'For Sama' Is Named Top Doc at IDA Documentary Awards

AWARDS BEAT

“For Sama,” Waad al-Kateab’s wrenching story of raising a young daughter in war-torn Syria, has been named the best nonfiction film of 2019 at the International Documentary Association’s 35th annual IDA Documentary Awards, which were handed out on Saturday night on the Paramount Pictures lot in Los Angeles.

Al-Kateab, who directed “For Sama” with Edward Watts, also received the IDA Awards Courage Under Fire Award at the ceremony. Last week, the film also won the top award at the British Independent Film Awards, a rarity for a documentary.

Steven Bognar and Julie Reichert received the Best Director Award, the first time the IDA has handed out that particular prize, for their look at the culture clash when a Chinese company took over an American auto glass factory in Ohio in “American Factory.”

Also Read: 'For Sama' Film Review: Syrian Documentary Finds Wrenching Personal Take on Conflict

Two films about notable musicians also won awards. “Homecoming: A Film by Beyoncé,” which chronicled the star’s 2018 Coachella performance and was directed by Beyoncé and Ed Burke, won in the Best Music Documentary category, while Dan Reed’s explosive two-part Michael Jackson documentary, “Leaving Neverland,” won the Best Multi-Part Documentary award.

Carol Dysinger’s “Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You’re a Girl)” won the award for best short documentary.

“Dokumania” was named the best curated series, “Abstract: The Art of Design” the best episodic series, and “A Moment in Mexico” the best short-form series.

Over the last 20 years, the IDA Awards winner has gone on to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature 13 times. The same film has won both awards five times in that stretch.

Also Read: 'American Factory' Film Review: Obama-Produced Doc Takes Bleak Look at Chinese-Owned Plant in Ohio

Here is the full list of IDA Awards winners:

Best Feature: “For Sama,” Waad al-Kateab, Edward Watts
Best Director: Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert, “American Factory”
Best Short: “Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You’re a Girl),” Carol Dysinger, Elena Andreicheva
Best Curated Series: “Dokumania,”Anders Bruus
Best Episodic Series: “Abstract: The Art of Design,” Scott Dadich, Morgan Neville, Dave O’Connor, Justin Wilkes and Jon Kamen
Best Multi-Part Documentary: “Leaving Neverland,” Dan Reed, Nancy Abraham and Lisa Heller
Best Short Form Series: “A Moment in Mexico — The New York Times Op-Docs,” Kathleen Lingo, Lindsay Crouse
Best Audio Documentary: “A Sense of Quietness,” Eleanor McDowall, Alan Hall and Rachel Hooper
Best Music Documentary: “Homecoming: A Film by Beyoncé,” Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, Ed Burke, Steve Pamon and Erinn Williams
David L. Wolper Student Documentary Award: “Brewed in Palestine,” Emma Schwartz
Best Cinematography: Fejmi Daut and Samir Ljuma, “Honeyland”
Best Editing: Luke Lorentzen, Paloma López Carrillo, “Midnight Family”
Best Music Score: Hans Appelqvist, “The Raft”
Best Writing: Alisar Hasan and Feras Fayyad, “The Cave”
Pare Lorentz Award: “Honeyland,” Tamara Kotevska, Ljubomir Stefanov, Atanas Georgiev
Honorable Mention: “Anthropocene: The Human Epoch,” Jennifer Baichwal, Nicholas de Pencier and Edward Burtynsky, Nadia Tavazzani
ABCNEWS VideoSource Award: “Mike Wallace Is Here,” Avi Belkin, Rafael Marmor, John Battsek, Peggy Drexler and Christopher Leggett

Honorary Awards:
Amicus Award: Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
Career Achievement Award: Freida Lee Mock
Courage Under Fire Award: Waad al-Kateab, “For Sama”
Emerging Documentary Filmmaker Award: Rachel Lears
Pioneer Award: Cinereach
Truth to Power Award: Leah Remini

15 Top Grossing Documentaries at the Box Office, From 'An Inconvenient Truth' to 'Fahrenheit 9/11' (Photos)

Documentaries are rarely big money makers, but they can have the power to influence change and motivate people to action in a way narrative films cannot. So when a documentary does make a splash at the box office, it's an even bigger surprise. This list of the top-15 grossing documentaries ever is an interesting mix of political, nature and concert docs, and several of them likewise went on to win Oscars and critical acclaim. All numbers are domestic totals via Box Office Mojo.
Warner Bros./National Geographic Films/Paramount Classics
15. "They Shall Not Grow Old" (2018) - $17.9 million

