Past Winners

• Chicago International Documentary Festival 2007

2007 CIDF JURY

GRAND PRIX JURY
SHORT FILM GRAND PRIX JURY
INTERNATIONAL PRESS JURY
FILM CRITICS JURY

2007 CIDF AWARDS

CHICAGO DOC GRAND PRIX
$25,000.00 in unrestricted cash & an original sculpture
Pernille Rose Groenkjaer
"The Monastery - Mr. Vig & the Nun", Denmark

CHICAGO DOC SHORT FILM GRAND PRIX
$ 5.000.00 in unrestricted cash and an original sculpture
Petr Lom
"On A Tightrope", Canada/Norway

CHICAGO DOC GRAND PRIX JURY SPECIAL PRIZE
Shahar Cohen & Halil Efrat
"Souvenirs", Israel

CHICAGO DOC GRAND PRIX JURY HONORABLE MENTION
Ulrike Franke and Michael Loeken
"Losers and Winners", Germany

CHICAGO DOC SKY IS THE LIMIT PRODUCTION AWARD
$ 20,000 in cash and a plaque
Krzysztof Kopczynski
"Stone Silence", Poland

ARIE & BOZENA ZWEIG INNOVATION AWARD
$2,500.00 in unrestricted cash and a plaque
Sergei Loznica
"Blockade", Russia
&
Jean-Gabriel Periot
"Even If She Had Been a Criminal…", France

NATASHA ISAACS CINEMATOGRAPHY AWARD
$2,500.00 in unrestricted cash and a plaque
Andrea Nix Fine & Sean Fine
"War/Dance", USA

CHICAGO DOC AUDIENCE AWARD
$1,000.00 in unrestricted cash and a plaque
Greg Hamilton
"Mystic Ball", Canada/USA

CHICAGO DOC HUMANITARIAN AWARD
$1,000.00 in unrestricted cash and a plaque
Mohammed Ali Naqvi
"Shame", USA
&
Ruby Yang
"The Blood of Yingzhou District", China/USA

DISCOVERING EYE AWARD
For the Most Promising Young Filmmaker
500.00 in unrestricted cash and a plaque
Jason Kohn
"Manda Bala (Send A Bullet)", USA

JUSTYNA & THOMAS ROSZAK OUR CHILDREN OF THE WORLD AWARD
500.00 in unrestricted cash and a plaque
Marcelo Bukin
"Angel’s Fire", "Bread", "Lima’s Streets", "Welcome to Poptun"
Spain/Peru/Guatemala

FILM CRITICS' AWARD
Ulrike Franke and Michael Loeken
"Losers and Winners", Germany

INTERNATIONAL PRESS AWARD
Asger Leth
"Ghosts of Cite Soleil", Denmark

CHICAGO DOC PRESIDENT’S AWARD
Jos de Putter, Masha Novikova
"In Memoriam Alexander Litvinenko", The Netherlands
&
Steve York
"Orange Revolution", USA

• Chicago International Documentary Festival 2005

2005 CIDF JURY

GRAND PRIX JURY
SHORT FILM GRAND PRIX JURY
INTERNATIONAL PRESS JURY
FILM CRITICS JURY

2005 CIDF AWARDS

CHICAGO DOC GRAND PRIX
$ 20,000.00 in unrestricted cash for the best documentary feature film
(running time over 60 minutes)
HUBERT SAUPER
DARWIN'S NIGHTMARE,Austria/France/Belgium

CHICAGO DOC SHORT FILM GRAND PRIX
$ 2.500.00 in unrestricted cash for the best short documentary film
(running time of 60 minutes or less)
ALIZERA GHANIE
LESSON FROM BAM,Austria/Iran/Australia

ARIE & BOZENA ZWEIG INNOVATION AWARD
$ 2,500.00 in unrestricted cash for the most innovative filmmaker
PIRJO HONKASALO
THE 3 ROOMS OF MELANCHOLIA, Finland

NATASHA ISAACS CINEMATOGRAPHY AWARD
presented by KODAK
$ 2,500.00 in unrestricted cash plus $ 1,500.00 in film stock
for the distinguished effort of the cinematographer
LEONARD RETEL HELMRICH
SHAPE OF THE MOON, Netherlands

CHICAGO DOC AUDIENCE AWARD
$ 1,000.00 in unrestricted cash for the audience's favorite pick
TAGGART SIEGEL
THE REAL DIRT ON FARMER JOHN, USA
&
MARILYN AGRELO
MAD HOT BALLROOM, USA

MARIA & CHRISTOPHER KOZIOL HUMANITARIAN AWARD
$ 1,000.00 in unrestricted cash for the film of special human values
OLIVER STOLTZ & ALI SAMADI AHADI
THE LOST CHILDREN, Germany/Uganda

PRESIDENT'S JURY AWARD
$1,000.00 in unrestricted cash
MYSTELLE BRABBEE
HIGHWAY COURTESANS, USA/India

SPECIAL NON-MONETARY AWARDS

CHICAGO DOC GRAND PRIX JURY SPECIAL PRIZE
SEAN MC ALLISTER
THE LIBERACE OF BAGHDAD, UK

CHICAGO DOC SHORT FILM GRAND PRIX JURY SPECIAL PRIZE
JAREK SZTANDERA
FOR A MIRACLE, Poland

Film Critics' Award
PAMELA YATES
STATE OF FEAR, Peru/USA

International Press Award
VICENTE FERAZ
I AM CUBA, THE SIBERIAN MAMMOTH, Brazil

Discovering Eye Award
for the most promising young filmmaker
(30 yrs. old or younger)
presented by Focal Press
TOBIAS MULLER
BANFFY CASTLE, Romania/Germany

