The Grierson Trust has announced the shortlist for the 2012 British Documentary Awards in the Trust's 40th Anniversary year.
Passion Pictures has three productions on the shortlist, while Lion and The Garden are each shortlisted for productions in two categories. The BBC’s Frozen Planet has been nominated in two categories, Best Science Documentary and Best Documentary Series. In the Documentary Series category, it’s up against Twofour’s Educating Essex for Channel 4 and BBC Three’s Our War.
The final nominations will be announced in September before the awards ceremony at The Empire Leicester Square, London on 6 November.
The shortlist:
Deluxe 142: Best Documentary on a Contemporary Theme - Domestic
Dispatches: Britain’s Sex Gangs
Anna Hall for True Vision Productions; first shown: Channel 4
The Four Year Plan
Mat Hodgson for Ad Hoc Films; first shown: General theatrical release
My Child the Rioter
Olly Lambert; first shown: BBC Two
Panorama: Undercover Care - The Abuse Exposed
Matthew Chapman for BBC Productions; first shown: BBC One
Protecting Our Children: Damned if they do, damned if they don’t
Sacha Mirzoeff for BBC Bristol; first shown: BBC Two
Terry Pratchett: Choosing to Die
Charlie Russell for Keo North; first shown: BBC Two
Transplant
Nic Blower for Lion TV; first shown: BBC One
We Need to Talk About Dad
Elizabeth Stopford for Rare Day; first shown: Channel 4
Shell: Best Documentary on a Contemporary Theme - International
Bahrain: Shouting in the Dark
May Ying Welsh for Al Jazeera English; first shown: Al Jazeera English
BAKA: A Cry from the Rainforest
Phil Agland for River Films; first shown: BBC Two
Children of the Tsunami
Dan Reed for Renegade Pictures (UK) Ltd; first shown: BBC Two
Crime After Crime
Yoav Potash for Life Sentence Films; first shown: Jewish Film Festival, London
For Neda
Antony Thomas for Mentorn Media in association with Antony Thomas PR; first shown: More 4
Hell and Back Again
Danfung Dennis for Roast Beef Productions; first shown: More 4
The Life and Loss of Karen Woo
Ursula Macfarlane for Century Films; first shown: ITV1
Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields
Callum McRae for ITN; first shown: Channel 4
The Open University: Best Arts Documentary
Beyond the Notes
Dick Fontaine for BeBop Productions; first shown: BBC Four
The Camera That Changed the World
Mandy Chang for Lambent Productions; first shown: BBC Four
Crucifixion
Srik Narayanan for The Garden Productions; first shown: Channel 4
Graffiti Wars
Jane Preston for Two Four Pros; first shown: Channel 4
Jeremy Deller: Middle Class Hero
Jack Cocker for BBC Scotland; first shown: BBC Two
Lucien Freud: Painted Life
Randall Wright for Blakeway Productions; first shown: BBC Two
Queen: Days of Our Lives
Matt O’Casey for Globe Productions; first shown: BBC Two
Rostropovich: The Genius of the Cello
John Bridcut for ITN Productions; first shown: BBC Four
ITN Source: Best Historical Documentary
9/11: Day that Changed the World
Leslie Woodhead for Brook Lapping Productions; first shown: ITV1
Britain’s Greatest Code Breaker
Claire Beaven for Furnace Productions; first shown: Channel 4
Double Agent: The Eddie Chapman Story
Stephen Walker for Walker George Films; first shown: BBC Two
Fight to Save the World: Sergio
Greg Barker for Passion Pictures, Silverbridge; first shown: BBC Four
The King and the Playwright: A Jacobean History - Equivocation
Steven Clarke for Green Bay Media; first shown: BBC Four
The Love of Books: A Sarajevo Story
Sam Hobkinson for Oxford Film and Television; first shown: BBC Four
The Plot to Bring Down Britain’s Planes
Ben Chanan for Raw TV; first shown: Channel 4
World War Two: 1941 and the Man of Steel
Russell Barnes for Barnes Hassid Productions; first shown: BBC Four
Best Science Documentary
After Life: The Strange Science of Decay
Fred Hepburn, Dani Carlaw for BBC; first shown: BBC Four
The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space Odyssey
Jonathan Sahula, Graham Judd, Sabin Streeter; first shown: National Geographic
Earthflight - North America
Rob Pilley for John Downer Productions; first shown: BBC One
Frontline Medicine: Survival
Paul Overton for BBC; first shown: BBC Two
Frozen Planet: On Thin Ice
Dan Rees for BBC Natural History Unit; first shown: BBC One
