"5 Broken Cameras" named best documentary at Cinema Eye Honors

PanARMENIAN.Net - The ultra-low-budget documentary "5 Broken Cameras" which chronicles the Israel/Palestinian conflict from the point of view of a West Bank farmer who continually has his equipment broken by the Israeli army, was named the best nonfiction film of 2012 at the Cinema Eye Honors ceremony in New York, TheWrap said.

The film, which is on the shortlist of 15 films in competition for the documentary Oscar, beat a few higher-profile nominees, including "Searching for Sugar Man," "The Imposter" and "Detropia."

It was co-directed by Emad Burnat, the Palestinian farmer who bought a camera to record the birth of his son, and Guy Davidi, an Israeli filmmaker to whom Burnat gave footage of the conflicts shot on that and four subsequent cameras.

"Detropia" directors Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewing won the award for Outstanding Achievement in Directing, an honor that only once in Cinema Eye's six-year history has gone to the director of the picture winner. Dimitri Doganis was honored for the production of "The Imposter," while awards for cinematography and editing went to "Chasing Ice" and "How to Survive a Plague," respectively.

The Audience Choice Prize, the only award voted by the public, was won by Lee Hirsch's "Bully."

The Heterodox Award, given to "a narrative film that imaginately incorporates nonfictin strategies, content and/or modes of production," went to Jem Cohen for "Museum Hours."