With a raft of festival awards and prizes, Louie Psihoyos' The Cove arrives in theaters today, via Roadside Attractions, Lionsgate and Participant Media. For a Documentary article by Sara Vizcarrondo, that includes an interview with Psihoyos and dolphin trainer-turned-activist Richard O'Barry, click here.

 

Editor's Note: Severe Clear, which screened as part of the 2009 DocuWeeks Theatrical Documentary Showcase, opens Friday, March 12, in New York City and San Diego. Here's an interview with director Kristian Fraga that we published in conjunction with DocuWeeks.

 

 

Over the next month, we at IDA will be introducing our community to the filmmakers whose work will be represented in the DocuWeeks^TM Theatrical Documentary Showcase, July 31-August 20 in New York City and Los Angeles. We asked the filmmakers to share the stories behind their films--the inspirations, the challenges and obstacles, the goals and objectives, the reactions to their films so far.

So, to continue this series of conversations, here is Kristian Fraga, director/producer/writer of Severe Clear..

Synopsis: Armed with the world's most lethal ordnance and his home video camera, First Lieutenant Michael T. Scotti takes us on an epic first-person journey with the Marine Corps as they fight their way 300 miles from Kuwait to Baghdad. No Reporters...No Politics...No Censors...This is what he saw.

IDA: How did you get started in documentary filmmaking?

Kristian Fraga: I'm a total product of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg; I grew up on a steady diet of classic Hollywood films, so I never thought I'd ever make a documentary. Then everything kind of changed my first year at NYU. Pulp Fiction came out and there was a seismic shift in terms of how everybody started thinking about film. Overnight it seemed like everything was about snappy dialogue, fractured narrative and pop culture references, and I remember thinking, If that's where the industry is going, I'm screwed. I was a fan of that film, for sure, but it wasn't the kind of movie I was interested in making-or, to be honest, the kind of film I thought I could make. I remember thinking, "I'm not Quentin Tarantino," nor do I want to be. He's doing his own thing and I gotta do my own thing. Then it hit me: "I'm not George Lucas or Steven Spielberg either." I'm not gonna make Star Wars, I'm not going to make ET; they've done that, that's their thing. And then it got me to thinking a pretty obvious question: What the hell is my thing? 

Now, for a 19-year-old who eats, breaths and sleeps cinema, that was a pretty heady moment to go through. I was scared for about .5 seconds, and then it felt as if a big weight had been lifted from my shoulders. I remember thinking, I may not win an Oscar by the time I'm 24 like Orson Welles (for the record, I didn't); I may not be hand-selected by Lucas to direct Episode I of Star Wars prequels (for the record, I wasn't); and Steven Spielberg may not executive-produce a feature-length version of my award-winning final student film (again, for the record, he didn't). And you know what? That was okay. Not only was it okay, but now my future was wide open. I didn't have to worry about hitting these cinematic markers that always seemed so important; instead I could focus on what stories I wanted to tell. In the end I realized it all comes down to the story. As a filmmaker I'm not concerned with anything other than what is the best way to tell the particular story I'm passionate about. My last two feature films have been documentaries. These were stories I needed to tell, and they were best told as documentaries.

IDA: What inspired you to make Severe Clear?  

KF: I was developing a completely different project when Severe Clear literally fell on my lap. Mike Scotti, the Marine our film is about, walked into NYU with a bag full of mini-DV tapes figuring some young filmmaker might find the footage interesting. He ended up bumping into a student who happened to be interning at our production company at the time and a couple of days later we were all sitting down with Scotti watching his footage and talking about his experience. Right away I knew his was a story I wanted to tell.

IDA: What were some of the challenges and obstacles in making this film, and how did you overcome them? 

KF: Right off the bat, the biggest issue we had was figuring out how to take this random footage, which was never intended to be used as a film, and put it together in some sort of coherent manner. I thought the trick to making it all work was to focus on the narrative structure of the film and not get too caught up with the style of the footage. I knew it was going to be a challenge to take this jagged footage and cut it in a more classic kind of Hollywood way, but the fusion of these two opposing styles is what I think gives the movie its energy. Beyond actually pulling the film off in the editing room, getting the money to make it all happen was a whole other saga...

