The Bill Nemtin Award for Best Social Impact Documentary is inspired by Canadian filmmaker and producer Bill Nemtin, who passed in early 2021.
The Bill Nemtin Award for Best Social Impact Documentary will be awarded to producers who find and tell compelling stories that inspire social or political change, and encourage their audiences to change their attitudes or behaviours or strive for policy change. Bill’s family – both his wife Jane and his daughter Andrea have worked in documentary production – hope that the award will inspire filmmakers to carry on Bill’s legacy of change-making through film.
Award Criteria
- A compelling story that depicts a contemporary or historical reality
- A previously untold story, or a new angle on a familiar one
- Characters/interviewees with whom an audience can empathise
- The filmmakers have striven to create deeper understanding of the issue/s and stimulate a desire to take action
About Bill Nemtin
All his life, Bill loved documentary and in particular its potential to change minds and lives for the better. He was a great admirer of John Grierson, the founder of the National Film Board of Canada (NFB), and the direction of his life was set by his involvement in the NFB’s Challenge for Change programme. Bill worked on the Fogo project, where he was responsible for showing Colin Low’s films to the Fogo community, and encouraging debate. One of the highlights of his life was returning to Fogo in 2014, where he was greeted like a returning hero.
Bill’s career in film and TV spanned 50 years: he worked with PBS for many years and then developed international co-productions out of London. Hand of Stalin (1990) won a Gemini, and Passage (2008) was shortlisted for a Grierson award.