Hot Docs 2009 Winners

Hosted by the CBC’s Jian Ghomeshi, the 2009 Hot Docs Awards Presentation took place on Friday, May 8, at the Isabel Bader Theatre in Toronto. Ten awards, including those for Festival films in competition and those recognizing emerging and established filmmakers, were presented and over $60,000 in cash prizes was bestowed.

The Best International Feature Award was presented to THE ONE MAN VILLAGE (D: Simon El Habre; P: Simon El Habre, Jad Abi-Khalil, Irit Neidhardt; Lebanon), which looks at the last inhabitant of a Lebanese village that was destroyed and deserted after the civil war and reflects on that country’s problematic past and present. Jury statement: “Exceptional clarity in the filmic storytelling of a simple man in the Lebanese highlands, told with great empathy and even more skill. This film is an enchanting and gripping film and at once a pleasant and powerful experience.” The Best International Feature Award is sponsored by A&E and comes with a $10,000 cash prize, courtesy of Hot Docs.

The Special Jury Prize - International Feature was presented to COOKING HISTORY (D: Peter Kerekes; P: Peter Kerekes, Georg Misch, Ralph Wieser, Pavel Strnad; Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia), in which military cooks share their unique perspectives on the battles and survival strategies of the 20th century’s major conflicts. Jury statement: “The jury recognizes the format and inventiveness of this highly original history of 20th century European wars, as told through army cooks and their recipes. Wryly hilarious and surprisingly moving, the brilliantly staged sequences make us see our wars and our hungers with new eyes.” The Special Jury Prize - International Feature is sponsored by the OMDC.

The Best Canadian Feature Award was presented to INVISIBLE CITY (D: Hubert Davis; P: Mehernaz Lentin, Gerry Flahive), which follows the lives of two black teenagers over three years as they navigate issues of race, crime and notions of manhood in Toronto’s Regent Park community. Jury statement:“The Award goes to a film that weds form and content with extraordinary grace and intelligence. It is no small feat to maintain a focus on the raw material of real human experience while honouring the documentary as a cinematic art form. Because it does all these things, and because it maintains the dignity of its subjects’ lives while asking difficult questions about the conditions under which those lives are lived, the jury has chosen Hubert Davis’s Invisible City as the best Canadian feature.” The Best Canadian Feature Award is sponsored by the Documentary Organization of Canada and the Brian Linehan Charitable Foundation and comes with a $15,000 cash prize courtesy of the Brian Linehan Charitable Foundation.

The Special Jury Prize – Canadian Feature was presented to WATERLIFE (D: Kevin McMahon; P: Michael McMahon, Kristina McLaughlin, Gerry Flahive), a sumptuous immersion into the extraordinary beauty and complex toxicity of the Great Lakes that reminds us of our essential connection to the water that we drink every day. Jury statement: “This year the jury awards its Special Jury Prize to a film that speaks to us in a commanding style and with a keen intelligence. It represents the work of a filmmaker who is in full command of his medium, and who has developed a language for speaking in non-fiction film that is distinctive and utterly his own. It is also an impressive example of how a strongly articulated sense of technique can provide an illuminating and organic understanding of its subject. For these reasons, the Canadian Features Jury has decided to grant its Special Jury Prize to Kevin McMahon’s Waterlife.” The Special Jury Prize – Canadian Feature is sponsored by the Brian Linehan Charitable Foundation and comes with a $10,000 cash prize courtesy of the Brian Linehan Charitable Foundation.

The Best Mid-Length Documentary Award was presented to RABBIT À LA BERLIN (D: Bartek Konopka; P: Anna Wydra; Germany, Poland), which wryly tells the story of the wild rabbits that lived comfortably between the Berlin Walls and how they, like Eastern Europeans, are still adjusting to the free world. Jury statement: “Audaciously weaving a wealth of archival footage, this film aptly plies the perfect metaphor to narrate the grand history of the rise and fall of the Berlin Wall, from the point of view of the humans and rabbits trapped by its walls.” The Best Mid-Length Documentary Award is sponsored by the Canada Council for the Arts.

The Best Short Documentary Award was presented to THE DELIAN MODE (D: Kara Blake; P: Kara Blake, Marie-Josée Saint-Pierre; Canada), an illuminating look at the life of Delia Derbyshire, one of the world’s most influential electronic music pioneers. Jury statement: “This film is an elegantly structured visual and sonic excavation of the birth of electronic music told through the history of its brilliant, idiosyncratic female founder Delia Derbyshire who ‘could make music out of anything.’” The Best Short Documentary Award is sponsored by Playback.

The HBO Emerging Artist Award was presented to Chung-ryoul Lee, director of OLD PARTNER (South Korea), a funny and tender tale of an elderly Korean farmer, his wife, and the ox that has been with them - and between them - for thirty years. Jury statement:“This film has the charm of the classic fairy tale. Conveying the universal rhythms of life, death and rebirth with simplicity and dignity. In the story of a farmer, his wife, and the ox they depend on, the filmmaker has found a universal tale told in the most intimate fashion.” The HBO Emerging Artist Award is sponsored by HBO Documentary Films.

Hot Docs Board of Directors presented this year’s Outstanding Achievement Award to Alanis Obomsawin. Obomsawin’s latest film, PROFESSOR NORMAN CORNETT – “SINCE WHEN DO WE DIVORCE THE RIGHT ANSWER FROM AN HONEST ANSWER?” had its world premiere later that evening.

documentary’s Don Haig Award, presented annually to an emerging Canadian documentary filmmaker, was awarded to Montreal’s Brett Gaylor (RiP!: A REMIX MANIFESTO). The Don Haig Jury also named Montreal’s Tracey Deer (CLUB NATIVE) a runner up for the Award. Each filmmaker received a $10,000 cash prize.

The Lindalee Tracey Award, which honours an emerging Canadian filmmaker with a passionate point of view, a strong sense of social justice and a sense of humour, was presented to two filmmakers who were determined to be equally deserving of the Award:

Montreal’s Laura Bari and Ottawa’s Will Inrig. Each filmmaker received a cash prize of $3000 from the Lindalee Tracey Long-Term Fund and $1500 in film stock, courtesy of Kodak Canada.