Patricio Guzman's 'Nostalgia for the Light' Named Best Film at IDA Documentary Awards

Patricio Guzman’s Nostaligia for the Light, a documentary about Chile’s Atacama Desert, where astronomers go to gaze at the sky while women sift through the sand for evidence of loved ones murdered by the Pinochet regime, took top honors at the International Documentary Association’s 2011 IDA Documentary Awards on Friday night.

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At the ceremony held at the DGA Theatre and hosted by filmmakers Tiffany Schlain, Josh Fox and Eddie Schmidt, the prize for best short was given to Sara Nesson’s Poster Girl, the portrait of an Iraq War vet. Nesson and producer Mitchell Block accepted the award.

Documentarian Les Blank was presented with the IDA’s Career Achievement Award, given to him by fellow filmmaker Werner Herzog. The Jacqueline Donnet Emerging Filmmaker Award was given to Danfung Dennis, director of Hell and Back Again.

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The Best Continuing Series Award went to the PBS series POV, the long running showcase for independent non-fiction films, and the Best Limited Series Award went to Planet Green’s Boomtown, directed by Rachel Libert.

The complete list of winners follows:

2011 IDA DOCUMENTARY AWARDS

CAREER ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

Les Blank

JACQUELINE DONNET EMERGING FILMMAKER AWARD

Danfung Dennis

BEST FEATURE AWARD

NOSTALGIA FOR THE LIGHT

Director/Writer: Patricio Guzmán

Producer: Renate Sachse

Atacama Productions (France), Blinker Filmproduction GmbH and WDR (Germany), and Cronomedia Ltda. (Chile), Icarus Films

BEST SHORT AWARD

POSTER GIRL

Director/Producer: Sara Nesson

Executive Producer: Sheila Nevins (HBO)

Producer: Mitchell Block

Supervising Producer: Sara Bernstein (HBO)

Consulting Producer: Ross Kauffman

Portrayal Films, Inc. in association with HBO Documentary Films

BEST LIMITED SERIES AWARD

BOOMTOWN

Executive Producer/Director: Rachel Libert

Executive Producers: Josh Braun, Ken Druckerman, Susannah Ludwig, Banks Tarver

Co-Executive Producer: Matthew Galkin

Producer: Kevin Vargas

Left/Right Inc., Discovery Channel- Planet Green

BEST CONTINUING SERIES AWARD

POV

Executive Producer: Simon Kilmurry

Co-Executive Producer: Cynthia López

VP of Programming and Production: Chris White

Series Producer: Yance Ford

Coordinating Producer: Andrew Catauro

American Documentary | POV

DAVID L. WOLPER STUDENT DOCUMENTARY AWARD

GUAÑAPE SUR

Director/Executive Producer/Writer: János Richter

Executive Producers: Heidi Gronauer, Lorenzo Paccagnella

Producer: Georg Zeller

ZeLIG- School for Documentary, Andanafilms, Icarus Films

HUMANITAS DOCUMENTARY AWARD

POSITION AMONG THE STARS (STAND VAN DE STERREN)

Director/Writer: Leonard Retel Helmrich

Producer/Writer: Hetty Naaijkens - Retel Helmrich

Scarabee Films and HUMAN Broadcasting in association with HBO Documentary Films

ABCNEWS VIDEOSOURCE AWARD

THE PRUITT-IGOE MYTH

Director/Producer/Writer: Chad Freidrichs

Producers: Jaime Freidrichs, Paul Fehler, Brian Woodman

Unicorn Stencil Documentary Films

PARE LORENTZ AWARD

THE LAST MOUNTAIN

Director/Producer/Writer: Bill Haney

Executive Producers: Tim Disney, Sarah Johnson Redlich, Tim Rockwood

Producers: Clara Bingham, Eric Grunebaum

Writer: Peter Rhodes

Uncommon Productions, Dada Films, New Video

CREATIVE RECOGNITION AWARDS

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

IL CASTELLO

Cinematography: Massimo D'Anolfi

Directors: Massimo D'Anolfi & Martina Parenti

BEST EDITING

SENNA

Editors: Chris King & Gregers Sall

Director: Asif Kapadia

BEST MUSIC

BETTER THIS WORLD

Composer: Paul Brill

Directors: Katie Galloway and Kelly Duane de la Vega