Grierson Documentary Awards - The Nominations

With the Grierson Documentary Awards happening tonight, I thought I'd look back at some of the stand-out nominations.

Among the films nominated for Best Doc on Contemporary Theme, is My Son the Jihadi (MSTJ) and Breaking into Britain: The Lorry Jumpers (BIB).

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MSTJ was the perspective we'd been waiting to hear from the first instance of Brits leaving to fight with IS. Who are these people, why are they leaving, how can their families let this happen - the doc gave us answers to most things, how easy it was to find yourself trapped, how it felt to be a part of a cause (a feeling you'd never felt before) and how grooming takes place bit by bit so that it doesn't seem so extreme. I'd seen a play earlier in the year 'Losing Our children to Islamic State' where this viewpoint was further explained. The only thing missing from both, was someone who had been there, who had joined IS and who had defected. I wanted to hear all the answers from them personally, because listening to a loving mother unable to understand the actions of her son, and mourning the loss of his life, twice over - just asked more questions. It was a documentary that explored the makings of how ordinary men and women spiralled towards extremism.

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BIB is another highlight. There was some great covert film-making at work here by Leo Maguire. The stakes were high, the risks obvious. Our cameraman even finds himself physically attacked by a police officer despite his journalist status. We meet men and women desperate to jump the border, regardless of the risks that accompany the crossing and the filmmaker doesn't shy away from that risk. It was a tough watch, but a good one too. Either of these films deserve the title for me.

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In the Best Arts Doc category, Amy soars to the top of my list. For someone who never truly appreciated her talent (I was only 11 when she sprung to fame) this was the side of the story I never got to hear. It portrayed the instant tabloid madness that came with her fame, and the overwhelming attention paid to all aspects of her personal life. It's a story about a young girl who just wants to sing. The things that come with it are often unwanted. The failure of those around her to recognise her suffering. The way that the success of her shows was put well before her well-being. It's a tragic story. Even on retreat across the ocean her father brings a camera crew - she's over it. Tabloids have long painted Amy in a negative light, as a bad egg, and Amy the film totally transformed the headlines I'd been fed throughout my teenage years about her. It's sad, I feel we all realised that too late.

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Best Historical Doc lines up My Nazi Legacy and Britain's Forgotten Slave Owners. Although it gave glimpses of investigative brilliance, I was disappointed with the latter I have to be honest. David Olusogo did a worthy job, but it felt very static. I wanted dynamic, it is slavery we're talking about after all. It felt a bit restrained to artefacts housed in stale environments and although the concept excited me, the content failed to match. My Nazi Legacy is top of my watchlist at the moment, so it'll be interesting to see how it does at the awards!

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For Best Science Documentary, it's no doubt My Beautiful Broken Brain that comes out on top (& it's now excitingly on NetFlix). The visuals were immersive, the story was intimate and the ups and downs were made all the more powerful with that. It explored the after effects of suffering a stroke that I'd never thought about and Lotje is completely inspiring. The fact this documentary exists is testament to her resolute ability to carry on, despite the hardships and emotional challenges that we witness throughout the film. It was a fascinating from start to finish and so well presented, a definite winner in my opinion.

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Best Natural history and Best Documentary Series, goes to The Hunt for some great wildlife cinematography, some intense life or death chases, some great music - need I go on. I don't need to say anymore than the Gogglebox contributors have already given us on screen - particularly following the scene of monkey vs monkey survival (I honestly had no idea that they ate each other). Best nature series we've had in a while I think.

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Best Entertaining Doc, Secret Life of 4, 5 and 6 years olds by a mile. I can't actually pin down what's so brilliant about it. I find kids entertaining anyway, but there's something about the psychology of it that absolutely fascinates me. I find myself thinking I'm a child psychologist in every episode. The challenges are brilliant, the fixed rig cameras expertly placed and the children brilliantly cast. It's just a great format and having  run around with a C300 shoulder rig for a taster tape for a similar idea, I have even more respect for the team that manages to construct and capture the brilliance.

It's nominated for best constructed documentary series too, alongside the tough opposition of Gogglebox and Hunted. Gogglebox gives us all of the emotions we like to experience through television in one sitting. Hunted likes to allow us to think we could escape the state way better (when actually we'd all probably be worse). And Secret Life, is well, see above. This is a tough category for me and I think any of the three deserve the prize.

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Best Cinema Documentary is hands down Cartel Land for me (now on Netflix too). I went to a talk about acceptable risk on productions at Sheffield DocFest last year and then saw this film, which blew the 'should-dos' out of the water. Watching Matthew Heineman capture gun fights made me hold my breath sure that the camera would hit the ground. Heineman evokes hope in his audience, in a rising leader against the cartels and a hardened vigilante member whose face told a thousand stories of its own. A doctor and family man, the story feels like your common good vs evil, and only towards the end do the lines appear to blur. It's got some great cinematography and the story is brilliantly crafted to allow the audience to witness the same feelings of fear, hope and hopelessness as the Mexican people, from the comfy seats of a cinema. He won the Tim Hetherington Award for a reason and he deserves this one too.

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The last category I mention, is the Best Doc Presenter. Louis Theroux's Drinking To Oblivion just pulls itself above the others I think. To watch as Louis was powerless to help as a young man discharges himself and heads to the local off-licence - we wait in hope that he returns without a bottle. Louis conveys exactly what the professionals, families, friends of alcoholics feel every day. They hope, they support, they wait, they worry - it's a constant see-saw of ups and downs, never knowing at which point they'll get off. Seeing the young man walk through the doors and tell Louis he decided against it was a moment of victory for 'man vs addiction'. Great honest work from Theroux again. Give the man a Grierson.

That's it from me, over to the judges to announce the worthy Winners tonight, 7th Nov, 2016!