IDA Documentary Awards 2012
We are excited to announce the winners of the 28th annual IDA Documentary Awards!
View all the winners and nominees
Renowned Illusionist, Comedian, Musician and Author Penn Jillette to Host 28th Annual Ceremony
Penn Jillette We're thrilled that Penn Jillette will be hosting the IDA Awards. He is a cultural phenomenon as a solo personality and as half of the world-famous Emmy®-Award winning magic duo Penn & Teller. His solo exposure is enormous: from Howard Stern to Glenn Beck to the Op-Ed pages of The New York Times. He has appeared on Dancing With The Stars, MTV Cribs and Chelsea Lately, and hosted the NBC game showIdentity. As part of Penn & Teller, he has appeared more than twenty times on David Letterman, as well as on several other TV shows, from The Simpsons and Friends to Top Chef and Jimmy Fallon. He co-hosts the controversial series Penn & Teller: Bullsh*t!, which has been nominated for sixteen Emmy® Awards. His documentary, The Aristocrats, features 100 top comics telling their version of the world's dirtiest joke and was a 2005 official Sundance entry.
Arnold Shapiro to Receive Career Achievement Award
Arnold Shapiro The IDA will award its prestigious 2012 Career Achievement Award to producer Arnold Shapiro. Arnold is the Oscar and Emmy Award-winning producer, director, writer of the documentary Scared Straight! Among his other 150 awards are 16 Emmys including the Governors’ Award from the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, three Humanitas Prizes, The People's Choice Award, and the George Foster Peabody Award. Arnold has produced 33 series including CBS's Rescue 911 and Big Brother, and the current A&E hit series, Beyond Scared Straight; four CBS-TV movies, two prime time CBS drama specials, and more than 90 documentaries and specials. Arnold has produced documentary programs for CBS, NBC, ABC, FOX, UPN, PBS and 14 cable networks from A&E to HBO. In previous years, IDA has bestowed its Career Achievement Award on documentary luminaries such as Sheila Nevins, Ken Burns, Albert Maysles, Haskell Wexler, Michael Moore, Errol Morris, and last year's recipient, Les Blank.
Sundance Institute's Documentary Film Program and Fund to Receive Pioneer Award
Sundance Institute's Documentary Film ProgramThe IDA's Pioneer Award will be presented to Sundance Institute's groundbreaking Documentary Film Program and Fund (DFP). Established in 2002 with a gift from the Open Society Institute with leadership support from Ford Foundation's Just Films initiative among others, the DFP is a leading creative and financial resource for contemporary-issue nonfiction filmmakers worldwide. Each year the DFP grants and awards $1-2 million to independent documentary films and conducts a portfolio of Creative Labs and Fellows programs at Sundance Resort, Sundance Film Festival and elsewhere. Under the direction of Cara Mertes, the DFP also convenes events and forges partnerships globally to draw new resources to the non-fiction field, and to amplify the use of film as a tool for impact and motivate change towards more open and equitable societies. In its ten years, the DFP has supported over 425 films including Kirby Dick's The Invisible War, Patricio Guzmàn's Nostalgia For The Light, Leonard Retel Helmrich's Position Among The Stars, Josh Fox's Gasland, Tia Lessin and Carl Deal's Trouble The Water, and Ross Kauffman and Zana Briski's Born Into Brothels.
David France Receives Jacqueline Donnet Emerging Documentary Filmmaker Award
Each year IDA recognizes the achievements of a filmmaker who has made a significant impact at the beginning of his or her career in documentary film. This year IDA will honor David France, the producer and director of one of the year’s most-acclaimed films How to Survive a Plague. Since its premiere last January at the Sundance Film Festival, award-winning journalist and New York Times best-selling author David France has received tremendous praise from critics, programmers and fellow filmmakers for his directorial debut film. Several films have been inspired by his work, including the Emmy-nominated Showtime film Our Fathers, for which he received a WGA nomination. He is at work on a major new history of AIDS, due from Alfred A. Knopf in 2014.
2012 IDA Documentary Awards
Click the film titles below for info on how to watch each film.
