THE SQUARE directed by Jehane Noujaim

The International Documentary Association announced all of the nominees for the 29th annual IDA Documentary Awards ceremony, to be held Friday, December 6, 2013 at the Director’s Guild in Los Angeles.  The five films nominated in IDA’s Best Feature category include THE ACT OF KILLING (Joshua Oppenheimer), BLACKFISH (Gabriela Cowperthwaite), LET THE FIRE BURN (Jason Osder), THE SQUARE (Jehane Noujaim), and STORIES WE TELL (Sarah Polley).

The five nominated films in the Best Short category are THE EDUCATION OF MUHAMMAD HUSSEIN (Heidi Ewing, Rachel Grady), THE FLOGSTA ROAR, NINE TO NINETY (Alicia Dwyer), SLOMO (Josh Izenberg), and VULTURES OF TIBET (Russell O. Bush).

The IDA Creative Recognition Awards honor excellence in cinematography, composing, editing, and writing in documentary feature films. The recipients of these awards represent the highest achievements in their respective crafts, and highlight the importance of their work in compelling documentary storytelling.  PABLO’S WINTER (cinematography by Julian Schwanitz) will be recognized with the award for Best Cinematography; LET THE FIRE BURN (edited by Nels Bangerter) will receive the Best Editing award; NARCO CULTURA (original music by Jeremy Turner) will be presented with the Best Music award; and HOW TO MAKE MONEY SELLING DRUGS (written by Matthew Cooke) will receive the Best Writing award.

In addition to recognizing the year’s best in documentary filmmaking and nonfiction programming, the 2013 IDA Documentary Awards will be honoring director, producer and writer Alex Gibney with the organization’s Career Achievement Award. Producer Geralyn Dreyfous will receive the Amicus Award, which acknowledges friends of the documentary genre who have contributed significantly to our industry, and Laura Poitras will receive IDA’s Courage Under Fire Award in recognition of “conspicuous bravery in the pursuit of truth.”

Each year IDA also 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 Zachary Heinzerling, the producer, director and cinematographer of one of the year’s most-acclaimed films Cutie and the Boxer, with the 2013 Jacqueline Donnet Emerging Documentary Filmmaker Award.

2013 IDA Documentary Awards

BEST FEATURE AWARD

THE ACT OF KILLING
Director: Joshua Oppenheimer
Producers: Joshua Oppenheimer, Signe Byrge Sørensen
Executive Producers: Errol Morris, Werner Herzog, Torstein Grude, André Singer, Joram ten Brink, Bjarte Mørner Tveit
Drafthouse Films

BLACKFISH
Directors: Gabriela Cowperthwaite
Producer: Manuel V. Oteyza
Writers: Gabriela Cowperthwaite, Eli Despres
Executive Producers: Judy Bart, Erica Kahn
Magnolia Pictures

LET THE FIRE BURN
Director/Producer: Jason Osder
Executive Producer: Andrew Herwitz
The George Washington University School of Media and Public Affairs

THE SQUARE
Director: Jehane Noujaim
Producer: Karim Amer
Noujaim Films

STORIES WE TELL
Director/Writer: Sarah Polley
Producer: Anita Lee
Roadside Attractions

BEST SHORT AWARD

THE EDUCATION OF MUHAMMAD HUSSEIN
Directors: Heidi Ewing & Rachel Grady
Producers: Heidi Ewing; Rachel Grady; Sadia Shepard; Sara Bernstein (for HBO)
Executive Producers: Sheila Nevins (for HBO)
HBO Documentary Films

THE FLOGSTA ROAR
Director/Producer: Johan Palmgren
Writer: Johan Palmgren and Åsa Blanck
Strix Television AB, Swedish National Television

NINE TO NINETY
Director: Alicia Dwyer
Producer: Juli Vizza
Executive Producers: Sally Jo Fifer
Independent Television Service (ITVS)

SLOMO
Director: Josh Izenberg
Producer: Amanda Micheli
Executive Producer: Neil Izenberg
Big Young Films, Runaway Films

VULTURES OF TIBET
Director: Russell O. Bush
Producer: Elisabeth Oakham
Executive Producer: Gary Newsom
Bushfilm

BEST LIMITED SERIES AWARD

180 DAYS: A YEAR INSIDE AN AMERICAN HIGH SCHOOL
Directors/Producers: Jacquie Jones, Garland McLaurin
Executive Producer: Jacquie Jones
NBPC/PBS

INSIDE COMBAT RESCUE
Producers: Jared McGilliard, John Collin, Jr.
Executive Producers: Jerry Decker, Ted Duvall, Richard J. Wells.
National Geographic Channel

INSIDE MAN
Producers: Kristen Vaurio, Lisa Kalikow, Shannon Gibson, Suzanne Hillinger, Lara Benario
Writers: Jeremy Chilnick, Morgan Spurlock
Executive Producers: Jeremy Chilnick, Matthew Galkin, Morgan Spurlock
CNN

