Awards also go to Wild Wild Country and Matthew Heineman's The Trade Bing Liu's Minding the Gap has claimed one of the biggest awards in documentary, winning Best Feature at the IDA Awards in Hollywood Saturday night. The coming-of-age film, about Liu and two friends who gravitate towards skateboarding to escape abusive homes, bested a field that included Free Solo and Won't You Be My Neighbor?, along with seven other films. The film also won Best Editing, and Liu received the previously-announced Emerging Filmmaker Award. In his acceptance speech for the latter honor, Liu voiced the hope that his late stepfather had found the peace that eluded him in life. The documentary reveals that Liu suffered brutal treatment at the hands of his stepfather. Minding the Gap previously won the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Documentary. Combined with the IDA win, it moves deeper into awards season with considerable momentum. The IDA Award for Best Documentary Short went to Zion, the story of wrestler Zion Clark who was born without legs. He was given up for adoption as a baby and endured abuse from a succession of foster parents. But in wrestling he found a sport that put him on a path to building self-esteem and confidence. The 11-minute-long film, directed by Floyd Russ, is now streaming on Netflix. The Trade, Matthew Heineman's Showtime series that explores multiple angles in the opioid epidemic, won Best Episodic Series. Best Limited Series went to Wild Wild Country, the acclaimed Netflix multi-parter about the conflict that erupted in Oregon in the 1980s when the Rajneesh spiritual movement set up a huge compound in a rural part of the state.
Best Music Category, a new category at the IDA Awards this year, produced a tie between Matangi/Maya/M.I.A.--about the titular Sri Lankan pop star--and Mr. SOUL!, a documentary about African-American broadcaster Ellis Haizlip and the pioneering variety show he created int he 1960s, called Soul! Ricki Lake, who produced he documentary Weed the People this year, hosted the ceremony, which was held on the Paramount Studios lot in Hollywood. This is the full list of winners:
Special Awards: ABC News VideoSource Award: John McCain: For Whom the Bell Tolls Pare Lorentz Award: The Silence of Others Honorable Mention: The Distant Barking of Dogs David L. Wolper Student Documentary Award: Circle Spike Lee on 'Amazing Grace' Aretha Franklin doc: "One of the greatest concerts ever put to film"12/8/2018 He hosts an LA screening of the film, which took 46 years to complete Filmmaker Spike Lee is unequivocal in his praise for the documentary Amazing Grace, which captures the live recording of Aretha Franklin's gospel album of that name in 1972. "One of the greatest concerts ever put to film," Lee said of the film at a private screening he hosted in LA Friday night. "We know Aretha is one of the world's treasures -- not just the United States of America, but the world's treasures." Afterwards he told Nonfictionfilm.com, "It's a spiritual, religious experience watching that." Lee praised producer Alan Elliott, who rescued the film from a decades-long limbo that had made it one of the most famous documentary projects never to be seen. "My brother right here--he's the one," he said, pointing to Elliott. "I'm putting your business on the street -- how many times you had to mortgage your house?" Elliott joked, "Let's not get into it." Lee continued, "More than once! To get this made." Lee was not involved in Amazing Grace, but has become a champion of the film. The original concert footage was shot by director Sydney Pollack over two nights at the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles. But Franklin's electrifying performance remained available only to people who bought the live album itself (it became the best-selling gospel album of all time). Pollack's film production ended up something of a technical disaster, with none of the sound synched properly and it was shelved indefinitely. For decades the film remained unfinished -- just strips of celluloid with no proper track. Elliott said he obtained the film from Warner Bros. in a "quit claim" process, not long before Pollack's death in 2008. "Sydney went to the studio and said, 'I want Alan to finish the movie,'" he explained to Nonfictionfilm.com. "He did that right before he died. And that was a really powerful thing." The film was supposed to premiere at the Telluride Film Festival in 2015, but Franklin sued to keep it from being seen. After her death this past August from pancreatic cancer, Franklin's estate gave Elliott its blessing to finally release the film. Amazing Grace is a late entrant in the Oscar race, having qualified with a limited LA-New York theatrical release lasting just a week. Neon acquired theatrical rights, in a deal announced Friday. Elliott says it will hit theaters on a broader scale in March of 2019, noting, "I think it's going to go pretty wide." In Amazing Grace, Franklin utters only a few words between songs. But when she sings it's an ecstatic experience -- soaring vocals alternating with passages of subtle phrasing. Franklin, 29 at the time the concert was recorded, is at the peak of her powers. Even her accompanist, the Rev. James Cleveland, is overcome at one point with the stunning impact of her performance. You can catch a glimpse of it in the trailer: Amazing Grace goes to Neon; The Orchard buys Meeting Gorbachev Two prominent documentaries secured theatrical release in deals announced Friday. Neon has acquired North American rights to Amazing Grace, built around the live recording of Aretha Franklin's gospel album of that name in 1972, with plans for an early 2019 release. The film premiered last month at DOC NYC after a delay of 46 years caused by technical and legal issues. Werner Herzog's Meeting Gorbachev, which premiered at the Telluride Film Festival in September, has been picked up by The Orchard for theatrical release in 2019. The film co-directed by André Singer features extensive conversations between Herzog and Mikhail Gorbachev, the 87-year-old former Kremlin chief who presided over the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Amazing Grace is the heart and soul of Aretha Franklin. This film is authentic and is my aunt to her core. Amazing Grace is a late qualifier for Oscar consideration this year, making the deadline by virtue of a one-week run in theaters in New York and LA. Acclaimed director Sydney Pollock shot the original concert material, but audio synching problems held up its release indefinitely. After Pollock's death in 2008, producer Alan Elliott acquired the project. Then Franklin sued to keep the completed film from being released. Her death last August cleared the path for the documentary to finally reach audiences, with the blessing of Aretha Franklin's estate. “Amazing Grace is the heart and soul of Aretha Franklin," declared Sabrina Owens, the singer's niece who represents the estate. "This film is authentic and is my aunt to her core. Our family couldn't be more excited for audiences to experience the genius of her work and spirit through this film." A&E IndieFilms, through its History Films division, retains TV rights to Meeting Gorbachev.
