Jean Tsien, Cecilia Aldarondo, and Rintu Thomas will be among the honorees at the 37th edition of the IDA Documentary Awards. A press release from the International Documentary Association (IDA) announced this year’s honorary recipients.
Tsien is being recognized with the Pioneer Award, given in recognition of “those who have made extraordinary contributions to advancing the nonfiction form and [have provided] exceptional vision and leadership to the documentary community.” The Emmy-winning producer and editor’s credits include “Dixie Chicks: Shut Up & Sing” and “Miss Sharon Jones!” With over 35 years of experience, Tsien has made mentoring a priority and served as an advisor at the Sundance Institute Edit and Story Lab, Camden/TFI Retreat, Catapult/True False Rough Cut Retreat, Chicken & Egg Pictures (Egg)celerator Lab, CNEX Chinese Documentary Forum, Dare to Dream Asia, Hot Docs Blue Ice and Cross Currents Labs, IDFAcademy, and IFP Lab.
“This award reflects the generosity and kindness of the many great documentary legends before me,” said Tsien. “I hope to pass this along to those who are just starting out, so that they can see possibilities through me. I also want to share this honor with all the members of A-Doc and the Undocumented Filmmakers Collective, both of which were born at the IDA Getting Real conference.”
Cecilia Aldarondo will receive the Emerging Documentary Filmmaker Award, “given to a filmmaker who by virtue of their early work shows extraordinary promise in exploring the possibilities of the nonfiction art form.” The honor includes a $5,000 unrestricted grant. Aldarondo’s latest film, “Landfall,” won the 2020 DOC NYC Film Festival Viewfinders Grand Jury Award for Best Documentary. The portrait of Puerto Rico in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria also landed an Independent Spirit Award nom. She made her feature debut with “Memories of a Penitent Heart,” a tribute to her late uncle, an aspiring playwright and actor who died of an AIDS.
Rintu Thomas and her “Writing with Fire” co-director Sushmit Ghosh are being honored with the Courage Under Fire Award, “presented each year to a documentarian that takes incredible personal risks to bring us essential stories.” “Writing with Fire” tells the story of India’s only women-led news outlet, a publication dedicated to highlighting stories missing from the mainstream media and exposing widespread discrimination based on gender and caste. “Thomas and Ghosh followed [the women] into some of the deadliest regions for both journalists and women in the country, emulating the bravery of the journalists they were covering,” per the press release. The film made its world premiere in January at Sundance, where it took home the Audience Award in the World Cinema – Documentary section and a Special Jury Prize for Impact and Change.
Nominees for the IDA Awards categories will be revealed on November 15 and the ceremony will take place February 5. Contenders include “Ascension,” Jessica Kingdon’s exploration of China’s industrial supply chain, and “Fruits of Labor,” Emily Cohen’s portrait of a Mexican-American teen struggling to balance the demands of school, work, and home.
