Cinema Eye Honors Docs ‘Last Train Home,’ ‘Armadillo,’ ‘Exit Through the Gift Shop’

Fourth year of documentary awards also nominates “The Oath” and “Marwencol,” but bypasses “Waiting for ‘Superman'” in juried categories

“Last Train Home,” a documentary by Lixin Fan that follows a family of migrant workers traveling across China, was the top nominee for the 2011 Cinema Eye Honors, one of the chief awards given to non-fiction filmmaking. 

The film received seven nominations, including Outstanding Feature and Outstanding Direction; the Danish war documentary “Armadillo” and the sly art-world doc “Exit Through the Gift Shop” each received six.

Last Train HomeBesides “Last Train Home,” nominees in the Outstanding Nonfiction Feature Filmmaking category include Laura Poitras’ “The Oath” and Jeff Malmberg’s “Marwencol,” both of which received four nominations.

Many of the documentaries that have the highest profile in the Oscar race received nominations in other categories: “Inside Job” and “Restrepo” were nominated for their production, “A Film Unfinished” for its editing, and “Catfish” for Outstanding Debut.

Davis Guggenheim's "Waiting for 'Superman,'" the hot-button documentary of the moment, was bypassed in the juried categories but did receive a nod in the Audience Choice Award category, as did “La Danse: The Paris Opera Ballet” by legendary filmmaker Frederick Wiseman, and “Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work.”

More than 100 films qualified for awards, and 32 received nominations.

The Cinema Eye Honors were launched in 2007 “to recognize and honor exemplary craft and innovation in nonfiction film,” according to the press release announcing the nominees.

The awards will be handed out on January 18, 2011 at the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, Queens. New York City, and will be broadcast on the Documentary Channel.

The full list of nominees:

NONFICTION FEATURE FILMMAKING

ARMADILLLO
Directed by Janus Metz
Produced by Sara Stockmann and Ronnie Fridthjof
EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP
Directed by Banksy
Produced by Jaimie D’Cruz
LAST TRAIN HOME
Directed by Lixin Fan
Produced by Mila Aung-Thwin and Daniel Cross
MARWENCOL
Directed by Jeff Malmberg
Produced by Jeff Malmberg, Tom Putnam, Matt Radecki, Chris Shellen and Kevin Walsh
THE OATH
Directed and Produced by Laura Poitras

DIRECTION

ARMADILLO
Janus Metz
LA DANSE: THE PARIS OPERA BALLET
Frederick Wiseman
LAST TRAIN HOME
Lixin Fan
MARWENCOL
Jeff Malmberg
THE OATH
Laura Poitras

PRODUCTION

ARMADILLO
Sara Stockmann and Ronnie Fridthjof
EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP
Jaimie D’Cruz
INSIDE JOB
Audrey Marrs and Charles Ferguson
LAST TRAIN HOME
Mila Aung-Thwin and Daniel Cross
THE OATH
Laura Poitras
RESTREPO
Produced by Sebastian Junger and Tim Hetherington

CINEMATOGRAPHY

ARMADILLO
Lars Skree
LA DANSE: THE PARIS OPERA BALLET
John Davey
INTO ETERNITY
Heikke Farm
OCEANS
Camera Luc Drion, Philippe Ros and Luciano Tovoli
LAST TRAIN HOME
Lixin Fan
THE SOUNDS OF INSECTS – RECORD OF A MUMMY
Peter Liechti and Matthias Kalin
SWEETGRASS
Lucien Castaing-Taylor

EDITING

ARMADILLO
Per K Kirkegaard
EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP
Chris King and Tom Fulford
A FILM UNFINISHED
Joëlle Alexis
LAST TRAIN HOME
Lixin Fan, Mary Stephens
MARWENCOL
Jeff Malmberg

COMPOSING

12TH AND DELAWARE
David Darling
CIRCO
Joey Burns and John Convertino
THE OATH
Osvaldo Golijov
THE SOUND OF INSECTS – RECORD OF A MUMMY
Norbert Möslang
UTOPIA IN FOUR MOVEMENTS
Todd Griffin


GRAPHIC DESIGN

AMERICAN: THE BILL HICKS STORY
Paul Thomas and Matt Harlock
GASLAND
Juan Cardarelli and Eric Levy
INSIDE JOB
Josh Norton and Alex Krawitz
THE INVENTION OF DR NAKAMATS
Rob Chiu
Martin Hultman

INTERNATIONAL

ARMADILLO
Directed by Janus Metz
Produced by Sara Stockmann and Ronnie Fridthjof
EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP
Directed by Banksy
Produced by Jaimie D’Cruz
INTO ETERNITY
Directed by Michael Madsen
Produced by Lise Lense-Møller
LAST TRAIN HOME
Directed by Lixin Fan
Produced by Mila Aung-Thwin and Daniel Cross
THE RED CHAPEL
Directed by Mads Brügger
Produced by Peter Engel

DEBUT

CATFISH
Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman
EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP
Banksy
MARWENCOL
Jeff Malmberg
PRODIGAL SONS
Kimberly Reed
THE RED CHAPEL
Mads Brügger
SWEETGRASS
Ilisa Barbash and Lucien Castaing-Taylor

SPOTLIGHT

THE ARBOR
Directed by Clio Barnard
THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF NICOLAE CEAUSESCU
Directed by Andrei Ujică
LA BOCCA DEL LUPO
Directed by Vincenzo Motta
NOSTALGIA FOR THE LIGHT
Directed by Patricio Guzman
STEAM OF LIFE
Directed by Joonas Berghäll and Mika Hotakainen

AUDIENCE CHOICE

CATFISH
Directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman
LA DANSE: THE PARIS OPERA BALLET
Directed by Frederick Wiseman
EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP
Directed by Banksy
A FILM UNFINISHED
Directed by Yael Hersonski
INSIDE JOB
Directed by Charles Ferguson
JOAN RIVERS: A PIECE OF WORK
Directed by Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg
LAST TRAIN HOME
Directed by Lixin Fan
RESTREPO
Directed by Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger
THE TILLMAN STORY
Directed by Amir Bar-Lev
WAITING FOR “SUPERMAN”
Directed by Davis Guggenheim

NONFICTION SHORT FILM

ALBERT'S WINTER
Directed by Andreas Koefoed
ARSY-VERSY
Directed by Miro Remo
DOCK ELLIS AND THE LSD NO-NO
Directed by James Blagden
THE POODLE TRAINER
Directed by Vance Malone
QUADRANGLE
Directed by Amy Grappell

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