Top Documentaries of 2005 Nominated for 21st Annual

International Documentary Association Awards

IDA NOMINATES “FREEDOM FROM DESPAIR”

LOS ANGELES, December 14, 2005— Finalists in the 21st Annual International Documentary Association (IDA) Distinguished Documentary Achievement Awards competition were announced in September, among them, a feature documentary Freedom from Despair by 24 year old filmmaker Brenda Brkusic. The winners were feted here at the IDA Awards Benefit Gala on December 9, 2005, at the Directors Guild of America Theatre.

“All of these films tell compelling stories about an important subject in a memorable way,” says IDA Executive Director Sandra Ruch. “They were chosen by a jury of peers out of hundreds of artfully crafted films from every part of the world. The purpose of the IDA Awards is to celebrate and recognize their successful quests for excellence, and also to inspire other filmmakers to strive to fulfill their dreams.”

The IDA Awards selection process began with peer group juries who viewed all submissions to select nominees in each category for final review by a blue-ribbon panel. All nominated films, by virtue of its selection as a nominee, become a part of the IDA/Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Academy Film Archive.

“It is a great honor to be nominated by this most respected organization,” said Brkusic of her nomination for a David L. Wolper Distinguished Documentary Achievement Award. Brkusic was also invited by the IDA board of directors to be considered for a Jacqueline Donnet Emerging Documentary Filmmaker Award. She said, “in 2004 I met Michael Moore at the IDA Awards when he was nominated for Fahrenheit 9/11. I never imagined that the following year I would be nominated. The IDA receives so many compelling, professionally crafted films, and I am grateful that they offered one of the coveted nominee slots to Freedom from Despair. I am also excited that the film will now become a part of the Academy of Motion Pictures, Arts and Sciences Film Archive.”

Freedom from Despair, which has won a myriad of international awards, including the prestigious CINE Golden Eagle Award, was showcased along side films by top industry professionals and films produced by CNN, the Discovery Channel and PBS. “The teams that make up these films are amazing” said Brkusic, "I was lucky to work with actors Michael York, John Savage, Beata Pozniak and music composer Nenad Bach on Freedom from Despair." Nenad Bach composed the score for two of the films that we nominated this year, Brkusic's Freedom from Despair and Weapons of Mass Deception by Danny Schecter. "Freedom from Despair is a story about my father's escape from the tyranny of Communist Yugoslavia and his people's struggle to attain freedom and human rights. It is a story which represents millions of Croatians."

Eastman Kodak Company has sponsored the IDA Distinguished Documentary Achievement Awards Gala since its inception in 1984. IDA is a nonprofit, public interest organization. For more information on the IDA, visit www.documentary.org or call 213-534-3600.