A DOCUMENTARY produced at BBC Scotland – about an audacious scientific experiment – has been nominated in an annual competition celebrating the best of the genre.
The British Documentary Awards – aka the Grierson Awards – sees The Girl Who Talked to Dolphins nominated in the category, Best science or natural history documentary.
Chris Riley was the producer-director, while Mark Hedgecoe was exec producer.
The documentary is about arguably one of the most remarkable experiments in the history of animal science. During the 1960s, scientist, John Lilly, had an ambition: to communicate with dolphins, by teaching them to speak.
He built a house, in which a young woman, called Margaret, and a dolphin, called Peter, would live together, while she taught him English.
But the documentary’s title belies a deeper story, as reviewed, here, by the Daily Telegraph.
Meanwhile, Scots, Billy Connolly and Nicky Campbell, each receive a nomination in the category, documentary presenter of the year.
The winners will be announced in early November.
A whittled-down shortlist is expected in the middle of September.
The ‘first’ shortlist reads:
Best documentary on a contemporary theme — domestic
24 Hours in Police Custody – episode one – Alisa Pomeroy for The Garden; first shown: Channel 4
Angry White and Proud – Jamie Roberts for Mentorn Media; first shown: Channel 4
Can’t Pay? Final Demand Special – Kevin Nightingale-Jones, Nathaniel Jessel for Brinkworth Films; first shown: Channel 5
Excluded: Kicked out of School – episode one – Ellena Wood, Ruth Nicklin for KEO films & The Open University; first shown: BBC Three
The Paedophile Hunter – Dan Reed for Amos Pictures; first shown: Channel 4
Raining in My Heart – Brian Woods, Jess Stevenson for True Vision Productions; first shown: ITV
The Stranger on the Bridge – Sam Forsdike for Postcard Productions; first shown: Channel 4
Wanted: A Family of My Own – episode two – Carol White for Wall to Wall; first shown: ITV
Best documentary on a contemporary theme — international
Citizenfour – Laura Poitras for Praxis Films; first shown: Channel 4
The Condemned – Nick Read for Red Zed Films; first shown: BBC Four
Dreamcatcher – Kim Longinotto; first shown: general theatrical release
Gulabi Gang – Nishtha Jain for Piraya Film AS; first shown: UK university screenings
The Romanians Are Coming – episode one – James Bluemel for KEO films; first shown: Channel 4
Storyville: India’s Daughter – Leslee Udwin for Assassin Films and Tathagat Films; first shown: BBC Four
Tales of the Grim Sleeper – Nick Broomfield for Lafayette Films; first shown: Sky Atlantic
Twin Sisters: A World Apart – Mona Friis Bertheussen for Moment Film; first shown: BBC Four
Best documentary on current affairs
Baby P: The Untold Story – Henry Singer for Sandpaper Films; first shown: BBC One
Dispatches: Breadline Kids – Jezza Neumann for True Vision; first shown: Channel 4
A&E in the War Zone – Dominic Ozanne, Jerermy Llewellyn-Jones for Oxford Film and Television; first shown: Channel 4
The Gypsy Matchmaker – Ben Steele for Minnow Films; first shown: Channel 4
The Islamic State – Medyan Dairieh for VICE Media; first shown: VICE.com
Our War: Goodbye Afghanistan – Rowan Deacon for BBC; first shown: BBC Three
Panorama: Ebola Frontline – Steve Grandison for Blakeway Films; first shown: BBC One
Ross Kemp Extreme World: South Africa – Marta Shaw for Freshwater Films; first shown: Sky 1
Best arts documentary
20,000 Days on Earth – Iain Forsyth, Jane Pollard for Corniche Pictures, BFI, Film4 and Pulse Films; first shown: BBC One
Dior and I – Fredric Tcheng; first shown: general theatrical release
