Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) chief programming officer Anita Lee and filmmaker Nisha Pahuja were recognized with documentary achievement awards at the DOC Institute’s Honours Awards on Thursday (Dec. 8).

The annual awards celebration honours Canadian documentary filmmakers. A jury of their peers unanimously voted Lee and Pahuja to receive the Rogers-DOC Luminary Award and the DOC Vanguard Award, respectively.

Lee received the Luminary Award, which recognizes leadership and creative spirit toward making a significant contribution to Canadian documentary, for her work in the industry throughout a more than 25-year career. Lee has produced critically acclaimed works such as Sarah Polley’s Stories We Tell, and was named chief programming officer at TIFF earlier this year.

Prior to her role at TIFF, Lee was executive producer and studio head of the National Film Board of Canada’s Ontario Studio. There she established NFB Ontario’s equity strategy to centre racially diverse talent, and completed groundbreaking work in digital media for the organization. She also founded the Reel Asian Film Festival, and spearheaded national and international partnerships in production, exhibition and distribution.

“We had a strong group of nominees this year, but the jury felt unanimously that Anita was the frontrunner,” said James Weyman, co-chair of the DOC Institute. “Her contribution to the documentary industry and her support for new talent, risk-taking and creatively challenging programming throughout her career makes her a leader who embodies the spirit of the Luminary Award.”

The Vanguard Award, awarded to Pahuja, recognizes emerging or mid-career professionals with keen artistic sensibility and visionary approach. Pahuja’s credits include Gemini Award-winning titles Diamond Road and Bollywood Bound, as well as the 2012 doc The World Before Her, which was nominated for an Emmy Award and won honours at the Tribeca Film Festival, Hot Docs, TIFF, the Canadian Screen Awards and the Sundance Film Forward program.

Pahuja’s latest film, To Kill a Tiger, premiered at TIFF earlier this year, where it won the Amplify Voices Award for Best Canadian Feature Film.

“Nisha Pahuja’s documentaries deal with socio-political issues through the stories of very strong protagonists,” DOC Institute co-chair Lalita Krishna said.

“She tackles tough subjects with the tenacity, vigour and vision that is the hallmark of a true Vanguard winner.”

This year’s DOC Institute Honours were the first to be held live and in-person after two years of virtual events due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The DOC Institute Honours are juried from nominations submitted by peers in the documentary committee across Canada.

This story originally appeared in Realscreen

Photo by Suchaina, courtesy of DOC Institute; Pictured (L-R): Robin Mirsky, Lalita Krishna, Mrinal Desai (accepting the Vanguard Award on behalf of Nisha Pahuja), Anita Lee, Sandra Kleinfeld, and James Weyman.