The Cinema Eye Honors Salute Documentaries (Especially Waltz with Bashir)

The only award show dedicated to doc film gets nicely name-droppy in its second year.

Lou Reed was in the audience of last night’s Cinema Eye Honors, accompanying wife Laurie Anderson, who introduced the award for music competition. Morgan Spurlock, Albert Maysles, Chris Hegedus and DA Pennebaker also took the stage as presenters. If reconciling an award ceremony’s needs for glitz and celebrity with the unfussy world of documentary film doesn’t seem like the simplest of tasks, the Cinema Eyes are doing an able job of it, moving uptown to posher confines of the Times Center for their second year.

A self-described commemoration of the “craft and artistry of nonfiction filmmaking,” the Honors are, as co-chair Thom Powers suggested, “not just about celebration, they’re about vindication.” And in a testament to that spirit, Ari Folman’s “Waltz with Bashir,” ineligible for a doc Oscar nomination due to its release date, was the biggest winner of the night, pulling in four wins, including Outstanding Achievement in Direction. A self-effacing David Polansky, art director for the film, was there to accept the awards, even though, as he put it, he only made the drawings.

James Marsh of “Man on Wire” won the big prize of the night, calling up to the stage his sprightly high wire subject Philippe Petit, who refrained from repeating his Academy Award trick of balancing the trophy on his nose, this one being a lot pointier. Pennebaker, who handed off the award, mused, “When I started making films, there was no equipment to even do it with…when I see this marvelous sea of filmmaking, in all kinds of ways, it makes me feel that it was all worthwhile.”

A complete list of winners is below:

Outstanding Achievement in NonFiction Feature Filmmaking
“Man on Wire,” directed by James Marsh; produced by Simon Chinn

Outstanding Achievement in Direction
Ari Folman for “Waltz with Bashir”

Outstanding Achievement in Production
Simon Chinn for “Man on Wire”

Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography
Peter Zeitlinger for “Encounters at the End of the World”

Outstanding Achievement in Editing
Jinx Godfrey for “Man on Wire”

Outstanding Achievement in Graphic Design and Animation
Yoni Goldman & David Polonsky for “Waltz with Bashir”

Outstanding Achievement in Music Composition
Max Richter for “Waltz with Bashir”

Outstanding Achievement in International Feature
“Waltz with Bashir,” directed by Ari Folman; produced by Ari Folman, Serge Lalou, Gerhard Meixner, Yael Nahlieli & Roman Paul

Outstanding Achievement in Debut Feature
“Up the Yangtze,” directed by Yung Chang

Audience Choice Award
“Up the Yangtze,” directed by Yung Chang

[Additional photo: Cinema Eye co-chair AJ Schnack with P.O.V. series producer Yance Ford, making an entrance in authentic Mardi Gras garb]