The Film Panel Notetaker attended the very first Cinema Eye Honors this past March.) Friday’s announcement was made by Cinema Eye co-chair AJ Schnack and Danielle DiGiacomo, documentary coordinator for Indiepix, which returns as the partnering sponsor for the awards through 2010 and will once again produce the awards ceremony. Thom Powers, Documentary Programmer for the Toronto International Film Festival, and Schnack, a filmmaker (KURT COBAIN ABOUT A SON) and author of the popular nonfiction website All These Wonderful Things, return as award co-chairs.

(Pictured: AJ Schnack & Danielle DiGiacomo)

Here’s more of the announcement:

"Thom Powers and I are extraordinarily pleased to be partnering once more with Indiepix in presenting the Cinema Eye Honors," Schnack said Friday. Indiepix Documentary Coordinator Danielle DiGiacomo added, "Indiepix is thrilled to build upon the amazing success of the first Cinema Eye Honors and are proud to announce our commitment to the Cinema Eye Honors through the first three years of its existence. We look forward to working with Thom and AJ for the next two years."

It was also announced Friday that the 2009 Cinema Eye Honors will add a new award for Outstanding Composing for a Nonfiction Film. Nominations for the 2009 Cinema Eye Honors will be announced in Park City, Utah during the 2009 Sundance Film Festival.

In an effort to broaden the eligibility criteria for the 2009 awards to include more films from outside of North America, Powers and Schnack have added IDFA, the influential Amsterdam documentary festival, and Cannes to the list of qualifying festivals. In addition, they have added four new festival programmers to the Cinema Eye Nominating Committee - Ally Derks of IDFA, Heather Croall from Sheffield DocFest, Maxyne Franklin of BritDoc and Meira Blaustein from Woodstock Film Festival. Also joining the nominating committee for 2009 is SXSW Film Festival producer Janet Pierson.

Returning to the nominating committee for 2009 are a cross section of the top documentary festival programmers in North America - Phoebe Brush of Full Frame, Sean Farnel of Hot Docs, Tom Hall of Sarasota Film Festival, David Kwok of Tribeca, Cara Mertes of the Sundance Documentary Film Program, David Nugent of Hamptons Film Festival, Rachel Rosen of the Los Angeles Film Festival, Sky Sitney of Silverdocs, David Wilson of True/False and Brit Withey of Denver Film Festival.

To date, more than 75 feature films have qualified for eligibility for the 2009 awards - a number that matches the total number of eligible films for 2008, including 25 films that are currently screening at Silverdocs:

AMERICAN TEEN
THE BETRAYAL (NERAKHOON)
BULLETPROOF SALESMAN
CORRIDOR #8
DEAR ZACHARY: A LETTER TO A SON ABOUT HIS FATHER
ENCOUNTERS AT THE END OF THE WORLD
THE ENGLISH SURGEON
FORBIDDEN LIES
GONZO: THE LIFE AND WORK OF DR. HUNTER S. THOMPSON
THE INFINITE BORDER
KICKING IT
LIFE. SUPPORT. MUSIC.
LUCIO
MAN ON WIRE
MECHANICAL LOVE
MILOSEVIC ON TRIAL
MY MOTHER'S GARDEN
MY WINNIPEG
THE ORDER OF MYTHS
SONG SUNG BLUE
STRANDED, I'VE COME FROM A PLANE THAT CRASHED IN THE MOUNTAINS
THROW DOWN YOUR HEART
TRIAGE: DR. JAMS ORBINSKI'S HUMANITARIAN DILEMMA
TROUBLE THE WATER
UP THE YANGTZE

The inaugural Cinema Eye Honors were held March 17, 2008 at the IFC Center in New York City. Top honors for Outstanding Feature went to Jason Kohn's MANDA BALA (SEND A BULLET), which also received Cinema Eye Honors for editing and cinematography. Alex Gibney won the directing prize for TAXI TO THE DARK SIDE. Additional awards went to GHOSTS OF CITE SOLEIL, THE MONASTERY - MR VIG AND THE NUN, BILLY THE KID, CHICAGO 10 and THE KING OF KONG (A FISTFUL OF QUARTERS).

