ITVS-funded filmmakers and staff rally for lunch at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, UT

Sundance 2012 was a record-breaking year year for ITVS and Independent Lens. Six ITVS funded films screened in the documentary competitions and all six were honored with Sundance awards. (ITVS had had seven films playing at Sundance in 2004; six films in 2002; and eight films in 1997 for those interested in banner years).

 Adding to that powerful showing, midway through Sundance two ITVS-supported films received Academy Award nominations for Best Documentary including Hell and Back Again by Danfung Dennis (coming to Independent Lens in May) and If a Tree Falls by Marshall Curry and Sam Cullman (broadcast on POV).  We were able to celebrate in person as Danfung and Sam (a producer on The House I Live In) were both in Park City.  Even the Utah snowstorms couldn’t slow our momentum because that’s one heck of a week.

From L to R: Danfung Dennis (Hell and Back Again), Lois Vossen, and Sam Cullman (If a Tree Falls)

Independent Lens and ITVS held an intimate lunch to honor our 2012 Sundance and Academy Award-nominated filmmakers. Stepping away from the noise and full-on energy that is Sundance, we wanted to take a moment to recognize and celebrate the extraordinary work of the filmmakers.

Four of the six ITVS films at Sundance are already slated for broadcast on Independent Lens following theatrical distribution, including Grand Jury Prize winner The House I Live In by Eugene Jarecki, Audience Award winner The Invisible War by Kirby Dick, Special Jury Prize winner Love Free or Die by Macky Alston, and Detropia by Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady, which was honored for best editing. In addition, the Independent Lens film The Island President by Jon Shenk, Richard Berge, and Bonni Cohen screened in a Sundance sidebar program. These five films will make for an exceptional new season of Independent Lens — and they will be joined by a stunning array of other documentaries coming to completion this year.

The two additional ITVS-funded films that premiered in the World Cinema Documentary Competition and took awards are Putin’s Kiss (Best Cinematography Award) and 5 Broken Cameras (Best Directing).

Sundance 2012 is a wrap, but the impact of these extraordinary films is just beginning. We have an exceptional year ahead, lead by the power of independent storytelling.

WINNER OF THE GRAND JURY PRIZE IN U.S. DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION
The House I Live In by Eugene Jarecki
The film weaves together director Eugene Director’s personal narrative with America’s war on drugs. Here, producers including Sam Cullman, Melinda Snopsis, Danny Glover, and director Eugene Jarecki — reflect on the film and its Sundance premiere.

WINNER OF THE AUDIENCE AWARD IN U.S. DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION
The Invisible War by Kirby Dick
The film examines the epidemic of rape of soldiers within the U.S. military, the institutions that cover up its existence, and the profound personal and social consequences that arise from it. Here, director Kirby Dick and producer Amy Ziering reflect on the film’s Sundance premiere.

WINNER OF THE SPECIAL JURY PRIZE IN U.S. DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION
Love Free or Die by Macky Alston
The film  follows the historic and controversial rise of Gene Robinson, the first openly gay Bishop. Last week, ITVS caught up with filmmaker Macky Alston at a mass held at St. Luke’s Church in Park City, where LGBT leaders showed up to support and discuss the film.

WINNER FOR BEST EDITING IN U.S. DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION
Detropia by filmmakers Rachel Grady and Heiding Ewing; edited by Enat Sidi
The film artfully displays the rapid decline of a once thriving American city. On the brink of bankruptcy, the filmmakers and loyal citizens profiled in the feature, suggest the feeling that as goes Detroit, so goes the nation. Here, co-directors Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewing reflect on the film and its Sundance premiere.

WINNER FOR BEST DIRECTING IN WORLD CINEMA DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION
5 Broken Cameras by  Emad Burnat and Guy Davidi
A Palestinian journalist chronicles his village’s resistance to a separation barrier being erected on their land and in the process captures his young son’s lens on the world.

WINNER FOR BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY IN WORLD CINEMA DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION
Putin’s Kiss by  Lise Birk Pedersen
Nineteen-year-old Marsha is a model spokesperson in a strongly nationalistic Russian youth movement that aims to protect the country from its enemies. When she starts recognizing the organization’s flaws, she must take a stand for or against it.