BEST FEATURE AWARD
SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN (WINNER)
Director/Producer/Writer: Malik Bendjelloul
Producer: Simon Chinn
Executive Producer: John Battsek
Red Box Films, Sony Pictures Classics
THE CENTRAL PARK FIVE
Directors/Producers/Writers: Ken Burns, Sarah Burns, David McMahon
Executive Producer: Ken Burns
Florentine Films, Sundance Selects, PBS
THE INVISIBLE WAR
Director/Writer: Kirby Dick
Producers: Amy Ziering, Tanner King Barklow
Executive Producers: Regina Kulik Scully, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, Sarah Johnson Redlich, Women Donors Network, Teddy Leifer, Sally Jo Fifer, Nicole Boxer-Keegan
Co-Executive Producer: Kimball Stroud
Cinedigm and Docurama Films
THE QUEEN OF VERSAILLES
Director: Lauren Greenfield
Producers: Lauren Greenfield, Danielle Renfrew Behrens
Executive Producers: Frank Evers, Dan Cogan
Co-Producer: Rebecca Horn Black
Evergreen Pictures, Magnolia Pictures
WOMEN WITH COWS
Director: Peter Gerdehag
Producers: Tell Aulin, Lasse Rengfelt
Writers: Tell Aulin, Malcolm Dixelius
Executive Producer: Malcolm Dixelius
Deep Sea Productions
BEST SHORT AWARD
SAVING FACE (WINNER)
Director: Daniel Junge, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy
Producers: David Coombe, Daniel Junge, Alison Greenberg, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, Sabiha Sumar
Co-Producers: Aaron Kopp, Fazeelat Aslam
Senior Producer: Lisa Heller (HBO)
Executive Producer: Sheila Nevins (HBO)
HBO Documentary Films, Milkhaus, LLC, and JungeFilm, LLC
GOD IS THE BIGGER ELVIS
Director/Producer: Rebecca Cammisa
Producer: Julie Anderson
Supervising Producer: Sara Bernstein
Executive Producer: Sheila Nevins
HBO Documentary Films
KINGS POINT
Director/Producer: Sari Gilman
Producers: Jedd Wider, Todd Wider
Co-Producer: Susannah Ludwig
Kings Point Documentary/Wider Film Projects
MONDAYS AT RACINE
Director/Producer: Cynthia Wade
Producers: Robin Honan
Co-Producer: Vanessa Bergonzoli
Supervising Producer: Lisa Heller (HBO)
Executive Producer: Sheila Nevins (HBO)
Cynthia Wade Productions
OPEN HEART
Director: Kief Davidson
Producers: Kief Davidson, Cori Shepherd Stern
Executive Producers: Geralyn Dreyfous, Rick Rosenthal, Nancy Stephens, Eric Dobkin, Barbara Dobkin, Sean Mewshaw, Desi Van Til, Damon Lindelof, Heidi Lindelof
Urban Landscapes Productions, Whitewater Films, Believe Media
BEST CONTINUING SERIES AWARD
AMERICAN MASTERS (WINNER)
Executive Producer: Susan Lacy
Series Producer: Prudence Glass
Supervising Producer: Julie Sacks
Coordinating Producer: Junko Tsunashima
THIRTEEN in association with PBS
INDEPENDENT LENS
Executive Producer: Sally Jo Fifer
Senior Series Producer: Lois Vossen
Independent Television Service (ITVS) in association with PBS
POV
Executive Producer: Simon Kilmurry
Co-Executive Producer: Cynthia López
VP of Programming & Production: Chris White
Series Producer: Yance Ford
Coordinating Producer: Andrew Catauro
American Documentary | POV in association with PBS
BEST LIMITED SERIES AWARD
ON DEATH ROW (WINNER)
Director/Writer: Werner Herzog
Producer: Erik Nelson
Coordinating Producer: Robert Erickson
Executive Producers: Dave Harding, Amy Briamonte; Andre Singer and Lucki Stipetic (Spring Films and Werner Herzog Film); Nick Raslan (Skellig Rock); Henry Schleiff and Sara Kozak (Investigation Discovery)
Creative Differences, Investigation Discovery
BOMB PATROL: AFGHANISTAN
Executive Producers: Dan Cesareo, Doug DePriest, Vince DiPersio, Laura Civiello, Tim Rummel
Series Producers: Kathryn Gilbert, Joe Venafro, Keith Saunders
Producers/Shooters: Joe Venafro, Christopher Whiteneck, David D'Angelo, Scott Stoneback
Big Fish Entertainment for NBC/G4 Media, Inc.
GEORGE HARRISON: LIVING IN THE MATERIAL WORLD
Director/Producer: Martin Scorsese
Executive Producers: Scott Pascucci (Grove Street), Emma Tillinger Koskoff (Sikelia Productions), Margaret Bodde
Producers: Olivia Harrison, Nigel Sinclair
Supervising Producer: Blair Foster
Grove Street Pictures, Spitfire Pictures, and Sikelia Productions in association with HBO Documentary Films
SLAVERY: A 21ST CENTURY EVIL
Directors: David Hickman, Tim Tate, Tom Phillips
Executive Producer: Jon Blair
Series Producer: Tim Tate
Al Jazeera English
THE WEIGHT OF THE NATION
Executive Producers: Sheila Nevins, John Hoffman
Producers: John Hoffman, Dan Chaykin, Sarah Teale
Co-Producers: Tomek Gross, Alexandra Moss, Sonia Dulay Ricci
HBO Documentary Films and the Institute of Medicine, in association with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health, and in partnership with the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation and Kaiser Permanente
DAVID L. WOLPER STUDENT DOCUMENTARY AWARD
This award recognizes exceptional achievement in non-fiction film and video production at the university level and brings greater public and industry awareness to the work of students in the documentary field.
