Two docu titles worth considering from the Full Frame Documentary Film Fest

Tia Lessin and Carl Deal’s Trouble the Water and James Marsh’s Man on Wire are a couple of titles that come with the Sundance seal of approval and over the weekend, they were heavily rewarded by the premiere event in Durham, NC. The 11th Full Frame Documentary Film Festival (April 3-6) awarded the tightrope act with the Special Jury Award and Full Frame Audience Award, while Trouble the Water collected a trio of side awards.

Lessin and Deal’s Trouble the Water tells the story of a streetwise young couple that survives the flooding of New
Orleans by any means necessary, rescuing dozens of neighbors along the way, and
using video to capture the storm and its aftermath. This redemptive tale of
outlaws who become heroes is set against one of the largest diasporas in
American history.

Marsh (who directed the under appreciated, family drama and commentary on religion with The King) will see his Man on Wire released sometime this coming August. It tells the true life story of Philippe Petit. Equal parts heist story, true life
drama and urban fairytale, this shows the never-before-seen footage shot at a covert training
camp in the French countryside, to the recruitment of an “inside man” who helped
smuggle more than a ton of equipment into the World Trade Center, to artful
recreations of the tense hours and minutes leading up to the event and the
spectacle of the actual walk.

The docu fest handed out about a dozen awards – here is the complete list:

Anne Dellinger Grand Jury Award – “Trouble the Water”
Special Jury Award – “Man on Wire”
Full Frame Jury Award for Best Short – “City of Cranes”
Full Frame Audience Award – “Man on Wire”
Center for Documentary Studies Filmmaker Award – “Lioness”
The Charles E. Guggenheim Emerging Artist Award – “In A Dream”
Honorable Mention – Up the Yangtze
Full Frame Inspiration Award – “At the Death House Door”
Full Frame President’s Award – “Summerchild”
Full Frame Spectrum Award – “The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)”
Honorable Mention – Up the Yangtze”
Full Frame Women In Leadership Award – “Taking Root: The Vision of Wangari Maathai”
Full Frame/Working Films Award – “Please Vote for Me” and “Trouble the Water”
The Kathleen Bryan Edwards Award for Human Rights – “Trouble the Water”