The Los Angeles-based organization International Documentary Association (IDA) has revealed the 35th Annual IDA Documentary Awards shortlist for the Best Feature, which includes six Latin American and Latin American-themed titles.
The three Latin American films shortlisted by the IDA are the Chilean film Lemebel by Joanna Reposi on influential visual artist and activist Pedro Lemebel; the Brazilian film The Edge of Democracy by Petra Costa, both a personal memoir and political documentary on the recent and convoluted history of Brazil, charting the slippery slope from democracy to authoritarian rule; and the Mexican co-production Midnight Family by Luke Lorentzen, a portrait of a family-run ambulance business in Mexico City that struggles to stay afloat.
The other three Latin American-themed titles are Asif Kapadia’s Diego Maradona, a look at the career of the celebrated and legendary Argentine soccer player; Richard Ladkani’s Sea of Shadows, a documentary thriller that follows a team of dedicated scientists, high-tech conservationists, investigative journalists and courageous undercover agents as well as the Mexican Navy as they put their lives on the line to save the last remaining vaquitas in the Gulf of Cortez and bring the vicious international crime syndicate to justice; and The Proposal by conceptual artist Jill Magid, which traces the quest of the director to recover the works of the late Mexican architect Luis Barragán from a Swiss bunker.
Additionally, IDA also unveiled the short film shortlist which includes the short films After Maria by Nadia Hallgren from Puerto Rico, La Bala de Sandoval by Jean-Jacques Martinod from Ecuador and Marielle and Monica by Fabio Erdos from Brazil.
The final IDA Award nominees in sixteen categories will be announced on Wednesday, October 23, and the 2019 Awards will be presented on Saturday, December 7 at a ceremony at the Paramount Studios in Los Angeles.
