Although we’ll be including extended coverage of the recently concluded Los Angeles Film Festival in the next e-zine, here are the winners among the docus:

Target Documentary Award: Loot, Darius Marder’s tale of three men--two World War II veterns and one used car salesman--on a search for buried treasure, hidden 60 years ago in the waning days of the war.

Documentary Audience Award: Anvil! The Story of Anvil (Dir.: Sacha Gervais; Prod.: Rebecca Yeldham), which enjoyed triumphant runs at both Sundance and Hot Docs, as well as a sold-out al fresco screening at LA’s Ford Amphitheatre (the lone screening of the film at the festival) documents the long-running, but not-quite-blockbuster Canadian metal band Anvil and its admirable struggle to achieve the superstar status of the many bands it inspired.

International Audience Award: Man on Wire (Dir.: James Marsh; Prod.: Simon Chinn), which we will cover in a future e-zine, recounts the story of Philippe Petit  and his breathtaking conceptual art cum high wire act across the belated World Trade Center Twin Towers in New York City in 1974.

http://www.magpictures.com/profile.aspx?id=be7f3311-664f-41fd-a8a8-99b27c37be45 

Special Documentary Jury Competition: Pressure Cooker (Dir./Prod.: Jennifer Grausman; Dir.: Mark Becker), which follows three Philadelphia high school students as they pursue their dreams to attend top culinary schools across the country.

http://www.participantmedia.com/films/Coming+Soon/448/PressureCooker

Best Documentary Short Film: City of Cranes, Eva Weber’s graceful portrait of a city—in this case London—under perpetual construction, and of the people behind this city in transformation.

http://www.cityofcranes.com/

Photo: From Darius Marder's Loot.