Inside Nature’s Giants - Sperm Wale
Tom Mustill for Windfall Films; first shown: Channel 4
Mummifying Alan
Kenny Scott for Blink Films in association with Media Lab ; first shown: Channel 4
My Life as a Turkey
David Allen for Passion Pictures; first shown: BBC Two
Most Entertaining Documentary
The Bengali Detective
Phil Cox for Native Voice Films; first shown: Cambridge Film Festival
The Choir: Military Wives - episode 1
Lucy Hillman for Twenty Twenty TV; first shown: BBC Two
Elizabeth Taylor - Auction of a Lifetime
Michael Waldman for Silver River Productions; first shown: Channel 4
A Hasidic Guide to Love, Marriage and Finding a Bride
Paddy Wivell; first shown: BBC Two
Obsessive Compulsive Hoarder
Christian Trumble for RDF Television; first shown: Channel 4
Perfume: Something Old, Something New
Ian Denyer for The Garden Productions; first shown: BBC Four
Rich Hall’s Continental Drifters
Chris Cottam, Rich Hall for Open Mike Productions; first shown: BBC Four
Timothy Spall: All at Sea - The Last Splash
Paul Crompton for Barge Pole Productions; first shown: BBC Four
Envy: Best Documentary Series
Catholics
Richard Alwyn for Wingspan Productions; first shown: BBC Four
Earthflight
John Downer, Philip Dalton, Rob Pilley and Tilly Parker for John Downer Productions; first shown: BBC One
Educating Essex
David Clews for TwoFour Productions; first shown: Channel 4
Frozen Planet
Vanessa Berlowitz for BBC Natural History Unit; first shown: BBC One
Money
Vanessa Engle for BBC; first shown: BBC Two
Our War
Bruce Goodison, John Douglas, Stuart Bernard; first shown: BBC Three
Protecting Our Children
Sacha Mirzoeff, Emma Burman for BBC Productions; first shown: BBC Two
Putin, Russia & The West
Paul Mitchell, Norma Percy for Brook Lapping Productions; first shown: BBC Two
DocHouse and The Bertha Foundation: Best Cinema Documentary
Bobby Fischer Against the World
Liz Garbus for Moxie Firecracker Films; first shown: General theatrical release
Dreams of a Life
Carol Morley for Cannon and Morley Productions, Soho Moon; first shown: General theatrical release
Knuckle
Ian Palmer for Rise Productions; first shown: General theatrical release
Marley
Kevin Macdonald for Shangri-La Ent. Tuff Gong Pictures, Cowboy Films; first shown: General theatrical release
Project Nim
James Marsh for Red Box Films, Passion Pictures, BBC Films; first shown: General theatrical release
Samsara
Ron Fricke for Magidson Productions; first shown: Bradford Film Festival
Tabloid
Errol Morris for Air Loom Enterprises; first shown: General theatrical release
You’ve Been Trumped
Anthony Baxter for Montrose Pictures; first shown: Sheffield Doc/Fest
CTVC: Best Newcomer Documentary
Barbaric Genius
Paul Duane for Screenworks; first shown: Chapter & Verse Festival, The Bluecoat, Liverpool
Gypsy Blood
Leo Maguire for ClearStory; first shown: Channel 4
Holding the Line
Patrick Wells; first shown: Al Jazeera English
How to Start a Revolution
Ruaridh Arrow for Lion TV, The Big Indy; first shown: Current TV
Panorama: The Truth about Adoption
Clare Johns for Films of Record; first shown: BBC One
The Sinking of the Concordia: Caught on Camera
Vanessa Colosi for Dragonfly Film and Television Productions; first shown: Channel 4
Up in Smoke
Adam Wakeling for Notion Pictures; first shown: More 4
When I Die
Adrian Steirn; first shown: BBC One
Sky Arts: Best Student Documentary
The Betrayal
Karen Winther for National Film & Television School; first shown: BFI Southbank, London
Kirkcaldy Man
Julian Schwanitz for Edinburgh College of Art; first shown: Glasgow International Short Film Festival
The Marble Village
Ioana Dorobantu for London College of Communication; first shown: London College of Communication
The Men in White Coats
Rob Harper for National Film & Television School; first shown: BFI Southbank, London
Missing Piece
Lucas Barr, George Ellis, Matt Hyland for Liverpool John Moores University; first shown: Liverpool John Moores University
Mostar
Sebastian Feehan, Josh Bamford for Newport Film School; first shown: Graduation Screening, Newport Film School
One More Kiss
Chris Christodoulou for National Film & Television School; first shown: BFI Southbank, London
Streets in the Sky
Leon Seth; first shown: Sheffield Institute of Arts