VIEWFINDER: LATIN AMERICA
Directors: Manuel Contreras, Russ Finkelstein, Alfonso Gastiaburo, Juan Pablo Rojas, Paola Gosalvez, Luciana Freitas Silva, Susanna Lira, Fernanda Polacow and Juliana Borges
Producers: Rodrigo Vazquez, Patricia Boero
Writer: Ingrid Falck
Executive Producers: Flora Gregory
Series Producer: Jean Garner
Al Jazeera English

WITNESS
Directors:David Frankham, Abdallah Omeish
Producers: Ike Martin, Allison Kunzman, Youree Henley, Julie Herrin, Josiah Hooper
Co-Producer: Ra’uf Glasgow
Executive Producers: Michael Mann, David Frankham
Blue Light Productions and Little Puppet Productions with HBO Entertainment and HBO Documentary Films

BEST CONTINUING SERIES AWARD

30 FOR 30
Producers: Libby Geist, Andy Billman, Kyle Godwin, Brian D’Ostilio, Jenna Anthony, Erin Leyden, Deirdre Fenton
Executive Producers: Connor Schell, John Dahl, Bill Simmons
ESPN

CURIOSITY
Producers: Geoff Deehan, Christine Weber
Executive Producers: Erik Nelson, Simon Dickson, Sanjay Singhal, Dave Harding, Mike Masland, Howard Swartz, Simon Andreae
Discovery Channel

INDEPENDENT LENS
Producer: Lois Vossen
Executive Producers: Sally Jo Fifer
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: Andrew Catauro
American Documentary | POV in association with PBS

REAL SPORTS WITH BRYANT GUMBEL
Producer: Joe Perskie
Executive Producers: Rick Bernstein
HBO Sports

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.

BETWEEN LAND AND SEA
Directors/Producers/Writers: Sarah Berkovich, J. Christian Jensen
Stanford University

MY SISTER SARAH
Directors/Producer: Elizabeth Chatelain
University of Texas at Austin

OME: TALES FROM A VANISHING HOMELAND
Director/Producer: Raul O. Paz Pastrana
Producer: Emily Parkey
MFA Social Documentary Film Department at the School of Visual Arts

SODIQ
Directors/Producers/Writer: Adeyemi Michael
National Film & Television School, UK

WHY WE RACE
Directors: Kiley Vorndran, Ryan Westra, Andrew Evers, Ben Fischinger
Producer: Kiley Vorndran
Chapman University / Dodge College of Film and Media Arts

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.

ANTONS RIGHT HERE
Director: Lyubov Arkus
Producers: Konstantin Shavlovsky , Aleksandra Golutova
Writers: Lyubov Arkus
Executive Producers: Sergey Selyanov
INTERCINEMA Agency

BLOOD BROTHER
Director: Steve Hoover
Producer: Danny Yourd
Writers: Steve Hoover, Phinehas Hodges, Tyson VanSkiver
Executive Producers: Steve Hoover, Michael Killen, Kathy Dziubek, Jim Kreitzburg, Leigh Blake, John Carlin
Independent Television Service (ITVS)

LET THE FIRE BURN
Director/Producer: Jason Osder
Executive Producer: Andrew Herwitz
The George Washington University School of Media and Public Affairs

THE SQUARE
Director: Jehane Noujaim
Producer: Karim Amer
Noujaim Films

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.

A PLACE AT THE TABLE
Directors/Producers: Lori Silverbush and Kristi Jacobson
Producers: Julie Goldman, Ryan Harrington
Magnolia Pictures

The Pare Lorentz Committee acknowledges A RIVER CHANGES COURSE (director Kalyanee Mam) with a Special Mention.

ABCNEWS VIDEOSOURCE AWARD

This award is given each year for the best use of news footage as an integral component in a documentary.

ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN REVISITED
Director/Producer: Peter Schnall
Executive Producers: Robert Redford, Andy Lack, Laura Michalchyshyn
Writers: Chana Gazit, Patrick Prentice
PARTISAN PICTURES in Association with SUNDANCE PRODUCTIONS

FREE ANGELA AND ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS
Director/Producer/Writer: Shola Lynch
Producers: Sidra Smith, Carole Lambert, Carine Ruszniewski
Overbrook Entertainment

LET THE FIRE BURN
Director/Producer: Jason Osder
Executive Producer: Andrew Herwitz
The George Washington University School of Media and Public Affairs

THE TRIALS OF MUHAMMAD ALI
Director: Bill Siegel
Producers: Bill Siegel, Rachel Pikelny
Executive Producers: Justine Nagan, Gordon Quinn, Leon Gast, Kat White
Independent Television Service (ITVS), Kino Lorber

WE STEAL SECRETS: THE STORY OF WIKILEAKS
Director/Producer/Writer: Alex Gibney
Producer: Marc Shmuger
Focus World

Creative Recognition Award Winners

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

PABLO’S WINTER
Cinematographer: Julian Schwanitz
Director: Chico Pereira

BEST EDITING

LET THE FIRE BURN
Editor: Nels Bangerter
Director: Jason Osder

BEST MUSIC

NARCO CULTURA
Original Music By: Jeremy Turner
Director: Shaul Schwartz

BEST WRITING

HOW TO MAKE MONEY SELLING DRUGS
Writer/Director: Matthew Cooke