IDA: How did your vision for the film change over the course of the pre-production, production and post-production processes?

KF: Very early on in the project, we came up against an artistic choice that would fundamentally shift my vision for the overall film. We originally shot two days worth of sit-down interviews with Scotti and shot about one night's worth of footage following him around New York City. It just didn't "feel" right. The picture was designed to cut between Scotti's raw footage in Iraq, sit-down interviews with him, and shot footage about what his life was like back in the States. The structure was sound, and visually the film was pretty dynamic in terms of cutting between different styles and looks. The problem was, by cutting to interviews of Mike and showing his life in New York, we were totally robbing the impact and immediacy of the video footage Mike and the other Marines shot in Iraq. That was the story. Every time we cut away from Iraq, the picture lost itself.

I sat down with my producing partner, Marc Perez, and told him I thought the film should only be about Mike in Iraq and we should only use the footage that was shot in Iraq. We had no idea if there was enough there to make a feature film and if we could pull off a narrative without the support of interviews and new footage we were going to shoot. We also knew that making this decision would cost us all the money we had already spent on the three days of filming, and we were about to add a couple of years to this project by going in this new direction. To Marc's credit, he agreed and basically said, If that's the movie you want to make, you figure out how to pull that off and I'll figure out how to get the money to make it happen. Four years later the film is done, and once we made that major decision and figured out the right way to tell this story, my vision never wavered.

IDA:    As you've screened Severe Clear--whether on the festival circuit, or in screening rooms, or in living rooms--how have audiences reacted to the film? What has been most surprising or unexpected about their reactions?

KF: I've often said that Severe Clear doesn't answer questions, but hopefully it'll raise a few. Our goal with this film was not to make the "definitive" film on this subject or use it as a platform to push any political agenda. In fact, if I've done my job correctly, you shouldn't know if I was for or against this war because ultimately that's irrelevant, and audiences seem to be getting that. The reaction so far has been fantastic, and the post-screening Q&A's have been really interesting. The goal was for our film to encourage conversation, and it certainly seems to be sticking with people well after they leave the theater. We've had Marines who were there coming up to us and saying that we got it right, which is certainly gratifying. Family members of Marines or Army soldiers who are currently over there or who have just gotten back have thanked us for allowing them to see what their husband or child's experience was, and then we've also had some pretty open debates about whether or not we should have gone into Iraq in the first place. The Q&A's have been lively, and that's the point. The movie has been designed to be a cinematic experience and not a particularly comfortable one. At the end of the day, it's really a blue-collar film about these men getting up for work everyday and doing their job. It's about what that job represents and everything that goes with a Marine being good at what he does--which is a part of the inherent depth and complexity of Mike Scotti's story. 

IDA:  What docs or docmakers have served as inspirations for you?

KF: In terms of Severe Clear, I could go on and on. Interestingly, Persona Non Grata, a doc Oliver Stone directed for HBO, was a huge influence, and it's a shame that film hasn't gotten more attention. Certainly the usual suspects: Harlan County USA, The Fog of War, Hearts and Minds, The Anderson Platoon, In the Year of the Pig, Salesman, Crisis, Primary, Night and Fog, and a whole bunch of others.

 

Severe Clear will be screening at the ArcLight Hollywood Cinema in Los Angeles and the IFC Center in New York City.

To download the DocuWeeks^TM program in Los Angeles, click here.

To purchase tickets for DocuWeeks^TM in Los Angeles, click here.

To download the DocuWeeks^TM program in New York, click here.

To purchase tickets for DocuWeeks^TM in New York, click here.

 

 

The Toronto International Film Festival, running September 10 through 20, announced its slate of documentaries this week. The festival will screen a total of 17 docs, the bulk of which are programmed in the Real to Reel strand, but you can also find nonfiction fare in Vanguard, Special Presentations and Sprockets Family Zone.

"This year's documentaries have a sense of immediacy like never before," said Thom Powers, the festival's documentary programmer, in a statement. "Current events are getting a fresh perspective in films about the post-crash economy, Iran, Berlusconi, surrogate mothers, US Army veterans and more. These films are sure to generate a lot of debate."

