“The Square,” Jehane Noujaim’s street-level documentary about the revolution in Egypt, has been named the best non-fiction film of 2013 by the International Documentary Association.
The film, which was recently acquired by Netflix, won the top prize at Friday night’s IDA Documentary Awards, which were held at the Directors Guild in Hollywood and hosted by Paul Provenza.
Josh Izenberg’s “Slomo” was named the year’s best short. Both “The Square” and “Slomo” recently made the Oscar shortlists in their categories, with “The Square” standing as one of the Oscar favorites along with “The Act of Killing,” “Stories We Tell” and “20 Feet From Stardom.”
“Act of Killing” and “Stories We Tell” were also IDA nominees, as were “Blackfish” and “Let the Fire Burn.”
Also read: ‘Square’ Filmmaker Jehane Noujaim on Egypt: ‘It’s a Very Dark Time’
Shot on the streets of Cairo as citizen protests help topple both Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and the military regime that took his place, “The Square” first screened at the Sundance Film Festival in January, where it won the audience award.
After the festival, Noujaim returned to Tahrir Square to film continuing protests, which eventually led to the ouster of President Mohamed Morsi. She prepared a new version of the film for the Toronto Film Festival in September; that version won the audience award in Toronto and was subsequently released theatrically.
In the television categories, the Morgan Spurlock-hosted CNN series “Inside Man” was named best limited series, while PBS’s “Independent Lens” was named best continuing series.
A Career Achievement Award went to prolific director Alex Gibney, whose film “The Armstrong Lie” is currently on the Oscar shortlist alongside “The Square.”
Also read: Alex Gibney on Lance Armstrong Lying to Him: I Had to Investigate Myself (Video)
Impact Partners co-founder Geralyn Dreyfous was given the IDA Amicus Award, which has been given out only four times in 29 years to friends of the documentary community who have contributed to the field.
Filmmaker Laura Poitras received the IDA’s Courage Under Fire Award, in part for her work breaking the story of NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden.
The Jacqueline Donnet Emerging Documentary Filmmaker Award went to another Oscar-shortlisted filmmaker, “Cutie and the Boxer” director Zachary Heinzerling.
The winners:
CAREER ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Alex Gibney
IDA AMICUS AWARD
Geralyn Dreyfous
COURAGE UNDER FIRE AWARD
Laura Poitras
JACQUELINE DONNET EMERGING DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKER AWARD
Zachary Heinzerling
BEST FEATURE AWARD
THE SQUARE
Director: Jehane Noujaim
Producer: Karim Amer
BEST SHORT AWARD
SLOMO
Director: Josh Izenberg
Producer: Amanda Micheli
BEST LIMITED SERIES AWARD
INSIDE MAN
Producers: Kristen Vaurio, Lisa Kalikow, Shannon Gibson, Suzanne Hillinger, Lara Benario
BEST CONTINUING SERIES AWARD
INDEPENDENT LENS
Producer: Lois Vossen
DAVID L. WOLPER STUDENT DOCUMENTARY AWARD
MY SISTER SARAH
Director/Producer: Elizabeth Chatelain
HUMANITAS DOCUMENTARY AWARD
BLOOD BROTHER
Director: Steve Hoover
Producer: Danny Yourd
PARE LORENTZ AWARD
A PLACE AT THE TABLE
Directors/Producers: Lori Silverbush and Kristi Jacobson
Producers: Julie Goldman, Ryan Harrington
ABCNEWS VIDEOSOURCE AWARD
THE TRIALS OF MUHAMMAD ALI
Director: Bill Siegel
Producers: Bill Siegel, Rachel Pikelny
CREATIVE RECOGNITION AWARD WINNERS
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
PABLO’S WINTER
Cinematographer: Julian Schwanitz
Director: Chico Pereira
BEST EDITING
LET THE FIRE BURN
Editor: Nels Bangerter
Director: Jason Osder
BEST MUSIC
NARCO CULTURA
Original Music By: Jeremy Turner
Director: Shaul Schwartz
BEST WRITING
HOW TO MAKE MONEY SELLING DRUGS
Writer/Director: Matthew Cooke