Nominations for the inaugural CINEMA EYE AWARDS FOR NONFICTION FILMMAKING were announced January 20, 2008 by 2008 Award Co-Chairs Thom Powers, Documentary Programmer for the Toronto International Film Festival, and filmmaker AJ Schnack, director of “Kurt Cobain About A Son”. Powers and Schnack were joined in the presentation of the nominations by filmmaker Margaret Brown, director of “Be Here to Love Me: A Film About Townes Van Zandt” and the 2008 Sundance Documentary Competition entry “The Order of Myths”.

Our community has now the opportunity to participate in the first awards event to honor nonfiction film. You can find a complete description of the awards program and the films selected for audience participation at the awards site at http://www.cinemaeyeawards.com. There are 9 titles nominated for the Audience Award which are listed below. When you get to the awards site, you will have a chance to stream 10 to 20 minute, previews of these films for free, giving you the opportunity to catch up on titles you may have heard about but not had the chance to see yet -- and informing your voting selection.
The voting period for audience participation is from March 1 to March 10. Vote Today! And join with us and members of our festival community in helping to determine the Audience Award for the top nonfiction independent film of 2007.


The CINEMA EYE AWARDS, named for the revolutionary group of young filmmakers led by pioneering documentarian Dziga Vertov , will be awarded on March 18, 2008 at a ceremony at the IFC Center in New York City.

Nominations in eight categories were selected by a blue-ribbon nominating committee comprised of 12 programmers from North America’s top film festivals who are esteemed for their specialization in documentary. Committee members made their selections individually and in private, voting for five films, in preferential order, from a list of 76 eligible films.

Winners will be chosen by a larger voting pool of top filmmakers, distributors, programmers, writers and industry figures selected from within the documentary community.

INTO GREAT SILENCE, Philip Gröning’s look at the lives of a monastery in the French Alps and MANDA BALA (SEND A BULLET), Jason Kohn’s examination of corruption in Brazil led all films with six nominations each. LAKE OF FIRE, Tony Kaye’s exploration of the abortion issue, received five. Those films were joined in the category of Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Feature Filmmaking by Pernille Rose Gronkjær’s THE MONASTERY – MR. VIG AND THE NUN and by Charles Ferguson’s NO END IN SIGHT.

IndiePix, the internet based distributor of independent film, is the presenting partner and sponsor for the inaugural honors. Danielle DiGiacomo, the Coordinator for Documentary Films at IndiePix, today announced the addition of a ninth award, the Audience Choice Prize, to be voted on by members of the film-going public.

Films nominated for the Audience Choice Prize were selected based on two factors - 2007 box office figures as well as votes received in the category of Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Feature Filmmaking. Winners will be chosen via online voting.

All voting will be conducted by secure internet transactions on the IndiePix website.

The nominations were announced at the Wall Street Journal Lounge, coinciding with the 2008 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. The lounge is produced by Classic Entertainment Group, Inc., an entertainment marketing firm based in New York and headed by partners Jacob Gitzis, Jimmy Floyd and Vinne Potestivo.

The complete list of nominations for the Inaugural Cinema Eye Awards for Nonfiction Filmmaking follows. Nominations, as well as background information on the awards, can also be accessed at http://www.indiepix.net/awards.


NOMINATIONS FOR THE INAUGURAL
CINEMA EYE AWARDS FOR NONFICTION FILMMAKING

Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Filmmaking
[Award goes to Director and Producer(s)]

INTO GREAT SILENCE
Director - Philip Gröning
Producers - Philip Gröning, Elda Guidinetti, Andres Pfaffli &
Michael Weber

LAKE OF FIRE
Director and Producer - Tony Kaye

MANDA BALA (SEND A BULLET)
Director - Jason Kohn
Producers - Joey Frank, Jared Goldman & Jason Kohn

THE MONASTERY - MR. VIG AND THE NUN
Director - Pernille Rose Grønkjær
Producer - Sigrid Dyekjær

