Grammy-nominated comedian Tig Notaro will host the 2015 IDA Documentary Awards ceremony. Tig Notaro is the subject of Tig, the Netflix Original documentary chronicling her life after it famously fell apart.
The 2015 edition of the Awards will highlight six films in Best Feature Documentary category. These films include AMY, Asif Kapadia’s moving film about six-time Grammy-winner Amy Winehouse; The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution, Stanley Nelson’s vibrant chronicle of the birth of the Black Panther Party; Listen To Me Marlon, Stevan Riley’s fascinating self-portrait of Marlon Brando culled from his vast archive of personal audio and visual materials; The Look of Silence, Joshua Oppenheimer’s powerful companion piece to the Oscar®-nominated The Act of Killing; The Russian Woodpecker, Chad Gracia’s riveting examination of eccentric Ukranian artist Fedor Alexandrovich’s obsession with a Soviet-constructed radio antenna near the Chernobyl site; and What Happened, Miss Simone?, Liz Garbus’s sensitive exploration of the legendary singer and activist Nina Simone.
In addition to the awards, this year’s honorees include Matthew Heineman, recipient of the IDA’s Courage Under Fire Award in recognition of conspicuous bravery in the pursuit of truth. Heineman’s gripping film, Cartel Land, documents two modern-day vigilante movements – Dr. José Mireles’s citizen-led uprising against a violent drug cartel wreaking havoc in Mexico and the Arizona Border Recon led by Tim “Nailer” Foley, which is working to prevent Mexico’s drug wars from crossing into the United States. Previous recipients of the award include: Laura Poitras, Christiane Amanpour, Andrew Berends, Jonathan Stack and James Brabazon and Saira Shah.
In addition to Heineman, the 2015 IDA Documentary Awards will honor Gordon Quinn with its Career Achievement Award. Tony Tabatznik and the Bertha Foundation (berthafoundation.org) will receive the IDA Amicus Award, and Netflix’s Ted Sarandos will receive IDA’s Pioneer Award. (T)ERROR directors Lyric R. Cabral and David Felix Sutcliffe will share the Emerging Documentary Filmmaker Award sponsored by the Archibald Family Foundation.
The recipients of this year’s IDA Creative Recognition Awards include The Russian Woodpecker (cinematography by Artem Ryzhykov) will be recognized with the award for Best Cinematography; Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck (edited by Joe Beshenkovsky and Brett Morgen) will receive the Best Editing award; Best of Enemies (original score by Jonathan Kirkscey) will be presented with the Best Music award, and Listen To Me Marlon (written by Stevan Riley, co-writer Peter Ettedgui) will receive the Best Writing award.
The 31st Annual IDA Documentary Awards will take place on Saturday, December 5th at the Paramount Theatre in Los Angeles, CA
31st Annual IDA Awards Nominees
Best Feature Award
Amy
Director: Asif Kapadia
Producer: James Gay-Rees
A24
The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution
Director: Stanley Nelson
Producer: Laurens Grant
PBS DISTRIBUTION
Listen to Me Marlon
Director: Stevan Riley
Producer: John Battsek
SHOWTIME DOCUMENTARY FILMS
The Look of Silence
Director: Joshua Oppenheimer
Producer: Signe Byrge Sørensen
DRAFTHOUSE FILMS AND PARTICIPANT MEDIA
The Russian Woodpecker
Director: Chad Gracia
Producer: Ram Devineni and Mike Lerner
FILMBUFF
What Happened, Miss Simone?
