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    Home » “For Sama” Named Best Feature At International Documentary Awards

    “For Sama” Named Best Feature At International Documentary Awards

    By SHOOTSunday, December 8, 2019Updated:Tuesday, May 14, 2024No Comments3136 Views
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    "For Sama" (PBS Distribution, Channel 4, Frontline)
    LOS ANGELES --

    For Sama (PBS Distribution, UK’s Channel 4)–directed by Waad al-Kateab and Edward Watts–won the best feature honor at last night’s (12/7) International Documentary Awards in Los Angeles. Additionally the International Documentary Association (IDA) presented its Courage Under Fire Award to al-Kateab for her bravery in the pursuit of truth, putting herself in harm’s way as a documentary filmmaker and journalist.

    For Sama is an intimate yet at the same time epic journey into the female experience of war. A love letter from a young mother to her daughter, the film tells the story of Waad al-Kateab’s life through five years of the uprising in Aleppo, Syria as she falls in love, gets married and gives birth to Sama, all while cataclysmic conflict rises around her. Her camera captures incredible stories of loss, laughter and survival as al-Kateab wrestles with an impossible choice– whether or not to flee the city to protect her daughter’s life, when leaving means abandoning the struggle for freedom for which she has already sacrificed so much.

    This also marked the first year that the IDA’s International Documentary Awards had a Best Director category. Earning that honor were Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert for American Factory (Netflix, Participant Media, Higher Ground Productions), which chronicles the culture clash that ensues when a shuttered General Motors plant in Dayton, Ohio, is taken over by a giant Chinese company.

    Taking the Best Writing category were Alisar Hasan and director Feras Fayyad for The Cave (National Geographic) which introduces us to an aspiring pediatrician who saves lives by running a makeshift underground hospital in the besieged Syrian city of Ghouta. This tale of heroism again showcases courage and decency amidst and in response to inhumane acts.

    Among other winners were Leaving Neverland (HBO) for Best Multi-part Documentary, Homecoming: A Film By Beyonce (Netflix) for Best Music Documentary, and Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (if you’re a girl) (Lifetime Films, A&E Indiefilms) for Best Short. 

    Here’s a full rundown of the evening’s winners:

    Best Feature Documentary
    For Sama
    Director/Producer: Waad al-Kateab
    Director: Edward Watts
    PBS DISTRIBUTION, CHANNEL 4, FRONTLINE

    Best Director 
    Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert
    American Factory
    NETFLIX

    Best Short
    Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (if you’re a girl)
    Director: Carol Dysinger
    Producer: Elena Andreicheva
    LIFETIME FILMS, A&E INDIEFILMS

    Best Curated Series
    Dokumania
    Executive Producers: Anders Bruus
    DANISH BROADCASTING CORPORATION

    Best Episodic Series
    Abstract: The Art of Design
    Executive Producers: Scott Dadich, Morgan Neville, Dave O’Connor, Justin Wilkes and Jon Kamen
    NETFLIX

    Best Multi-Part Documentary
    Leaving Neverland
    Director/Producer: Dan Reed
    Executive Producers: Nancy Abraham and Lisa Heller
    HBO

    Best Short Form Series
    A Moment in Mexico — The New York Times Op-Docs
    Executive Producer: Kathleen Lingo. Coordinating Producer: Lindsay Crouse
    NEW YORK TIMES

    Best Audio Documentary
    A Sense of Quietness
    Producer: Eleanor McDowall
    Executive Producers: Alan Hall and Rachel Hooper BBC RADIO 4

    Best Music Documentary
    Homecoming: A Film by Beyoncé
    Director/Producer: Beyoncé Knowles-Carter
    Director: Ed Burke
    Producers: Steve Pamon and Erinn Williams
    NETFLIX

    David L. Wolper Student Documentary Award
    Brewed in Palestine
    Director/Producer: Emma Schwartz
    UC BERKELEY GRADUATE SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM

    Best Cinematography 
    Honeyland
    Cinematographers: Fejmi Daut and Samir Ljuma
    NEON

    Best Editing
    Midnight Family
    Editor: Luke Lorentzen and Paloma López Carrillo
    1091

    Best Music Score 
    The Raft
    Composer: Hans Appelqvist
    METROGRAPH PICTURES

    Best Writing 
    The Cave
    Writers: Alisar Hasan and Feras Fayyad
    NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

    Pare Lorentz Award Winner
    THE PARE LORENTZ AWARD RECOGNIZES FILMS THAT DEMONSTRATE EXEMPLARY FILMMAKING WHILE FOCUSING ON THE APPROPRIATE USE OF THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT, JUSTICE FOR ALL AND THE ILLUMINATION OF PRESSING SOCIAL PROBLEMS.

    Honeyland (Recipient)
    Director: Tamara Kotevska
    Director/Producer: Ljubomir Stefanov
    Producer: Atanas Georgiev
    NEON

    Anthropocene: The Human Epoch (Honorable Mention)
    Director: Jennifer Baichwal, Nicholas de Pencier and Edward Burtynsky
    Producer: Nadia Tavazzani
    KINO LORBER

    ABC News VideoSource Award
    THE ABC NEWS VIDEOSOURCE AWARD IS GIVEN EACH YEAR FOR THE BEST USE OF NEWS FOOTAGE AS AN INTEGRAL COMPONENT IN A DOCUMENTARY.

    Mike Wallace is Here (Recipient)
    Director: Avi Belkin
    Producers: Rafael Marmor, John Battsek, Peggy Drexler, Avi Belkin and Christopher Leggett
    MAGNOLIA PICTURES

    2019 IDA Documentary Awards Honorary Awards

    Amicus Award: Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press

    Career Achievement Award: Freida Lee Mock

    Courage Under Fire Award: Waad al-Kateab (For Sama)

    Emerging Documentary Filmmaker Award: Rachel Lears (Knock Down The House, The Hand That Feeds)

    Pioneer Award: Cinereach

    Truth to Power Award: Leah Remini

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    Category:News
    Tags:American FactoryFor SamaInternational Documentary Awards



    Directorial Debuts That Could Make Their Mark This Emmy Season

    Friday, July 11, 2025

    With Emmy nominations set to be unveiled next week (7/15), SHOOT looks back on its current “The Road To Emmy” Series of feature stories thus far, touching upon directorial debuts that could figure in the mix for recognition from the Television Academy.

    Last month in two separate installments of our coverage, we delved into four notable first turns in the director’s chair: Yellowjackets (Showtime) co-creator and co-showrunner Bart Nickerson who directed the first and finale episodes of season 3; Long Bright River (Peacock) co-creator, showrunner and writer Nikki Toscano who helmed the “Hereditary” episode of the limited series; Jessica Lee Gagné, the cinematographer on seasons 1 and 2 of Severance (Apple TV+) who both directed and shot the pivotal second season episode “Chikhai Bardo”; and David Tedeschi, who had some prior co-directing gigs before bowing as a solo director with the documentary Beatles ‘64 (Disney+).

    Here are highlights from SHOOT’s original coverage of these auspicious directing debuts:

    Bart Nickerson
    Striking a narrative balance between the past and the present–each informing the other, perhaps most profoundly in season 3–is a delicate proposition that’s been deftly handled by a Yellowjackets team headed by creators/showrunners/executive producers/writers Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson.

    The latter, though, added further to the juggling act by placing another role on his multitasking plate as Nickerson made his directorial debut during season 3, helming the first episode and the impactful, eventful finale.

    “Directing has always been an aspiration of mine, something I dabbled in a million years ago,”... Read More

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