The Grierson Awards celebrate innovative and exciting new documentary films. The awards have been set up by the Grierson Trust to commemorate the life and work of world-renowned documentary filmmaker John Grierson. The awards were first set up in 1972 and have run annually. In 2000 the Grierson Trust forged a link with the UK Film Council in order to expand the awards and add more prestige to the awards. The awards have grown in stature and recognition over the years and now are "more important (than ever). They have an impressive list engaging with a broad palette of styles and subjects from disabled people looking for love to asylums, Russian billionaires and global warming."
John Grierson is widely considered to be the godfather of documentary film, he has also been attributed to have coined the name "documentary". He was born in Scotland in 1898. Grierson was the founder of a new movement of documentary film in the 1930s. He started the Empire Marketing Board Film Unit, and in 1933 the GPO Film Unit, gathering together such diverse and exciting talents as Humphrey Jennings, Paul Rotha and Alberto Cavalcanti. His ground-breaking work on the Scottish herring fleet, Drifters, had its premiere in 1929 alongside the first British showing of Sergei Eisenstein’s Battleship Potemkin. In 1936, he produced the celebrated Night Mail, directed by Harry Watt with script by W.H. Auden and score by Benjamin Britten.
Sheffield Doc/Fest works in conjunction with The Grierson Trust to present Grierson: Sheffield. There are three awards presented by the Grierson Trust, the Green Award, which recognises a documentary exploring environmental issues or that has made a contribution to the climate change debate. The Innovation Award, a documentary that exhibits innovation in format, style, technique or content and The Youth Jury Award. The Youth Jury is a panel of 16- to 21-year-olds that are selected by Channel 4 and 4Talent.
The Grierson Awards are presented annually in nine categories:
Best Documentary on a Contemporary IssueBest Documentary on the ArtsBest Historical DocumentaryBest Documentary on Science or the Natural WorldThe Frontier Post Award for Most Entertaining DocumentaryBest Drama DocumentaryBest International Cinema DocumentaryBest NewcomerTrustees' AwardBest Documentary on a Contemporary Issue - Law of the Jungle, dir: Michael Christoffersen, Hans La CourBest Cinema Documentary - The House I Live In, dir: Eugene JareckiThe Trustees’ Award - John BattsekBest Documentary Newcomer - High Tech, Low Life, dir: Steve MaingBest Documentary on a Contemporary Issue - Hell and Back Again, dir: Danfung DennisBest Cinema Documentary - Bobby Fischer Against the World, dir: Liz GarbusThe Trustees’ Award - Kevin Macdonald'Best Documentary on a Contemporary Issue - Secret Iraq - The Insurgency, dir: Sam CollynsBest Documentary on the Arts - Bird on a Wire, dir: Tony PalmerBest Historical Documentary - "Fire in Babylon, dir: Stevan RileyBest Cinema Documentary - The Arbor, dir: Clio BarnardThe Trustees’ Award - John PilgerBest Documentary on a Contemporary Issue - Moving to Mars, dir: Mat WhitecrossBest Documentary on the Arts - Arena: T.S. Eliot, dir: Adam LowBest Historical Documentary - "Requiem for Detroit, dir: Julien TempleThe Award for Most Entertaining Documentary - Exit Through the Gift Shop, dir: BanksyBest Cinema Documentary - Mugabe and the White African, dir: Lucy Bailey, Andrew ThompsonBest Documentary on a Contemporary Issue - Afghan Star, dir: Havana MarkingBest Documentary on the Arts - The Mona Lisa Curse, dir: Mandy ChangBest Historical Documentary - "Thriller in Manila, dir: John DowerThe Award for Most Entertaining Documentary - The Yes Men: Fix the World, dir: Andy Bichibaum, Mike BonnanoBest Cinema Documentary - Burma VJ, dir: Anders ØstergaardTrustees' Award - Norma PercyBest Documentary on a Contemporary Issue - The Lie of the Land, dir: Molly DineenBest Documentary on the Arts - Here's Jonny, dir: Adam Lavis, William Hood, Katrina MansoorBest Historical Documentary - 1983 – The Brink of Apocalypse, dir: Henry ChancellorThe Award for Most Entertaining Documentary - Please Vote for Me, dir: Weijun Chen, Don Edkins, Mette HeideBest Drama Documentary - Battle for Haditha, dir: Nick BroomfieldBest Cinema Documentary - Joy Division, dir: Grant GeeBest Documentary on a Contemporary Issue - Rain In My Heart, dir: Paul WatsonBest Documentary on the Arts - Imagine...Who Cares About Art?, dir: Sam HobkinsonBest Historical Documentary - Hungary 1956: Our Revolution, dir: Mark KidelBest Documentary on Science or the Natural World - Monkeys, Rats and Me, dir: Adam WishartThe Frontier Post Award for Most Entertaining Documentary - Ray Gosling OAP, dir: Amanda ReillyBest Drama Documentary - Consent, dir: Katie BaliffBest International Cinema Documentary - Anatomy Of A Crime, dir: Steph AtkinsonBest Newcomer - Deep Water, dir: Sonja LindenTrustees' Award - Paul WatsonBest Documentary on a Contemporary Issue - Asylum, dir: Peter GordonBest Documentary on the Arts - Take That For The Record, dir: David Notman-WattBest Historical Documentary - How Vietnam Was Lost (Two Days In October), dir: Robert KennerBest Documentary on Science or the Natural World - The Natural World: The Queen Of Trees, dir: Victoria Stone and Mark DeebleThe Frontier Post Award for Most Entertaining Documentary - Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares: "Prog 3 - Momma Charris", dir: Christine HallBest Drama Documentary - The Year London Blew Up, dir: Edmund CoulthardBest International Cinema Documentary - Storyville: Darwin's Nightmare, dir: Hubert SauperBest Newcomer - Disabled and Looking For Love, dir: Clare RichardsTrustees' Award - Mike Salisbury