HONORARY AWARDS

Lifetime Achivement Award
ALBERT & DAVID MAYSLES

Genius Career Achivement Award
MICHAEL RABIGER

• Chicago International Documentary Festival 2004

CHICAGO DOC GRAND PRIX
$ 15,000.00 in unrestricted cash for the best documentary film
ANDREAS HORVATH
THIS AIN'T NO HEARTLAND, Austria




NATASHA ISAACS CINEMATOGRAPHY AWARD
presented by KODAK
$ 2,000.00 in unrestricted cash plus $ 2,000.00 in film stock
for the distinguished effort of the cinematographer
ERICH LANGJAHR
SHEPHERDS' JOURNEY INTO THE THIRD MILLENNIUM, Switzerland

ARIE & BOZENA ZWEIG INNOVATION AWARD
$ 2,000.00 in unrestricted cash for the most innovative filmmaker
JAMES MILLER
DEATH IN GAZA, UK

VINAYAN KODOTH
JOURNEYS, India

CHICAGO DOC AUDIENCE AWARD
$ 1,000.00 in unrestricted cash for the audience's favorite pick
JOE BERLINGER & BRUCE SINOFSKY
METALLICA-SOME KIND OF MONSTER, USA


HUMANITARIAN AWARD
presented by AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL USA
$ 1,000.00 in unrestricted cash for the film of special human values
ALISON MACLEAN & TOBIAS PERSE
PERSONS OF INTEREST, USA

Special Awards

Film Critics' Award
INSIDE THE MIND OF THE SUICIDE BOMBER
directed by Tom Roberts, Israel, UK

International Press Award
NO. 17
directed by David Ofek, Israel

Chicago Doc Classic Award
MOSCOW CENTRAL (1994)
directed by Clive Gordon, UK

• Chicago International Documentary Festival 2003

CHICAGO DOC GRAND PRIX
$ 10,000.00 in unrestricted cash for the best documentary film
JOS DE PUTTER
THE DAMNED AND THE SACRED

THE DAMNED AND THE SACRED (aka DANS, GROZNY DANS aka DANCE, GROZNY, DANCE) and director Jos de Putter picked up the Chicago Doc Grand Prix at the First Chicago International Doc Film Festival. The award includes a statuette and $10,000.

A jury selected THE DAMNED AND THE SACRED from a field of 23 competition films. The jury was composed of Tod Lending (Chicago-based, Academy AwardŽ-nominated documentary director), Andréa Picard (Cinematheque Ontario and the Toronto International Film Festival Group), and Karel Och (documentary programmer at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in the Czech Republic).

The first Chicago International Doc Film Festival screened 119 films from over two-dozen countries at five venues over ten days (March 21-30, 2003).

A breathtaking portrait of a civilian population in wartime, THE DAMNED AND THE SACRED presents the current Chechen war through the perspective of a traditional youth dance troupe, its coach, and others in its circle. As they witness bombings and cope with checkpoints and unfamiliar soldiers, the troupe members stubbornly prepare a tour of western Europe. One of the tour's goals is to show that Chechens are just ordinary people. This film, however, reveals people who are anything but ordinary: talented, dedicated, and shockingly professional given both their ages and the conditions surrounding them. Featuring exciting and often thrilling dances, THE DAMNED AND THE SACRED presents a group of people struggling in the most modest and non-confrontational way to declare and maintain their cultural independence.

In his acceptance speech, Jos de Putter dedicated the award to the Chechen people.

THE DAMNED AND THE SACRED has upcoming screenings at the Tribeca Film Festival, the Hot Docs! Festival in Toronto, and elsewhere.

The festival board, with the recommendation of the jury, granted additional awards. Cinematographer Markku Lehmuskallio won the $2,000 cinematography award for his work on MOTHERS OF LIFE. Jose Padilha of BUS 174 and Travis Wilkerson of AN INJURY TO ONE shared, ex aequo, the $2,000 innovation award. The $1,000 audience award was given, ex aequo, to directors Dierdre Lynch for PHOTOS TO SEND and Robb Moss for THE SAME RIVER TWICE.

Says Executive Director Christopher Kamyszew: "We set out to bring a world class documentary festival to Chicago. We succeeded. Next year, we look forward to another successful year, building on what we have learned this year."

The festival featured dozens of international guests, from countries including Argentina, Brazil, Canada, the Czech Republic, Japan, Poland, Sweden, the United States, and beyond.

The festival received excellent press. Television and radio coverage appeared on NBC, CNN, WTTW Channel 11, and WBEZ radio. Print coverage appeared in the CHICAGO TRIBUNE, THE DAILY SOUTHTOWN, and other area papers. The CHICAGO READER called the festival "ambitious and bountiful," and remarked that the festival forces audiences to reexamine assumptions about the state of cinema.

The Chicago International Doc Film Festival is produced by the Society for Arts, a Chicago-based 501(c)3 organization with a fifteen-year tradition of presenting film and fine art across North America, including the annual Polish Film Festival in America, and ongoing exhibitions at the 1112 Gallery at 1112 North Milwaukee Avenue in Chicago.