Grierson Trust unveils British Documentary Awards nominees

Grierson Trust unveils British Documentary Awards nominees

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Tuesday, 28th July 2015

The shortlist for "the Oscars of documentary making" has been announced

The shortlist for The Grierson Trust 2015 British Documentary Awards has been announced.

The BBC and Channel 4 dominate the list, with 34 and 25 entries respectively.

Channel 5 features in the list for the first time since 2009, with nods for GPs: Behind Closed Doors and Can’t Pay? Final Demand Special.

First-time nominees include Vice for The Islamic State, BBC iPlayer with Adam Curtis’ Bitter Lake, CNN for Extreme Antibiotics and, in a children’s first, CBBC with Mr Alzheimers and Me.

RTS award-winners Billy Connolly and Grayson Perry are among the nominees for the Clockwork Capital Documentary Presenter of the Year award.

The Griersons, which have been dubbed “the Oscars of documentary making” by Lorraine Heggessey, Chairman of the Grierson Trust and former controller of BBC One, recognise the dedication, style and wit that goes into making brilliant documentaries.

The Grierson Trust, which organises the awards, commemorates Scottish documentary maker John Grierson (1898-1972), who made Drifters and Night Mail, and is widely regarded as the father of documentary.

The nominees will now be entered into a second round of judging by Grierson Trustees, filmmakers, genre specialists and industry experts, before the winners are announced in November.

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The full shortlist:

Best Documentary on a Contemporary Theme — Domestic

24 Hours in Police Custody - Episode 1

Alisa Pomeroy for The Garden; first shown: Channel 4

Angry White and Proud              

Jamie Roberts for Mentorn Media; first shown: Channel 4

Can't Pay? Final Demand Special             

Kevin Nightingale-Jones, Nathaniel Jessel for Brinkworth Films; first shown: Channel 5

Excluded: Kicked out of School - Episode 1           

Ellena Wood, Ruth Nicklin for KEO films & The Open University; first shown: BBC Three

The Paedophile Hunter 

Dan Reed for Amos Pictures; first shown: Channel 4

Raining in My Heart      

Brian Woods, Jess Stevenson for True Vision Productions; first shown: ITV

The Stranger on the Bridge        

Sam Forsdike for Postcard Productions; first shown: Channel 4

Wanted: A Family of My Own - Episode 2            

Carol White for Wall to Wall; first shown: ITV

Shell Best Documentary on a Contemporary Theme — International       

Citizenfour         

Laura Poitras for Praxis Films; first shown: Channel 4

The Condemned

Nick Read for Red Zed Films; first shown: BBC Four

Dreamcatcher

Kim Longinotto; first shown: General theatrical release

Gulabi Gang     

Nishtha Jain for Piraya Film AS; first shown: UK university screenings

The Romanians Are Coming - Episode 1

James Bluemel for KEO films; first shown: Channel 4

Storyville: India's Daughter        

Leslee Udwin for Assassin Films & Tathagat Films; first shown: BBC Four

Tales of the Grim Sleeper            

Nick Broomfield for Lafayette Films; first shown: Sky Atlantic

Twin Sisters: A World Apart        

Mona Friis Bertheussen for Moment Film; first shown: BBC Four

The Open University Best Documentary on Current Affairs 

Baby P:  The Untold Story           

Henry Singer for Sandpaper Films; first shown: BBC One

Dispatches:  Breadline Kids         

Jezza Neumann for True Vision; first shown: Channel 4

A&E in the War Zone     

Dominic Ozanne, Jerermy Llewellyn-Jones for Oxford Film and Television; first shown: Channel 4

The Gypsy Matchmaker              

Ben Steele for Minnow Films; first shown: Channel 4

The Islamic State            

Medyan Dairieh for VICE Media; first shown: VICE.com

Our War:  Goodbye Afghanistan             

Rowan Deacon for BBC; first shown: BBC Three

Panorama: Ebola Frontline        

Steve Grandison for Blakeway Films; first shown: BBC One

Ross Kemp Extreme World: South Africa              

Marta Shaw for Freshwater Films; first shown: Sky 1

Best Arts Documentary    

20,000 Days on Earth    

Iain Forsyth, Jane Pollard for Corniche Pictures, BFI, Film4 & Pulse Films; first shown: BBC One

