On the Scene for the 8th Annual Cinema Eye Honors
by Gotham on January 9, 2015 in Documentary
The documentary community converged in Queens this past Wednesday at the Museum of the Moving Image for the 8th Annual Cinema Eye Honors. In the days leading up to the ceremony, this year’s nominees were treated to a surprise Manhattan bus tour led by none other than Speed Levitch of Bennett Miller’s The Cruise, and Wednesday’s proceedings followed suit with a fittingly eccentric yet timely touch.
As the lights dimmed, the Voice of God welcoming the nominees and attendees was none other than Sarah Koenig, the creator of mega-hit documentary podcast Serial. The evening’s master of ceremonies was the artist behind another one of the year’s most unique documentaries: Sam Green, director of The Measure of All Things.
Now a fixture in the documentary community, the Cinema Eye Honors has proven itself to be a casual yet inspiring celebration of the year in documentary filmmaking, highlighting work that most other industry-heavy awards shows have likely never heard of. As Laura Poitras (whose film CITIZENFOUR picked up four awards) pointed out, nine years ago the Academy Award shortlist failed to recognize “not two or three of the best documentaries of the year, but all of them.”
In stark contrast to 2013’s behemoth, lengthy ceremony, this year’s moved along at a rapid pace. The first awards, presented by Poitras and Steve James (Life, Itself), went to Finding Vivian Maier (Debut Documentary), Jodorowsky’s Dune and Spotlight on Documentaries alumnus Particle Fever (Outstanding Achievement for Graphic Design), and The Lions Mouth Opens went to Lucy Walker for her brilliant short film. Another IFP alumnus, 1971 by Johanna Hamilton, took home this year’s Spotlight Award.
The evening took a turn toward audience interactivity when Sam Green plucked a member of the audience to present the Audience Award. After Chicken & Egg Pictures’ Creative Director Judith Helfand turned him down, she asked the man sitting next to him to do the honors. That man it so happened was, once again, one of the great documentary characters, Speed Levitch, who bounded up to the stage as Sam Green cried, “he’s real!” The motor-mouthed Levitch proclaimed documentaries to be “the most fabulous multi-vitamins” before presenting Keep On Keepin’ On with this year’s Audience Award.
Even more legendary was the evening’s final presenters: Albert Maysles and D.A. Pennebaker. Trading nostalgic stories of meeting their wives thanks to their involvement in the filmmaking community, the duo presented the Best Feature award to the much-deserving CITIZENFOUR. Despite Poitras’ film being a sure-fire Oscar nominee, few award shows can claim to be as disinterested in the awards-season circuit as the Cinema Eye Honors. It’s an evening to celebrate the community as a whole. As Albert Maysles put it, “at the core of it all…making documentaries is the process of making friends.” Click here for a full list of this year’s winners.
Click here for a full list of this year’s winners.