Powers also over sees the Doc Blog, a running feature of the festival, in which both programmers and filmmakers will offer their insights.

And here's the lineup:

Vanguard

The White Stripes Under Great White Northern Lights  (Dir.: Emmett Malloy; USA)
World Premiere
An intimate look inside The White Stripes' cross-Canada tour, as Jack and Meg White touch down in remote northern communities and surprising city venues.

Real to Reel

The Art of the Steal  (Dir.: Don Argott; USA )
World Premiere
This art-world whodunit investigates what happened to the Barnes collection of Post-Impressionist paintings--valued in the billions--that fell prey to a power struggle after the death of owner Albert Barnes.

Bassidji (Dir.: Mehran Tamadon, Iran/France/Switzerland)
International Premiere
For three years, Mehran Tamadon immersed himself into the very heart of the most extremist supporters of the Islamic republic of Iran (the Bassidjis) to understand their ideas.

Cleanflix (Dirs.: Andrew James, Joshua Ligairi; USA )
World Premiere
The Mormon religion preaches against the content of R-rated films, so several Utah-based entrepreneurs started offering "clean" versions of Hollywood movies at specialty DVD stores. But the thriving industry runs into legal problems and its own sex scandal.

Collapse (Dir.: Chris Smith; USA )
World Premiere
From the acclaimed director of American Movie, this portrait of radical thinker Michael Ruppert explores his apocalyptic vision of the future, spanning the crises in economics, energy, environment and more.

Colony (Dirs.: Carter Gunn, Ross McDonnell; Ireland)
World Premiere
Several beekeepers around the US cope with colony collapse disorder--the phenomenon that has caused millions of bees to mysteriously disappear--in this beautifully shot debut from a gifted directing duo.

Google Baby (Dir.: Zippi Brand Frank; Israel)
International Premiere
In India, the latest form of outsourcing is surrogate mothers who carry embryos for couples who can't have a child. Director Zippi Brand Frank follows an entrepreneur who proposes a new service--baby production for western customers.

How to Fold a Flag (Dirs.: Michael Tucker, Petra Epperlein; USA)
World Premiere
The makers of Gunner Palace follow US soldiers as they create new lives post-Iraq--from a Congressional candidate in Buffalo to a cage fighter in Louisiana--set against the backdrop of the 2008 election.

L'Enfer de Henri-Georges Clouzot (Dirs.: Serge Bromberg, Ruxandra Medrea; France)
North American Premiere
Film archivist Serge Bromberg uncovers a treasure trove of imagery from an unfinished film called L'Enfer starring Romy Schneider and directed by the French master Henri-Georges Clouzot, known for Wages of Fear and Diabolique.

The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers
(Dirs.: Judith Ehrlich, Rick Goldsmith; USA)
World Premiere
Daniel Ellsberg was a valued strategist inside the American government until he leaked the Pentagon Papers and exposed the lies of the Vietnam War. This thrilling documentary chronicles this momentous chapter in history and how Richard Nixon's obsession over the case brought down his own government.

Presumed Guilty (Dirs.: Roberto Hernández, Geoffrey Smith; Mexico)
World Premiere
Two young Mexican attorneys attempt to exonerate a wrongly convicted man by making a documentary. In the process, they expose the contradictions of a judicial system that presumes suspects guilty until proven innocent.

Schmatta: Rags to Riches to Rags (Dir.: Marc Levin; USA)
World Premiere
Veteran filmmaker Mark Levin (Slam) looks at the past and present of New York's garment district, from its heyday as a base for immigrant labor and unions to its recent decline.

Snowblind (Dir.: Vikram Jayanti; USA/United Kingdom)
International Premiere
Rachael Scdoris, a blind 23-year-old, doesn't let her disability stop her from competing in one of the most gruelling endurance contests in the world: the Iditarod dogsled race traversing 1,100 miles of Alaska's most rugged terrain. But being blind is only the start of her challenges.