Grayson Perry: Who Are You? – Individuals – Neil Crombie for Swan Films; first shown: Channel 4
Hockney – Randall Wright for A Blakeway and Fly Film production for BBC Arts, British Film Institute, Screen Yorkshire, British Film Company and Smithsonian Channel; first shown: BBC Two
Imagine… Anselm Kiefer: Remembering the Future – Jack Cocker for BBC; first shown: BBC One
Rebels of Oz – Paul Clarke for Mint Pictures and Serendipity Productions; first shown: BBC Four
Regarding Susan Sontag – Nancy Kates for Question Why Films; first shown: Sheffield Doc/Fest
War of Words: Soldier-Poets of the Somme – Sebastian Barfield for BBC and Parapet Productions; first shown: BBC Two
Best historical documentary
Bitter Lake – Adam Curtis for BBC; first shown: BBC iPlayer
Gallipoli – When Murdoch Went to War – Tim Kirby for Blakeway Productions; first shown: BBC Two
George Blake Masterspy of Moscow – George Carey for CTVC; first shown: BBC Four
Holocaust: Night Will Fall – André Singer for Spring Films; first shown: Channel 4
Our World War: The First Day – Bruce Goodison for BBC; first shown: BBC Three
Still The Enemy Within – Owen Gower for Bad Bonobo/Dartmouth Films; first shown: general theatrical release
Strangeways: Britain’s Toughest Prison Riot – David Belton for Minnow Films; first shown: BBC Two
The Supreme Price – Joanna Lipper; first shown: Raindance Festival, London
Best science or natural history documentary
Curing Cancer – Brian Woods for True Vision Productions; first shown: Channel 4
Extreme Antibiotics – Correspondent: Dr Sanjay Gupta for CNN; first shown: CNN
The Girl Who Talked to Dolphins – Chris Riley for BBC Scotland; first shown: BBC Four
How the Wild West Was Won with Ray Mears – Great Plains – Phil Coles for Tin Can Island; first shown: BBC Four
Human Universe: Why Are We Here? – Annabel Gillings for BBC; first shown: BBC Two
Panorama: To Walk Again – Alison Priestley for BBC; first shown: BBC One
Secret Life of Babies – Barny Revill for Oxford Scientific Films; first shown: ITV
Woolly Mammoth: The Autopsy – Nick Clarke Powell for Renegade Pictures (UK); first shown: Channel 4
Best entertaining documentary
Back in Time for Dinner – The 1970s – Kim Maddever for Wall to Wall; first shown: BBC Two
Dressed as a Girl – Colin Rothbart for Blue Oyster Pictures; first shown: Flare: London LGBT Film Festival
First Dates- Episode 4 – Production Team for Twenty Twenty Productions; first shown: Channel 4
Gogglebox – episode six – Tania Alexander for Studio Lambert; first shown: Channel 4
Life is Toff: Bear Up – Tom Currie, Imogen Willcocks for Oxford Film and Television; first shown: BBC Three
My Granny the Escort – Charlie Russell for Minnow Films; first shown: Channel 4
The Secret Life of 4 Year Olds – Harjeet Chhokar, Nicola Brown for RDF Television; first shown: Channel 4
Warwick Davis’s Big Night – Ursula Macfarlane for Love Productions; first shown: BBC Two
Best documentary series
24 Hours in Police Custody – Alisa Pomeroy for The Garden; first shown: Channel 4
Excluded: Kicked out of School – Ellena Wood, Ruth Nicklin for KEO films, The Open University; first shown: BBC Three
GPs: Behind Closed Doors – Brian Hayes for Knickerbockerglory; first shown: Channel 5
Hunters of the South Seas – Will Lorimer, Jamie Balment for Indus Films; first shown: BBC Two
Inside the Commons – Jack MacInnes for Atlantic Productions; first shown: BBC Two
The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst – Andrew Jarecki for Hit the Ground Running Productions; first shown: Sky Atlantic
The Romanians are Coming – James Bluemel for KEO films; first shown: Channel 4