Director Peter Jackson went to painstaking lengths to digitally restore and transform 100-year-old archival footage for his powerful documentary on World War I. Jackson restored color and sound to the Great War, something that was previously only known through black and white silent film. The documentary performed well in part because of a release that even transformed the footage into 3D.
Warner Bros.
14. "Oceans" (2010) - $19.4 million

You'll see a lot of Disneynature documentaries on this list. Pierce Brosnan narrates this 2010 documentary filmed across the world's oceans.
Disneynature
13. "Bowling for Columbine" (2002) - $21.5 million

Michael Moore's provocative documentary about American gun violence (and one of his best) won the Oscar for Best Documentary and broke international box office records for a documentary in 2002.
United Artists
12. "Won't You Be My Neighbor?" (2018) - $22.8 million

Morgan Neville's portrait of Fred Rogers and "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" proved to be a crowd-pleasing hit in the summer of 2018 because of the absolute niceness at its heart. Neville in his film explains that Fred Rogers was the rare person who really did not have a dark side, and in "Won't You Be My Neighbor?" it shows.
Jim Judkis / Focus Features
11. "An Inconvenient Truth" (2006) - $24.1 million

Davis Guggenheim's documentary spotlighting former Vice President Al Gore's plea to alert the world to the effects of global warming and climate change went on to win two Oscars and earn a sequel.
Paramount Classics
10. "Sicko" (2007) - $24.5 million

Another Michael Moore movie to crack the list, "Sicko" was Moore's look at the healthcare industry in America compared to other nations, with Moore sailing sick veterans down to Cuba to receive the care they couldn't have had at home.
Lionsgate
9. "Katy Perry: Part of Me" (2012) - $25.3 million

This 2012 concert movie followed Katy Perry on her California Dreams World Tour.
Paramount Pictures
8. "One Direction: This Is Us" (2013) - $28.8 million

"Super Size Me" filmmaker Morgan Spurlock directed this concert doc about the then wildly popular British boy group.
TriStar
7. "Chimpanzee" (2012) - $28.9 million

Tim Allen narrated this Disneynature doc about a three-month old chimp separated from his flock and adopted by another grown male.
Disneynature
6. "Earth" (2007) - $32 million

The first of Disneynature's documentaries, "Earth" was a theatrical version of the popular "Planet Earth" miniseries from 2006. "Earth" was finally given a stateside theatrical release in 2009.
Disneynature
5. "2016: Obama's America" (2012) - $33.4 million

Dinesh D'Souza's anti-Obama documentary speculated about where the country would be if Obama won a second term in office in 2012.
Getty Images
4. "Michael Jackson's This Is It" (2009) - $72 million

The footage in "This Is It" comes from a behind-the-scenes look at preparation for Michael Jackson's 50 shows at London's O2 Arena. It wasn't originally meant to be made into a film, but it provided an intimate look at Jackson in his final days.
Getty Images
3. "Justin Bieber: Never Say Never" (2011) - $73 million

The Biebs holds the spot for the highest-grossing concert film ever and the documentary with the biggest opening weekend of all time.
Paramount Pictures
2. "March of the Penguins" (2005) - $77.4 million

People sure love penguins. Morgan Freeman narrates the nature documentary that opened on just four screens but soon spread into a nationwide hit.
National Geographic Films
1. "Fahrenheit 9/11" (2004) - $119.1 million

Michael Moore's scathing documentary about President George W. Bush and the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks is the highest-grossing documentary of all time and it isn't even close. The film won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. Opening at over $23 million, the movie at the time opened higher than any other documentary had ever grossed in its lifetime. Moore followed up the film with a documentary about the 2016 election and Donald Trump, titled "Fahrenheit 11/9," which refers to the day after he was elected.
Miramax

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Michael Moore, Disneynature and several concert films top the list

Documentaries are rarely big money makers, but they can have the power to influence change and motivate people to action in a way narrative films cannot. So when a documentary does make a splash at the box office, it's an even bigger surprise. This list of the top-15 grossing documentaries ever is an interesting mix of political, nature and concert docs, and several of them likewise went on to win Oscars and critical acclaim. All numbers are domestic totals via Box Office Mojo.

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