LOS ANGELES, November 21, 2008 — Winners for the International Documentary Association’s 2008 IDA Documentary Awards competition were announced today in several major categories, including Limited Series, Continuing Series, Music, and Student, leaving Feature, Short, and Audience Awards for the night of the program, to be held December 5th at the Directors Guild Theater in Los Angeles.
For the second consecutive year, Ira Glass’ THIS AMERICAN LIFE has nabbed the Continuing Series Award. Glass plans to attend IDA’s December 5th honors to accept his award in-person, as he memorably did in 2007. In the Limited Series category, the prize has gone to SIN CITY LAW, Denis Poncet, Jean Xavier De Lestrade, and Remy Burkel’s eight-part episodic chronicling the criminal justice system in Las Vegas.
Now in its second year, the IDA/Alan Ett Music Documentary Award, sponsored by the veteran music industry figure and composer, has honored Stephen Walker’s YOUNG@HEART. HEART also competes against KASSIM THE DREAM, STRANDED: I’VE COME FROM A PLANE THAT CRASHED IN THE MOUNTAINS, MAN ON WIRE and WALTZ WITH BASHIR for IDA’s top feature prize. Director Walker will make the trek from his native England to receive the Music Award.
The IDA/Pare Lorentz Award, in homage to the pioneering filmmaker’s legacy, was given to David Novack’s BURNING THE FUTURE: COAL IN AMERICA, a hard look at the coal industry and its efforts to promote “clean coal technology” in the face of true environmental hazards. Earning an Honorable Mention in the category is GARBAGE WARRIOR from filmmaker Oliver Hodge.
The IDA/ABCNEWS VideoSource Award, for best use of archival news footage, has gone to WAR CHILD, the story of a Sudanese child solider who emerges as an international rap star. C. Karim Chrobog’s film also participated in IDA’s DocuWeek Theatrical Showcase earlier this year.
IDA continues to recognize the next generation of documentary filmmakers with its prestigious David L. Wolper Student Filmmaker Award. This year’s prize has been awarded to AS WE FORGIVE, directed by American University student Laura Waters Hinson. The film documents two Rwandan women coming face-to-face with the men who slaughtered their families during the 1994 genocide.
Voting continues for the inaugural Audience Award, where all IDA members can vote for their favorite doc from a wide-ranging list of the year’s nonfiction features simply by logging on to www.documentary.org.
This year’s IDA Documentary Awards, hosted by filmmaker Morgan Spurlock and honoring the legendary Werner Herzog, are sponsored by HBO Documentary Films, Magic Rock Entertainment, the Directors Guild of America, Kodak, Border Grill and Ciudad Catering, The Standard Hotel, Heineken, Sort this Out Cellars, Aquarius & Langenburg Oxygen Water, and The Hollywood Reporter. Tickets are available for purchase now at www.documentary.org/awards08.
Winning films from the event will be screened at DocuFest, held the day after the awards, on December 6th, from 10:00 AM to Midnight at the Eastman Kodak Screening Room, 6700 Santa Monica Blvd, Los Angeles, California. Most filmmakers will be in attendance for Q&A’s following these films. Ticket information can also be found at www.documentary.org/docufest.
The International Documentary Association is a nonprofit, public interest organization dedicated to supporting and promoting the art of documentary film. The IDA Awards selection process began with peer group juries who viewed all submissions to select nominees in each category for final review by blue-ribbon panels.
For more information about IDA, visit www.documentary.org or call 213-534-3600.
Media Contact: Amy Grey/Ashley Mariner
Dish Communications
(818) 508-1000
amyg@dishcommunications.com/ashleym@dishcommunications.com
CONTINUING SERIES – WINNER
This American Life
Created By Ira Glass/Chicago Public Radio
Chris Wilcha, director, co-executive producer
Jane Feltes, Sarah Koenig, Lisa Pollak, Robyn Semien, Alissa Shipp, Nancy Updike, producers
Julie Snyder, Alex Blumberg, Ira Glass, Banks Tarver, Ken Druckerman, Christine Vachon, Pamela Koffler, Katie Roumel, executive producers
Left/Right, Killer Films, Chicago Public Radio, Showtime Networks
Episodes Submitted:
Escape
Two Wars
Going Down In History
John Smith
LIMTED SERIES – WINNER
Sin City Law
Denis Poncet, Jean-Xavier de Lestrade, Remy Burkel
Maha Productions, Arte, Sundance Channel
IDA/ALAN ETT MUSIC DOCUMENTARY AWARD - WINNER
Young@Heart
Stephen Walker, Sally George
Walker George Films, Channel 4 Television Corporation, Fox Searchlight Pictures
IDA/PARE LORENTZ AWARD - WINNER
Burning The Future: Coal In America
David Novack, Alexis Zoullas
FireFly Pix, Sundance Channel
Honorable Mention:
Garbage Warrior
Oliver Hodge, Rachel Wexler, Patrick Wilson
Open Eye Media, Sundance Channel, Documentary Channel, ITVS International
IDA/ABCNEWS VIDEOSOURCE AWARD – WINNER
War Child
C. Karim Chrobog, Afshin Molava
18th Street Films, Independent Producers Alliance, Interfact Media Group, Porchlight Entertainment
IDA/DAVID L. WOLPER STUDENT DOCUMENTARY AWARD
As We Forgive
Laura Waters Hinson
American University