Downloads: Press Release
After Tiller Takes Top Trophy for Best Documentary
When I Walk Wins Outstanding Informational Programming — Long Form
New York, NY — Sept. 29, 2015 — POV (Point of View), American television’s longest-running independent documentary series, took home two awards, including Best Documentary for Martha Shane and Lana Wilson’s After Tiller, and Outstanding Informational Programming — Long Form for Jason DaSilva’s When I Walk, at the 36th Annual News & Documentary Emmy® Awards. The winners were announced last night by National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS) at a ceremony at Lincoln Center’s David Geffen Hall in New York City. The winning films aired in 2014 on POV, which received a total of 13 nominations. PBS won 17 awards in total last night, more than any other network.
“Congratulations to all of POV‘s Emmy-nominated filmmakers, and we are delighted that Martha, Lana and Jason are being celebrated for their important work,” said POV Executive Producer Chris White. “Films like When I Walk and After Tiller represent the kinds of intimate, layered, human stories that POV has always championed — films that open our eyes to different perspectives.”
“What an incredible first day on the job to be amongst my new colleagues at POV, and our award-winning filmmakers!” said Justine Nagan, newly appointed Executive Director of American Documentary and Executive Producer of POV.
“I’m thrilled for When I Walk‘s win, and I am especially proud that After Tiller won Best Documentary,” said Simon Kilmurry, former Executive Director/Executive Producer of American Documentary/POV, now Executive Director of IDA. “After Tiller is a nuanced, brave and thoughtful film showing the complexities of women’s reproductive health issues, which are often belied by mass media headlines.”
To date, POV films have won 34 Emmy® Awards, 18 Peabody Awards, 12 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards, three Academy Awards®, the first-ever George Polk Documentary Film Award and the Prix Italia. The POV series has been honored with a Special News & Documentary Emmy Award for Excellence in Television Documentary Filmmaking, two IDA Awards for Best Continuing Series and the NALIP Award for Corporate Commitment to Diversity. In 2013, POV received a MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions.
And the winners are:
Best Documentary
After Tiller is a deeply humanizing and probing portrait of the four doctors in the United States still openly performing third-trimester abortions in the wake of the 2009 assassination of Dr. George Tiller in Wichita, Kansas—and in the face of intense protest from abortion opponents. It is also an examination of the desperate reasons women seek late abortions. Rather than offering solutions, After Tiller presents the complexities of these women’s difficult decisions and the compassion and ethical dilemmas of the doctors and staff who fear for their own lives as they treat their patients. Official Selection of the 2013 Sundance Film Festival.
Directors/Producers: Martha Shane, Lana Wilson; Executive Producers: Simon Kilmurry, Diane Max, Regina K. Scully; Co-Executive Producer: Cynthia López; Vice President, Programming & Production: Chris White; Associate Producer Nicole Tsien; Coordinating Producer Nikki Heyman.
Outstanding Informational Programming — Long Form
Jason DaSilva was 25 years old and a rising independent filmmaker when a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis changed everything—and inspired him to make another film. When I Walk is a candid and brave chronicle of one young man’s struggle to adapt to the harsh realities of M.S. while holding on to his personal and creative life. With his body growing weaker, DaSilva’s spirits, and his film, get a boost from his mother’s tough love and the support of Alice Cook, who becomes his wife and filmmaking partner. The result is a life-affirming documentary filled with unexpected moments of joy and humor. Official Selection of the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. A co-production of ITVS. A co-presentation with the Center for Asian American Media (CAAM).
Director/Producer: Jason DaSilva; Producer: Alice Cook; Executive Producers: Lydia Dean Pilcher, Sally Jo Fifer, Simon Kilmurry, Yael Melamede, Stanley Nelson, Peter Starr; Co-Executive Producer: Cynthia López; Vice President, Programming & Production: Chris White; Associate Producer Nicole Tsien; Coordinating Producer Nikki Heyman.
For POV‘s 2015 Emmy wins, visit www.pbs.org/pov/pressroom/ for descriptions, links, embeddable trailers, art and press releases.
The full list of nominees for the 36th Annual News and Documentary Emmy® Awards is available at www.emmyonline.tv.
Produced by American Documentary, Inc., POV is public television’s premier showcase for nonfiction films. The series airs Mondays at 10 p.m. on PBS from June to September, with primetime specials during the year. Since 1988, POV has been the home for the world’s boldest contemporary filmmakers, celebrating intriguing personal stories that spark conversation and inspire action. Always an innovator, POV discovers fresh new voices and creates interactive experiences that shine a light on social issues and elevate the art of storytelling. With our documentary broadcasts, original online programming and dynamic community engagement campaigns, we are committed to supporting films that capture the imagination and present diverse perspectives.
POV films have won 34 Emmy® Awards, 18 George Foster Peabody Awards, 12 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards, three Academy Awards®, the first-ever George Polk Documentary Film Award and the Prix Italia. The POV series has been honored with a Special News & Documentary Emmy Award for Excellence in Television Documentary Filmmaking, two IDA Awards for Best Continuing Series and the National Association of Latino Independent Producers (NALIP) Award for Corporate Commitment to Diversity. More information is available at www.pbs.org/pov.
POV Community Engagement and Education (www.pbs.org/pov/engage)
POV’s Community Engagement and Education team works with educators, community organizations and PBS stations to present more than 650 free screenings every year. In addition, we distribute free discussion guides and standards-aligned lesson plans for each of our films. With our community partners, we inspire dialogue around the most important social issues of our time.
POV Digital (www.pbs.org/pov/)
Since 1994, POV Digital has driven new storytelling initiatives and interactive production for POV. The department created PBS’s first program website and its first web-based documentary (POV’s Borders) and has won major awards, including a Webby Award (and six nominations) and an Online News Association Award. POV Digital continues to explore the future of independent nonfiction media through its digital productions and the POV Hackathon lab, where media makers and technologists collaborate to reinvent storytelling forms. @povdocs on Twitter.
American Documentary, Inc. (www.amdoc.org/)
American Documentary, Inc. (AmDoc) is a multimedia company dedicated to creating, identifying and presenting contemporary stories that express opinions and perspectives rarely featured in mainstream media outlets. AmDoc is a catalyst for public culture, developing collaborative strategic engagement activities around socially relevant content on television, online and in community settings. These activities are designed to trigger action, from dialogue and feedback to educational opportunities and community participation.
Major funding for POV is provided by PBS, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and National Endowment for the Arts. Additional funding comes from Wyncote Foundation, Ann Tenenbaum and Thomas H. Lee, Nancy Blachman and David desJardins, Bertha Foundation, The Fledgling Fund, Marguerite Casey Foundation, New York State Council on the Arts, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, Ettinger Foundation, and public television viewers. POV is presented by a consortium of public television stations, including KQED San Francisco, WGBH Boston and THIRTEEN in association with WNET.ORG.
