IDA Documentary Awards Honor ‘The Square,’ ‘Armstrong Lie’ Director Alex Gibney, Laura Poitras and More
Academy shortlisters were the toast of the evening when the International Documentary Association unveiled their 2013 IDA Documentary Award winners at the DGA in Los Angeles. The top honor for Best Feature went to Jehane Noujaim’s Egyptian revolution doc “The Square”, set to premiere on Netflix in January and currently sitting on the 2014 documentary Oscar shortlist.
From Ted Hope to Werner Herzog and Morgan Spurlock — who won the Best Limited Series Award for his incisive CNN series “Inside Man — the who’s who of the indie film world assembled Friday night to honor 2013’s top documentaries.
Joining “The Square,” two other Oscar-shortlisted films won prizes: “WikiLeaks: We Steal Secrets” and “The Armstrong Lie” director Alex Gibney took home the Career Achievement Award, while Zachary Heinzerling picked up the Emerging Filmmaker Award for his feature debut “Cutie and the Boxer.” In his acceptance speech, Heinzerling thanked mentor Albert Maysles for telling him to “get close and stay close.” (Our 2013 interviews with Gibney and Heinzerling.)
IDA gave their prestigious Courage Under Fire Award to doc producer/director Laura Poitras, who blew the lid off NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden’s mass surveillance disclosures this year.
Full list of winners is below:
CAREER ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Alex Gibney
IDA AMICUS AWARD
Geralyn Dreyfous
COURAGE UNDER FIRE AWARD
Laura Poitras
JACQUELINE DONNET EMERGING DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKER AWARD
Zachary Heinzerling
BEST FEATURE AWARD
THE SQUARE
Director: Jehane Noujaim
Producer: Karim Amer
Executive Producers: Geralyn Dreyfous, Mike Lerner, Sarah Johnson, Jodie Evans, Lekha Singh, Gavin Dougan, Dan Catullo III, Lisa Nishimura, Adam Del Deo,
Khalil Noujaim, Alexandra Johnes, Jeff Skoll
Noujaim Films, Netflix Originals
BEST SHORT AWARD
SLOMO
Director: Josh Izenberg
Producer: Amanda Micheli
Executive Producer: Neil Izenberg
Big Young Films, Runaway Films
BEST LIMITED SERIES AWARD
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
BEST CONTINUING SERIES AWARD
INDEPENDENT LENS
Producer: Lois Vossen
Executive Producers: Sally Jo Fifer
Independent Television Service (ITVS) in association with PBS
DAVID L. WOLPER STUDENT DOCUMENTARY AWARD
MY SISTER SARAH
Director/Producer: Elizabeth Chatelain
University of Texas at Austin
HUMANITAS DOCUMENTARY AWARD
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)
PARE LORENTZ AWARD
A PLACE AT THE TABLE
Directors/Producers: Lori Silverbush and Kristi Jacobson
Producers: Julie Goldman, Ryan Harrington
Magnolia Pictures
ABCNEWS VIDEOSOURCE AWARD
THE TRIALS OF MUHAMMAD ALI
Director: Bill Siegel
Producers: Bill Siegel, Rachel Pikelny
Executive Producers: Justine Nagan, Gordon Quinn, Leon Gast, Kat White; Sally Jo Fifer (for ITVS)
Independent Television Service (ITVS), Kartemquin Films, Kino Lorber
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
