PBS

Patrick Hipes

December 20, 2018 at 4:41 PM

EXCLUSIVE: Cinema Eye Honors said that Eyes on the Prize, the landmark civil rights docuseries that first aired on public television in 1987, will receive the group’s 2019 Legacy Award. The honor will be bestowed January 10 during the 12th annual Cinema Eye Honors awards ceremony in New York.

“For me and so many others, Eyes on the Prize was a transformational cinematic experience, artfully crafting the history of a nation into an unforgettable story,” Cinema Eye board co-chair Dawn Porter said Thursday. “Countless filmmakers have been inspired by this elegant body of work.”

Created and by the late Henry Hampton’s Blackside, the 14-part Eyes on the Prize is considered the definitive documentary record of the American civil rights era, tracing the country’s long and brutal march toward equality and the fight to end decades of discrimination and segregation. It aired in two parts, the first covering the years 1954–1965 and the second from 1965–1985.

As part of the Legacy honor, Cinema Eye on January 9 will screen an episode at the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens, where the awards ceremony is being held the next night. The screening will be followed by a conversation with writer-director-producers Orlando Bagwell, Callie Crossley and Sam Pollard, series producer Jon Else, and writer/director/senior producer Judith Vecchione.

“It’s hard to overstate the importance of this series. It captured a crucial chapter of American history and shared it with millions of viewers, opening eyes and challenging hearts,” Cinema Eye board co-chair Marshall Curry said. “And for a generation of documentary filmmakers, its craft, style, journalistic thoroughness, and emotional power became the gold standard that we all still strive to reach.”

The Cinema Eye Honors, which celebrate outstanding artistry and craft in nonfiction film, will also bestow awards in 10 categories at the ceremony. Minding the Gap, Bing Liu’s autobiographical portrait of friendship and family violence that just won the marquee honor at the IDA Documentary Awards, leads with seven nominations.

Here’s the full list of noms recently announced:

Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Feature Filmmaking

Bisbee ‘17
Directed by Robert Greene | Produced by Susan Bedusa, Bennett Elliot and Douglas Tirola

Hale County This Morning, This Evening
Directed by RaMell Ross | Produced by Joslyn Barnes, Su Kim and RaMell Ross

Minding the Gap
Directed by Bing Liu | Produced by Bing Liu and Diane Moy Quon

Of Fathers and Sons
Directed by Talal Derki | Produced by Ansgar Frerich, Eva Kemme, Tobias N. Siebert and Hans Robert Eisenhauer

Three Identical Strangers
Directed by Tim Wardle | Produced by Grace Hughes-Hallett and Becky Read

Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
Directed by Morgan Neville | Produced by Caryn Capotosto, Nicholas Ma and Morgan Neville

Outstanding Achievement in Direction

Outstanding Achievement in Production

Susan Bedusa, Bennett Elliot and Douglas Tirola | Bisbee ‘17
Stephen Maing, Ross Tuttle and Eric Daniel Metzgar | Crime + Punishment
Josh Lowell, Phillip Manderla and Peter Mortimer | The Dawn Wall
Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin, Evan Hayes and Shannon Dill | Free Solo
Ansgar Frerich, Eva Kemme, Tobias N. Siebert and Hans Robert Eisenhauer | Of Fathers and Sons
Daniel McCabe, Geoff McLean and Alyse Ardell Spiegel | This is Congo

Outstanding Achievement in Editing

Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography

Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Score

Outstanding Achievement in Graphic Design or Animation

Outstanding Achievement in a Debut Feature Film

Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Short Filmmaking

Spotlight Award

The Distant Barking of Dogs | Directed by Simon Lereng Wilmont
Island of Hungry Ghosts | Directed by Gabrielle Brady
The Other Side of Everything | Directed by Mila Turajlic
Roll Red Roll | Directed by Nancy Schwartzman
The Silence of Others | Directed by Almudena Carracedo and Robert Bahar
A Woman Captured | Directed by Bernadett Tuza-Ritter

Audience Choice Prize

Bathtubs Over Broadway | Directed by Dava Whisenant
Free Solo | Directed by Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin
Matangi/Maya/M.I.A. | Directed by Stephen Loveridge
Minding the Gap | Directed by Bing Liu
On Her Shoulders | Directed by Alexandria Bombach
Quincy | Directed by Rashida Jones and Al Hicks
RBG | Directed by Julie Cohen and Betsy West
Shirkers | Directed by Sandi Tan
Three Identical Strangers | Directed by Tim Wardle
Won’t You Be My Neighbor? | Directed by Morgan Neville

Outstanding Achievement in a Nonfiction Film for Broadcast

Outstanding Achievement in a Nonfiction Series for Broadcast

Heterodox Award

Unforgettables
(non-competitive honor)

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