What Is the Audience Award?

An icon of a movie cameraAt film festivals, the award that filmmaker most covet is the audience award. After all, these nonconventional filmmakers are telling stories not for fame or fortune, but to enlighten and entertain you — the audience.

After each Independent Lens television broadcast, the audience decides how a film measures up. At the end of each season, we tally the votes and honor one special film.

  • The 2011 Independent Lens Audience Award Winner

    A figure wearing a flannel shirt and head scarf stands at sunset in near silhouette with head thrown back and arms raised above.
    Two Spirits
    by Lydia Nibley

    Teenager Fred Martinez was a boy who was also a girl. There was a time his identity would have been celebrated; instead, it got him killed.

  • 2010

    A man with his dog
    Mine
    by Geralyn Pezanoski and Erin Essenmacher

    Mine is a powerful story about the essential bond between humans and animals, told against the backdrop of one of the worst disasters in U.S. history.

  • 2009

    A man with his dog
    Adjust Your Color: The Truth of Petey Greene
    by Loren Mendell

    He was a drug addict, a convicted felon, a hustler and a shock jock. Petey Greene gave voice to the unheard on his raw and uncensored TV and radio programs.

  • 2008

    Male hula dancers
    Na Kamalei: The Men of Hula
    by Lisette Marie Flanary

    With the 2008 pick, Na Kamalei: The Men of Hula, viewers were entertained and inspired by the only all-male hula school in Hawaii.

  • 2007

    A closeup of a young girl in a clothing factory
    China Blue
    by Micha Peled

    The 2007 audience favorite, China Blue, awakened viewers to the human cost behind retail clothing with a rare and poignant look into the lives of Chinese garment workers.

  • 2006

    boy wearing a hard hat, his face grimy with dust from the mines. He sits in front of a pickaxe handle.
    The Devil's Miner
    by Kief Davidson and Richard Ladkani

    2006’s winner, The Devil's Miner, captivated viewers with the gripping story of 14-year-old Basilio and his 12-year-old brother working in the deadly Bolivian silver mines to earn enough money to attend school.

  • 2005

    A man sitting in a wheelchair holding a microphone and looking into the distance with the large white dome of the U.S. Capitol Building looming behind him.
    On a Roll
    by Joanne Caputo

    In 2005, audiences were moved by On a Roll, the story of Greg Smith, who, born with muscular dystrophy, has turned his physical challenges into his greatest strengths.

  • 2004

    An older man dressed in a tuxedo leans against a dressing room counter and looks at his reflection.
    Jimmy Scott: If You Only Knew
    by Matthew Buzzell and Brian Gerber

    The story of one of the most distinctive vocalists of our time captured viewers’ hearts in 2004. Jimmy Scott: If You Only Knew was an overwhelming audience favorite.

  • 2003

    A woman dressed in an orange wetsuit rides a wave on a surfboard.
    Heart of the Sea
    by Charlotte Lagarde and Lisa Denker

    Another inspirational story made the top of the charts in 2003. Heart of the Sea tells the story of Hawaiian surf pioneer Rell “Kapolioka'ehukai” Sunn.