A DOCUMENTARY presented by a Scots zoologist and another made by a Scotland-based independent TV production company are among the winners at the annual awards of the UK’s most prestigious documentary competition.
And at the British Documentary Awards – aka the Grierson’s – the duo were joined by a documentary made for BBC Scotland by Glasgow-based Scots director, Jack Cocker.
The Best Documentary on a Contemporary Theme – Domestic award went to ‘Terry Pratchett: Choosing To Die’, made by Glasgow-based Keo North. The film followed author, Terry Pratchett, who has Alzheimer’s, flying to Switzerland to join one man in the final moments of his assisted suicide.
Meanwhile, ‘After Life: The Strange Science of Decay’, presented by George McGavin, took the Best Science Documentary title. The programme followed the decay, over time, of a typical household kitchen, which had been installed in a special, 6metre x 6metre sealed box at Edinburgh Zoo.
Cocker’s documentary – about conceptual artist, Jeremy Deller – took the Best Arts Documentary prize.
And as reported last month on allmediascotland.com, this year’s Grierson’s conferred its Coutts Grierson Trustees’ Award to Oscar-winning Scots filmmaker, Kevin Macdonald.
The 40th British Documentary Awards were staged in London. They are known as the Grierson’s to commemorate the ‘father of documentary filmmaking’: Scot, John Grierson.
The awards were hosted by artist, Grayson Perry (pictured).
The winners list is as follows:
Most Entertaining Documentary
The Bengali Detective
Phil Cox for Native Voice Films; first shown: Cambridge Film Festival
Best Documentary on a Contemporary Theme – Domestic
Terry Pratchett: Choosing to Die
Charlie Russell for Keo North; first shown: BBC Two
Best Science Documentary
After Life: The Strange Science of Decay
Fred Hepburn, Dani Carlaw for BBC Scotland; first shown: BBC Four
Best Newcomer Documentary
Gypsy Blood
Leo Maguire for ClearStory; first shown: Channel 4
Best Cinema Documentary
Bobby Fischer Against the World
Liz Garbus for Moxie Firecracker Films; first shown: General theatrical release
Best Historical Documentary
The Love of Books: A Sarajevo Story
Sam Hobkinson for Oxford Film and Television; first shown: BBC Four
Best Student Documentary
The Betrayal
Karen Winther for National Film and Television School; first shown: BFI Southbank, London
Best Arts Documentary
Culture Show: Jeremy Deller – Middle Class Hero
Jack Cocker for BBC Scotland; first shown: BBC Two
Best Documentary on a Contemporary Theme – International
Hell and Back Again
Danfung Dennis for Roast Beef Productions; first shown: More 4
Best Documentary Series
Protecting Our Children
Sacha Mirzoeff, Emma Burman for BBC Productions; first shown: BBC Two
Pic: David Lindsay.