"Werner and André have brought us a rare and historic interview with Mikhail Gorbachev which is particularly relevant given the current state of world affairs," Molly Thompson of History Films told Variety. The Toronto International Film Festival, where Meeting Gorbachev played after its Telluride debut, hailed the film as "riveting." "[Herzog] clearly admires Gorbachev for being the kind of world leader that's in short supply today, known for his grace, wisdom, and commitment to peace," TIFF noted in its program. "Gorbachev speaks like a man with nothing to lose. He is respected more outside Russia than inside, where he's blamed for the Soviet Union's breakup in 1991. He laments that 'we didn't finish the job of democracy in Russia'" Meeting Gorbachev did not qualify for Oscar consideration this year, but the deal announced Friday means it will factor into next year's Oscar race. Documentary about death-defying climb up Yosemite's El Capitan in running for Oscar consideration Free Solo, the documentary about Alex Honnold's daring no-rope ascent of Yosemite's El Capitan, is reaching new heights. The film by E. Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin surpassed the $10 million plateau at the documentary box office over the weekend, according to audience tracking firm comScore. For most of its 10 weeks of release, Free Solo has held onto the number one spot among nonfiction films, as it did again this past weekend. I think people are very satisfied by watching someone have this audacious dream, and actually achieving it. Free Solo becomes the fourth documentary of the year to cross $10 million, after Won't You Be My Neighbor? ($22.6 million); RBG ($14 million), and Three Identical Strangers ($12.3 million). "It's a great year for docs and we're just grateful to be included," Vasarhelyi told Nonfictionfilm.com. "People are looking at documentaries as very meaningful entertainment. And there's something in the zeitgeist, right? Maybe it's about the time we're living in." The film documents in suspenseful detail how Honnold accomplished a near-impossible mission: climbing the shear rock face of El Capitan -- 3,000 feet of granite -- without ropes. He memorized every inch of his route, adjusting with micro precision to each crevice, contour and indentation as he ascended. Any false move would have brought instant death.
"It's truly one of the great human physical and mental achievements, in my opinion, of our time -- if not, more than our time," Chin marveled. "Just to be able to see it unfold in front of your eyes was really an incredible gift for all of us." The film has qualified for Oscar consideration and is making a strong bid to claim a spot on the Academy's shortlist of 15 docs, which will be revealed on December 17. Vasarhelyi expresses gratitude for the audience reception of the film. "The fact that people are responding to it is very, very meaningful to us," she told us. "I think people are very satisfied by watching someone have this audacious dream, and actually achieving it." Executive-produced by Jordan Peele, series looks at notorious 1993 case of woman who sliced off husband's penis Sundance announced on Monday its slate of short films, special events and indie series for the 2019 festival, a list that includes the world premiere of Jordan Peele's docuseries on one of the most notorious stories from the 1990s . Lorena will re-examine the case of Lorena Bobbitt and her husband John Wayne Bobbitt, which exploded into national consciousness in 1993. Lorena was arrested in June of that year after she cut off her husband's penis as he slept. She later threw the dismembered organ into a field but subsequently called 9-1-1. Surgeons reattached Bobbitt's penis during a nine-and-a-half hour operation. Lorena testified at trial that her husband had raped her the night before she assaulted him with a knife, and that he had subjected her to regular physical and emotional abuse during their four years of marriage. "This groundbreaking series re-investigates the story that made international headlines and helped birth a 24-hour news cycle," Sundance programmers commented, "exploring vital moral issues and the missed opportunity for a national discussion about domestic violence and sexual assault within this American scandal." Peele, who won an Oscar earlier this year for his original screenplay for the horror film Get Out, serves as executive producer on Lorena, along with Joshua Rofé, Steven J Berger, Win Rosenfeld, Thomas Lesinski, and Jenna Santoianni. Amazon Studios is producing. Related: Jordan Peele on his Bobbitt docuseries: 'With this project, Lorena has a platform to tell her truth'Sundance will also host the world premiere of Amy Berg's politically-themed untitled docuseries. "While the 2016 election catalyzed the Women’s March and a new era of feminist activism, Tamika Mallory and Erika Andiola have been fighting for their communities for decades," Sundance wrote of the series. "Their stories expose the fundamental connection between personal and political and raise the question: what's intersectionality and can it save the world?" The festival will also premiere the latest season of the comedy series Documentary Now!, which parodies nonfiction filmmaking. Sundance wrote, "Celebrate the art of nonfiction storytelling as the creators of Documentary Now! present two new films: "Waiting for the Artist", starring Cate Blanchett and Fred Armisen, and "Original Cast Album: Co-op", starring John Mulaney, Renee Elise Goldsberry, Alex Brightman, Paula Pell, Richard Kind and Taran Killam." These are the documentary shorts that have been accepted into the festival:
All Inclusive / Switzerland (Director and screenwriter: Corina Schwingruber Ilić) — Under the spell of mass entertainment on the high seas. Black 14 / U.S.A. (Director: Darius Clark Monroe) — An archival social study examining white pathology and cognitive dissonance via media coverage of a 1969 racial protest at the University of Wyoming. Cablestreet / U.S.A. (Director: Meredith Lackey) — A cable system designed by controversial Chinese company Huawei Technologies enables communication between an expert and a machine. Time succumbs to space in a ‘New Cold War’ played out in technological materials. World Premiere The Dispossessed / India (Director and screenwriter: Musa Syeed) — Hazari is a traditional faith healer, exorcising patients who've been possessed by jinn. But in Kashmir, amidst the world’s longest running conflict, nothing is as it seems. World Premiere Dulce / U.S.A., Colombia (Directors: Guille Isa, Angello Faccini) — In coastal Colombia, facing rising tides made worse by climate change, a mother teaches her daughter how to swim so that she may go to the mangroves and harvest 'piangua' shellfish with the other women in the village. Easter Snap / U.S.A. (Director: RaMell Ross) — With a baited handling of American symbolism, an examination of five Alabama men, who resurrect the homestead ritual of hog processing in the deep South under the guidance of Johnny Blackmon. World Premiere Edgecombe / U.S.A. (Director: Crystal Kayiza) — Through the deeply personal truths of three local residents, an examination of the ways trauma repeats and reinvents itself in rural Black communities. Everything You Wanted to Know About Sudden Birth* (*but were afraid to ask) / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Scott Calonico) — The true story of how the Berkeley Police Department, the Nazi invasion of the Netherlands, and Mr. Spock from Star Trek are all connected by one of the most disturbing educational films ever created. World Premiere FAST HORSE / Canada (Director and screenwriter: Alexandra Lazarowich) — The Blackfoot bareback horse-racing tradition returns in the astonishingly dangerous Indian Relay. Siksika horseman Allison Red Crow struggles with second-hand horses and a new jockey on his way to challenge the best riders in the Blackfoot Confederacy. U.S. Premiere. The Ghost Behind / U.S.A. (Director: Caroline Rumley) — Four friends. Many bands. Expectations. Addiction. Loss. Ghosts of Sugar Land / U.S.A. (Director: Bassam Tariq) — In Sugar Land, Texas, a group of young Muslim-American men ponder the disappearance of their friend “Mark,” who is suspected of joining ISIS. World Premiere It's Going To Be Beautiful / U.S.A., Mexico (Directors and screenwriters: Luis Gutierrez Arias, John Henry Theisen) — The U.S. Border Patrol has been given the task of choosing a winning design for building a wall on the U.S.- Mexico border. Libre / U.S.A. (Director: Anna Barsan) — Undocumented immigrants forced to spend months in detention are turning to private companies to secure their release on bond. In exchange, immigrants pay exorbitant monthly fees for a GPS ankle monitor they can't remove. Life in Miniature / United Kingdom (Director and screenwriter: Ellen Evans) — A celebration of one woman's mission to document the every day, as she carves a place for herself in the precious world of miniatures. U.S. Premiere Life Overtakes Me / Sweden, U.S.A. (Directors: John Haptas, Kristine Samuelson) — Facing deportation, hundreds of refugee children in Sweden have become afflicted with Resignation Syndrome, withdrawing from the world into a coma-like state, as if frozen, for months, or even years. World Premiere STAY CLOSE / U.S.A., China (Directors and screenwriters: Shuhan Fan, Luther Clement) — The underdog story of a fencer from Brooklyn who overcomes a gauntlet of hardships on the road to the Olympics. World Premiere Throat Singing in Kangirsuk / Canada (Directors: Eva Kaukai, Manon Chamberland, Screenwriters: Emilie Baillargeon and Clark Ferguson) — Eva and Manon practice the art of throat singing in their native Arctic land, in the small village of Kangirsuk. World Premiere The Tough / Poland (Director and screenwriter: Marcin Polar) — A discovery arouses a man's imagination and propels him forward in an uncouth and obsessive way. Step by step, the camera participates as he explores of places hitherto unknown to humankind, which offer increasingly stronger resistance against human delicacy. World Premiere |
AuthorMatthew Carey is a documentary filmmaker and journalist. His work has appeared on Deadline.com, CNN, CNN.com, TheWrap.com, NBCNews.com and in Documentary magazine. |