The Topp Twins (Dir.: Leanne Pooley; New Zealand)
North American Premiere
Fun, disarming and musically provocative, the Topp Twins are New Zealand's finest lesbian country-and-western singers and the country's greatest export since rack of lamb and the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy.

Videocracy (Dir.: Erik Gandini; Sweden)
North American Premiere
This penetrating look at the media empire of Italy's prime minister Silvio Berlusconi reveals how his reality TV shows full of bikini-clad women enriched his friends and beguiled a nation.

Special Presentation

Good Hair (Dir.: Jeff Stilson; USA)
Canadian Premiere
Rendered speechless by his daughter's question,"Daddy, how come I don't have good hair?" comedian Chris Rock embarks on a quest to understand African-American hair culture.

Sprockets Family Zone

Turtle: The Incredible Journey (Dir.: Nick Stringer; United Kingdom/Austria/Germany)
Canadian Premiere
Join a logger-heard turtle on an extraordinary journey through the fascinating underwater world and witness how changes in the oceans are affecting marine life in this beautiful and spectacular ocean adventure.

Longtime collaborators and friends, composer Miriam Cutler and director Lisa Leeman held a casual and informational discussion about scoring, music composition for docs and more at IDA's third 2009 Doc U session, entitled How to Get the Best Score for Your Doc (On Any Budget).

Leeman joked that she would serve as Cutler's Ed McMahon for the evening. And she did, interjecting Cutler's tips and stories about scoring films by bringing the "every-filmmaker" point of view to the conversation. (The two are currently working on an upcoming feature documentary, One Lucky Elephant, the epic story of one man's determined quest to find a permanent home for Flora, the 26 year-old African elephant he adopted after she was orphaned in a culling.)

Throughout the night the two talked about what to expect when budgeting for a composer (and even provided a deal points memo template as a handout), tricks to make the music in your film sounder bigger with fewer musicians, when it's most effective to not use any music, and more.

However, the key point the two often returned to throughout the night is that a working relationship between a filmmaker and composer needs to click both professionally and personally, and that comfortable collaboration is necessary. Do your research, and make sure the composer is right for your project and you.

"It's like a marriage in that you are talking about all of these feelings and emotions in your film," said Cutler.

"You've got to enable your composer to soar," added Leeman. "Make sure it's a good brief marriage."

Doc U is taking August off (because we'll be busy with DocuWeeks 2009). Check back for the September event.

Related Stories:
Composers Confab: Creating The Best Score For Your Film, by Lisa Leeman
Book Review: Hey, That’s My Music! Music Supervision, Licensing, and Content Acquisition, by Michael Galinsky

Morgan Spurlock is getting even more animated.

A week after revealing that he was on board to produce and direct The Simpsons 20th Anniversary Special in 3-D on Ice documentary, the filmmaker announced that his production team Warrior Poets are partnering with Dark Horse for an original graphic novel that will serve as companion to his 2004 doc Super-Size Me where the filmmaker ate nothing but McDonald's food for one month.

The book, called Supersized: Strange Tales From a Fast Food Culture, will feature, well, strange stories about the U.S.'s obsession with fast food that didn't make it into the film. (In 2005 Spurlock penned the more bookish book Don't Eat This Book: Fast Food and the Supersizing of America.)

He plans to still make the point that health and nutrition are the way to go. The project will include a mix of established and up-and-coming artists and writers, and the clown character MC Super-Size Me from the film will serve as a storytelling guide throughout the book.

This week, SnagFilms is celebrating its one year anniversary (the official day is July 21) in a big way.

Jonathan Bricklin's The Entrepreneur (produced and presented by Morgan Spurlock) is going to "air" for one week exclusively on SnagFilms.com, starting July 24. This is prior to it ever being distributed through theaters or television.

SnagFilms will continue its SummerFest series over the next several weeks with with exclusive, one-week showings of documentaries that have not yet been distributed theatrically or on television.

Sounds like a good time to us.

Some other achievements of the one-year-old site include:

SnagFilms film widgets have been placed on pages that have generated more than 1 billion page views.

To date, SnagFilms has distribution deals with Hulu, AOL, YouTube, and just announced a partnership with Comcast's Fancast.com site.

