International Documentary Association (IDA) announces awards timeline

One of awards season’s high profile film events in Hollywood, the International Documentary Association’s 35th IDA Documentary Awards set for Saturday, December 7, is the world’s most prestigious event dedicated to the documentary genre, celebrating the best nonfiction films and programs of the year.

For the first time, the IDA will present an award for Best Director. The IDA will bestow 16 awards this year. Honorees will be announced on Monday, October 7. Shortlists will be announced on Thursday, October 10. Nominees will be announced on Wednesday, October 23, along with the other awards recipients. IDA members will be invited to watch each of the feature and shorts nominees and then vote to decide the winners.

“The IDA Documentary Awards has celebrated the best in documentary storytelling for 34 years and we continue to refine our awards,” said Simon Kilmurry, executive director of IDA. “We have always recognized the Best Feature Documentary, an award that is given to both the producers and directors. In this our 35th year, we want to more clearly honor high achievement in directing with its own. Documentary directing is a vital art and craft which needs to be singularly recognized.”

TIMELINE – 35TH ANNUAL IDA DOCUMENTARY AWARDS

Monday, October 7, 2019 – Honorees Announced
Thursday, October 10, 2019 – Shortlists Announced for Best Feature and Best Short Documentary
Wednesday, October 23, 2019 – Nominees Announced
Monday, November 4, 2019 – IDA Member Voting Opens for Best Feature and Best Short Documentary Awards, Host Announced
Monday, December 2, 2019 – IDA Member Voting Closes
Saturday, December 7, 2019 – Ceremony Day, Winners Announced

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Erik Anderson

Erik Anderson is the founder/owner and Editor-in-Chief of AwardsWatch and has always loved all things Oscar, having watched the Academy Awards since he was in single digits; making lists, rankings and predictions throughout the show. This led him down the path to obsessing about awards. Much later, he found himself in film school and the film forums of GoldDerby, and then migrated over to the former Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), before breaking off to create AwardsWatch in 2013.

He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.

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