If its October, we're starting to get serious about gearing up for this year's awards season. Nominations for the IDA Awards and for the Gothams will come this month, with Cinema Eye nominations announced early in November in Sheffield. And behind the scenes, Oscar and Independent Spirit Award voters are watching, taking and debating this year's crop of docs.
And as these nominations and shortlists and top 10s are announced, we begin to get a collective sense of where things are headed, vis-à-vis the Kodak Theatre in March. For example, Ellen Kuras and Thavisouk Phrasavath's THE BETRAYAL wasn't seen as a big Oscar contender until it began to appear again and again on year end lists and nominations.
This week, two groups in Europe - the folks at the London Film Festival and at the European Film Award - announced nominees/finalists for the The Grierson Award and the Prix Arte for Best Documentary, respectively.
The European Film Award folks, who announced their ten nominees today, have a flair for spotlighting films that have not yet screened or just premiered in North America, although a handful screened last November at IDFA. Last year's winner, Helena Trestikova’s RENE, had a quiet North American premiere at SXSW 2009 prior to a screening in Toronto at this year's Hot Docs.
Amongst the films that we have gotten a chance to screen (on this side of the Atlantic), the big names are Anders Ostergaard's BURMA VJ (winner at CPH:DOX, IDFA and Full Frame), Agnes Varda's self-portrait THE BEACHES OF AGNES (LES PLAGES D'AGNES), Yoav Shamir's DEFAMATION (screened at Hot Docs, Tribeca and Silverdocs), Peter Kerekes' COOKING HISTORY (Hot Docs, Silverdocs) and Peter Liechti's THE SOUNDS OF INSECTS (also Hot Docs, Silverdocs).
DEFAMATION also shows up on the London Film Festival's shortlist for their Grierson Award, denoting the best documentary at the festival. Among the other finalists: Bill and Turner Ross' SXSW winner 45365, Silverdocs' champ MUGABE AND THE WHITE AFRICAN, Frederick Wiseman's LA DANSE - THE PARIS OPERA BALLET and festival fave SERGIO.
Full list of nominations/finalists below:
The European Film Awards Prix Arte for Best Documentary
THE BEACHES OF AGNES (LES PLAGES D'AGNES)
BELOW SEA LEVEL
BURMA VJ
COOKING HISTORY
THE DAMNED OF THE SEA
DEFAMATION
THE HEART OF JENIN
PIANOMANIA
THE SOUNDS OF INSECTS - RECORD OF A MUMMY
THE WOMAN WITH THE 5 ELEPHANTS (DIE FRAU MIT DEN 5 ELEFANTEN)
The London Film Festival Grierson Award Finalists
45365
LA DANSE - THE PARIS OPERA BALLET
DEFAMATION
HAVE YOU HEARD FROM JOHANNESBURG: THE BOTTOM LINE
MUGABE AND THE WHITE AFRICAN
OSADNE
SERGIO
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