This is on top of the more than 25,000 individual websites, blogs, or social network pages that have loaded widgets--from individual Facebook pages to big sites like NYTimes, HuffPo, WaPo, and Politico.

In the past year, SnagFilms has pried open some traditional distribution windows, jointly streaming films like Haze and The Least of These as they’ve had their film festival debuts; the SnagFilms SummerFest takes this a step further and offers a sneak peak of films for a limited time before any other distribution window opens.

SnagFilms and its indieWIRE site have also partnered with the IDA. Read about our relationship here.

Walter Cronkite, whose 19 years at the helm of CBS News made him a fixture in Americas's living rooms, died Friday at age 92.

While he was best known as an exemplary news anchor, Cronkite also made 60 documentaries--many of which he produced after stepping down from CBS News in 1981. During his long tenure at CBS, which began in 1950, thanks to Edward R. Murrow's successful recruiting efforts, he played a vital role in such television series as You Are There (1953-57), Twentieth Century (1957-67), Eyewitness to History (1961-62), CBS Reports (1961-79) and 21^st Century (1967-70). Following his retirement as managing editor at CBS News, Cronkite, to paraphrase his final sign-off, kept coming back for more. With his production companies The Cronkite Ward Company and Cronkite Productions, he made 36 documentaries for Discovery Channel and The Learning Channel, and his series Cronkite Remembers won a CableAce Award in 1997.

He earned numerous honors throughout his career, including a Peabody Award, a Polk Award, an Emmy Award-and, in 1992, the IDA Career Achievement Award.

He was the conduit through which contemporary American history flowed, and when he reported on the Vietnam War, and called it unwinnable, President Lyndon B. Johnson famously muttered to then-aide Bill Moyers, "If I've lost Cronkite, I've lost middle America." Here's an excerpt from an interview with Cronkite as he reflects on the Vietnam War:

And here's Cronkite on the occasion of CBS' 50^th anniversary, in which he reads a commemorative poem by famed radio producer/writer Norman Corwin:

Sources:

Wikipedia
cbsnews.com
The New York Times
Museum of Broadcast Communications

 

Get doc insight from those who know with Capturing Reality: The Art of Documentary. The film features over 30 filmmakers from 14 countries (Albert Maysles, Errol Morris, Werner Herzog, more) sharing their passion for documentary and talking about the artistic and ethical choices they make. The movie is making the rounds on the festival circuit, but you can purchase the DVD that comes with hours of bonus interviews. The film's extraordinary website also features tons (really, tons) of well-organized clips from filmmakers talking about the craft and a downloadable educational guide. (via Capturing Reality site)

Lowry Digital has completed the initial phase of the restoration of footage sent back to Earth from Apollo 11, including man's first steps on the moon, as part of the 40th anniversary celebrations of the mission this month. NASA commissioned Lowry Digital to restore roughly two-and-a-half hours of material that astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin captured during their 1969 expedition. The preliminary restoration includes highlight sequences such as Armstrong's famous descent of the ladder and the planting of the American flag. The overall restoration is ongoing, and images will continue to be refined, with a planned completion in September. (via NASA's website)

Operation Homefront has teamed up with The Way We Get By, a documentary about three senior citizens who serve as airport troop greeters (see the trailer here), to give children of military families school supplies. In the spirit of service, the producers of the movie are encouraging attendees to donate new school supplies to Operation Homefront's Backpack Brigade program. Backpack Brigade distributes backpacks full of school supplies to military children of all ages who need a little help preparing for the school year. Items can be dropped off at each screening of the movie or to any Operation Homefront chapter. (via The Way We Get By site)

Think things are tough now? Try the '30s on for size. PBS's American Experience will premiere The 1930s, a five-part mini-series that examines America's response to the unprecedented economic crisis, high unemployment, and environmental catastrophe that threatened the nation during one of history's most tumultuous decades. See a preview video here. (via PBS)

