Nostalgia For The Light, Senna, Les Blank, Danfung Dennis among winners at Los Angeles event.

Patricio Guzmán’s France-Germany-Chile coproduction Nostalgia For The Light picked up the Best Feature Award at the IDA (International Documentary Association) Awards in Los Angeles on Friday [Dec 2].

Set in Chile’s Atacama Desert Nostalgia For The Light explores dual narratives of astronomers searching for answers concerning the origins of life and a group of archaeologists and elderly women who dig through the sand searching for the remains of mummies, 19th century miners and the bodies of victims of General Augusto Pinochet’s regime.

Leonard Retel Helmrich’s Position Among The Stars scooped the Humanitas Documentary Award, while Best Limited Series went to Rachel Libert’s Boomtown, which beat out Spike Lee’s HBO documentary If God Is Willing And Da Creek Don’t Rise among others. Best Continuing Series was awarded to POV.

Massimo D’Anolfi received the Best Cinematography Award for Il Castello, Chris King and Gregers Sall took the Best Editing Award for Senna and Paul Brill went home with the Best Music Award for his work on Better This World. Best Short went to Sara Nesson’s Poster Girl.

Veteran director and cinematographer Les Blank was awarded the festival’s Career Achievement Award, while Hell and Back Again director Danfung Dennis received the 2011 Jacqueline Donnet Emerging Documentary Filmmaker Award.

The event was hosted by Sundance veteran and Webby Awards founder Tiffany Shalin, IDA Board President Eddie Schmidt, and director Josh Fox. British director Lucy Walker was a DJ at the event.

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