The award follows in the steps of its predecessor, the Lumiere, in recognizing documentary filmmakers who have made important and lasting contributions to the world of nonfiction film.

A master of the documentary form, Kenner’s rich body of work includes many critically acclaimed films his most recent, Command and Control, which screened at Hamptons Doc Fest, was short-listed for the 2017 Academy Award as Best Documentary and won the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Documentary Screenplay. Merchants of Doubt, won the Hamptons Doc Fest Audience Award in 2015; the Peabody and Emmy Award-winning Two Days in October; HBO's When Strangers Click; and The Road to Memphis for Martin Scorsese's series The Blues on which Kenner was co-filmmaker with Richard Pearce. He has also directed a number of specials for American Experience, HBO and National Geographic, as well as short form docs and award-winning commercials. Kenner is currently working on a film about parrot therapy for veterans with PTSD, and a six-part series about the infamous serial killer Henry Lee Lucas.

Kenner’s Academy Award nominated and Emmy winning film Food, Inc. was screened that evening. The film had a monumental impact on how food is regulated in our country and is one of the highest grossing theatrical documentaries of all time. Food, Inc. was hailed by critics everywhere as a shattering indictment of the food industry and big business, lifting the veil on an industry rife with corruption. In Food, Inc., Kenner lifts the veil on our nation's food industry, exposing the highly mechanized underbelly that has been hidden from the American consumer with the consent of our government's regulatory agencies, USDA and FDA. Our nation's food supply is now controlled by a handful of corporations that often put profit ahead of consumer health, the livelihood of the American farmer, the safety of workers and our own environment. We have bigger-breasted chickens, the perfect pork chop, herbicide-resistant soybean seeds, even tomatoes that won't go bad, but we also have new strains of E. coli the harmful bacteria that causes illness for an estimated 73,000 Americans annually. We are riddled with widespread obesity, particularly among children, and an epidemic level of diabetes among adults. Featuring interviews with numerous experts, the film reveals surprising and often shocking truths about what we eat, how it's produced, who we have become as a nation and where we are going from here. A not-to-be-missed classic, which has become one of the top earning documentaries ever.
Award photos by c.b. grubb