August 1, 2017, New York City – Cinema Eye, the organization dedicated to recognizing outstanding craft and artistry in nonfiction film, announced its first awards news for its 11th Annual Honors: the ten films and series that have been named as semifinalists for Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Filmmaking for Broadcast.
A number of previous Cinema Eye nominees and winners are among the filmmakers whose work is included in the Broadcast Shortlist: Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You directors Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady (CEH13 Outstanding Direction winners, Detropia), Into the Inferno’s Werner Herzog (CEH10 Outstanding Direction nominee, Encounters at the End of the World), Bright Lights: Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds’ (HBO) co-director’ Fisher Stevens (CEH10 Outstanding Feature winner, The Cove) and The Keepers’ helmer Ryan White (CEH15 Outstanding Production nominee, The Case Against 8).
Joining them on this year’s shortlist are two series, Laurent Bouzereau’s Five Came Back and Greg Whiteley & Adam Ridley’s Last Chance U, and four feature-length documentaries: Tracy Droz Tragos’ Abortion: Stories Women Tell, Dan Lindsay and T.J. Martin’s LA 92, Kristi Jacobson’s Solitary: Inside Red Onion State Prison and Ava Duverney’s Oscar nominated 13th.
Neflix is responsible for five of the ten titles on the shortlist, including the three series (Five Came Back, The Keepers and Last Chance U). HBO is represented by three films (Abortion, Bright Lights and Solitary), while American Masters/PBS and National Geographic have Norman Lear and LA 92, respectively.
This is the fifth year for Cinema Eye’s award for Outstanding Nonfiction Filmmaking for Broadcast, renamed this year to more broadly reflect the work being created for television and streaming. Previous winners were Lucy Walker’s The Crash Reel (HBO), Nanette Burstein’s The Price of Gold (ESPN), Cynthia Hill’s Private Violence (HBO) and Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos’ Making a Murderer (Netflix).
The final nominees for the 2018 Honor for Broadcast Nonfiction will be announced this fall along with Cinema Eye nominees in eleven other film and craft categories. Winners will be awarded at the 11th Annual Cinema Eye Honors in January 2018.
A full list of shortlist semifinalists is below:
13th | Netflix
Directed by Ava Duvernay
Abortion: Stories Women Tell | HBO
Directed by Tracy Droz Tragos
Bright Lights: Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds | HBO
Directed by Fisher Stevens and Alexis Bloom
Five Came Back | Netflix
Directed by Laurent Bouzereau
Into the Inferno | Netflix
Directed by Werner Herzog
The Keepers | Netflix
Directed by Ryan White
LA 92 | National Geographic
Directed by Dan Lindsay and T.J. Martin
Last Chance U | Netflix
Directed by Greg Whiteley and Adam Ridley
Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You | American Masters
Directed by Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady
Solitary: Inside Red Onion State Prison | HBO
Directed by Kristi Jacobson
Films eligible for this award must have aired or broadcast between June 1, 2016 and May 31, 2017 and must have received financial support and creative input during production and/or post-production. Productions for television, streaming or web are all eligible provided they have a total running time longer than 30 minutes. Entries may be stand-alone films or mini-series, provided the mini-series has a single, contained narrative over multiple episodes and a single director or team credited for every episode. Films nominated for Cinema Eye in previous years are not eligible.
Named nominees in this category will be the Directors, Producers and Key Network Personnel who worked on the film.
In June, Cinema Eye opened submissions for feature and short film categories for their 11th Annual Honors. Submissions for short films closed on July 28 and submissions for features will close on September 1. For more information, go to http://cinemaeyehonors.com/2018-feature-submission
Films were selected for this year’s Television Shortlist by a nominating committee comprised of nonfiction curators and programmers. Committee members included Joanne Feinberg (former Director of Programming Ashland Film Festival), Elena Fortes (Former Director, Ambulante Film Festival), Tom Hall (Executive Director, Montclair Film Festival), Sarah Harris (Senior Programmer, Dallas Film Festival), Doug Jones (Executive Director, Images Cinema), Lane Kneedler (Associate Director of Programming, AFI FEST), Andrew Rodgers (Executive Director, Denver Film Society) and Sky Sitney (Co-Director, Double Exposure Film Festival).
About the 11th Annual Cinema Eye Honors and Cinema Eye Week 2018
The Cinema Eye Honors for Nonfiction Filmmaking were founded in late 2007 to recognize and honor exemplary craft and innovation in nonfiction film. Cinema Eye’s mission is and has been to advocate for, recognize and promote the highest commitment to rigor and artistry in the nonfiction field. At its inception, Cinema Eye was the first US or international organization to present annual awards for documentary in the fields of production, cinematography, original score and graphic design and the only organization, aside from the guilds, to recognize outstanding direction and editing.
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 three days of Cinema Eye Week culminate yearly in New York City, where a series of celebratory events bring together many of the field’s most accomplished filmmakers.