Just over four months into 2010 and we're publishing our first edition of our annual Nonfiction Feature Honor Roll. While this early edition of the list often favors films that premiered at Sundance (and had a successful spring festival run), it still offers our first glimpse at some of the films that may be in play for awards consideration at year's end.
A quick glimpse - and tallied by sheer number of award citations - shows Laura Poitras' THE OATH, which just opened this weekend at NY's IFC Center, as the most honored film of 2010 thus far, with six awards from six different festivals.
Jeff Malmberg's MARWENCOL - which premiered at SXSW, not Sundance - ranks second, with four honors at four different festivals. Lucy Walker's WASTE LAND also has four - audience awards at Sundance, Berlin and Full Frame, plus a jury award at Dallas.
Two films - RESTREPO and ENEMIES OF THE PEOPLE - have three awards. Each won one at Sundance (Grand Jury US for RESTREPO and Special Jury World for ENEMIES) and two from Full Frame.
Other films with two or more awards (from more than one fest) include FOR ONCE IN MY LIFE, GASLAND, THUNDER SOUL and WAR DON DON. Other than GASLAND (which premiered in Park City), the films premiered at SXSW.
The first edition of last year's honor roll (published in September but still largely based on festival awards from the first third of the year) showed BURMA VJ, THE COVE and THE WAY WE GET BY as the leading honorees. THE COVE, of course, would go on to win the Oscar as well as three Cinema Eye Honors. BURMA VJ won two Cinema Eye Honors and was nominated for the Oscar, while THE WAY WE GET BY was nominated for Debut Feature at Cinema Eye. None of the other eventual Oscar nominees had made a dent at that time (THE MOST DANGEROUS MAN IN AMERICA would premiere at Toronto, FOOD INC. and WHICH WAY HOME each had single awards from July's Traverse City Film Festival.)
We'll continue to update the 2010 Honor Roll as the year continues.
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