On behalf of everyone from ITVS and Independent Len, congratulations to all the filmmakers on this extraordinary achievement!

The House I Live In premiered last weekend at the Sundance Film Festival. The film weaves together director Eugene Jarecki’s personal narrative with America’s war on drugs. Here, producers including Sam Cullman, Melinda Shopsin, Danny Glover, and director Eugene Jarecki — reflect on the film and its Sundance premiere.

Sam Cullman, co-director and cinematographer of If a Tree Falls reacts to his Oscar Nomination, which he learned about on Tuesday at Sundance.

The movie takes a behind-the-scenes look at Earth Liberation Front, the radical environmental group that the FBI calls the “number one domestic terrorism threat” in America. If a Tree Falls aired on POV this past fall.

Danfung Dennis woke up this morning in Park City as an Academy Award nominated filmmaker for his documentary Hell and Back Again. The film weaves together two overlapping narratives of a Marine at war on the front and in recovery at home. BTB caught up with the filmmaker earlier today on Main St at the Sundance Film Festival.

Hell and Back Again will air on May 24 on Independent Lens.

Find the complete list of nominated film here.

The documentary follows one soldier’s experience fighting the war in Afghanistan and recovering from a serious injury back in the U.S.

In his gripping feature length doc, filmmaker Danfung Dennis skillfully inter-cuts both worlds to show the intense battle scenes alongside the grinding routine of life at home. The film presents the painful reality of war affecting today’s veterans.

Find the complete list of winners here and watch the trailer for Hell and Back Again below.

Watch the trailer for If a Tree Falls after the jump.

The Academy has already produced a shortlist of documentary films for the Oscars, which will take place on Sunday, February 26. The official nominations will be announced a month earlier on January 24.

BTB’s Bay Area readers should be sure to check out a screening of If a Tree Falls on Monday, December 19 at 7:30PM at the Landmark Embarcadero Theater. RSVP for tickets here.

You can also read Andrew C. Revkin’s interview with filmmaker Marshall Curry on The New York Times.

Each December, New York Women in Film & Television (NYWIFT) presents the Muse Awards for Vision and Achievement, honoring women who have made significant contributions to the field.

Some 1,200 industry guests gathered to celebrate the accomplishments of the 2011 Muse Award recipients: actors Claire Danes and Christine Baranski, TV celebrity Martha Stewart, Sony Pictures Classics co-founder Marcie Bloom, and Budd Enterprises president Nadine Schramm. At the same luncheon, Sally Fifer accepted the Loreen Arbus Award on behalf of ITVS, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and PBS and expressed great appreciation for the independent filmmakers who provided the powerful stories at the core of Women and Girls Lead.

Sally Jo Fifer, President & CEO of ITVS

“Women and Girls Lead didn’t start in the offices of ITVS or CPB or PBS,” Fifer told the audience. “It started with these filmmakers zooming in on unsung heroes in Calcutta, Los Angeles, Liberia.  Capturing stories of the women who would share the Nobel Peace Prize, of presidents, soldiers, mothers and daughters.  Of women and girls everywhere striving to realize their potential, often against heavy odds.”

The first Loreen Arbus Award was given in 2006 to producer John Wells for his Minority Directors Program, which increased the number of women and minorities working as directors in prime-time television.

Since then, the award has been given to producer Gale Anne Hurd, for her hiring practices and philanthropic activity, Eastman Kodak Company for their exceptional support for women cinematographers, and Chicken & Egg Pictures, among others.

Learn more about ITVS’s commitment to the Women and Girls Lead Campaign

Additional honors went to filmmaker Danfung Dennis (Hell and Back Again), who received the Jacqueline Donnet Award, which recognizes filmmakers who have made a significant impact at the beginning of his or her career in documentary film. See the complete list of winners here.

Best Music
Better This World by filmmakers Katie Galloway and Kelly Duane de la Vega; and by composer Paul Brill

Jacqueline Donnet Award
Danfung Dennis (Hell and Back Again)
*** premiering this season on Independent Lens

Best Continuing Series
POV by Executive Producer Simon Kilmurry

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