Hot Docs: 2009 Awards Presentation The One Man Village, Cooking History, Invisible City... May 9th 2009 03:51am | Posted by: Michael Stevens, HNR Senior Editor HNR's Michael Stevens reporting from Toronto... Hosted by the CBC’s Jian Ghomeshi, the 2009 Hot Docs Awards were presented Friday May 8, @ Toronto's Isabel Bader Theatre. Ten awards, including those for Festival films in competition and those recognizing emerging and established filmmakers were presented, providing $60,000 in cash prizes. The Best International Feature Award was presented to THE ONE MAN VILLAGE (D: Simon El Habre; P: Simon El Habre, Jad Abi-Khalil, Irit Neidhardt; Lebanon ), following the last inhabitant of a Lebanese village destroyed and deserted after a civil war, reflecting on that country’s problematic past and present. According to the Hot Docs Festival Jury, "...exceptional clarity in the filmic storytelling of a simple man in the Lebanese highlands, told with great empathy and even more skill. This film is an enchanting and gripping film and at once a pleasant and powerful experience..." The Best International Feature Award is sponsored by A&E, providing a $10,000 cash prize, courtesy of Hot Docs. The Special Jury Prize - International Feature was presented to COOKING HISTORY (D: Peter Kerekes; P: Peter Kerekes, Georg Misch, Ralph Wieser, Pavel Strnad; Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia), following military cooks who share unique perspectives on battles and survival strategies in major conflicts. According to the Jury, "...The jury recognizes the format and inventiveness of this highly original history of 20th century European wars, as told through army cooks and their recipes. Wryly hilarious and surprisingly moving, the brilliantly staged sequences make us see our wars and our hungers with new eyes..." The Special Jury Prize - International Feature is sponsored by the OMDC. The Best Canadian Feature Award was presented to INVISIBLE CITY (D: Hubert Davis; P: Mehernaz Lentin, Gerry Flahive), following two black teens as they navigate issues of race, crime and notions of manhood in Toronto's Regent Park community. According to the Jury, "...The Award goes to a film that weds form and content with extraordinary grace and intelligence. It is no small feat to maintain a focus on the raw material of real human experience while honouring the documentary as a cinematic art form. Because it does all these things, and because it maintains the dignity of its subjects' lives while asking difficult questions about the conditions under which those lives are lived, the jury has chosen Hubert Davis's Invisible City as the best Canadian feature..." The Best Canadian Feature Award is sponsored by the Documentary Organization of Canada and the Brian Linehan Charitable Foundation, providing a $15,000 cash prize courtesy of the Brian Linehan Charitable Foundation. The Special Jury Prize – Canadian Feature was presented to WATERLIFE (D: Kevin McMahon; P: Michael McMahon, Kristina McLaughlin, Gerry Flahive), an immersion into the extraordinary depth and beauty of the Great Lakes that reminds us of our essential connection to the water. According to the Jury, "...This year the jury awards its Special Jury Prize to a film that speaks to us in a commanding style and with a keen intelligence. It represents the work of a filmmaker who is in full command of his medium, and who has developed a language for speaking in non-fiction film that is distinctive and utterly his own. It is also an impressive example of how a strongly articulated sense of technique can provide an illuminating and organic understanding of its subject. For these reasons, the Canadian Features Jury has decided to grant its Special Jury Prize to Kevin McMahon's Waterlife..." The Special Jury Prize – Canadian Feature is sponsored by the Brian Linehan Charitable Foundation, providing a $10,000 cash prize courtesy of the Brian Linehan Charitable Foundation. The Best Mid-Length Documentary Award was presented to RABBIT À LA BERLIN (D: Bartek Konopka; P: Anna Wydra; Germany , Poland ), that tells the story of the wild rabbits that lived between the Berlin Walls and how they, like other Eastern Europeans, are still adjusting to the free world. According to the Jury, "...Audaciously weaving a wealth of archival footage, this film aptly plies the perfect metaphor to narrate the grand history of the rise and fall of the Berlin Wall, from the point of view of the humans and rabbits trapped by its walls..." The Best Mid-Length Documentary Award is sponsored by the Canada Council for the Arts. The Best Short Documentary Award was presented to THE DELIAN MODE (D: Kara Blake; P: Kara Blake, Marie-Josée Saint-Pierre; Canada), an illuminating look at the life of Delia Derbyshire, creator of the Dr. Who TV theme and one of the world's most influential electronic music pioneers. According to the Jury, "...This film is an elegantly structured visual and sonic excavation of the birth of electronic music told through the history of its brilliant, idiosyncratic female founder Delia Derbyshire who could make music out of anything..." The Best Short Documentary Award is sponsored by Playback. The HBO Emerging Artist Award was presented to Chung-ryoul Lee, director of OLD PARTNER (South Korea), a tale of an elderly Korean farmer, his wife and the ox that has been with, and between them, for thirty years. According to the Jury, "...This film has the charm of the classic fairy tale. Conveying the universal rhythms of life, death and rebirth with simplicity and dignity. In the story of a farmer, his wife, and the ox they depend on, the filmmaker has found a universal tale told in the most intimate fashion..." The HBO Emerging Artist Award is sponsored by HBO Documentary Films. Hot Docs Board of Directors presented this year’s Outstanding Achievement Award to Alanis Obomsawin for his newest film PROFESSOR NORMAN CORNETT – “SINCE WHEN DO WE DIVORCE THE RIGHT ANSWER FROM AN HONEST ANSWER?". The Don Haig Award, presented annually to an emerging Canadian doc filmmaker, was awarded to Montreal’s Brett Gaylor noted for (RiP!: A REMIX MANIFESTO). The Don Haig Jury also named Montreal’s Tracey Deer (CLUB NATIVE) a runner up for the Award, with each filmmaker receiving a $10,000 cash prize. The Lindalee Tracey Award, honouring an emerging Canadian filmmaker with a passionate point of view, strong sense of social justice and a sense of humour, was presented to two filmmakers, Montreal’s Laura Bari and Ottawa’s Will Inrig. Each filmmaker received a cash prize of $3000 from the Lindalee Tracey Long-Term Fund and $1500 in film stock, courtesy of Kodak Canada. The 2009 Hot Docs Festival Jury, deciding on films in competition: Canadian Features: Nahid Persson Sarvestani, filmmaker; Sky Sitney, director of programming, SILVERDOCS; Geoff Pevere, columnist, The Toronto Star. International Features: John Greyson, filmmaker; Cara Mertes, director of the Documentary Film Program, Sundance Institute; Esther van Messel, CEO, First Hand Films. Short and Mid-Length Films: Sara Diamond, president, Ontario College of Art and Design; Marie-Anne Raulet, director, Rencontres internationales du documentaire de Montréal; Jean Marie Téno, filmmaker. An additional award, the Hot Docs Audience Award, along with Hot Docs top ten audience favourites, will be announced Monday, May 11... Source: TorontoFilm.Net In: Features |Visit the HNR Forums

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