Winter 2010 ›
2009 IDA Documentary Awards: Short Documentary Nominees
Salt (*Winner)
Directors: Michael Angus, Murray Fredericks
Producer/Writer: Michael Angus
Jerrycan Films
Salt is a documentary on photo-artist Murray Fredricks' extreme journeys to capture the heart of the world's most featureless landscape on Lake Eyre, South Australia. Totally isolated, he must contend with equipment failure and the environmental elements of rain, mud plains, lightning and the ever intrusive salt. His only reference point is the horizon and his only companion, his thoughts. The resulting photographs are not just sublime pictures of a remote and surreal location--they are still points that punctuate a journey of the mind and spirit.
The Delian Mode
Director/Producer/Writer: Kara Blake
Producer: Marie-Josée Saint-Pierre
Philtre Films
The Delian Mode is a short experimental documentary revolving around the life and work of electronic music pioneer Delia Derbyshire, best known for her groundbreaking sound treatment of the Doctor Who theme music. A collage of sound and image created in the spirit of Derbyshire's unique approach to audio creation and manipulation, this film illuminates such soundscapes on screen while paying tribute to a woman whose work has influenced electronic musicians for decades.
Sari's Mother
Director/Producer: James Longley
Daylight Factory LLC; HBO Documentary Films
Sari's Mother follows the struggle of an Iraqi mother to help her 10-year-old son, Sari, who is dying of AIDS. The Zegum family lives in the restive Mahmudiyah area of central Iraq. Sari's mother administers injections to her son, whose condition is gradually deteriorating. She seeks help in Baghdad's hospitals and ministries, but discovers that the Iraq healthcare system is in even worse condition under the US occupation than before the war.
The Solitary Life of Cranes
Director: Eva Weber
Producer: Samantha Zarzosa
Odd Girl Out Productions
Part city symphony, part visual poem, The Solitary Life of Cranes explores the invisible life of a city, its patterns and hidden secrets, seen through the eyes of crane drivers working high above its streets. What emerges is a lyrical mediation about how our existence is shaped through the environment we inhabit, both for the drivers high up in the sky and the people on the ground they are watching.
Keeping the Press Powerful: Christiane Amanpour
2010 IDA Pioneer Award--Reality TV's Original Tag Team: Alan and Susan Raymond
Sundance 2009 Wrap Up: Fish, Dirt, Recreations and Danger