Roger Ebert, Bonnie Hammer, Alan and Susan Raymond Honored

Roger Ebert, Bonnie Hammer, Alan and Susan Raymond Honored

46th Annual CINE Awards Bring Film and Video Leaders to D.C.

WASHINGTON, April 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Film and Video awards are not just presented in Hollywood, and this was made evident at the 46th Annual CINE Golden Eagle Film and Video Awards Gala as Washington, D.C. took its turn at acknowledging some of the best and brightest in the film, video and media arts industry. Honorary award winners included Pulitzer Prize-winning film critic Roger Ebert, Academy Award-winning filmmakers Alan and Susan Raymond, USA Network and SCI FI Channel President Bonnie Hammer, and the cutting-edge technology of Lasergraphics, Inc.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050419/DCTUFNS1 )

CINE is nationally and internationally recognized for its prestigious and highly acclaimed film and video peer-review competitions, with this year's culminating April 14 at the Grosvenor Auditorium of the National Geographic Society. Award presenters included Washington Post film critic Tom Shales, actor, director, and producer Edward James Olmos, and multiple CINE Golden Eagle winner and veteran NBC News Correspondent, Bob Dotson. Masters of Ceremonies for the gala were Lisa Ling, host of National Geographic's Explorer, and Robert Aubry Davis, noted cultural commentator and host of the award-winning WETA-TV series Around Town.

Ebert, film critic for the Chicago Sun-Times, took home the CINE Lifetime Achievement Award handed him by Mr. Shales. Mr. Ebert is also Co-host, Ebert & Roeper, and author of "The Great Movies II" and "Roger Ebert's Movie Yearbook 2005." (rogerebert.com).

The CINE Trailblazers Award went to Alan and Susan Raymond, 11-time Emmy winners whose collection of films have been honored with Peabody and DuPont awards as well as the 1994 Academy Award (R) for Best Feature Documentary "I Am A Promise: The Children of Stanton Elementary School." They continue to specialize in feature length documentaries that have included topics such as education and prisoner's rights.

Bonnie Hammer, President, USA Network and SCI FI Channel, and widely acknowledged as an industry leader in network programming and branding, received the CINE Leadership Award. Hammer has been named by Hollywood Reporter as one of the "Top 100 Women in Entertainment" for four years running. At USA, Hammer has overseen the 2004 launch of "The 4400," the highest-rated and most-watched series in cable history, as well as "Kojak," an update of the TV classic starring Ving Rhames.

"This year's winners epitomize excellence in their respective fields and CINE is gratified to be able to include them in the exclusive Golden Eagle Award winners circle," said CINE President Carole L. Feld, Principal of the Giving Tree Group.

This was the first year for the new CINE-Siemens Excellence in Technology Innovation Award. "We congratulate Lasergraphics as this year's award winner and applaud the dedication and commitment of all contributors," noted Ed McDermid, vice president, N.A. Business Development, Media & Entertainment for Siemens Business Services.

CINE Seminars were held earlier today at the Sumner School on: "Reality, Fiction, and Everything In-Between," with panelists Roger Ebert, Alan and Susan Raymond, and Dalton Delan; a demonstration by Lasergraphics Inc., and CINE's traditional "5 on 5 for 5" Pitch Session, when filmmakers presented their projects to industry leaders. The winner receives an honorarium and the opportunity to pitch the project within Discovery.

"The CINE awards event could not have been made possible without the support of our generous sponsors," noted David L. Weiss, Executive Director of CINE. Sponsors of the 2005 CINE Golden Eagle Awards event include National Geographic Television & Film, Henninger Media Services, Eastman Kodak, Clear Channel Entertainment and Television, and Siemens Business Services Media.

The CINE Golden Eagle Awards Event honored the winners of the 2004 CINE Golden Eagle Award competitions for outstanding films and videos in 22 categories, chosen by peer juries from over 1,000 entries worldwide. Special Jury Awards were given to the best of the CINE Golden Eagle Award winners in each of these categories, and the best of these winners received the coveted CINE Masters Series Award for professional films, and the CINE Award of Excellence for the best student film. 2005 Major winners are: Professional Telecast Non-fiction: NOVA "World in the Balance" NOVA/WGBH, Linda Harrar Productions; Professional Telecast News: P.O.V. - Discovering Dominga, P.O.V./American Documentary, Inc.; Professional Non-telecast: Medical Missions for Children, Producer: Sylvio Sharif Tabet; Directors: Sylvio Sharif Tabet, Matthew Buzzell; CINE Award of Excellence: Savior Morning Moon Films, Director/Producer/Writer: Erla Skuladottir, Cinematographer: Brian Hubbard.

For a complete list of winners including the 2005 CINE Special Jury Awards and for more information about CINE, the awards competition, or the awards event, visit the website at http://www.cine.org/ or call 202-785-1136.

Contact: David L. Weiss 202-785-1136 dlweiss@cine.org

Mildred A. Cooper (media) 202-255-4002 mannecoop@comcast.net

Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050419/DCTUFNS1 AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/ PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com Source: CINE

CONTACT: David L. Weiss of CINE, +1-202-785-1136, dlweiss@cine.org; or media: Mildred A. Cooper, +1-202-255-4002, mannecoop@comcast.net, for CINE

Web site: http://www.cine.org/

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