The Sundance Institute will receive a $5 million grant for its Documentary Film Program to help raise awareness on human rights, the Open Society Institute announced. "Films can play a powerful role in inspiring action on human rights, justice, accountability, and other open society issues,” said Aryeh Neier, president of the Open Society Institute. "The Sundance Institute’s work helps filmmakers shed light on the most pressing challenges of our time." As a dollar-for-dollar matching grant, Sundance Institute aims to raise $10 million over the next five years to support documentaries on significant, contemporary issues. (via Open Society Institute)

Conquest of the Useless: Reflections from the Making of Fitzcarraldo is IDA Award Winner Werner Herzog's diary which recounts the two-year shoot in the jungles of Peru to make the film. Originally published in German in 2004, it's now available in English. Check out this article in The Guardian about it and an excerpt in the NY Times. Then grab it on Amazon.

Despite cross-town competition from Outfest, a hearty crowd gathered at the E. 3^rd Steakhouse in downtown LA last night for IDA's fourth mixer of the year. Fueled by a steady stream of microbrews, with nary a steak consumed, IDA Members, Board members and staffers swapped insights and ideas about where and how to get their work out there, and what docs are currently shifting the terrain. Spotted among the mixers were Board members Senain Kheshgi, Laurie Ann Schag, Gilda Brasch and Moises Velez, as well as Executive Director Michael Lumpkin, Membership Manager Maria Arzola and Webmaster Mark Dischler. Also stoking the conversations were former mPRm and Warner Independent Pictures reps Laura Kim and James Lewis, as well as editor Lisa Day.

Up next on the social calendar: the 2009 DocuWeeks kickoff party-Thursday, July 30. Stay tuned!

A new member getting answers about how to find fellow member profiles.

Kate from Videosymphony meeting the people they are supporting: the documentary community.

A new member who had just written a complimentary email about an article in the magazine happily surprised to be able to meet and speak with the editor. (Thanks Tom!)

Our lovely and wonderful board members representing: Gilda, LaurieAnn and Senain holding court and mixing. (I still owe Senain a drink. Sorry.)

And plenty of good conversation and more connecting. I got an email last night from a happy new member thanking the IDA: "Thanks again for hosting this shindig--good times! intelligent people! lack of pretension! Whew! Looking forward to another one of these as well as DocuWeeks -- Wendi"

Board members got shout outs. (could you hear that Mr. Chapnick?) Cards exchanged. Twitter names proudly displayed and followed on site. Strangers made lunch meeting plans, people were excited about DocuWeeks, and apparently there was even a love connection by the end of the night. Yes, all the talk about digital distribution and grant writing can put one in the mood.

Thanks to the Board members who were able to make it, and thanks to all of you who will join us in the future.

Our esteemed ED Michael was in the house but I didn't get to buy him a drink either. Also there, Mark, Tom (taking pictures, writing notes), Mario and Susana (our interns rock), and of course Maria spearheading this low key but cool and consistent evening.

Saludos,
Moises Velez

Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired earned five Primetime and Creative Arts Emmy nominations, the most nods for the nonfiction categories, while This American Life garnered four. Polanksi's director/producer, Marina Zenovich, took honors in directing and shared writing kudos with Joe Bini and P.G. Morgan. Other multiple honorees include HBO's The Alzheimer's Project (three) and Discovery Channel's Deadliest Catch (three).

The Creative Arts Emmys will be handed out September 12 in Los Angeles, while the Primetime Emmys take place September 20, also in Los Angeles. For more information, click here. For a complete list of all the nominations in all categories, click here.

Outstanding Children's Nonfiction Program

Grandpa, Do You Know Who I Am? with Maria Shriver (HBO; HBO Documentary Films and the National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health in association with the Alzheimer's Association, Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund, Geoffrey Beene Gives Back Alzheimer's Initiative, and Planet Grande Pictures)
Executive Producers: Sheila Nevins, Maria Shriver
Supervising Producer: Veronica Brady
Producers: Eamon Harrington, John Watkin
Series Producer: John Hoffman

Nick News With Linda Ellerbee Coming Home: When Parents Return from War (Nickelodeon ; Nickelodeon in association with Lucky Duck Productions)
Executive Producers: Linda Ellerbee, Rolfe Tessem
Supervising Producer: Wally Berger
Producers: Mark Lyons, Martin Toub

