Irene Lilienheim Angelico

Irene Lilienheim Angelico

Director, Producer, Writer

Irene Angelico is the winner of numerous international awards for directing and producing, as well as a Gemini for best writing in a documentary. Her work was included in The Fifty Greatest Documentaries of all Times at the International Salute to the Documentary and selected for retrospectives in London and France.

In 1980, Angelico and her partner Abbey Neidik produced and directed Dark Lullabies about the effects of the Holocaust on the next generation of Germans and Jews. This highly regarded film has garnered many prestigious international prizes, and continues to be shown in special screenings including the inaugural film at the Stratford Festival Forum, the Berlin Arsenal 70th anniversary of the Holocaust, the Inconvenient Films: International Human Rights Festival and Liberation 75 in Toronto in 2021.

Angelico went on to direct and write award-winning series including Black Coffee, about the history and social impact of coffee, Inside the Great Magazines, about the first international media; and The Cola Conquest, about Coca-Cola as a metaphor for America and winner, among others, of the Best Documentary Series by an Independent at Hot Docs, the Gold Apple and the Silver Hugo in Chicago.

Angelico produced and wrote many other highly successful films including The Love Prophet and the Children of God; She Got Game (Guirlande d'Honneur – Milan, Best Documentary – Temecula Valley, Chris Statuette – Columbus); Song for Tibet (Gemini); Vendetta Song (Best Documentary, CIDA Prize, Best Documentary – Quebec Film Critics Association, Best Documentary – Calgary, Best Documentary – Female Eye; Unbreakable Minds, a poignant film that aims to humanize mental illness; Shekinah: the Intimate Lives of Hasidic Women, #1 in the box office for six weeks and Beyond Earth: the Beginning of NewSpace, named by Realscreen as a MipCom Pic for 2017.

Angelico has also been involved in the publication of several articles and two books. With Abbey Neidik and Mark Pendergrast, she edited The Aftermath: A Survivor's Odyssey Through War-Torn Europe, written by her father, Henry Lilienheim, and endorsed by Nobel Peace Prize Laureates Elie Wiesel and the Dalai Lama. She and Yehudi Lindeman co-edited The Third Seder: A Haggadah for Yom HaShoah, which includes new rituals they created uniquely for the commemoration of Yom HaShoah.

Angelico is currently in post-production with First to Stand, a documentary featuring the work of Irwin Cotler and the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights; Reaching for Zion, a musical journey about prejudice told through music and featuring Bob Marley’s granddaughter Donisha Prendergast, and releasing Shekinah Rising, the second in a sequel about young Hasidic women.

HONOURS

Founding Chair, DLI Productions (from 1981)
Canadian Women Behind the Camera (2019, 2020, 2021)
Women in the Director’s Chair (2001)
A Salute to the Documentary (1989)
Founding Chair of CIFC Montreal (now DOC) (1992-3)
Hot Docs Alumnae

AWARDS

2019
  • Beyond Earth Film Festival, Jury’s Special mention – Beyond Earth: the Beginning of NewSpace
2017
  • Hollywood Independent Documentary Awards, award winner – Beyond Earth: the Beginning of NewSpace
2013
  • Best Documentary, Crown Heights Film Festival – Shekinah: The Intimate Life of Hasidic Women
2008
  • Hugo Television Awards – Merit Prize for Chicago Film Festival Prize for Social Political Documentary – Canadaville, USA
2007
  • Best Original Music Score for a Documentary Program or Series nominee, Gemini Awards – Black Coffee Part III: Gold in Your Cup
2006
  • 3rd prize, International Women’s Festival Cinema Delle Donne, Torina – Vendetta Song
  • Bronze Plaque, Columbus International Film and Video Festival – Vendetta Song
  • Best Canadian Documentary, Calgary Film Festival – Vendetta Song
2005
  • Top 10 Favourite, Hot Docs – Vendetta Song
  • Choix du public, Rendez-vous du Cinéma Québécois – Vendetta Song
  • Best Canadian Documentary on International Development, Hot Docs – Vendetta Song
  • Best Documentary Film, Female Eye Film Festival – Vendetta Song
  • Peabody Awards consideration – Unbreakable Minds
  • Willpower Board of Directors Grateful Appreciation Award – Unbreakable Minds
  • Quebec Film Critics Association Best Medium Length Documentary, Rendez-vous du Cinéma Québécois – Vendetta Song
2004
  • Gold Aurora, Aurora Awards – She Got Game
2003
  • Guirlande d’Honneur, Sports Movies & TV Int. Festival, Milan – She Got Game
  • Chris Statuette, Columbus International Film & Video Festival – She Got Game
  • Best Documentary Silver, Temecula Valley Int. Film and Video Music Festival – She Got Game
1999
  • Best Documentary Series by an Independent, Hot Docs – The Cola Conquest
  • Best Writing in a Documentary or Series, Gemini Award – The Cola Conquest
  • Best Documentary Series Nomination, Gemini Awards – The Cola Conquest
  • Gold Apple, National Education Media Network – The Cola Conquest
  • Golden Sheaf Award, Yorktown Short Film and Video Festival – The Love Prophet and the Children of God
  • Best Biography Nominee, Hot Docs – The Love Prophet and the Children of God
1998
  • Silver Hugo, Best Series, Chicago International Television Competition – The Cola Conquest
  • Encounter Internacionais de Cinema Documentale, Vila Franca de Xira
  • Gold Plaque, Best Biography, Chicago International Television Competition – The Love Prophet and the Children of God
  • Peabody Awards consideration – The Cola Conquest Part I: The Big Sell
  • Peabody Awards consideration – The Cola Conquest Part II: Cola War and Peace
  • Peabody Awards consideration – The Cola Conquest Part III: Coca-Colonization
  • Les Grands Reportages Faits de Societé, Diplôme de participation, FIPA à Cannes
1993
  • Best Documentary Nominee, Les Prix Gémeaux – Between the Solitudes
  • Best Editing Nominee, Les Prix Gémeaux – Between the Solitudes
  • Certificate of Appreciation, Earth Peace International Festival – Between the Solitudes
  • International Documentary Special or Series, CableACE Awards – The Burning Times
1992
  • Best Short Documentary, Genie Awards – A Song for Tibet
  • Best Documentary of the Year, Hawaii Film Festival – A Song for Tibet
  • Best Documentary of the Year, Yorktown Film Festival – A Song for Tibet
  • Blue Ribbon, American Film Festival – A Song for Tibet
1989
  • Prix du Public, International Salute to the Documentary – Dark Lullabies
1986
  • Best Feature Film Nominee, Torino International Festival of Young Cinema – Dark Lullabies
  • Most Memorable Film, World Television Festival, Tokyo – Dark Lullabies
  • Red Ribbon, American Film Festival – Dark Lullabies
1985
  • First Prize, International Film Festival of Mannheim – Dark Lullabies
  • Special Prize for Most Social Political Engagement, International Film Festival of Mannheim – Dark Lullabies
  • First Prize, Ecumenical Jury, International film Festival of Mannheim – Dark Lullabies
  • Educational Jury Award, International Film Festival of Mannheim – Dark Lullabies
  • Audience Award, International Film Festival of Mannheim – Dark Lullabies
1980
  • Dance Film Award Competition, DFA – Meditation in Motion