Maz Jobrani To Host IDA Documentary Awards; ‘City Of Ghosts’, ‘LA 92’ Among Best Feature Nominees – Update

UPDATED with show host: A look at ground-level resistance in Syria and a portrait of the L.A. riots 25 years later are among the nominees for Best Feature at the 33rd IDA Documentary Awards, hosted by Superior Donuts regular Maz Jobrani.

Matthew Heineman’s City of Ghosts and T.J. Martin and Daniel Lindsay’s LA 92 will go up against Dina, Antonio Santini & Dan Sickles’ “real-life romantic comedy”; Faces Places, Agnès Varda & JR’s journey through rural France; and Strong Island, Yance Ford’s memoir about his brother’s violent death.

The IDA Award winner went on to win the Best Documentary Feature Oscar in three of the past five years: including O.J.: Made in America (2016), Citizenfour (2014) and Searching for Sugar Man (2012).

The nominees for Best Short and Winners of the Creative Recognition Awards also were announced today (see the list below). The hardware will be doled out at the IDA Documentary Awards on December 9 at the Paramount Theatre in Los Angeles.

“The diverse array of films nominated this year underscore the vibrancy and elasticity of documentary form,” IDA Executive Director Simon Kilmurry said. “These films address the most urgent contemporary global matters — and the most intimate emotional territory. All of them demonstrate the courage and ingenuity of nonfiction media makers.”

Here is the full list of nominees and the winners of the Creative Recognition Awards and other achievement honors:

Best Feature

City of Ghosts
Director/Producer: Matthew Heineman
Amazon Studios

Dina
Directors/Producers: Antonio Santini and Dan Sickles
The Orchard

Faces Places
Directors: Agnès Varda and JR
Cohen Media Group

LA 92
Directors: Dan Lindsay & TJ Martin
Producers: Jonathan Chinn, Simon Chinn, Tim Pastore, Matt Renner and Sarah Gibson
National Geographic

Strong Island
Director/Producer: Yance Ford
Producer Joslyn Barnes
Netflix

Best Short 

Edith+Eddie
Director: Laura Checkoway
Producer: Thomas Lee Wright
Kartemquin Films

The Fight
Directors/Producers: Violeta Ayala and Dan Fallshaw
The Guardian

Heaven Is A Traffic Jam On The 405
Director/Producer: Frank Stiefel

Long Shot
Director: Jacob LaMendola
Producers: Jacob LaMendola, Mary Beth Minthorn, Milos S. Silber and Todd Wiseman Jr.\
Netflix

Mr. Connolly Has ALS
Director/Producer: Dan Habib
Impact Media Partners

The Rabbit Hunt
Director: Patrick Bresnan
Producer: Ivete Lucas
Topic Studios

Creative Recognition Award Winners

Best Cinematography
Machines
Cinematography by: Rodrigo Trejo Villanueva
Kino Lorber

Best Editing
Dawson City: Frozen Time
Edited by: Bill Morrison
Kino Lorber

Best Music
Brimstone and Glory
Original Score by: Dan Romer and Benh Zeitlin\
Oscilloscope Laboratories

Best Writing
Donkeyote
Written by: Chico Pereira, Manuel Pereira and Gabriel Molera
Scottish Documentary Institute

Career Achievement Award
Lourdes Portillo

Amicus Award
Abigail Disney

Emerging Documentary Filmmaker Award
Yance Ford

Courage Under Fire Award (recognizing filmmakers and their subjects)

City of Ghosts
Cries from Syria
Hell on Earth
Last Men in Aleppo.