Over $72,000 in prizes handed out at Friday's Awards Presentation
CBC's Jian Ghomeshi hosted the Awards Presentation on Friday, May 7 at the Isabel Bader Theatre. The Best Canadian Feature Award was presented to Toronto filmmaker Shelley Saywell for In the Name of the Family and the Special Jury Prize - Canadian Feature was presented to Vancouver-based Academy Award-winning filmmaker John Zaritsky for Leave Them Laughing.
The Best Canadian Feature Award is sponsored by the Documentary Organization of Canada and includes a $15,000 prize courtesy of the Brian Linehan Charitable Foundation. Award winner Shelley Saywell's In the Name of the Family is a powerful and sensitive investigation into the killing of young girls in the name of family honour in North America. Read coverage of In the Name of the Family online in the digital edition of DOC's quarterly magazine Point of View.
The Special Jury Prize - Canadian Feature is sponsored by the Brian Linehan Charitable Foundation and features a $10,000 prize courtesy of the Brian Linehan Charitable Foundation. Award winner John Zaritsky's Leave Them Laughing follows mother, performer, and darkly funny smart-ass Carla Zilbersmith in her battle with Lou Gehrig's disease. DOCspace interviewed John Zartisky earlier this week.
The Festival's top honour for international films in competition, the Best International Feature Award, was presented to Yael Hersonski's A Film Unfinished (Isreal). The award includes a $10,000 prize courtesy of Hot Docs. A Film Unfinished is a haunting visual essay that masterfully deconstructs a now-infamous, unfinished Nazi propaganda film about Jewish life in the Warsaw Ghetto.
The Special Jury Prize - International Feature was awarded to Laura Poistras' The Oath (USA, Yemen). The award is sponsored by the Ontario Media Development Corporation and includes a $5000 prize, courtesy of Hot Docs. The Oath is a complex, mysterious portrait of Abu Jandal, a former bodyguard of Osama bin Laden.
The Best Short Documentary Award was presented to Jonas Odell's Tussilago (Sweden), the story of a young girl swept up in the high drama life of bank robberies and kidnapping plans due to her relationship with West German terrorist Norbert Krocher in 1977.
The Best Mid-Length Documentary Award was presented to Tomer Haymann's I Shot My Love (Israel, Germany), an intimate portrait of two lovers, one German and one Israeli, as they confront the challenges posed by their families, their national histories, and their own emotions.
The Lindalee Tracey Award, which honours an emerging Canadian filmmaker with a passionate point of view, a strong sense of social justice and a sense of humour, was presented to 20-year-old filmmaker Ayanie Mohamed of Toronto. As part of the award, Mohamed will receive a $6,000 cash prize and $3,000 in film stock donated by Kodak Canada.
The HBO Documentary Films Emerging Artist Award was presented to Jeff Malmberg, director of Marwencol (USA), in which Mark Hogencamp, seeking solace after a brutal beating, constructs a miniature WW II-era town in his backyard.
The Hot Docs Board of Directors presented the 2010 Hot Docs Outstanding Achievement Award to celebrated UK filmmaker Kim Longinotto, who is also being honored with a restrospective at this year's festival.
documentary's Don Haig Award, presented annually to an emerging Canadian documentary filmmaker, was awarded to Toronto's Philip Lyall and Vancouver's Nimisha Mukerji, the directors of Hot Docs 2009 official selection and audience top ten favourite, 65_REDROSES. Awarded by the Don Haig Foundation, the prize includes a $20,000 cash prize generously sponsored by documentary
