BEST DOCUMENTARY: GOLD AWARD
Dear Birth Mother (USA)
Produced by Dan Collison and Elizabeth Meister

After waiting for Mr. Right (who has yet to arrive) and experiencing years of fertility treatments, Suzanne, a single woman in her forties, decides to adopt an African-American baby. Dan Collison and Elizabeth Meister follow her for several months as she attends workshops designed to "teach white people to raise kids of color," goes on baby-shopping trips with Mom at Target, takes part in a critical rendezvous with a young mother at a pancake house, and, finally, a magical night at a suburban restaurant chain. (28:44)

BEST DOCUMENTARY: SILVER AWARD
Hearing Voices (UK)
Produced by John Wynne

Hearing Voices is a compelling and adventurous exploration of languages on the verge of extinction. The ‘composed documentary’ moves seamlessly between documentary and abstraction, language and music, weaving together interviews, field recordings and Wynne’s own music made from these materials. Every sound in this half-hour piece, which features recordings of various click-language speakers from the Kalahari Desert in Botswana, is derived from the Khoisan subjects and their environment. (28:40)

BEST DOCUMENTARY: BRONZE AWARD
Mandela: An Audio History (USA)
Produced by Joe Richman, Sue Johnson and Ben Shapiro

Mandela: An Audio History is a five-part radio series documenting South Africa’s half-century long struggle against apartheid as told by Nelson Mandela, as well as those who fought with him, and against him. Produced without scripted narration, the project weaves first person accounts with an unprecedented collection of archival recordings. Many of these recordings had never been broadcast anywhere before. (12:44)

BEST DOCUMENTARY: DIRECTORS' CHOICE
The Wire, episode 5: The Sound Around (CANADA)
Produced by Paolo Pietropaolo, Chris Brookes and Jowi Taylor

Somewhere between a documentary, a remix, and a music show, the eight part series The Wire: the Impact of Electricity on Music, reflects on changes in both the composition and consumption of music over the past century. Episode 5, The Sound Around, explores how music has become ubiquitous in the world, from public settings to the most private spaces we inhabit. The Wire, Episode 5 first aired on CBC Radio One. (53:00)

BEST DOCUMENTARY: HONORABLE MENTION
The Ring & I: The Passion, The Myth, The Mania (USA)
Produced by Jad Abumrad, Aaron Cohen and Elena Park

The grandeur and power of Wagner’s monumental work, The Ring Cycle, has permeated our culture to the point that “Wagnerian” is used as an adjective, and each of the opera’s signature elements—the music, the symbolism and use of myth, the epic drama— has found its way into pop culture, from Star Wars to  Bugs Bunny.  The Ring & I is an examination of the ways this unlikely work of art has inspired passion, impacted culture, and invited controversy over the last 125 years. (58:00)

BEST DOCUMENTARY: HONORABLE MENTION
A Map of the Sea (CANADA)
Produced by Chris Brookes

For centuries, Newfoundland fisheries were hailed as the greatest in the world.  Then, in 1992, their main export, the codfish, disappeared.  In the years since, tens of thousands of Newfoundlanders have left the island and entire communities have vanished.  The toll has not just been economic: fishing was at the heart of the oldest non-indigenous culture in the Americas.  Now the islanders must find a way to keep that culture from going the way of the cod. (15:00)

BEST DOCUMENTARY: HONORABLE MENTION
My Struggle With Obesity (USA)
Produced by Czerina Patel with Rookie Reporter Samr “Rocky” Tayeh

Fifteen year-old Rocky, a Palestinian American, lives with his parents and siblings in Brooklyn.  Three times the size of his twin sister, Rocky is the target of his siblings’ jokes and insults.  When they’re not ridiculing him, his family tries to entice him to lose weight by offering such incentives as a laptop computer or even $1,000, for losing 30 pounds. Rocky captures his own struggles on tape as he tries earnestly to slim down, even though he has no idea how to control his eating. (14:30)

BEST NEW ARTIST
Just Another Fish Story (USA)
Produced by Molly Menschel

Ten years ago, the people of Lubec, Maine, were met with an unpleasant surprise: an enormous finback whale had washed onto the beachfront of their tiny coastal town. As the 60-ton dead fish began to decompose, the town was forced to come up with a plan to get rid of it. In Just Another Fish Story, the people of Lubec re-live the burial of their giant visitor and in doing so, tell us as much about the town as the whale. (8:31)

RADIO IMPACT
Weighing the Balance (CANADA)
Produced by Kellie Hudson, Dick Miller and Mike Bryan

Weighing the Balance evolved from a simple question: what happened to the men who were named and shamed in a very public news conference staged by the Toronto Police.  Six men, their ages and places of residence were named as people who had purchased child pornography.  Upon investigation, Kellie Hudson found that one man wasn’t even charged, and while three had gone to court, two had had their charges quietly withdrawn.  One of those men was James Lecraw.  Despite the withdrawal of charges, LeCraw lost his job, friends and eventually, in deep despair, took his own life.  This is James’ story, as told by his brother and niece, his former employer and through his own words. (20:56)