LA CAMIONETA (WINNER)
Director/Producer/Writer: Mark Kendall
Producer: Rafael González
Writer: Shannon Kennedy
Executive Producer: Esther Robinson
School of Visual Arts
THE A-WORD
Director/Writer/Executive Producer: Lindsay Ellis
Producers: Kaveh Taherian, Clarinda Morales
University of Southern California
CAPTIVE RADIO
Director/Producer/Writier: Lauren Rosenfeld
UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism
JULIAN
Director/Producer/Writer: Bao Nguyen
Executive Producer: Maryann De Leo
School of Visual Arts
MEANWHILE IN MAMELODI
Director: Benjamin Kahlmeyer
Producer: Boris Frank
Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg
ABCNEWS VIDEOSOURCE AWARD
This award is given each year for the best use of news footage as an integral component in a documentary.
HARVEST OF EMPIRE (WINNER)
Directors: Peter Getzels, Eduardo López
Producers: Wendy Thompson-Marquez, Eduardo López
Onyx Films, EVS Communications, Loquito Productions
BOOKER’S PLACE: A MISSISSIPPI STORY
Director: Raymond De Felitta
Producer: David Zellerford
Executive Producers: Lynn Roer, Steven Beer
Eyepatch Productions/Ogilvy, Hangover Lounge, Tribeca Film
THE CENTRAL PARK FIVE
Directors/Producers/Writers: Ken Burns, Sarah Burns, David McMahon
Executive Producer: Ken Burns
Florentine Films, Sundance Selects, PBS
THE FAMILY
Director/Producer/Writer: Hussein Elrazzaz
Executive Producer/Writer: Jon Blair
Al Jazeera English
WE ARE WISCONSIN
Director: Amie Williams
Producers: Kathryn Takis, Doug Pray
Executive Producers: Marge Tabankin, Bill Hirsch, Scott Verges
Bal Maiden Films, Peer Review Pictures, Public Interest Pictures
HUMANITAS DOCUMENTARY AWARD
This award is given to a film that explores the hopes and fears of human beings who are very different in culture, race, lifestyle, political loyalties and religious beliefs in order to break down the walls of ignorance which separate us.
BITTER SEEDS (WINNER)
Director/Producer: Micha X. Peled
Teddy Bear Films
AMERICAN EXPERIENCE: THE AMISH
Director: David Belton
Producers: David Belton, Callie T. Wiser
Writer: David Belton
Senior Producer: Sharon Grimberg
Executive Producer: Mark Samels
Sarah Colt Productions for AMERICAN EXPERIENCE, PBS
CALL ME KUCHU
Directors/Writers: Katherine Fairfax Wright, Malika Zouhali-Worrall
Producer: Malika Zouhali-Worrall
New Video
HARVEST OF EMPIRE
Directors: Peter Getzels, Eduardo López
Producers: Wendy Thompson-Marquez, Eduardo López
Onyx Films, EVS Communications, Loquito Productions
THE VIRGIN, THE COPTS AND ME
Director/Producer/Writer: Namir Abdel Messeeh
Writers: Nathalie Najern, Anne Paschetta
OWEDA Films, Doha Film Institute, Doc & Film International
PARE LORENTZ AWARD
The Pare Lorentz Award recognizes films that demonstrates exemplary filmmaking while focusing on the appropriate use of the natural environment, justice for all and the illumination of pressing social problems.
THE ISLAND PRESIDENT
Director: Jon Shenk
Executive Producer: John Else
Producers: Bonni Cohen, Richard Berge
Creative Recognition Awards
The Creative Recognition category recognizes special achievement in cinematography, editing, music and writing in films entered in the Feature Category.
Award recipient: The primary person involved in the recognized craft of the selected film.
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
WOMEN WITH COWS
Director/Cinematographer: Peter Gerdehag
BEST EDITING
ROOM 237
Director/Editor: Rodney Ascher
BEST MUSIC
SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN
Original Songs by: Sixto Rodriguez
Additional Score by: Malik Bendjelloul
Directed by: Malik Bendjelloul
BEST WRITING
ANN RICHARDS' TEXAS
Writing: Keith Patterson
Directors: Keith Patterson, Jack Lofton
Download press releases:
Sept. 4, 2012—Arnold Shapiro to receive Career Achievement Award, and Sundance Institute's Documentary Film Program and Fund to receive Pioneer Award
Oct. 22, 2012—Nominations Announced, and Penn Jillette to Host 28th Annual IDA Documentary Awards
November 5, 2012—Jacqueline Donnet Emerging Documentary Filmmaker Award, Pare Lorentz Award, Creative Recognition Awards Announced
For all press inquiries please contact Ashley Mariner of Dish Communications ashleym@dishcommunications.com.
2012 IDA DOCUMENTARY AWARDS TIMELINE
October:
10/25 - Ad Reservation Deadline for Documentary magazine
10/22 - 2012 IDA Documentary Awards Nominees Announced
November:
11/1 - Artwork deadline for Documentary magazine
11/5 - Final Voting for Best Documentary Feature and Best Documentary Short begins*
11/16 - Ad reservation deadline for Awards Program
11/19 - Final Voting ends*
11/21 - Ad artwork deadline for Awards Program
December:
12/7 - 2012 IDA Documentary Awards @ The Director’s Guild of America
Awards Issue of Documentary magazine on newsstands the first week of December.
*Award winners for Best Documentary Feature and Best Documentary Short are selected by a group of IDA members from the nominees.