For the third time, Cinema Eye Honors (CEH) the annual award celebration of "innovation and exemplary craft in nonfiction filmmaking" was held in New York on  January 15 under the principal sponsorship of IndiePix , a noted innovative  US distribution company,  and support from HBO, the Danish Film Institute and others.  Named after the Russian documentary film maker Dziga Vertov, CHE focuses on outstanding artistic achievements in nonfiction story telling providing 12 awards ranging from debut feature film to outstanding direction and production achievements. Two new awards were added :  the Spotlight Award for films deserving more US attention and the Legacy Awards for a film that changed our perception of nonfiction film making.

This year the nomination committee consisting of 15 representatives from the US and Canadian film festival circuit voted awards for 78 of the eligible 98 films. THE COVE,  about  killing dolphins in Japan, which already had received numerous international awards was nominated seven times for the CEH awards,  followed by  BURMA VJ, FOOD  INC, LOOT, and OCTOBER COUNTRY, nominated  respectively four times.  
The awards ceremony was enriched by pointed  presentations by noted film makers and distributors including but not restricted to  Bob Alexander, Peter Davis, the eloquent  Barbara Kopll,  Albert Maysles and Ross McElwee.  Noteworthy comments ranged from the comedic ("Once upon a time the air was clean and sex was dirty"'), to invoking Vertov's command (fragments of reality reveal more than the eye's perception and the need to overcome institutional modes of representation), and the related admonition to young filmmakers that high production values frequently  just cover the absence of content.
THE COVE (Louie Psihoyos) received awards as the outstanding nonfiction feature and honors for cinematography and production.  Best debut feature film was OCTOBER COUNTRY  (Michael Palmieri and Donal Mosher) on conflicts faced by a working class family in a multi generational story , also recipient of the award for best original music score. BEACHES OF AGNES (Agnes Varda), the autobiographic al reflections of this noted Nouvelle Vague film director, scored highest for direction. Janus Bilenskov-Jansen and Thomas Papapetros film BURMA  JV covering Burmese ‘video warriors' secretly filming political repression in their country received the award for outstanding editing, a production also honored as the Outstanding Achievement in International Feature.  FOOD INC. (Robert Kenner) on the corporate control of our unhealthy food supply and   RIP A REMIX MANIFESTO (Brett Gaylor) narrating a media experiment embedded in the fracturing of our media landscape shared the ward for Graphic Design and animation. The Audience Choice Prize fell to SEPTEMBER ISSUE (RJ Kutler), an insiders' view of the nine month gestation of Vogue's September issue. BEETLE QUEEN CONQUERS TOKYO (Jessica Creck) on Japan's obsession with bugs received the spotlight award and  Ross McElwee the Cinema Eye Legacy Award for his classic SHERMAN's MARCH, a three hour  autobiographical elegy  with Ross traveling from Boston to the South meditating on the possibility of romantic love, from his film makers cum anthropologist perspective.
 
Overall, the Cinema Eye Honors awards was a very rewarding event, demonstrating the richness of documentary film making and indirectly the paucity of popular fiction films.
 
Claus Mueller
New York Correspondent
filmexchange@gmail.com

2010 Cinema Eye Honorees

Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Feature Filmmaking

THE COVE
Directed by Louie Psihoyos
Produced by Paula DuPré Pesman and Fisher Stevens

Outstanding Achievement in Direction

Agnès Varda
THE BEACHES OF AGNES

Outstanding Achievement in International Feature Filmmaking

BURMA VJ
Directed by Anders Østergaard
Produced by Lise-Lense Møller

Outstanding Achievement in Debut Feature Filmmaking

OCTOBER COUNTRY
Directed by Michael Palmieri and Donal Mosher

Outstanding Achievement in Production

Paula DuPré Pesman and Fisher Stevens
THE COVE

Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography

Brook Aitken
THE COVE

Outstanding Achievement in Editing

Janus Billeskov-Jansen and Thomas Papapetros
BURMA VJ

Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Score

Danny Grody, Donal Mosher, Michael Palmieri, Ted Savarese and Kenric Taylor
OCTOBER COUNTRY

Original Music Score Jury: Natalia Almada, Laurie Anderson, Brendan Canty, T. Griffin and Craig Wedren

Outstanding Achievement in Graphic Design and Animation (tie)

Bigstar
FOOD, INC.
and
Francis Hanneman, Darren Pasemko, Kent Hugo, Omar Majeed, Brett Gaylor + The Open Source Cinema Community
RIP: A REMIX MANIFESTO

Spotlight Award

BEETLE QUEEN CONQUERS TOKYO
Directed by Jessica Oreck

Spotlight Jury: Pernille Rose Gronkjær, Jason Kohn, David Polonsky and Jennifer Venditti

Audience Choice Prize

THE SEPTEMBER ISSUE
Directed by RJ Cutler

Legacy Award

SHERMAN'S MARCH
Directed by Ross McElwee