NO END IN SIGHT
Director - Charles Ferguson
Producers - Jennie Amias, Charles Ferguson & Jessie Vogelson

Outstanding Achievement in Direction

INTO GREAT SILENCE - Philip Gröning
LAKE OF FIRE - Tony Kaye
MANDA BALA (SEND A BULLET) - Jason Kohn
TAXI TO THE DARK SIDE - Alex Gibney
ZOO - Robinson Devor

Outstanding Achievement in Production

BLINDSIGHT - Sybil Robson Orr
CHICAGO 10 - Brett Morgan & Graydon Carter
GHOSTS OF CITE SOLEIL - Seth Kanegis, Tomas Radoor &
Mikael Rieks

INTO GREAT SILENCE - Philip Gröning, Elda Guidinetti,
Andres Pfaffli & Michael Weber

LAKE OF FIRE - Tony Kaye
MANDA BALA - Joey Frank, Jared Goldman & Jason Kohn
Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography

INTO GREAT SILENCE - Philip Gröning
LAKE OF FIRE - Tony Kaye
MANDA BALA (SEND A BULLET) - Heloisa Passos
MANUFACTURED LANDSCAPES - Peter Mettler
ZOO - Sean Kirby
Outstanding Achievement in Editing

CRAZY LOVE - David Zieff
FLYING: CONFESSIONS OF A FREE WOMAN – Niels Pagh Andersen
GHOSTS OF CITE SOLEIL - Adam Nielsen
LAKE OF FIRE - Peter Goddard
MANDA BALA (SEND A BULLET) - Doug Abel, Jenny Golden &
Andy Grieve

NO END IN SIGHT - Chad Beck and Cindy Lee
Outstanding Achievement in Graphic Design and Animation

CHICAGO 10
Animation by Curious Pictures

HELVETICA
Motions Graphics by Trollbäck & Co.

THE PRISONER OR: HOW I PLANNED TO KILL TONY BLAIR
Graphic Design by Petra Epperlein

THE UNFORESEEN
Motion Graphics by Jef Sewell

SUPER AMIGOS
Animation by David Quesnelle

Outstanding Debut Feature
[Award goes to Director]

BILLY THE KID - Jennifer Venditti
MANDA BALA (SEND A BULLET) - Jason Kohn
THE MONASTERY - MR. VIG AND THE NUN - Pernille Rose Gronkjær
NO END IN SIGHT - Charles Ferguson
A WALK INTO THE SEA: DANNY WILLIAMS AND THE WARHOL FACTORY - Esther B. Robinson
Outstanding International Feature
[Award goes to Director and Producer(s)]

GHOSTS OF CITE SOLEIL
Director - Asger Leth
Producers - Seth Kanegis, Tomas Radoor and Mikael Rieks

INTO GREAT SILENCE
Director - Philip Gröning
Producers - Philip Gröning, Elda Guidinetti, Andres Pfaffli &
Michael Weber

MANUFACTURED LANDSCAPES
Director - Jennifer Baichwal
Producers - Jennifer Baichwal, Daniel Iron & Nick de Pencier

THE MONASTERY - MR. VIG & THE NUN
Director - Pernille Rose Grønkjær
Producer - Sigrid Dyekjær

PLEASE VOTE FOR ME
Director - Weijun Chen
Producer - Don Edkins

Audience Choice Prize
[Award goes to Director]

DEEP WATER
Directors – Louise Osmond and Jerry Rothwell

IN THE SHADOW OF THE MOON
Director – David Sington

INTO GREAT SILENCE
Director - Philip Gröning

JOE STRUMMER: THE FUTURE IS UNWRITTEN
Director – Julien Temple

THE KING OF KONG: A FISTFUL OF QUARTERS
Director – Seth Gordon

MANUFACTURED LANDSCAPES
Director – Jennifer Baichwal

NO END IN SIGHT
Director - Charles Ferguson

SICKO
Director – Michael Moore