Full list of currently eligible titles for 2009:
AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL
AMERICAN TEEN
ANVIL! THE STORY OF ANVIL
AT THE DEATH HOUSE DOOR
BE LIKE OTHERS
THE BETRAYAL (NERAKHOON)
BIGGER, STRONGER, FASTER*
THE BLACK LIST
BLOODLINE
BODY OF WAR
BRA BOYS
BULLETPROOF SALESMAN
THE BUSINESS OF BEING BORN
CONSTANTINE'S SWORD
CORRIDOR #8
DEAR ZACHARY: A LETTER TO A SON ABOUT HIS FATHER
THE DHAMMA BROTHERS
DINNER WITH THE PRESIDENT: A NATION'S JOURNEY
ENCOUNTERS AT THE END OF THE WORLD
THE ENGLISH SURGEON
EXPELLED: NO INTELLIGENCE ALLOWED
FIGHTING FOR LIFE
THE FIRST SATURDAY IN MAY
FLOW: FOR LOVE OF WATER
FLYING ON ONE ENGINE
FORBIDDEN LIES
FULL BATTLE RATTLE
THE GATES
GIRLS ROCK!
GLASS: A PORTRAIT OF PHILIP IN TWELVE PARTS
GONZO: THE LIFE AND WORK OF DR. HUNTER S. THOMPSON
HATS OFF
HER NAME IS SABINE
HOLD ME TIGHT, LET ME GO
IMAGINARY WITNESS: HOLLYWOOD AND THE HOLOCAUST
THE INFINITE BORDER
A JIHAD FOR LOVE
JOY DIVISION
KICKING IT
LIFE. SUPPORT. MUSIC.
LOU REED'S BERLIN
LUCIO
MAN ON WIRE
MECHANICAL LOVE
MILOSEVIC ON TRIAL
THE MOSQUITO PROBLEM (AND OTHER STORIES)
MY MOTHER'S GARDEN
MY WINNIPEG
THE ORDER OF MYTHS
PARADISE
PARADISE - THREE JOURNEYS IN THIS WORLD
PLANET B-BOY
PRAYING WITH LIOR
A PROMISE TO THE DEAD: THE EXILE JOURNEY OF ARIEL DORFMAN
REFUSENIK
ROMAN POLANSKI: WANTED AND DESIRED
SECRECY
SHINE A LIGHT
SHOOT DOWN
THE SINGING REVOLUTION
SONG SUNG BLUE
STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE
STRANDED, I'VE COME FROM A PLANE THAT CRASHED IN THE MOUNTAINS
SURFWISE
STEEP
TEHRAN HAS NO MORE POMEGRANATES!
THROW DOWN YOUR HEART
TRIAGE: DR. JAMES ORBINSKI'S HUMANITARIAN DILEMMA
TROUBLE THE WATER
TRYING TO GET GOOD: THE JAZZ ODYSSEY OF JACK SHELDON
U23D
UP THE YANGTZE
VINCE VAUGHN'S WILD WEST COMEDY SHOW: 30 DAYS & 30 NIGHTS - FROM HOLLYWOOD TO THE HEARTLAND
WAITING FOR HOCKNEY
WHERE IN THE WORLD IS OSAMA BIN LADEN?
WILD BLUE YONDER
YIDDISH THEATER: A LOVE STORY
YOUNG@HEART

Cinema Eye Honors Roundtable Discussion - March 18, 2008

Last night I attended the inaugural Cinema Eye Honors where awards were handed out for outstanding achievement in nonfiction filmmaking. You can find the complete list of winners here. To my surprise and delight, halfway through the ceremony, co-chair Thom Powers gathered to the stage four directors whose films were nominated for awards that night—Alex Gibney (Taxi to the Darkside), Esther B. Robinson (A Walk Into the Sea: Danny Williams and the Warhol Factory), Jason Kohn (Manda Bala) and Pernille Rose Grønkjær (The Monastery: Mr. Vig and the Nun) for a roundtable discussion. The one problem I had was that the theater was dark, and I couldn’t really see what I was writing even with the help of my cell phone light, and then when I got home, my hand writing was worse then ever, so I was only able to include below the notes that I was actually able to decipher, but they are very good statements from the four directors. (Note to self—Next year, bring the special Indiepix light pen with me.)

(L to R) Alex Gibney, Esther B. Robinson, Thom Powers, Jason Kohn & Pernille Rose Grønkjær. Photo courtesy of Indiepix.

Powers: You spent years giving money to documentaries as a foundation chick. What’s the transition been like becoming a filmmaker?

Robinson: The arts system doesn’t really have any support in America. There’s an incredible community of filmmakers who have made films like mine. All these films exist on resources of low funding.

Powers: You’ve done well taking on dry subjects like Enron and bringing them to visual life.

Gibney: At the end of the day, Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room is not about accounting and Taxi to the Darkside is not about interrogation. They’re about people. I’m following the trail of the narrative of the story.

Powers: You spent a lot of time making The Monastery and condensing time. What made you think this was worth a film?

Grønkjær: I was the only one. There was something in my stomach. I wanted to film him (Mr. Vig) more and more. Every time I saw him, I kind of fell in love. It was so magical to be with this guy. This was a fairy tale story. The whole visual side of this man’s universe kept me coming back.