Dior and I           

Fredric Tcheng; first shown: General theatrical release

Grayson Perry:  Who Are You? -  Individuals       

Neil Crombie for Swan Films; first shown: Channel 4

Hockney             

Randall Wright for A Blakeway & Fly Film production for BBC Arts, British Film Institute, Screen Yorkshire, British Film Company & Smithsonian Channel; first shown: BBC Two

Imagine... Anselm Kiefer: Remembering the Future        

Jack Cocker for BBC; first shown: BBC One

Rebels of Oz      

Paul Clarke for Mint Pictures & Serendipity Productions; first shown: BBC Four

Regarding Susan Sontag             

Nancy Kates for Question Why Films; first shown: Sheffield Doc/Fest

War of Words: Soldier-Poets of the Somme        

Sebastian Barfield for BBC & Parapet Productions; first shown: BBC Two

ITN Source Best Historical Documentary

Bitter Lake         

Adam Curtis for BBC; first shown: BBC iPlayer

Gallipoli - When Murdoch Went to War

Tim Kirby for Blakeway Productions; first shown: BBC Two

George Blake Masterspy of Moscow      

George Carey for CTVC; first shown: BBC Four

Holocaust:  Night Will Fall           

André Singer for Spring Films; first shown: Channel 4

Our World War: The First Day    

Bruce Goodison for BBC; first shown: BBC Three

Still The Enemy Within  

Owen Gower for Bad Bonobo/Dartmouth Films; first shown: General theatrical release

Strangeways: Britain’s Toughest Prison Riot       

David Belton for Minnow Films; first shown: BBC Two

The Supreme Price         

Joanna Lipper; first shown: Raindance Festival, London

Satusfaction Best Science or Natural History Documentary 

Curing Cancer   

Brian Woods for True Vision Productions; first shown: Channel 4

Extreme Antibiotics        

Correspondent: Dr Sanjay Gupta for CNN; first shown: CNN

The Girl Who Talked to Dolphins             

Chris Riley for BBC Scotland; first shown: BBC Four

How the Wild West Was Won with Ray Mears - Great Plains       

Phil Coles for Tin Can Island; first shown: BBC Four

Human Universe: Why Are We Here?     

Annabel Gillings for BBC; first shown: BBC Two

Panorama:  To Walk Again        

Alison Priestley for BBC; first shown: BBC One

Secret Life of Babies       

Barny Revill for Oxford Scientific Films; first shown: ITV

Woolly Mammoth: The Autopsy             

Nick Clarke Powell for Renegade Pictures (UK); first shown: Channel 4

Nyman Libson Paul Best Entertaining Documentary  

Back in Time for Dinner – The 1970s       

Kim Maddever for Wall to Wall; first shown: BBC Two

Dressed as a Girl             

Colin Rothbart for Blue Oyster Pictures; first shown: Flare: London LGBT Film Festival

First Dates- Episode 4    

Production Team for Twenty Twenty Productions; first shown: Channel 4

Gogglebox - Episode 6

Tania Alexander for Studio Lambert; first shown: Channel 4

Life is Toff: Bear Up       

Tom Currie, Imogen Willcocks for Oxford Film and Television; first shown: BBC Three

My Granny the Escort   

Charlie Russell for Minnow Films; first shown: Channel 4

The Secret Life of 4 Year Olds     

Harjeet Chhokar, Nicola Brown for RDF Television; first shown: Channel 4

Warwick Davis's Big Night           

Ursula Macfarlane for Love Productions; first shown: BBC Two

 

Envy Best Documentary Series    

24 Hours in Police Custody          

Alisa Pomeroy for The Garden; first shown: Channel 4

Excluded: Kicked out of School  

Ellena Wood, Ruth Nicklin for KEO films, The Open University; first shown: BBC Three

GPs: Behind Closed Doors           

Brian Hayes for Knickerbockerglory; first shown: Channel 5

Hunters of the South Seas           

Will Lorimer, Jamie Balment for Indus Films; first shown: BBC Two

Inside the Commons      

Jack MacInnes for Atlantic Productions; first shown: BBC Two

The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst

Andrew Jarecki for Hit the Ground Running Productions; first shown: Sky Atlantic

The Romanians are Coming

James Bluemel for KEO films; first shown: Channel 4

Walking the Nile             

Jamie Berry for October Films & Group M Entertainment; first shown: Channel 4

Bertha DocHouse Best Cinema Documentary

Dark Horse:  The Incredible True Story of Dream Alliance              

Louise Osmond for DSP & World's End Pictures; first shown: General theatrical release

