Visionaries Tribute: New Recipients!
DOC NYC previously announced Sheila Nevins and Errol Morris as the honorees of our Lifetime Achievement awards and is delighted to announce the recipients of our mid-career awards, the Leading Light Award, given to a mid-career industry leader and the Robert and Anne Drew Award for Documentary Excellence that goes to a mid-career filmmaker.
The Robert and Anne Drew Award for Documentary Excellence goes to a mid-career filmmaker distinguished for observational cinema. This year’s recipients are the filmmaking partners Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady, who will receive a $5,000 cash prize sponsored by Drew Associates. Ewing and Grady’s latest film One of Us, about three Hasidic Jews who are seeking to move out of their insular community, screens at DOC NYC as part of this year’s Short List. Their previous films include Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You, Detropia, 12th & Delaware, Jesus Camp and The Boys of Baraka. The award’s name celebrates Robert Drew, who pioneered the documentary style that came to be known as American cinema vérité, and his wife Anne, who was his filmmaking partner for more than four decades. The three previous recipients were Dawn Porter, Kim Longinotto and Laura Poitras.
The Leading Light Award for a mid-career professional who serves documentary outside of being a filmmaker that will be given to Cara Mertes, director of the JustFilms initiative at The Ford Foundation. JustFilms works globally to support artist-led films and new media projects, strengthen organizations and networks for artist-driven content and develop new leadership and resources in this field. Prior to leading JustFilms, Mertes served for eight years as director of the Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program; and another eight years as the executive director of the PBS documentary series POV.
The third annual Visionaries Tribute will take place at Edison Ballroom in Manhattan on Thursday, November 9.The Visionaries Tribute is co-presented by Major sponsor HBO Documentary Films, Supporting sponsor National Geographic Documentary Films, Signature sponsor Bloomberg Philanthropies and Event sponsor NEON.
Tables and individual tickets are available for the Visionaries Tribute event. Please contact Jen Kim at jen@docnyc.net for more information.
