Cinema Eye Honors Announces Annual List of Documentary Short Semi-Finalists, Including ‘Project X’ and ‘Little Potato’

That crispness you feel in the air? It’s award season, dawning seemingly earlier every year. To kick off this round of accolades and honors, the Cinema Eye Honors — the​ ​largest​ ​annual​ ​celebration​ ​and​ ​recognition​ ​of the​ ​nonfiction​ ​film​ ​artform​ ​and​ ​the​ ​creators​ ​of​ ​those​ ​films — has announced its “shorts list” of ten​ ​short​ ​documentaries​ ​that serve as ​semi-finalists​ ​for​ ​Nonfiction Short​ ​Filmmaking​ ​Award​ ​at​ ​the​ ​11th​ ​Annual​ ​Cinema​ ​Eye​ ​Honors. The list includes an exciting selection of new talents, as only one of the listed filmmakers (Laura Poitras) is a previous Cinema Eye nominee and winner, indicating a fresh crop of new documentary talents to watch.

From​ ​this​ list ​of​ ​ten​ ​semi-finalists,​ ​five​ ​or​ ​more​ ​films​ ​will​ ​be​ ​named​ ​as​ ​nominees​ ​for the award. Those ​nominees, ​plus the contenders for ​nearly​ ​a​ ​dozen​ ​feature​ ​film categories​, ​will​ ​be​ ​announced​ ​on​ ​Thursday,​ ​November​ ​3,​ ​in​ ​San​ ​Francisco​ ​during​ ​SFFILM​ ​Doc​ ​Stories. The​ ​announcement​ ​of the list​ ​was​ ​made​ ​over the​ ​weekend​ ​at​ ​the​ ​2017​ ​Camden International​ ​Film​ ​Festival​ ​(CIFF). For the ​fourth consecutive​ ​year​,​ ​all​ ​ten​ ​films also screened on​ ​the​ ​coast​ ​of​ ​Maine​ ​during​ ​the​ ​influential​ ​fall​ ​festival.

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“From​ ​sugarcane​ ​fields​ ​in​ ​the​ ​Everglades​ ​to​ ​China’s​ ​largest​ ​wholesale​ ​market​ ​to​ ​a​ ​high​ ​dive​ ​platform​ ​in​ ​Sweden,​ ​this year’s​ ​short​ ​documentaries​ ​offer​ ​us​ ​an​ ​unexpected​ ​and​ ​often​ ​revelatory​ ​view​ ​of​ ​the​ ​human​ ​condition,”​ ​said​ ​Rachel Rosen,​ ​Director​ ​of​ ​Programming​ ​for​ ​SFFILM​ ​and​ ​the​ ​Chair​ ​of​ ​the​ ​Cinema​ ​Eye​ ​Short​ ​Film​ ​and​ ​Broadcast​ ​Nominations Committees.​ ​“The​ ​10​ ​exceptional​ ​films​ ​on​ ​this​ ​year’s​ ​’Shorts​ ​List’ ​also​ ​show​ ​filmmakers,​ ​both​ ​veteran​ ​and​ ​emerging, working​ ​at​ ​the​ ​highest​ ​levels​ ​in​ ​their​ ​exploration​ ​of​ ​the​ ​documentary​ ​form.”

The​ ​winner​ ​will​ ​be​ ​announced​ ​at​ ​the​ ​11th​ ​Annual​ ​Cinema​ ​Eye​ ​Honors​ ​Ceremony​ ​at​ ​the​ ​Museum​ ​of​ ​the​ ​Moving Image​ ​in​ ​Astoria,​ ​Queens​ ​on​ ​the​ ​evening​ ​of​ ​Thursday,​ ​January​ ​11,​ ​2018.

This​ ​year’s​ ​ten​ ​“Shorts​ ​List”​ ​semi-finalists​ ​for​ ​Achievement​ ​in​ ​Nonfiction​ ​Short​ ​Filmmaking​ are:

“10​ ​Meter​ ​Tower​”​(Sweden)
Directe​d​ ​by​ ​Maximilian​ ​Van​ ​Aertryck​ ​and​ ​Axel​ ​Danielson

