NewsGrierson Shortlist Announced
House of Saddam, The Shooting of Thomas Hurndall, The Long Walk to Finchley and Sounds Like Teen Spirit have all been shortlisted for the Grierson Awards announced in August 2009.
House of Saddam, written and directed by Alex Holmes and produced by Steve Lightfoot, has been nominated in the Best Drama Documentary category. This epic four part drama for BBC and HBO tells the story of the rise and fall of the dynasty of Saddam Hussein.
Also nominated in the Drama Documentary category is The Shooting of Thomas Hurndall, directed by Rowan Joffe. The film tells the true story of the Hurndall family's fight for justice after their son Tom, a student photographer, was shot dead by an Israeli sniper on the Gaza strip.
Margaret Thatcher; The Long Walk to Finchley, directed by Niall MacCormick and written by Tony Saint and produced by Madonna Baptiste, is also nominated as Best Drama Documentary. This one-off drama shows Thatcher's struggle to win the nomination and subsequently her parliamentary seat in Finchley.
Jamie Johnson's film, Sounds Like Teen Spirit, has been nominated in the UK Film Council Best Cinema Documentary category. The film follows the fortunes of under-15 hopefuls Yiorgos from Cyprus, Mariam from Georgia, Marina from Bulgaria and Belgian rock group Trust as they pursue singing stardom in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest.
Poet Luke Wright wrote The Seven Ages of Love, nominated in the Best Newcomer category for film-maker Zara Hayes.
The Awards will be announced on 3rd November 2009.