AWARDS FOR REAL-LIFE FILM MAKERS

As film maker Robert Epstein accepted an award from the International Documentary Assn. for “The Times of Harvey Milk” on Wednesday afternoon, he recalled with wry amusement, a review the film had received from a critic.

“I think all of you can appreciate this,” Epstein said to the hundred or so invited guests at the awards luncheon at the Sheraton Premiere Hotel in Universal City. He read from a review of his Oscar-winning film (which he co-directed with Richard Schmiechen) that appeared in a Nebraska newspaper: “More than merely informative, more than illuminating, it (the film) is truly moving. At times you forget you are watching a documentary. “

Optimism for the beleaguered documentary was in the air at the association’s first awards ceremony, presided over by such communications luminaries as author Norman Corwin, director Jack Haley Jr. and producer David L. Wolper.

A total of five documentaries received awards for “exceptional creative achievement in nonfiction film and television production.” In addition to Epstein and Schmiechen, Nina Rosenblum received an award for “America and Lewis Hines”; George Stevens Jr. for his “George Stevens: A Filmmaker’s Journey”; Bud Greenspan for “Sixteen Days of Glory” and Michael Apted for “28 Up.”

“(It’s time) that exhibitors, distributors and the paying public found out that documentaries are worth seeing,” Apted said, upon accepting his award.

Documentary maker Pare Lorentz and media critic Erik Barnouw received special achievement awards.

Lorentz was recipient of the first career achievement award for his work as documentary maker and critic. While serving as film adviser to Franklin D. Roosevelt’s U.S. Resettlement Administration (later renamed the Farm Security Administration), Lorentz made such landmark documentaries as “The Plow That Broke the Plains” (1936) and “The River” (1937), which led to a Pulitzer Prize nomination. Lorentz also organized the U.S. Film Service in 1940. A collection of his film criticism, which appeared in such magazines as Vanity Fair and McCall’s, was published in 1975.

The same problems he dealt with as a film maker still plague contemporary documentary makers, Lorentz said.

“I stopped making documentaries to get back to the written word, and because of distribution and money problems--same as now,” said the amiable, silver-haired Lorentz, who turns 80 next month. “There is also the power of TV to contend with now. If I was going to make a prize-winning film today, it would have to be for TV. But the main networks own their own product and they’re not going to take independents.

“It’s difficult these days for decent characters (film makers) to go out and find distribution. But with more outlets and money floating around, there should be enough room for the best people to make it.”

Barnouw, winner of the preservation and scholarship award, has written 10 books on the history and criticism of film, radio, television and the documentary. He served as chief of the Library of Congress’ motion picture, broadcasting and recorded sound division from 1978 to 1981. He is currently editing a four-volume reference work, the International Encyclopedia of Communications, and is professor emeritus of dramatic arts at Columbia University.

Barnouw was introduced by a longtime radio friend from the 1930s, Norman Corwin, a media father figure who had emceed USC’s journalism awards the night before. “Norman can always come up with intoxicating words,” said Barnouw. “I feel a little tipsy.”

However, his message was hard hitting. Barnouw believes that “networks have had a terrible effect on the documentary. They’re afraid of it, it generates less advertising dollars, and consequently it is pushed to the edge.

“A few years ago, there was enormous hope for the documentary on cable TV,” Barnouw said. “Both CBS and NBC were planning a cultural cable network and were commissioning films. But they didn’t get the money from the sponsors and the plans were scrapped. Now cable wants documentaries, but they don’t want to pay for them.”

Nina Rosenblum, a 35-year-old New Yorker who spent four years producing and directing “America and Lewis Hines,” is struggling to recoup the costs of the film, which has been shown on public television on the East Coast.

“It’s a real struggle to make documentaries,” Rosenblum said before the awards. “You find yourself in a double bind. Even when you have a successful film and get theatrical distribution, the theater and advertising costs put you further into debt.

“The documentary is not nearly as respected in this country as it is around the world. Americans appreciate the dramatic form more. They need fantasy. For some peculiar reason, when I tell people my film is a documentary, it loses its impact.”