“Commodity​ ​City​” ​(USA/China)
Directed​ ​by​ ​Jessica​ ​Kingdon

“EDITH+EDDIE​​” ​(USA)
Directed​ ​by​ ​​Laura​ ​Checkoway

“Fish​ ​Story​” (UK)
Directed​ ​by​ ​Charlie​ ​Lyne

“Heroin(e)​” ​(USA)
Directed​ ​by​ ​Elaine​ ​McMillion​ ​Sheldon

“Little​ ​Potato​ “​(USA)
Directed​ ​by​ ​Wes​ ​Hurley​ ​and​ ​Nathan​ ​Miller

“La​ ​Pesca​” ​(Columbia/Canada)
Directed​ ​by​ ​​Pablo​ ​Alvarez​ ​Mesa​ ​and​ ​Fernando​ ​Lopez​ ​Escriva

“Polonaise​” ​(Poland)
Directed​ ​by​ ​​Agnieszka​ ​Elbanowska

“Project​ ​X​” ​(USA)
Directed​ ​by​ ​Laura​ ​Poitras​ ​and​ ​Henrik​ ​Moltke

“The​ ​Rabbit​ ​Hunt​” ​(USA)
Directed​ ​by​ ​Patrick​ ​Bresnan

Cinema​ ​Eye​ ​has also​ ​announced​ ​its​ ​Core​ ​Leadership​ ​Team​ ​for​ ​the​ ​2018​ ​Honors​ , as​ ​well​ ​as​ ​a​ ​newly-formed​ ​29-person Kitchen​ ​Cabinet​ ​of​ ​advisors​ ​representing​ ​each​ ​of​ ​the​ ​crafts​ ​that​ ​are​ ​celebrated​ ​by​ ​Cinema​ ​Eye.

Acclaimed​ ​nonfiction​ ​filmmaker​ ​Dawn​ ​Porter ​joins​ ​Marshall​ ​Curry​ ​as​ ​the​ ​Co-Chairs​ ​of​ ​Cinema​ ​Eye.​ ​Wendy​ ​Garrett​ ​and​ ​Nathan​ ​Truesdell​ ​return​ ​as Co-Chairs​ ​of​ ​Cinema​ ​Eye​ ​Week.​ ​Ben​ ​Fowlie​ ​(​Executive​​ ​​Director​​ ​of​ ​The​ ​Points​ ​North​ ​Institute)​​ ​​ and​ ​Rachel​ ​Rosen are​ ​Chairs​ ​of​ ​Cinema​ ​Eye’s​ ​Nomination​ ​Committees.​ ​Will​ ​Lennon​ ​is​ ​the​ ​Managing​ ​Director​ ​of​ ​Cinema​ ​Eye.​ ​AJ Schnack​ ​is​ ​Cinema​ ​Eye’s​ ​Founding​ ​Director.

Cinema​ ​Eye’s​ ​inaugural​ ​Kitchen​ ​Cabinet​ ​of​ ​advisors​ ​includes​ ​eighteen​ ​previous​ ​nominees​, ​representing​ ​all​ ​of​ ​Cinema Eye’s​ ​craft​ ​categories.​ ​The​ ​Kitchen​ ​Cabinet​ ​will​ ​advise​ ​the​ ​Cinema​ ​Eye​ ​core​ ​team​ ​and​ ​will​ ​be​ ​the​ ​first​ ​group​ ​to generate​ ​nominees​ ​for​ ​Cinema​ ​Eye’s​ ​Distinctive​ ​Honors,​ ​including​ ​the​ ​annual​ ​Legacy​ ​Award.

Members​ ​of​ ​2018​ ​Cinema​ ​Eye​ ​Kitchen​ ​Cabinet include:

Mila​ ​Aung-Thwin​​ ​
Nels​ ​Bangerter​
Ana​ ​Gomez​ ​Bernaus​​ ​
Dustin​​ Guy​ ​Defa​​​
Natalie​ ​Difford​​ ​
Ezra​ ​Edelman​​ ​
Yance​ ​Ford​​
Elena​ ​Fortes​​
Liz​ ​Garbus​​
Syd​ ​Garon​​
Eugene​ ​Hernandez​​ ​
Eric​ ​Hynes​​
Jason​ ​Ishikawa​​ ​
Steve​ ​James​​
Kirsten​ ​Johnson​​​
John​ ​Kusiak​​ ​
Loira​ ​Limbal​ ​​
Elizabeth​ ​Lo​​ ​
Michal​ ​Marczak​
Marilyn​ ​Ness​​ ​
Dan​ ​Nuxoll​​
Bill​ ​Ross​​ ​
Kelli​ ​Scarr​​
Mo​ ​Scarpelli​ ​
Jess​ ​Search​ ​
Signe​ ​Byrge​ ​Sorensen​​
Jean​ ​Tsien​​ ​
Michael​ ​Tuckman​​ ​
Chai​ ​Vasaryelhi​

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