Crip Camp, Netflix’s documentary about an exclusive summer camp for children with disabilities and its role in driving the disability rights movement, won Best Film at the International Documentary Association’s IDA Awards in a kind of twist.
The film directed by Nicole Newnham and Jim LeBrecht (the latter participated in the titular camp as a teenager) also won the ABC News VideoSource award, recognizing his skillful use of archival video from the 1970s to the 1990s.
“I want to thank everyone at Camp Jened, the team, the advisers and the campers,” said LeBrecht with emotion as he, Newnham and producer Sara Bolder accepted the award. “My life set a course when I went there and you are all responsible for it – you are an important part of this award.”
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Newnham added: “The hippie teenagers and counselors at Camp Jened could never have imagined the broad impact that their brief utopian community would have on the civil rights of people with disabilities around the world. But they dared to imagine that a better and more inclusive world was possible. And we believe that an engaging story told by the community, a film of its history, could help to continue its work. “
Newnham thanked, among others, executive producers Barack and Michelle Obama. The former president and producer of the first lady, Higher Ground, produced Crip Camp.
Going into the night, Amazon Studios’ Time was a favorite for Best Feature Film, having won a number of pre-Oscar awards, including the Gotham Award for Best Documentary (tied with A thousand cuts) But Time, directed by Garrett Bradley, did not leave the IDA Awards empty-handed. Bradley was voted Best Director and she also won the Emerging Filmmaker Award previously announced.
Bradley gave a shout out to the family whose story she tells in the film: Sibil Fox Richardson (known as Fox Rich) and her husband Rob. Time explores Fox Rich’s two-decade effort to win the release of Rob, who was sentenced to 60 years in prison for armed robbery.
“It was a great privilege and an honor to work with Fox, Rob and Miss Peggy and the whole Richardson family,” noted Bradley, “in bringing his love story that goes beyond time and space to the world.”
Time you can still meet in time for the Oscars. The IDA Awards proved to be an uncertain indicator of Oscar success. At the last IDA awards To Sama won the IDA best resource award, but American factory, from Obama’s Higher Ground Productions, went on to claim the Oscar. In fact, in the last five years, only the IDA Best Documentary winner has won the Oscar statuette – 2016 OJ: Made in America.
In another Netflix win, the streamer short John was trying to contact foreigners, won the IDA Award for Best Short Film. Director Matthew Killip accepted for his story of an electronics enthusiast who built a massive radio broadcast operation in his home in the 1970s, hoping to communicate with extraterrestrials.
“It’s actually a story about connection and love,” noted Killip in his acceptance comments. “I am so happy to have found an audience.”
The Netflix document Dick Johnson is dead, directed by Kirsten Johnson, won two awards in the night, for Best Editing and Best Screenplay. The Netflix series Last chance U won the Best Episodic Series.
The IDA Award for Best Musical Documentary went to Universe, directed by Nicholas Capezzera and Sam Osborn, a film about an unrecorded song by Miles Davis.
American Experience, PBS’s long historical series, took the Best Curated Series instead of another PBS competitor American Masters and three others nominated.
The best multi-part documentary was for the HBO series The missing and murdered of Atlanta: the lost children. Among the program’s directors and executive producers is Sam Pollard, who received the IDA Career Achievement Award. His documentary MLK / FBI was also nominated for Best Picture.
See the full list of winners below:
Best feature
Crip Camp (USA / Netflix. Directors and producers: Nicole Newnham and Jim LeBrecht. Producer: Sara Bolder)
Best director
Garrett Bradley (Time. USA / Amazon Studios, Concordia Studio, The New York Times)
Best Short
John was trying to contact foreigners (USA / Netflix. Director and producer: Matthew Killip)
Best curated series
American Experience (USA / PBS. Executive producers: Susan Bellows and Mark Samels)
Best episodic series
Last chance U (USA / Netflix. Director and executive producer: Greg Whiteley. Executive producers: Joe
LaBracio, James D. Stern, Lucas Smith, Andrew Fried, Dane Lillegard)
Best multi-part documentary
The missing and murdered of Atlanta: the lost children (USA / HBO. Directors and executive producers: Sam Pollard, Maro Chermayeff, Joshua Bennett, Jeff Dupre. Executive producers: John Legend, Mike Jackson, Ty Stiklorious, Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller)
Best Short Form Series
POV Shorts (USA / PBS. Producer: Opal H. Bennett. Executive producers: Justine Nagan, Chris White)
Best Audio Documentary
Someone (USA / Topic Studios, The Intercept, the Invisible Institute and iHeartRadio, in association with Tenderfoot TV. Reporters and producers: Alison Flowers, Bill Healy and Sarah Geis. Presenter: Shapearl Wells. Reporters: Sam Stecklow, Annie Nguyen, Kahari Blackburn , Rajiv Sinclair, Henri Adams, Matilda Vojak, Dana Brozost-Kelleher, Frances McDonald, Diana Akmajian, Andrew Fan and Maddie Anderson. Associate producer: Ellen Glover. Executive producers: Jamie Kalven, Maria Zuckerman, Christy Gressman, Leital Molad)
Best Musical Documentary
Universe (USA. Directors: Sam Osborn and Nicholas Capezzera. Producers: Esther Dere and Leah Natasha Thomas)
David L. Wolper Student Documentary Award
People like me (USA / University of California at Santa Cruz. Director / Producer: Marrok Sedgwick, Co-Editor: Jackson Patrick-Sternin)
Best Cinematography
The earth is blue like an orange (Ukraine, Lithuania. Director of photography: Viacheslav Tsvietkov)
Best Editing
Dick Johnson Is Dead (USA / Netflix. Editor: Nels Bangerter)
Best Writing
Dick Johnson is dead (USA / Netflix. Writers: Nels Bangerter and Kirsten Johnson)
Best soundtrack
My octopus teacher (USA / Netflix. Composer: Kevin Smuts)
ABC News VideoSource Award
Crip Camp (USA / Netflix. Directors / producers: Nicole Newnham, Jim LeBrecht. Producer: Sara Bolder)
Pare Lorentz Award
WINNER
My octopus teacher (US / Netflix)
Director: Pippa Ehrlich, James Reed
Producer: Craig Foster
HONORABLE MENTION
Crip Camp (US / Netflix)
Directors / producers: Nicole Newnham, Jim LeBrecht
Developer: Sara Bolder
Honorary Awards
Amicus Award
Regina K. Scully
Career Achievement Award
Sam Pollard (MLK / FBI)
Courage Under Fire Award
David France, David Isteev and Olga Baranova (Welcome to Chechnya)
Emerging documentary filmmaker award
Garrett Bradley (Time)
Pioneer Award
Firelight Media
Truth for Power Award
Maria Ressa and Rappler (Thousand cuts)