December 7, 2016, New York City, NY – The five nominees for the Cinema Eye Honors Heterodox Award were announced today, honoring films that actively blur the line between narrative fiction and documentary. For the first time in Cinema Eye history, two films that are nominated for Cinema Eye’s nonfiction film craft honors are also nominated for the Heterodox Award.
The five films nominated this year for the Cinema Eye Heterodox Award are:
- All These Sleepless Nights
Directed by Michal Marczak - The Fits
Directed by Anna Rose Holmer - Kate Plays Christine
Directed by Robert Greene - Mountains May Depart
Directed by Jia Zhangke - Neon Bull
Directed by Gabriel Mascaro
In nonfiction nominations announced last month in Brooklyn, All These Sleepless Nights was nominated for Outstanding Cinematography and Outstanding Original Score and Kate Plays Christine was nominated for Outstanding Direction. Both films debuted in the Documentary Competition at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival, and critics and audiences have debated the films’ place on the fiction/nonfiction line ever since.
The other three nominees continue the celebration of international cinema that the Heterodox award is known for. The Fits and Neon Bull debuted at the 2015 Venice International Film Festival, Mountains May Depart celebrated its World Premiere at Cannes that same year.
“Cinema Eye was established 10 years ago to recognize documentary as an inherently artistic medium” said Cinema Eye Founding Director AJ Schnack. “The Heterodox Award is our way of recognizing films from around the world that celebrate that blurry line. We’re also excited to see All These Sleepless Nights and Kate Plays Christine nominated for Heterodox and for our nonfiction awards. This speaks directly to this creative moment in filmmaking and the ways filmmakers are confidently playing with the form to create increasingly bold and innovative works.”
This marks the seventh year for the Heterodox Award at Cinema Eye. Previous winners of the award are Matt Porterfield’s Putty Hill (2011), Mike Mills’ Beginners (2012), Jem Cohen’s Museum Hours (2013), Carlos Reygados’s Post Tenebras Lux (2014), Richard Linklater’s Boyhood (2015) and Jafar Panahi’s Taxi (2016).
With the announcement of this year’s Heterodox nominees, all of this year’s Cinema Eye nominated films and filmmakers have been revealed. The recipient of this year’s Legacy Award will be announced in the coming weeks.
Ten finalists for the Heterodox Award were selected in voting by the Cinema Eye Honors Nominations Committee, made up of more than 25 international programmers who specialize in nonfiction film. The ten finalists were then viewed and five nominees were selected by a second round committee, composed of 8 nonfiction programmers and journalists. The second round included Scott Macaulay (Editor in Chief, Filmmaker Magazine), Hadrian Belove (Executive Director, Cinefamily), Eric Hynes (Associate Curator of Film, Museum of the Moving Image), Doug Jones (Executive Director, Images Cinema), Mads Mikkelsen (Programmer, CPH:DOX), Dan Nuxoll (Program Director, Rooftop Films), Rachael Rakes (Film Critic, Brooklyn Rails) and Alison Willmore (Film Critic, Buzzfeed).
About Cinema Eye, Cinema Eye Week and the 2017 Cinema Eye Honors
Cinema Eye was founded in 2007 to recognize excellence in artistry and craft in nonfiction filmmaking. It was the first and remains the only international nonfiction award to recognize the whole creative team, presenting annual craft awards in directing, producing, cinematography, editing, composing and graphic design/animation. Cinema Eye presents and produces the annual Cinema Eye Week and Honors Ceremony.
The Honors Ceremony is the centerpiece of Cinema Eye Week, a multi-day, multi-city celebration that acknowledges the best work in nonfiction film through screenings and events. The final four days of Cinema Eye Week take place in New York City, where a series of celebratory events brought together many of the year’s most accomplished filmmakers. This year’s dates are January 8-11, with awards presented at the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens on January 11, 2017.
Nonfiction film nominations for the 10th Annual Cinema Eye Honors were announced last month at the Alamo Drafthouse in Brooklyn. A full list of nominees can be found on the Cinema Eye Honors website: www.cinemaeyehonors.com.