Director: Liz Garbus
NETFLIX
Best Short Award
Body Team 12
Director: David Darg
Producer: Bryn Mooser
RYOT FILMS AND VULCAN PRODUCTIONS
Claude Lanzmann: Spectres of the Shoah
Director: Adam Benzine
HBO
The Face of Ukraine: Casting Oksana Baiul
Director: Kitty Green
Producer: Philippa Campey
KURZFILMAGENTUR HAMBURG (GERMANY)
Last Day of Freedom
Directors: Dee Hibbert-Jones and Nomi Talisman
Object
Director: Paulina Skibińska
MUNK STUDIO AND POLISH FILMMAKERS ASSOCIATION
Best Curated Series Award
30 for 30
Executive Producers John Dahl and Connor Schell
ESPN
America ReFramed
Executive Producers: Chris Hastings and Simon Kilmurry
WORLD CHANNEL
Independent Lens
Executive Producers: Sally Jo Fifer and Lois Vossen
ITVS/PBS
POV
Executive Producers: Simon Kilmurry and Chris White
POV, PBS
Storyville
Series Editor: Nick Fraser
Executive Producer: Kate Townsend
BBC TV, BBC WORLD NEWS
Best Limited Series Award
Blood Brothers
Executive Producers: Kees Schaap and Anja van Oostrom
VARA TELEVISION (THE NETHERLANDS)
Hard Earned
Executive Producers: Steve James, Justine Nagan, and Gordon Quinn
Series Producer: Maggie Bowman
AL JAZEERA AMERICA AND KARTEMQUIN FILMS
The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst
Executive Producer: Jason Blum
Co-Executive Producer: Zac Stuart-Pontier
Produced by: Andrew Jarecki and Marc Smerling
HBO
Life Story
Executive Producer: Mike Gunton
DISCOVERY
Rebel Architecture
Executive Producer: Fiona Lawson-Baker
AL JAZEERA ENGLISH
Best Episodic Series Award
Chef’s Table
Executive Producers: David Gelb, Andrew Fried, and Brian McGinn
NETFLIX
Morgan Spurlock Inside Man
Executive Producers: Jeremy Chilnick, Matthew Galkin, and Morgan Spurlock
CNN AND WARRIOR POETS
NOVA
Senior Executive Producer: Paula Apsell
Deputy Executive Producer: Julia Cort
PBS
The Seventies
Executive Producers: Gary Goetzman, Tom Hanks, and Mark Herzog
CNN, PLAYTONE, AND HERZOG & COMPANY
This is Life with Lisa Ling
Executive Producers: Amy Bucher, Lisa Ling, and David Shadrack Smith
CNN AND PART2 PICTURES
Best Short Form Series Award
Do Not Track
Executive Producer: Hugues Sweeney
NATIONAL FILM BOARD OF CANADA, UPIAN, ARTE, AND BR
Highrise: Universe Within
Executive Producers: Anita Lee and Silva Basmajian
NATIONAL FILM BOARD OF CANADA
The New York Times Op-Docs
Executive Producer: Jason Spingarn-Koff
THE NEW YORK TIMES
POV Interactive Documentaries
Executive Producer: Simon Kilmurry and Adnaan Wasey
POV AND PBS
WE THE ECONOMY: 20 Short Films You Can’t Afford to Miss
Executive Producer: Paul G. Allen and Morgan Spurlock
VULCAN PRODUCTIONS AND CINELAN
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.
The Archipelago
Director: Benjamin Huguet
THE NATIONAL FILM AND TELEVISION SCHOOL
The Blue Wall
Director: Michael Milano
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY
El Cacao
Director: Michelle Aguilar
University of California Santa Cruz
In Attla’s Tracks
Director: Catharine Axley
STANFORD UNIVERSITY
Looking at the Stars
Director: Alexandre Peralta
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Pare Lorentz Award
The Pare Lorentz Award recognizes films that demonstrate exemplary filmmaking while focusing on the appropriate use of the natural environment, justice for all and the illumination of pressing social problems.
How to Change the World
Director: Jerry Rothwell
ABC News VideoSource Award
This award is given each year for the best use of news footage as an integral component in a documentary.
(T)ERROR
Directors: Lyric R. Cabral and David Felix Sutcliffe
INDEPENDENT LENS ALONG WITH BBC
Best of Enemies
Directors: Robert Gordon and Morgan Neville
MAGNOLIA PICTURES AND INDEPENDENT LENS
Don’t Think I’ve Forgotten: Cambodia’s Lost Rock and Roll
Director: John Pirozzi
ARGOT PICTURES
Night Will Fall
Director: André Singer
HBO
What Happened, Miss Simone?
Director: Liz Garbus
NETFLIX
Creative Recognition Award Winners
The Creative Recognition category recognizes special achievement in cinematography, editing, music and writing in films entered in the Feature Category.
Best Cinematography
The Russian Woodpecker
Cinematography by: Artem Ryzhykov
Best Editing
Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck
Edited by: Joe Beshenkovsky and Brett Morgen
Best Writing
Listen to Me Marlon
Written by: Stevan Riley
Co-Writer: Peter Ettedgui
Best Music
Best of Enemies
Original Score by: Jonathan Kirkscey