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“Better This World,” “Nostalgia for the Light,” “The Most Dangerous Man in America” And “The Learning” Nominated for Awards
New York, NY — Oct. 27, 2011 — POV (Point of View) has been nominated for five 2011 IDA Documentary Awards, it was announced today by International Documentary Association (IDA). POV was nominated for the Best Continuing Series Award, and four POV films received nominations: Kelly Duane de la Vega and Katie Galloway’s Better This World and Patricio Guzmán’s Nostalgia for the Light (Best Feature Award); The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers, by Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith (ABCNEWS Videosource Award); and The Learning, by Ramona Diaz (IDA HUMANITAS Award). Now in its 24th season on PBS, POV is American television’s longest-running independent documentary showcase and the 2009 winner of the IDA Best Continuing Series Award.
The 27th Annual IDA Documentary Awards will be held on Friday, Dec. 2, 2011 at the DGA Theater in
Los Angeles.
“We’re thrilled that so many POV filmmakers are being recognized by the IDA,” said Simon Kilmurry, executive producer of POV, who will accept the award along with Cynthia Lopez, POV co-executive producer. “For POV to be nominated alongside such exceptional series as American Experience, The Passionate Eye and 30 for 30 speaks volumes about the exciting work being done by documentary filmmakers today.”
“POV has been bringing great films to public television for 24 years and the public’s appetite for documentaries just continues to grow,” said Lopez. “Documentaries are a reflection of life as we know it: sometimes raw, sometimes enthralling and often inspiring. We are proud that our series and films have been nominated, and feel privileged to be in good company.”
Hailed by critics and viewers as among the most important documentaries on television, POV films have won numerous honors: 27 Emmy Awards (including a 2007 Special News & Documentary Emmy for Excellence in Television Documentary Filmmaking), 13 George Foster Peabody Awards, 10 duPont-Columbia Awards, three Academy Awards®, the Prix Italia, the Webby and the National Association of Latino Independent Producers’ 2011 Award for Corporate Commitment to Diversity.
About the films:
Better This World premiered on POV in 2011. The story of Bradley Crowder and David McKay, accused of intending to firebomb the 2008 Republican National Convention, is a tale of idealism, loyalty, crime and betrayal. Better This World follows the radicalization of these boyhood friends from Midland, Texas, under a revolutionary activist. The results: eight homemade bombs, multiple domestic terrorism charges and an entrapment defense hinging on a controversial FBI informant. The film goes to the heart of the war on terror and political dissent in post-9/11 America. It is a co-production of ITVS in association with American Documentary | POV.
Nostalgia for the Light will premiere during POV’s 25th season in 2012. Chile’s remote Atacama Desert, 10,000 feet above sea level, provides stunningly clear views of the heavens. But it also holds secrets from the past. In this otherworldly place, earthly and celestial quests meld: archaeologists dig for ancient civilizations, women search for their dead and astronomers scan the skies for new galaxies. The film won the Best Documentary Award at the 2010 European Film Academy Awards and at the Abu Dhabi Film Festival.
The Most Dangerous Man in America, nominated for an Academy Award, premiered on POV in 2010. The film is an account of one man’s deeply personal decision and its lingering impact. In 1971, Daniel Ellsberg, a leading military planner, concluded that America’s role in the war was based on decades of lies. He leaked the Pentagon Papers, 7,000 pages of top-secret documents, to The New York Times, a daring act of conscience that led to Watergate, President Nixon’s resignation and the end of the Vietnam War. The film, a gripping tale told by Ellsberg with a who’s who of Vietnam-era figures, has
won numerous honors including the George Foster Peabody Award and IDFA Special Jury Award. It is a co-production of ITVS in association with American Documentary | POV.
The Learning premiered on POV in 2011. One hundred years ago, American teachers established the English-speaking public school system of the Philippines. Today, American schools are recruiting Filipino teachers. The Learning, selected as part of The Economist Film Project, is the story of four Filipina women who hope to lift their families out of poverty by leaving their country to teach in Baltimore, and discover that their idealistic visions of the teacher’s craft soon collide with the city’s tough realities. The film is a co-production of CineDiaz and ITVS in association with The Center for Asian American Media, with funding provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and American Documentary | POV.
Tickets for the 2011 IDA Documentary Awards are available for purchase at http://www.documentary.org/awards2011.
About POV
Produced by American Documentary, Inc. and now in its 24th season on PBS, the award-winning POV is the longest-running showcase on American television to feature the work of today’s best independent documentary filmmakers. POV has brought more than 300 acclaimed documentaries to millions nationwide and has a Webby Award-winning online series, POV’s Borders. Since 1988, POV has pioneered the art of presentation and outreach using independent nonfiction media to build new communities in conversation about today’s most pressing social issues. Visit www.pbs.org/pov.
Major funding for POV is provided by PBS, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, The Educational Foundation of America, New York State Council on the Arts, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, FACT and public television viewers. Special support provided by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Funding for POV’s Diverse Voices Project is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Project VoiceScape is a partnership of Adobe Youth Voices, PBS and POV. POV is presented by a consortium of public television stations, including WGBH Boston and THIRTEEN in association with WNET.ORG.
For Immediate Release
Contacts:
POV Communications: 212-989-7425.
Emergency contact: 646-729-4748
Cathy Fisher, cfisher@pov.org;
Cynthia López, clopez@pov.org
POV online pressroom: www.pbs.org/pov/pressroom