Walking the Nile – Jamie Berry for October Films & Group M Entertainment; first shown: Channel 4
Best cinema documentary
Dark Horse: The Incredible True Story of Dream Alliance – Louise Osmond for DSP and World’s End Pictures; first shown: general theatrical release
Dreamcatcher – Kim Longinotto; first shown: general theatrical release
Life Itself – Steve James; first shown: general theatrical release
Maidan – Sergei Loznitsa; first shown: general theatrical release
Mercy Mercy – Katrine W. Kjaer for Fridthjof Film; first shown: general theatrical release
The Overnighters – Jesse Moss; first shown: general theatrical release
Tales of the Grim Sleeper – Nick Broomfield for Lafayette Films; first shown: general theatrical release
Virunga – Orlando von Einsiedel for Grain Media and Violet Films; first shown: general theatrical release
Best newcomer documentary
20,000 Days on Earth – Iain Forsyth, Jane Pollard for Corniche Pictures, BFI, Film4 and Pulse Films; first shown: BBC One
Angry White and Proud – Jamie Roberts for Mentorn Media; first shown: Channel 4
Estate, a Reverie – Andrea Luka Zimmerman for Fugitive Images; first shown: Rio Cinema, London
The Lost Gold of the Highlands (Garnet’s Gold) – Ed Perkins for Red Box Films and Passion Pictures; first shown: BBC Four
The Mekong River with Sue Perkins – Episode 4 – Vicky Hinners for Indus Films; first shown: BBC Two
Mr Alzheimers and Me – Chloe Fairweather for Tigerlily Films; first shown: CBBC
The Stranger on the Bridge – Sam Forsdike for Postcard Productions; first shown: Channel 4
Tashi and the Monk – Andrew Hinton and Johnny Burke for Pilgrim Films; first shown: Banff Mountain Film Festival Tour
Best student documentary
The Archipelago – Benjamin Huguet for National Film and Television School; first shown: BFI Southbank
Black Sheep – Christian Cerami for University of Westminster; first shown: Screentest Student Film Festival
Cambodia Calling – Anna Snowball for National Film and Television School; first shown: BFI Southbank
Esta Vida (This Life) – Lyttanya Shannon for National Film and Television School; first shown: BFI Southbank
Kisilu – I’ll Start with Myself – Julia Dahr for Goldsmiths University of London; first shown: university/college screening
Territory – Eleanor Mortimer for National Film and Television School; first shown: BFI Southbank
Waterlilies – Tanya Doyle for Goldsmiths University of London; first shown: university/college screening
The Wolf, The Ship and the Little Green Bag – Kathryn MacCorgarry Gray for University of Westminster; first shown: Encounters Film Festival – NAHEMI Program
Documentary presenter of the year
Arthur Williams for Arthur Williams WW1’s Forgotten Heroes
Brian Henry Martin for Double Band Pictures; first shown: Channel 4
Billy Connolly for Billy Connolly’s Big Send Off
Mike Reilly for Burning Bright Productions; first shown: ITV
Davina McCall and Nicky Campbell for Long Lost Family
Kate Scholefield, Sally Benton, Clare Bradbury, Elizabeth Stopford for Wall to Wall; first shown: ITV
Grayson Perry for Who Are You?
Neil Crombie for Swan Films; first shown: Channel 4
Levison Wood for Walking the Nile
Levison Wood for October Films and Group M Entertainment; first shown: Channel 4
Sue Perkins for The Mekong River with Sue Perkins
Steve Robinson, Vicky Hinners, Clare Dornan, Lucy Swingler for Indus Films; first shown: BBC Two
Trevor Phillips for Things We Say About Race That Are True
Vicki Cooper for Outline Productions; first shown: Channel 4
Will Millard for Hunters of the South Seas
Will Lorimer, Jamie Balment for Indus Films; first shown: BBC Two
