Full Frame winners – no surprises…

Yesterday Full Frame announced their awards for the 2006 edition of their documentary film festival. As far as North American doc fests go, there’s Full Frame, Hot Docs, Hot Springs, Silverdocs and a handful of others. So when I read the list of winners…I was disappointed. Not because the films aren’t good, there’s just nothing new. Or…what is new is overpowered by the films of Sundance and other award winners.

FULL FRAME GRAND JURY AWARD
Iraq in Fragments
Directed by James Longley
-Won 3 prizes at Sundance, plus a handful of prizes at other fests.

FULL FRAME GRAND JURY AWARD SPECIAL MENTION
A Lion in the House
Directed by Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert.
-Preemed at Sundance, has played a handful of other fests and will air on PBS this summer.

FULL FRAME AUDIENCE AWARD
The Trials of Darryl Hunt
Directed by Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg. An HBO Documentary Film.
-Preemed at Sundance, has played a handful of other fests and will air on HBO.

FULL FRAME JURY AWARD
FOR BEST SHORT
No Umbrella: Election Day in the City
Directed by Laura Paglin.
-Preemed at Sundance, has played a handful of other fests and has distribution through Ironweed.

CENTER FOR DOCUMENTARY STUDIES
FILMMAKER AWARD
and
FULL FRAME/EMERGING PICTURES AUDIENCE AWARD
The Refugee All Stars
Directed by Zach Niles and Banker White.
-Preemed at AFI Fest and won an award, has played more than a handful of other fests.

CHARLES E. GUGGENHEIM
EMERGING ARTIST AWARD
I for India
Directed by Sandhya Suri.
-Preemed at Sundance, has played a handful of other fests.

FULL FRAME INSPIRATION AWARD
My Country, My Country
Directed by Laura Poitras. A POV/ITVS Film.
Played at SXSW, has played a handful of other fests and will air on POV/PBS in October.

FULL FRAME PRESIDENT’S AWARD
The Intimacy of Strangers
Directed by Eva Weber.
Preemed at Edinburgh, has played a handful of other fests.

FULL FRAME
WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP AWARD
Smiling in a War Zone
Directed by Simone Aaberg Kaern and Magnus Bejmar.
-Preemed at IDFA, has played a handful of fests and has distribution through filmstransit.

FULL FRAME/WORKING FILMS AWARD
Rain in a Dry Land
Directed by Anne Makepeace. A POV/ITVS Film.
-Has played plenty of fests.

SEEDS OF WAR
Sir! No Sir!
Directed by David Zeiger.
-Preemed at the LA Film Festival in 2005, played fests all year, nominated for Independent Spirit Award and currently playing theatrically through Balcony Releasing.

Workingman’s Death
Directed by Michael Glawogger.
Preemed at 62. MOSTRA INTERNAZIONALE D’ARTE CINEMATOGRAFICA
and then played Toronto and a handful of other fests, some theatrical, distribution through Paul Thiltges Distributions.

I’ll be the first to say that I’m thrilled when a documentary gets distribution, that more people get to see it and the profile of that doc and the genre itself is raised up. I guess I’d just like to get a little excited, to discover something new and not heave a sigh with everyone’s Sundance agreement.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 25th, 2006 at 2:26 pm and is filed under Originals. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.