Filmmakers Albert Maysles, Muffie Meyer and Susan Froemke to Accept on Behalf of the Film

January 6, 2010 – New York – The Cinema Eye Honors for Nonfiction Filmmaking announced today that this year’s Legacy Award will be presented to the landmark 1975 documentary, GREY GARDENS. Filmmakers Albert Maysles, Muffie Meyer and Susan Froemke will accept the award on behalf of the film and the collaborative team that created one of the most enduring and influential documentaries ever made.

The award will be presented on January 18, 2011 at the 4th Annual Cinema Eye Honors ceremony to be held at the newly re-opened Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, New York. The event will be broadcast on the Documentary Channel on Sunday, January 30, 2011.

“GREY GARDENS stands as a testament to the collaborative nature of filmmaking,” Cinema Eye Honors Co-Chair AJ Schnack said. “It endures not only on the basis of great characters and superb storytelling, but also on the creative choices of its makers, including the decision, somewhat risky at the time, to include the subjects’ interactions with Al and David Maysles in the film itself.”

“There are some things about GREY GARDENS that I think every documentary filmmaker would hope for–the fulfilling collaboration between producers, cinematographer, sound-person, editors, and subjects all being so pleased with the film,” said co-director Albert Maysles. “When Mrs. Beale saw the film she said, ‘This is something everyone should do. There’s nothing more to say; it’s all in the film.’ We all aim for that kind of happiness. Just as Big Edie and Little Edie so appreciated Grey Gardens, we too appreciate the film being honored with this year’s Legacy Award 2011 from Cinema Eye. It means a lot to all of us.”

This is the second year that Cinema Eye will present a Legacy Award, intended to honor classic films that embody the Cinema Eye mission: excellence in creative and artistic achievements in nonfiction films and celebrating the entire creative team – directors, producers, cinematographers, editors, composers and graphic designers. For the first time, a collaborative team will accept the award on behalf of the Legacy film, reaffirming Cinema Eye’s mission to celebrate the creative contributions of the entire production team. Cinema Eye is the only US or international organization to present annual awards for documentary in the fields of cinematography, original score and graphic design and it is the only organization, aside from the guilds, that recognizes outstanding direction, production and editing. Last year’s Legacy Award went to Ross McElwee’s SHERMAN’S MARCH.

Cinema Eye will present awards in 13 categories at this year’s event, including two new awards – one for Nonfiction Short Filmmaking and the new Heterodox Award which salutes narrative films that blur the lines between fiction and nonfiction.

About Cinema Eye Honors

The Cinema Eye Honors were launched in late 2007 to recognize exemplary craft and innovation in nonfiction film. Cinema Eye’s mission is to advocate for, recognize and promote the highest commitment to rigor and artistry in the nonfiction field. The Honors are held annually in January in New York City. Co-chairs for the 2011 Cinema Eye Honors are filmmakers Esther Robinson (A WALK INTO THE SEA: DANNY WILLIAMS AND THE WARHOL FACTORY) and AJ Schnack (KURT COBAIN ABOUT A SON). The producer for Cinema Eye is Nathan Truesdell. Sean Farnel, Documentary Programmer for the Hot Docs Film Festival is the Chair of the Cinema Eye Nominations Committee and Andrea Meditch, Exectutive Producer of MAN ON WIRE and GRIZZLY MAN, is the Chair of the Cinema Eye Advisory Board. For more information about Cinema Eye, including previous nominees and winners, photos and video, visit http://www.cinemaeyehonors.com

For more information about Cinema Eye, visit the website at http://www.cinemaeyehonors.com or email AJ Schnack at ajschnack@cinemaeyehonors.com.

For more press information, contact Brian Geldin at

Brian Geldin
(917) 549-2953
brian@briangeldin.com

2011 Legacy Award Press Release PDF