Powers: You worked with Errol Morris before. What was it like working under another director?

Kohn: He was more than my old boss. It was nothing like what you’d imagine.

Powers: Can you reflect on where documentaries are today?

Gibney: There are no rules anymore. You’re not constrained by one kind of mysterious rulebook. There’s a sense of discovery even as you’re observing the world outside.

Robinson: There’s an extraordinary wealth of beauty and surprise. Cinema magic. There are so many producers and directors on the verge of giving up. Producers right now are really taking a hit. How do we support people making them happen?

Grønkjær: So many good documentaries are coming out of Denmark. We have a good support system. I had a discussion with my friend about telling stories. I see myself as a storyteller and not a documentary filmmaker. Some stories are better for documentaries than for fiction. I’m exploring all options.

Kohn: Documentary is not a separate form of filmmaking. It’s just another genre. We’re genre directors.

"Manda Bala," "Billy the Kid," "Taxi to the Darkside" Among Winners of First Cinema Eye Honors

Tuesday night at New York’s IFC Center awards were handed out to the winners of the first ever Cinema Eye Honors for Nonfiction Filmmaking presented by Indiepix. In case you’re wondering, 'Cinema Eye' is named after the revolutionary group of young filmmakers led by pioneering documentarian Dziga Vertov. The Awards' blue-ribbon selection committee consisted of 12 programmers from North America's top film festivals, co-chaired by A.J. Schnack, Director of Kurt Cobain: About A Son, and Toronto Film Festival Documentary Programmer Thom Powers.

The Manda Bala crew pose for a picture before winning three awards including Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Filmmaking

Marshall Curry (STREETFIGHT) presented the award for Outstanding Achievement in a Debut Feature to…Billy The Kid - Jennifer Venditti

Alan Berliner (NOBODY’S BUSINESS, WIDE AWAKE) presented the award for Outstanding Achievement in Graphics and Animation to…Chicago 10 - Animation by Curious Pictures

Ross Kaufman (BORN INTO BROTHELS) presented the award for Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography to… Manda Bala - Heloísa Passos

Sam Pollard (JUNGLE FEVER, CLOCKERS, EYES ON THE PRIZE II) presented the award for Outstanding Achievement in Editing to Manda Bala – Doug Abel

Robert Drew (PRIMARY) presented the award for Outstanding Achievement in Producing to… Ghosts Of Cite Soleil - Seth Kanegis, Tomas Radoor & Mikael Rieks

Alex Gibney (TAXI TO THE DARKSIDE, ENRON: THE SMARTEST GUYS IN THE ROOM) presented The Audience Choice Prize to…The King Of Kong: A Fistful Of Quarters - Director - Seth Gordon

Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg (THE TRIALS OF DARRYL HUNT and THE DEVIL CAME ON HORSEBACK) presented the award for Outstanding Achievement in an International Feature to…The Monastery - Mr. Vig & the Nun, Director - Pernille Rose Grønkjær, Producer - Sigrid Dyekjær

Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky (BROTHER'S KEEPER, PARADISE LOST: THE CHILDHOOD MURDERS AT ROBIN HOOD HILLS, METALLICA: SOME KIND OF MONSTER) presented the award for Outstanding Achievement in Direction to…Taxi To The Dark Side - Alex Gibney

Barbara Kopple (HARLAN COUNTY USA, AMERICAN DREAM, SHUT UP AND SING) presented the award for Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Filmmaking to…
Manda Bala

Stay tuned to The Film Panel Notetaker for notes from the surprising director roundtable discussion that took place at the half-way point during the ceremony.

Cinema Eye Honors Presenters Announced

Indiepix announced today the lineup of presenters for the Cinema Eye Honors taking place Tuesday night at New York's IFC Center.

The full list of awards and presenters follows:

Outstanding Achievement in a Debut Feature – Marshall Curry (STREETFIGHT)

Outstanding Achievement in Graphics and Animation – Alan Berliner (NOBODY’S BUSINESS, WIDE AWAKE)

Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography – Ross Kaufman (BORN INTO BROTHELS)

Outstanding Achievement in Editing – Sam Pollard (JUNGLE FEVER, CLOCKERS, EYES ON THE PRIZE II)

Outstanding Achievement in Production – Robert Drew (PRIMARY)

Audience Choice Award – Alex Gibney (TAXI TO THE DARKSIDE, ENRON: THE SMARTEST GUYS IN THE ROOM)

Outstanding Achievement in an International Feature – Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg (THE TRIALS OF DARRYL HUNT and THE DEVIL CAME ON HORSEBACK)

Outstanding Achievement in Direction – Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky (BROTHER'S KEEPER, PARADISE LOST: THE CHILDHOOD MURDERS AT ROBIN HOOD HILLS, METALLICA: SOME KIND OF MONSTER)

Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Filmmaking – Barbara Kopple (HARLAN COUNTY USA, AMERICAN DREAM, SHUT UP AND SING)

The Film Panel Notetaker will be at the Cinema Eye Honors covering the night's events. Stay tuned!

