Two documentaries that debuted at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival took home the top prizes at this year's Full Frame Documentary Film Festival in Durham, North Carolina. Trouble the Water, co-directed by Carl Deal and Tia Lessin and following a young New Orleans couple in the aftermath of Katrina, won the Anne Dellinger Grand Jury Award and the Kathleen Bryan Edwards Award for Human Rights. James Marsh's Man on Wire, a look back at the 1974 illegal tightrope walk between the World Trade Center towers, snagged a special jury prize and audience award.
Other award winners included In a Dream, directed by Jeremiah Zagar about his mosaic artist father, Isaiah Zagar and another Sundance doc, Nerakhoon (The Betrayal), which brought the Full Frame President's Award to director/cinematographer Ellen Kuras weeks after she walked away with the top prize from the Ann Arbor Film Festival.
Bigger venues and a new ticketing system saw a projected 29,000 tickets sold at this year's Full Frame. Variety quotes Full Frame executive director, Peg Palmer: "'Full Frame 2008 was a huge success and we look forward to releasing the official numbers next week. The Festival hosted an eclectic audience of filmmakers and film lovers from all over the world who were completely engaged with our program.'"
