If you are a doc enthusiast, you have probably heard about the upcoming Cinema Eye Awards. Organized by AJ Schnack and Thom Powers, the Awards will take place tomorrow at the IFC Center in NYC. I’ve maintained blog silence on the topic, though I have supported the Awards but submitting writing to their program and voting, but I ran into AJ at SXSW this past week where he asked me to blog about the Awards.

To be honest, I haven’t written on this because I have a couple of issues with it and rather than poking holes in the sails of my friends, I wanted to see how things would shake out. But, AJ wants these awards to be a community project and prefers for us to have our discussion in public, so to that end, there is an ongoing discussion over at The D-Word, should you wish to bend AJ, Thom & Co.’s ear. Below are my thoughts.

My main issue is the corporate sponsorship. I realize that any kind of awards need corporate support. The costs associated with ceremonies and administration would be impossible to manage. Other awards are often housed within a non-profit organization that will secure support from a variety of corporate sources to produce the event but the integrity of the awards remains with the producing organization (think Independent Spirits, Gothams). Here, you go to the Cinema Eye website, click on the category of films you want to browse and you are hyperlinked to Indiepix’s website where you can not only read about the film, but purchase it as well.

SXSW is all-encompassing right now but I got a couple of emails yesterday reminding me that time marches on. Miami International Film Festival announced yesterday that João Moreira Salles’ Santiago won the Knight Grand Jury Prize, with Special Mentions going to Santa Fe Street (Calle Santa Fe) and A Paper Tiger (Un Tigre de Papel).

I had the fortune of seeing Santiago during the Tribeca Film Festival as one of their world cinema films that was available for download through Jaman during the fest. It is a beautiful and engaging film. Also, STRANDED: I come from a plane that crashed on the mountains won the Audience Award. Congrats to the filmmakers and I hope Miami went off without a hitch!

Also, the AFI Dallas fest announced their film line-up for this year’s incarnation, which I’m hoping to head north for at the end of the month. Doc competition films after the jump or download the whole program.

Documentary Grand Jury Prize
TROUBLE THE WATER, directed by Tia Lessin and Carl Deal. An aspiring rap artist and her streetwise husband, armed with a video camera, show what survival means when they are trapped in New Orleans by deadly floodwaters, and seize a chance for a new beginning.

Special Jury Prize in Documentary
GREATEST SILENCE: RAPE IN THE CONGO, directed by Lisa F. Jackson, intimate look into the struggle of the lives of rape survivors.

Documentary World Cinema Jury Prize & World Cinema Audience Award
MAN ON WIRE/United Kingdom, directed by James Marsh. The film chronicles French artist Philippe Petit’s daring dance on a wire suspended between New York’s Twin Towers and his subsequent arrest for what would become known as “the artistic crime of the century.”

Documentary Audience Award
FIELDS OF FUEL, directed by Josh Tickell. A look at America’s addiction to oil, Tickell is a man with a plan and a Veggie Van, who is taking on big oil, big government, and big soy to find solutions in places few people have looked.

Documentary Directing Award
Nanette Burstein, director of AMERICAN TEEN, an irreverent cinema vérité which chronicles four seniors at an Indiana high school and yields a surprising snapshot of Midwestern life.

Documentary World Cinema Directing Award
Nino Kirtadze, director of DURAKOVO: VILLAGE OF FOOLS (DURAKOVO: LE VILLAGE DES FOUS)/ France. The film portrays life in a castle outside Moscow, where Mikhail Morozov rules autonomously over young initiates, laying the groundwork for a rapidly growing right-wing movement.

Documentary Editing Award
Joe Bini for his work on the film ROMAN POLANSKI: WANTED AND DESIRED. The documentary examines the public scandal and private tragedy which led to legendary director Roman Polanski’s sudden flight from the United States.

World Cinema Documentary Editing Award
Irena Dol for her work on THE ART STAR AND THE SUDANESE TWINS/New Zealand. The film profiles artist Vanessa Beecroft and how her obsession to adopt Sudanese twin orphans drives her marriage to a breaking point and fuels her controversial art.

Excellence in Documentary Cinematography Award
Phillip Hunt and Steven Sebring for their work on the film PATTI SMITH: DREAM OF LIFE, an intimate portrait of the poet, painter, musician and singer that mirrors the essence of the artist herself.

World Cinema Documentary Cinematography Award
al Massad for his work on RECYCLE /Jordan. A Jordanian family man living in the hometown of Muslim leader Abu Musa Al Zarqawi struggles to support his family and define his identity in a tense political climate.