The inaugural Cinema Eye Honors were held at New York City’s IFC Center on March 17, 2008, just four months after the event was conceived by filmmaker AJ Schnack. Working with Toronto International Film Festival documentary programmer Thom Powers, producers Pamela Cohn and Danielle DiGiacamo and with the support and backing of the online streaming service Indiepix, Cinema Eye announced its first nominees at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival and held their first ceremony barely two months later.
Jason Kohn’s Manda Bala (Send a Bullet) received three awards that March evening, including Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Feature Filmmaking, Cinematography and Editing. Alex Gibney followed up his Oscar win for Taxi to the Dark Side with the Cinema Eye for Outstanding Achievement in Direction. The first Debut Feature Award was presented to Jennifer Venditti for Billy the Kid and the Audience Choice Prize went to Seth Gordon’s King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters. Gibney also served as a presenter at the event, along with filmmakers Barbara Kopple, Joe Berlinger & Bruce Sinofsky, Molly Thompson, Sam Pollard, Alan Berliner, Ross Kauffman and Annie Sunderberg & Ricki Stern.
Writing about the initial event for IFC.com, Alison Willmore said: “One of the common themes of the evening, and one of the reasons the Cinema Eye Honors were created, was that nonfiction films deserve just as serious a consideration of their craftsmanship, of their art, as narratives.”
Outstanding Achievement
in Nonfiction Feature Filmmaking
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Into Great Silence
Directed by Philip Gröning
Produced by Philip Gröning, Elda Guidinetti, Andres Pfaffli and Michael Weber -
Lake of Fire
Directed and Produced by Tony Kaye
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Winner
Manda Bala (Send a Bullet)
Directed by Jason Kohn
Produced by Joey Frank, Jared Goldman and Jason Kohn -
The Monastery – Mr. Vig and the Nun
Directed by Rose Grønkjær
Produced by Sigrid Dyekjær -
No End in Sight
Directed by Charles Ferguson
Produced by Jennie Amias, Charles Ferguson & Jessie Vogelson
Outstanding Achievement in Direction
-
Philip Gröning
For Into Great Silence
-
Tony Kaye
For Lake of Fire
-
Jason Kohn
For Manda Bala (Send a Bullet)
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Winner
Alex Gibney
For Taxi to the Dark Side
-
Robinson Devor
For Zoo
Outstanding Achievement in Editing
-
David Zieff
For Crazy Love
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Niels Pagh Andersen
For Flying: Confessions of a Free Woman
-
Adam Nielsen
For Ghosts of Cite Sileil
-
Peter Goddard
For Lake of Fire
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Winner
Doug Abel, Jenny Golden and Andy Grieve
For Manda Bala (Send a Bullet)
-
Chad Beck and Cindy Lee
For No End in Sight
Outstanding Achievement in Production
-
Sybil Robson Orr
For Blindsight
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Brett Morgan and Graydon Carter
For Chicago 10
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Winner
Seth Kanegis, Tomas Radoor and Mikael Rieks
For Ghosts of Cite Soleil
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Philip Gröning, Elda Guidinetti, Andres Pfaffli and Michael Weber
For Into Great Silence
-
Tony Kaye
For Lake of Fire
-
Joey Frank, Jared Goldman and Jason Kohn
For Manda Bala (Send a Bullet)
Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography
-
Philip Gröning
For Into Great Silence
-
Tony Kaye
For Lake of Fire
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Winner
Heloisa Passos
For Manda Bala (Send a Bullet)
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Peter Mettler
For Manufactured Landscapes
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Sean Kirby
For Zoo
Audience Choice
-
Deep Water
Directed by Louise Osmond and Jerry Rothwell
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In the Shadow of the Moon
Directed by David Sington
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Into Great Silence
Directed by Philip Gröning
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Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten
Directed by Julien Temple
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Winner
The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters
Directed by Seth Gordon
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Manufactured Landscapes
Directed by Jennifer Baichwal
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No End in Sight
Directed by Charles Ferguson
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Sicko
Directed by Michael Moore
Outstanding Achievement in a Debut Feature Film
-
Winner
Jennifer Venditti
For Billy the Kid
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Jason Kohn
For Manda Bala (Send a Bullet)
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Pernille Rose Gronkjær
For The Monastery – Mr. Vig and the Nun
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Charles Ferguson
For No End in Sight
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Esther B. Robinson
For A Walk Into the Sea: Danny Williams and the Warhol Factory
Outstanding Achievement
in Graphic Design or Animation
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Winner
Curious Pictures
For Chicago 10
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Trollbäck & Co.
For Helvetica
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Petra Epperlein
For The Prisoner Or: How I Planned to Kill Tony Blair
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Jeff Sewell
For The Unforseen
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David Quesnelle
For Super Amigos
Outstanding Achievement
in International Feature Filmmaking
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Ghosts of Cite Soleil
Directed by Asger Leth
Produced by Seth Kanegis, Tomas Radoor and Mikael Rieks -
Into Great Silence
Directed by Philip Gröning
Produced by Philip Gröning, Elda Guidinetti, Andres Pfaffli and Michael Weber -
Manufactured Landscapes
Directed by Jennifer Baichwal
Produced by Jennifer Baichwal, Daniel Iron and Nick de Pencier -
Winner
The Monastery – Mr. Vig and the Nun
Directed by Pernille Rose Grønkjær
Produced by Sigrid Dyekjær -
Please Vote for Me
Directed by Weijun Chen
Produced by Don Edkins