Jerry Rothwell is a filmmaker whose work includes the award-winning feature documentaries: The Reason I Jump, based on the bestselling book by Naoki Higashida; How To Change The World, about the founders of Greenpeace; Sour Grapes (co-directed with Reuben Atlas) a film about a wine counterfeiter Town of Runners, about two girls in an Ethiopian village who aspire to be athletes; Donor Unknown, about a sperm donor and his many offspring; School In The Cloud, about radical educationalist, Sugata Mitra; Heavy Load, about a group of people with learning disabilities who form a punk band, and Deep Water (co-directed with Louise Osmond), about Donald Crowhurst’s ill-fated voyage in the 1968 round the world yacht race. His work has won numerous accolades including two Grierson Awards, a Sundance Audience Award and Special Jury Prize, two British Independent Film awards, the IDA Pare Lorentz Award and a BAFTA nomination.
At Met Film Production, he has exec produced and worked as an editor on numerous feature docs including Dylan Williams’ Men Who Swim (now a fiction feature starring Rob Brydon), Sarah Gavron’s The Village At The End Of The World and Martyn Robertson’s Ride The Wave.
AWARDS
Best Self-Shooting Director – RTS Southern, 2012
THE REASON I JUMP
Sundance Film Festival – World Documentary Audience Award, 2020
British Independent Film Award – Best Documentary, 2020
British Independent Film Award – Best Sound, 2020
Rose D’Or Awards – Nomination: Best Documentary, 2021
Vancouver International Film Festival – Audience Award: International Documentary, 2020
Vancouver International Film Festival – Impact Award, 2020
MPSE Golden Reel Awards – Best Sound Editing in a Feature Documentary, 2021
Music and Sound Awards – Best Feature Film Score: Nainita Desai, 2021
Sound Of The Year Awards – Best Sound in a TV Show, Film or Game, 2020
Denver Film Festival – Maysles Brothers Award for Best Feature Documentary, 2020
LUCAS International Festival for Young Film Lovers – Outstanding Cinematic Achievement, 2021
Cinema Without Borders – Bridging The Borders Award, 2021
InScience Festival – Student Jury Award, 2021
InScience Festival – Audience Award, 2021
Atmosphere Film Festival – Audience Award, 2021
Festival Imagésanté – Prix ‘Nouveaux Horizons’, 2021
Seminici Film Festival – Time of History: Second Prize, 2020
Rome Film Festival – Social Critic Award: Best Foreign Film, 2020
Japan Foundation for Promoting Sound Growth of Children – Child Welfare Culture Award, 2021
Dublin International Film Festival, – Special Mention: Best Documentary Award, 2021
IDA Awards – Nomination: Best Feature, 2020
IDA Awards – Nomination: Best Director, 2020
British Independent Film Awards – Nomination: Best Music, 2021
Music and Sound Awards – Nomination, Best Sound Design In A Feature Film Score: Nick Ryan, 2021
ASCAP – Nomination: Best Documentary Score, 2021
Critics Choice Documentary Awards – Nomination: Best Cinematography, 2020
Cinema Eye Honours – Nomination: Best Score, 2020
American Library Association Notable Films for Adults, 2022
Hot Docs Top Twenty Audience Favourite, 2020
SOUR GRAPES
Best Feature Film, Oenovideo Film Festival, 2017
Best Documentary, Key West Film Festival, 2016
Best Feature, Devour Film Festival, 2016
HOW TO CHANGE THE WORLD
Grierson Award, Best Documentary on a Contemporary Theme – International, 2016
Sundance Film Festival, World Doc Special Jury Award: Editing, 2015
International Documentary Association Pare Lorenz Award, 2015
Sheffield DocFest, Best Environmental Film, 2015
Reykjavik International Film festival, Best Documentary 2015
Canadian Screen Awards, Best Archive Research, 2017
Canadian Screen Awards, Best Documentary Editing, 2016
CinemAmbiente Festival, Turin, Audience Award, 2015
South Korea Green Film Festival, Audience Award, 2016
South Korea Green Film Festival , Best Feature Film, 2016
Sebastopol Documentary Festival, Best Feature, 2015
HRFF Inconvenient Films Festival, Audience Award, 2016
American Conservation Film Festival, Green Spark Award, 2016
Portland EcoFilm Festival, Best Feature Film 2015
Global Visions, Best Canadian Feature, 2015
Hot Docs Top Ten Audience Favourite, 2015
Bigger Picture Film Awards, Best Documentary, 2016
Candescent Award, Sundance Film Festival 2015
CableFax Awards, Best Documentary, 2016
Planeta Doc, International Documentary Prize, 2015
British Independent Film Awards, Nomination – Best Documentary, 2015
Cinema For Peace Awards, Nomination – Best Green Film
RealScreen Awards – Nomination – Best Archive-Based Programme, 2016
Little Rock Film Festival – Nominee – Best Documentary, 2015
Banff International Television Festival, Nomination – Rockie Award, 2016
Canadian Screen Awards – Nomination – Best Documentary, 2016
Rose D’Or Awards – Nomination – Best Factual Entertainment, 2016
Cinema Eye Honors Awards, Nominee – Outstanding Achievement in Editing, 2016
TOWN OF RUNNERS
International Athletics Film Festival (FICA), Golden Achilles Award, 2018
Barcelona Sports Film Festival, Best Feature, 2013
Kenya International Film Festival, Best Documentary, 2012
1st Place at Atlant Impact Sports Film Festival, Lipetsk, 2012
Audience Choice Award for Best Documentary at Bolder Life Film Festival, 2012
Sheffield International Documentary Festival, Nominee – Sheffield Youth Jury Award, 2012
ESPN Sports Film Award, 2012
DONOR UNKNOWN
Silverdocs Film Festival, Audience Award, 2011
Tribeca (Online) Film Festival, Audience Award, 2011
Grierson Awards, Nomination – Best Documentary On Contemporary Issue, 2012
HEAVY LOAD
Britdoc Festival, Audience Award, 2008
Channel 4 Diversity Network Award, 2008
Columbus International Film Festival, ‘Silver Chris’ Award, 2008
Boomtown Film Festival, Best Film, 2009
International Documentary Association, Nominee – Best Music Documentary, 2008
DEEP WATER
Rome International Film Festival, Winner – Best Documentary, 2007
Grierson Awards, Winner – Best Cinema Documentary, 2007
San Diego Film Critics Society – Winner – Best Documentary Award, 2007
Focal Awards – Winner, Best Use of Footage in a Feature, 2007
British Independent Film Awards – Nomination, Best British Documentary, 2007
Cinema Eye Awards – Nomination, Audience Choice Awards, 2007
JERRY ROTHWELL 