Alexander Nanau will receive the “Robert and Anne Drew” Award for Documentary Excellence

observational filmmaking. The award includes a $5,000 cash prize.

     After receiving this piece of news, Nanau reacted on his Facebook page:

     “Among the awards I have been honoured and privileged to receive these past few years, the Robert and Anne Drew Award is the most significant acknowledgment of my work so far. When during my film student years I was trying to figure out through what kind of film I want to explore the world, my encounter with Robert Drew`s pioneering work was defining for me. It happened during the documentary classes that were taking place on Mondays, at the cinema of our university. We used to watch the most important films of the direct cinema, such as Drew`s Primary and Crisis as well as Salesman made by the Maysles brothers. I was electrified and at the end of the third screening (Salesman), I knew for sure: this is the way I will make my films and this is the cinema I want to explore and further develop. I had just discovered that you could tell stories about real people who become larger than life on a canvas, in a way that allows the viewer to fully identify with themselves. A documentary, as well as a fiction film, could suspend space and time for the viewer, allowing him to perceive the cinema as a revealing life experience.

What Robert Drew started was continued by tens of directors and I couldn`t be more honored and grateful to be among some of the best contemporary observational documentaries directors who have received the Robert and Ann Drew Award these past few years.”