'Cinema Eye' Honors for Nonfiction Filmmaking Nominations Announced

'Cinema Eye' Honors for Nonfiction Filmmaking Nominations Announced

More news on the 2008 Awards for Excellence in Nonfiction Filmmaking Announced, now called the 'Cinema Eye' Awards (named after the revolutionary group of young filmmakers led by pioneering documentarian Dziga Vertov). Nominations were announced yesterday during the Sundance Film Festival. Congratulations to all the nominees. Into Great Silence and Manda Bala (Send A Bullet) lead with six nominations each and five nominations for Lake Of Fire. IndiePix also announced the Audience Choice Award nominees. The awards ceremony will take place on March 18 at New York's IFC Center.

The Awards' Blue-ribbon committee of 12 programmers from North America's top Film Festivals, co-chaired by A.J. Schnack, Director of Kurt Cobain: About A Son, and Toronto Film Festival Documentary Programmer, Thom Powers, selected the nominees by voting for five films each, in preferential order, from a list of 76 eligible films.

And the nominees are:

Outstanding Achievement in an International Feature
Ghosts Of Cite Soleil, Director - Asger LethProducers - Seth Kanegis, Tomas Radoor and Mikael Rieks
Into Great Silence, Director - Philip GröningProducers - Philip Gröning, Elda Guidinetti, Andres Pfaffli & Michael Weber
Manufactured Landscapes, Director - Jennifer BaichwalProducers - Jennifer Baichwal, Daniel Iron & Nick de Pencier
The Monastery - Mr. Vig & the Nun, Director - Pernille Rose GrønkjærProducer - Sigrid Dyekjær
Please Vote For Me, Director - Weijun ChenProducer - Don Edkins

Outstanding Achievement in a Debut Feature
Billy The Kid - Jennifer Venditti
Manda Bala (Send A Bullet) - Jason Kohn
The Monastery - Mr. Vig and the Nun - Pernille Rose Gronkjær
No End In Sight - Charles Ferguson
A Walk Into The Sea: Danny Williams And The Warhol Factory - Esther B. Robinson

Outstanding Achievement in Direction
Into Great Silence - Philip Gröning
Lake Of Fire - Tony Kaye
Manda Bala (Send A Bullet) - Jason Kohn
Taxi To The Dark Side - Alex GibneyZoo - Robinson Devor

Outstanding Achievement in Producing
Blindsight - Sybil Robson Orr
Chicago 10 - Brett Morgan & Graydon Carter
Ghosts Of Cite Soleil - Seth Kanegis, Tomas Radoor & Mikael Rieks
Into Great Silence - Philip Gröning, Elda Guidinetti, Andres Pfaffli & Michael Weber
Lake Of Fire - Tony Kaye
Manda Bala - Joey Frank, Jared Goldman & Jason Kohn

Outstanding Achievement in Editing
Crazy Love - David Zieff
Flying: Confessions Of A Free Woman - Niels Pagh Andersen
Ghosts Of Cite Soleil - Adam Nielsen
Lake Of Fire - Peter GoddardManda Bala - Doug Abel, Jenny Golden & Andy Grieve
No End In Sight - Chad Beck and Cindy Lee

Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography
Into Great Silence - Philip Gröning
Lake Of Fire - Tony KayeManda Bala - Heloisa Passos
Manufactured Landscapes - Peter MettlerZoo - Sean Kirby

Outstanding Achievement in Graphics and Animation
Chicago 10 - Animation by Curious Pictures
Helvetica - Motions Graphics by Trollbäck & Co.
The Prisoner Or: How I Planned To Kill Tony Blair - Graphic Design by Petra Epperlein
The Unforeseen - Motion Graphics by Jef SewellSuper Amigos - Animation by David Quesnelle

The Audience Choice Prize
Deep Water - Directors - Louise Osmond and Jerry Rothwell
In The Shadow Of The Moon - Director - David Sington
Into Great Silence - Director - Philip Gröning
Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten - Director - Julien Temple
The King Of Kong: A Fistful Of Quarters - Director - Seth Gordon
Manufactured Landscapes - Director - Jennifer Baichwal
No End In Sight - Director - Charles Ferguson
Sicko - Director - Michael Moore

Visit the Nonfiction Awards web site - http://www.indiepixfilms.com/awards?ref=iba for more information about the Awards for Excellence in Nonfiction Filmmaking and the voting process.