Outstanding Cinematography for Nonfiction Programming

Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations-- Laos (Travel Channel; Zero Point Zero Production, Inc.
Cameras: Todd Liebler, Zach Zamboni

Deadliest Catch: Stay Focused Or Die (Discovery Channel; Original Productions, LLC in association with Discovery Channel)
Cinematography Team

Expedition Africa: Episode 101 (HISTORY; Mark Burnett Productions for History
Cinematography Team

This American Life: John Smith (Showtime; Showtime Presents in association with Chicago Public Radio, Killer Films, Inc., Left/Right, Inc.)
Director of Photography: Adam Beckman

Whale Wars: Nothing's Ideal (Animal Planet; RIVR Media in association with Animal Planet)
Director of Photography: Robert C. Case

Outstanding Directing for Nonfiction Programming

Project Runway: Finale (Part 1) (Bravo; Magical Elves for The Weinstein Company, Full Picture, Bravo)
Director: Paul Starkman

Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired (HBO; Milwood Pictures, Graceful Pictures, BBC, Antidote Films in association with HBO Documentary Films and ThinkFilm)
Director: Marina Zenovich

The Amazing Race: Don't Let A Cheese Hit Me (CBS ;World Race Productions Inc.)
Director: Bertram van Munster

This American Life: John Smith (Showtime; Showtime Presents in association with Chicago Public Radio, Killer Films, Inc., Left/Right, Inc.)
Directors: Christopher Wilcha, Adam Beckman

Top Chef: The Last Supper (Bravo; Magical Elves, Bravo)
Director: Steve Hrynewicz

Exceptional Merit in Nonfiction Filmmaking

Section 60: Arlington National Cemetery (HBO; HBO Documentary Films)
Executive Producer: Sheila Nevins
Supervising Producer: Jacqueline Glover
Producers: Jon Alpert, Matthew O'Neill

The Memory Loss Tapes (HBO; HBO Documentary Films and the National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health in association with the Alzheimer's Association, Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund, Geoffrey Beene Gives Back Alzheimer's Initiative, and Sceneworks)
Executive Producers: Sheila Nevins, Maria Shriver
Series Producer: John Hoffman
Producers: Shari Cookson, Nick Doob

Outstanding Nonfiction Series

American Experience (PBS; A David Grubin Productions film for American Experience)
Executive Producers: Mark Samels, Nick Fraser
Series Producer: Susan Bellows
Producer: David Grubin

American Masters (PBS; Thirteen/WNET American Masters)
Executive Producer: Susan Lacy
Series Producer: Prudence Glass
Supervising Producer: Julie Sacks
Producer: Judy Kinberg

Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations (Travel Channel; Zero Point Zero Production, Inc.)
Executive Producers: Myleeta Aga, Christopher Collins, Lydia Tenaglia Producer: Paul Cabana

Biography (BIO • Triple Threat Television for the BIO Channel)
Executive Producers: Gary Cohen, Peter Tarshis
Producer: Eliza Kurtz

Deadliest Catch (Discovery Channel; Original Productions, LLC in association with Discovery Channel)
Executive Producers: Thom Beers, Jeff Conroy, Paul Gasek, Tracy Rudolph
Co-Executive Producer: Matt Renner
Supervising Producer: Ethan Prochnik

This American Life (Showtime • Showtime Presents in association with Chicago Public Radio, Killer Films, Inc., Left/Right, Inc)
This American Life Producing Team

Outstanding Nonfiction Special

102 Minutes That Changed America (HISTORY; Produced by Siskel/Jacobs Productions for History)
Executive Producers: Greg Jacobs, Jon Siskel, Susan Werbe
Producer: Nicole Rittenmeyer

Farrah's Story (NBC; Sweetened by Risk LLC)
Executive Producers: Alexandra Gleysteen, Craig Nevius, Farrah Fawcett
Producers: Robert Dean, Alana Stewart

Michael J. Fox: Adventures of an Incurable Optimist (ABC; Lincoln Square Production in association with ABC Entertainment)
Executive Producers: Michael J. Fox, Nelle Fortenberry, Rudy Bednar

Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired (HBO; Milwood Pictures, Graceful Pictures, BBC, Antidote Films in association with HBO Documentary Films and ThinkFilm)
Executive Producers: Steven Soderbergh, Randy Wooten
Producers: Jeffrey Levy-Hinte, Lila Yacoub, Marina Zenovich

The Alzheimer's Project: Momentum in Science (Parts 1 & 2) (HBO; HBO Documentary Films and the National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health in association with the Alzheimer's Association, Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund, Geoffrey Beene Gives Back Alzheimer's Initiative)
Executive Producers: Sheila Nevins, Maria Shriver
Series Producer: John Hoffman
Producers: John Hoffman, Susan Froemke

Outstanding Picture Editing for Nonfiction Programming

102 Minutes That Changed America (HISTORY; Produced by Siskel/Jacobs Productions for History)
Editor: Seth Skundrick

Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations--Laos (Travel Channel; Zero Point Zero Production, Inc.)
Editor: Jesse Fisher

Deadliest Catch: Stay Focused or Die (Discovery Channel; Original Productions, LLC in association with Discovery Channel)
Supervising Editor: Kelly Coskran
Editor: Josh Earl

Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired (HBO; Milwood Pictures, Graceful Pictures, BBC, Antidote Films in association with HBO Documentary Films and ThinkFilm)
Editor: Joe Bini

This American Life: John Smith (Showtime; Showtime Presents in association with Chicago Public Radio, Killer Films, Inc., Left/Right, Inc)
Editor: Joe Beshenkovsky

Outstanding Sound Editing for Nonfiction Programming (Single Or Multi-Camera)

102 Minutes That Changed America (HISTORY; Produced by Siskel/Jacobs Productions for History)
Sound Designer: Seth Skundrick

American Masters: Glass: A Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts (PBS; Thirteen/WNET American Masters)
Sound Supervisor: Stephen R. Smith

China's Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province (HBO; HBO Documentary Films)
Sound Editor: Branka Mrkic-Tana

Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired (HBO; Milwood Pictures, Graceful Pictures, BBC, Antidote Films in association with HBO Documentary Films and ThinkFilm)
Sound Editor: D.D. Stenehjem

The Amazing Race • Don't Let A Cheese Hit Me (CBS; World Race Productions Inc.)
Sound Editors: Eric Goldfarb, Julian Gomez, Andrew Kozar, Paul Nielsen, Jacob Parsons
Music Editor: Rick Livingstone

Outstanding Special Class - Short-format Nonfiction Programs

Jay Leno's Garage (jaylenosgarage.com; NBC.com)
Producers: Jay Leno, Helga Pollock, Robert Anglo

Writer's Draft (Fox Movie Channel; A Fox Movie Channel production in association with Polaris Productions, Inc.)
Producer: Kenny Rhodes ;

Outstanding Writing for Nonfiction Programming

American Experience: The Trials of J. Robert Oppenheimer (PBS; A David Grubin Productions film for American Experience)
Writer: David Grubin

American Masters: Jerome Robbins: Something to Dance About (PBS; Thirteen/WNET American Masters)
Writer: Amanda Vaill

Make 'Em Laugh: The Funny Business Of America • When I'm Bad, I'm Better--The Groundbreakers (PBS; A co-production of Ghost Light Films and Thirteen/WNET New York in association with Rhino Entertainment and BBC)
Writers: Michael Kantor, Laurence Maslon

Penn & Teller: Bullshit!--New Age Medicine (Showtime; Showtime Presents in association with Penn & Teller, A Division of Buggs and Rudy Discount Corporation, Star Price Productions, The Wolper Organization)
Writers: Penn Jillette, Teller, Star Price, Rich Nathanson, Michael Goudeau, David Wechter, Cliff Schoenberg, Sheryl Zohn

Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired (HBO; Milwood Pictures, Graceful Pictures, BBC, Antidote Films in association with HBO Documentary Films and ThinkFilm)
Writers: Joe Bini, P.G. Morgan, Marina Zenovich