Winning BBC documentaries includes Between Life and Death and Storyville: Afghan Cricket Club
Copyright: AberCJ on FlickrThe awards, which were established in 1972, recognise documentaries "that have made a significant contribution to the genre and that demonstrate quality, integrity, creativity, originality and overall excellence". A total of 11 prizes were awarded on the night covering the arts, history, science, and more.
Winning documentaries which had been shown on BBC channels included Storyville: Afghan Cricket Club – Out of the Ashes, which won the Best Newcomer Award. Judges said the programme was chosen "for its sheer joie de vivre and determination to entertain as well as educate".
The BBC Wales documentary Between Life and Death, first shown on BBC One, which followed doctors able to "interrupt, and even reverse, the process of death" took the domestic award for Best Documentary on a Contemporary Theme.
"The jury found the film incredibly moving and powerful and commended the director for tackling the subject with such delicate sensitivity and finesse," jury chair John Battsek said in the winners announcement.
"Everyone was profoundly affected by the content of the film and the clarity with which such a painful and tragic subject was handled."
Two documentaries shown on Channel 4 and More4 also picked up gongs at the award ceremony, with Hugh's Fish Fight named best documentary series and Bodysnatchers of New York taking the prize for current most entertaining documentary.
Filmmaker John Pilger received the Grierson Trustees' Award, with chair of the Grierson Trust calling him "one of the world's great documentary producers".
"His work has uncovered atrocity, probed the underbelly of society, sparked controversy and challenged the heart of democracy," she added.
The full list of winners is below:
ENVY best documentary series
Hugh’s Fish Fight: Will Anderson for KEO Films; first shown: Channel 4
Current most entertaining documentary
Bodysnatchers of New York: Toby Dye for Bearkatt Productions; first shown: More 4
CTVC best newcomer documentary
Storyville: Afghan Cricket Club: Out of the Ashes: Timothy Albone, Lucy Martens for Shabash Productions & Bungalow Town Productions; first shown: BBC Four
Deluxe 142 best documentary on a contemporary theme – Domestic
Between Life and Death: Nick Holt for BBC Wales; first shown: BBC One
ITN Source best historical documentary
Fire in Babylon: Stevan Riley for E & G Productions, H & H Productions, Cowboy Films & Passion Pictures; first shown: London Film Festival
Sky Arts best student documentary
Caring for Calum: Lou McLoughlan, Edinburgh College of Art; first shown: Glasgow Film Festival
Vridgeman Art Library best arts documentary
Bird on a Wire: Tony Palmer for Isolde Films & The Machat Company; first shown: BBC Four
Shell Best Documentary on a Contemporary Theme - International
Secret Iraq - The Insurgency: Sam Collyns, James Jones for Quicksilver Media Limited. First shown: BBC Two
Televisual best science documentary
The Joy of Stats: Dan Hillman for Wingspan Productions; first shown: BBC Four
DocHouse and the Bertha Foundation best cinema documentary
The Arbor: Clio Barnard for Artangel; first shown: London Film Festival
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