For the first time, the prize awarded since 2003 is not presented to an individual artist, but goes instead to an artistic documentary project. Field of Vision supports creation of short and full-length documentaries and audiovisual multimedia works of fundamental importance for the contemporary documentary human rights narrative.
Field of Vision founders are Oscar and Pulitzer Prize winner Laura Poitras as well as Charlotte Cook, curator and producer, long-time Director of Programming at Hot Docs, the largest North American documentary festival. Directors who make films for the Field of Vision include acclaimed filmmakers such as Marshall Curry or RaMell Ross, whose "Hale County This Morning, This Evening" exemplifies the extremely rare case when an experimental documentary gets an Oscar nomination. But Field of Vision offers opportunities to lesser-known artists too because it is indeed a platform where a story and the artistic vision of its recounting matter, a place where filmmakers themselves have a voice.
Field of Vision is also a platform for non-fiction filmmakers that allows them to meet and work together with investigative journalists. Field of Vision?s trademark is the unconventional intersection of creative explorations in the field of audiovisual art with socially and politically engaged journalism. This is where the most cutting-edge formally and the most important socially documentary film documents are created today - the founders of Field of Vision have perfectly sensed the pulse and needs of the modern non-fiction narrative. This includes the need for a rapid documentary response to crisis situations too and the general need for shortening of usually extended documentary production cycle. The Field of Vision film achievements are probably the best proof that there is no fundamental contradiction between art and journalism, rendering that view an outdated cliché (which still lingers in documentary film in our region of the world).
Field of Vision is the flagship nonprofit project of First Look Media, a producer of media content for all communication channels, founded in 2013 with the conviction that "freedom of expression and of the press, and fiercely independent perspectives, are vital to a healthy democracy and a vibrant culture." The founder of First Look Media is the creator of eBay and the famous philanthropist, Pierre Omidyar.
In our mini Field of Vision retrospective, in addition to three outstanding full-length documentaries, there is a selection of excellent short films from around the world - from Guantanamo, to Cape Town, all the way to India.
Field of Vision is a very wide field of very sharp vision.
