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BANKSY WINS TOP PRIZE AT CINEMA EYE HONORS
At an awards ceremony at the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens, Cinema Eye handed out honors to the best of this year’s documentary films. The top award, the Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Filmmaking, when to Banksy’s Exit Through the Gift Shop, produced by Jaime D’Cruz. Laura Poitras was named Outstanding Director for The Oath, and Jeff Malmberg Outstanding Debut for his Marwencol. Matt Porterfield’s Putty Hill won the first Filmmaker-sponsored Heterodox Award. One of the most moving moments of the night was a tribute to editor Karen Schmeer, who was killed last year in a hit-and-run, and one of the most inspiring was the Legacy Award given to Albert Maysles and Muffie Meyer. Maysles, who is 84, quipped, “There must be someone in the audience with money for my next 25 films. (The highlight of my evening was taking their picture and having Maysles correct my frame.)
Last night’s was my first time attending the Cinema Eye Honors, and I loved the mixture of awards-show ceremony and warm-hearted community gathering. A.J. Schnack and Esther Robinson were surprisingly good as comedically bantering hosts, zinging punchlines that I’m sure will be somewhat obscure to those watching on the Doc Channel later in the month but which everyone in the room laughed at. Quite often, though, both they and the presenters spoke personally and warmly about the psychic rewards of the often punishing profession of documentary film. (Robinson at one point compared it to drug addiction in that you lose your money and your youth while pursuing it.) The most memorable of these comments was from the late George Hickenlooper, as remembered by Morgan Spurlock. The Super Size Me director recalled a dinner with Hickenlooper a couple of weeks before he died. “How lucky we are to do what we do with our lives,” Hickenlooper said to him. They were words that resonated deeply to all of those in the room.
The complete awards list is below. For more on the Heterodox Award, wait for our Spring issue, in which the five jurors will discuss their decision and the issues raised by the nominees.
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN NONFICTION FEATURE FILMMAKING
Exit Through the Gift Shop
Directed by Banksy, Produced by Jaimie D’Cruz
Presented by James Marsh
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN DIRECTION
Laura Poitras
The Oath
Presented by Louie Psihoyos
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN PRODUCTION
Mila Aung-Thwin and Daniel Cross
Last Train Home
Presented by Ross Kaufman
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN EDITING
Chris King and Tom Fulford
Exit Through the Gift Shop
Presented by Greg Barker, Liz Garbus and Lucia Small
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN CINEMATOGRAPHY
Lixin Fan
Last Train Home
Presented by Steven Bognar
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN ORIGINAL MUSIC SCORE
Norbert Möslang
The Sound of Insects: Record of a Mummy
Presented by John Flansburgh Jury: Paul Brill, John Flansburgh, Darius Marder, Sascha Paladino and Allison Willmore
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN GRAPHIC DESIGN AND ANIMATION
Juan Cardarelli and Alex Tyson
Gasland
Presented by Emily Hubley
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN AN INTERNATIONAL FEATURE
Last Train Home
Directed by Lixin Fan Produced by Mila Aung-Thwin and Daniel Cross Presented by Jess Search
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN A DEBUT FEATURE FILM
Jeff Malmberg
Marwencol
Presented by Bill Ross and Turner Ross
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN NONFICTION SHORT FILMMAKING
sponsored by The Economist
The Poodle Trainer
Directed by Vance Malone Presented by Patrick Creadon Jury: Shaz Bennett, Patrick Creadon, Mark Olsen and Ondi Timoner
AUDIENCE CHOICE PRIZE
Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work
Directed by Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg Presented by Harry Shearer
LEGACY AWARD
Grey Gardens
Albert Maysles, David Maysles, Ellen Hovde, Muffie Meyer and Susan Froemke Presented by Lixin Fan, Jeff Malmberg and Laura Poitras
SPOTLIGHT AWARD
The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceaucascu
Directed by Andrei Ujica Presented by Margaret Brown Jury: Kirby Dick, Laura Gabbert, Karina Longworth, Mike Plante and Doug Pray
HETERODOX AWARD sponsored by Filmmaker Magazine
Putty Hill Directed by Matt Porterfield
Presented by Yance Ford and Scott Macaulay
Jury: Yance Ford, Julie Goldman, Ross Kauffman, Joshua Marston and Astra Taylor
