The second annual Cinema Eye Honors ceremony will take place this Sunday, March 29th at the Times Center in Manhattan. Hatched from the brain of filmmaker AJ Schnack, Cinema Eye sprouted up last year in response to an Oscar shortlist that many felt failed to represent the full scope of what the doc world had to offer in 2007. Schnack, IndiePix and Thom Powers joined forces, and Cinema Eye presented its first awards in 2008.
From its inception, Cinema Eye has stressed that craft does, in fact, matter in documentary filmmaking. This may seem really obvious, but “craft” and “documentary” don’t make it into the same sentence in many awards (like the Oscars). Cinema Eye recognizes the artistry and occasional genius of documentary filmmakers in the categories of editing, cinematography, music composition and graphic design & animation. I suspect that Waltz with Bashir, having cracked the code of animated documentary, will do very well in these categories Sunday night. Further showing off its doc credibility, Cinema Eye also recognizes the key contributions made by producers with an Outstanding Achievement in Production award.
Six POV films are up for awards this weekend including: Up the Yangtze by Yung Chang (Outstanding Debut Feature, International Feature, Audience Choice and Cinematography), The English Surgeon by Geoffrey Smith (Outstanding International Feature and Music Composition), The Betrayal (Nerakhoon) by Ellen Kuras and Thavisouk Phrasavath (Outstanding Cinematography), and Life.Support.Music by Eric Daniel Metzgar (Outstanding Music Composition). City of Cranes by Eva Webber is one of five short films being honored as well. Good luck to all the POV nominees! You remind us every day of how lucky we are to work with such talented filmmakers.
The Outstanding Achievement in Non Fiction Feature Filmmaking (think Best Doc at the Oscars) nominees include Waltz with Bashir, the animated documentary by Ari Folman, Man on Wire by James Marsh, The Order of Myths by Margaret Brown, My Winnipeg by Guy Maddin, and Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired by Marina Zenovich. View a full breakdown of the nominees.
The ceremony is bound to be a great time, as most documentary events in NYC are. The filmmaking community is friendly, supportive and dances very well, so come down to the Times Center if you’re in town! And check back here Monday for a run down of the winners and post-award-goings on.
The Cinema Eye Honors are open to the public and tickets can be purchased (if there are any left) at www.cinemaeyehonors.com.