Dear IDA Members:
In this issue, you will read the announcement of nominees for IDA's 16th annual awards fur Distinguished Achievement in Documentary. Congratulations to all of this year's films and filmmakers!
This was another record-breaking year for entries. Behind the scenes making the awards process work was a huge volunteer corps. As in previous years, a few IDA veterans volunteered to chair our pre-screening committees. Special thanks to Lynne Littman, Marilyn Engle, Barbara Leigh Gregson, Sven Berkemeier and John Mason for their leadership of the 16th annual awards juries.
Our thanks to the juries and volunteers who dedicated themselves to this valiant task:
Feature Documentaries
Co-chairs Lynne Littman & Marilyn Engle; jury members Zack Bell, Johanna Demetrakas, Jeff Frey, Rebekah Fry, Gail Gawlowski, Juli Gottlieb-Juteau, Nancy Gunn, Robbie Kenner, Tom Lazarus, Mark Lewis, Lauren Lexton. Linda Reavely, Tony Silver, Brian Wakil, Lisa Williams, Margot Winchester and Robert C. Winn.
Television Strand, Limited Series & Magazine Segments
Chair Barbara Leigh Gregson: jury members Grazia Caroselli, Louise Hogarth, Fanny Jacobs, J. B. Kalani, Larry Klingman and Diane Estelle Vicari.
Short Documentaries
Chair Sven Berkermeier; jury members Amitai Adler, Selene Kassin, Scott Madden, Bryan McKenzie, Marion Renk-Rosenthal, Robert Richards, Rich Samuels and Jilann Spitzmiller.
David L. Wolper Student Documentaries
Chair John Mason; jury members Melissa Adelson, Ed Landler, Elizabeth Wholihan and Sheryl Zohn.
From June through August, these dedicated souls gathered at least once a week to screen the more than 500 documentaries from around the world. The IDA offices burned the midnight oil nearly every weekday evening for three months to assure that every documentary was screened. The juries were ably assisted and tapes were trafficked by IDA Awards coordinator Jennifer Mangan. Thank you for your diligence and attention to detail.
The nominated documentaries now move on to the final juries for selection of this year's award winners in the following categories: feature, short and student documentaries: television magazine segment, strand program and limited series; and the Pare Lorentz Award and ABCNews VideoSource Award.
In just a few short weeks, the winners of this year's awards will be announced. And at the end of October, the filmmakers will convene in Los Angeles to celebrate their work at our annual Awards Gala and DocuFest. So mark your calendars now and return your reservation forms early for this year's Gala celebration of Distinguished Documentary Achievement. We'll see you on Friday, October 27 for the Awards Ceremony. And on Saturday, October 28, the filmmakers and their films will be presented at DocuFest, again being held at the Directors Guild of America.
Finally, congratulations again to this year's nominees, and a heartfelt thank you to all the volunteers, whose hours of viewing make these awards possible!
Very sincerely,
David Haugland
IDA President