International Documentary Association Names Top Docs of 2005

International Documentary Association Names Top Docs of 2005

FAVELA RISING and OUR BRAND IS CRISIS Share Honors in Features Category

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- The International Documentary Association (IDA) announced that FAVELA RISING, OUR BRAND IS CRISIS, THE CHILDREN of LENINGRADSKY, CNN PRESENTS, and THE STAIRCASE have earned Distinguished Documentary Achievement Awards. Presentations will be made during the 21st Annual IDA Awards Gala Benefit on December 9 at the Directors Guild of America Theatre.

"These documentaries were chosen by a jury of peers out of hundreds of films submitted from around the world," says IDA Executive Director Sandra Ruch. "It is encouraging to see the diversity of high-quality documentaries being made by so many talented filmmakers."

FAVELA RISING and OUR BRAND IS CRISIS shared top honors in the Feature competition. THE CHILDREN OF LENINGRADSKY won the Short category (under 40-minutes). THE STAIRCASE won the Limited Series competition for segments of a series with a specific continuing theme. CNN PRESENTS won the Continuing Series competition for documentaries that are part of an ongoing series.

FAVELA RISING follows Anderson Sa, a former drug-trafficker turned social revolutionary in Rio de Janeiro's most feared slum. Matt Mochary and Jeff Zimbalist directed the film.

In OUR BRAND IS CRISIS, director-producer Rachel Boynton examines what happens when America's brand of political message-making is transported overseas. Bolivia's former president, Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada hired spin-doctors Greenberg-Carville-Shrum to help him win back the presidency he lost in 1997.

CHILDREN OF LENINGRADSKY is an intimate portrait of children living in Moscow train stations. It was co-directed and co-produced by Andrzej Celinsky and Hanna Polak.

THE STAIRCASE was directed by Jean-Xavier de Lestrade and produced by Denis Poncet and Allyson Luchak. The program followed the trial of author Michael Peterson who is accused of murdering his wife in their North Carolina home in December 2001.

CNN PRESENTS showcases in-depth programming for a worldwide audience about the people, places and events defining their world. Sid Bedingfield is the executive producer and Judy Gottleib is the executive director.

The Pare Lorentz Award will be presented to director David O'Shields and executive producer Daryl Smith for AMERICA'S LOST LANDSCAPE: THE TALLGRASS PRAIRIE. This award is presented for work that best represents the democratic sensibility of the legendary documentarian. The film depicts changes in the Midwestern landscape during the past 150 years and highlights preservation efforts.

RWANDA: DO SCARS EVER FADE? took top honors in the IDA/ABCNEWS VideoSource competition. The award recognizes documentarians who make the best use of historic news footage. In the film, director Paul Freedman visits Rwanda 10 years after the 1994 genocide.

Marshall Curry is the Jacqueline Donnet Emerging Documentary Filmmaker Award winner. Curry's first feature-length documentary STREET FIGHT follows the 2002 mayoral campaign in Newark, New Jersey.

For a complete list of this year's winners and nominees, or to purchase tickets to the Awards Gala, go to www.documentary.org or call 213-534-3600. The IDA Awards Gala's founding sponsor is Eastman Kodak Company.

Source: International Documentary Association

CONTACT: Media, Sally Christgau, sallyc@ccspr.com, or Satosha Patterson,
satoshap@ccspr.com, both for the International Documentary Association,
+1-760-438-5250

Web site: http://www.documentary.org/

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