Dreamcatcher   

Kim Longinotto; first shown: General theatrical release

Life Itself            

Steve James; first shown: General theatrical release

Maidan              

Sergei Loznitsa; first shown: General theatrical release

Mercy Mercy     

Katrine W. Kjaer for Fridthjof Film; first shown: General theatrical release

The Overnighters            

Jesse Moss; first shown: General theatrical release

Tales of the Grim Sleeper            

Nick Broomfield for Lafayette Films; first shown: General theatrical release

Virunga              

Orlando von Einsiedel for Grain Media & Violet Films; first shown: General theatrical release

Best Newcomer Documentary    

20,000 Days on Earth    

Iain Forsyth, Jane Pollard for Corniche Pictures, BFI, Film4 & Pulse Films; first shown: BBC One

Angry White and Proud              

Jamie Roberts for Mentorn Media; first shown: Channel 4

Estate, a Reverie             

Andrea Luka Zimmerman for Fugitive Images; first shown: Rio Cinema, London

The Lost Gold of the Highlands (Garnet’s Gold)  

Ed Perkins for Red Box Films & Passion Pictures; first shown: BBC Four

The Mekong River with Sue Perkins - Episode 4

Vicky Hinners for Indus Films; first shown: BBC Two

Mr Alzheimers and Me 

Chloe Fairweather for Tigerlily Films; first shown: CBBC

The Stranger on the Bridge        

Sam Forsdike for Postcard Productions; first shown: Channel 4

Tashi and the Monk      

Andrew Hinton & Johnny Burke for Pilgrim Films; first shown: Banff Mountain Film Festival Tour

Sky Atlantic Best Student Documentary

The Archipelago             

Benjamin Huguet for National Film and Television School; first shown: BFI Southbank

Black Sheep       

Christian Cerami for University of Westminster; first shown: Screentest Student Film Festival

Cambodia Calling           

Anna Snowball for National Film and Television School; first shown: BFI Southbank

Esta Vida (This Life)       

Lyttanya Shannon for National Film and Television School; first shown: BFI Southbank

Kisilu - I'll Start with Myself         

Julia Dahr for Goldsmiths University of London; first shown: University/College screening

Territory             

Eleanor Mortimer for National Film and Television School; first shown: BFI Southbank

Waterlilies         

Tanya Doyle for Goldsmiths University of London; first shown: University/College screening

The Wolf, The Ship and the Little Green Bag       

Kathryn MacCorgarry Gray for University of Westminster; first shown: Encounters Film Festival - NAHEMI Program

Clockwork Capital Documentary Presenter of the Year         

ARTHUR WILLIAMS for Arthur Williams WW1’s Forgotten Heroes             

Brian Henry Martin for Double Band Pictures; first shown: Channel 4

BILLY CONNOLLY for Billy Connolly's Big Send Off             

Mike Reilly for Burning Bright Productions; first shown: ITV

DAVINA McCALL & NICKY CAMPBELL for Long Lost Family           

Kate Scholefield, Sally Benton, Clare Bradbury, Elizabeth Stopford for Wall to Wall; first shown: ITV

GRAYSON PERRY for Who Are You?        

Neil Crombie for Swan Films; first shown: Channel 4

LEVISON WOOD for Walking the Nile     

Levison Wood for October Films & Group M Entertainment; first shown: Channel 4

SUE PERKINS for The Mekong River with Sue Perkins      

Steve Robinson, Vicky Hinners, Clare Dornan, Lucy Swingler for Indus Films; first shown: BBC Two

TREVOR PHILLIPS for Things We Say About Race That Are True  

Vicki Cooper for Outline Productions; first shown: Channel 4

WILL MILLARD for Hunters of the South Seas      

Will Lorimer, Jamie Balment for Indus Films; first shown: BBC Two

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The shortlist for "the Oscars of documentary making" has been announced