Local 600 Member Buddy Squires to Receive Cinematography Award from International Documentary Association
Cinematographer of PBS Series THE WAR Honored for his Nonfiction Achievements
Buddy Squires will receive the International Documentary Association’s (IDA) Outstanding Documentary Cinematography Award. The award, sponsored by Eastman Kodak Company, will be presented during the 23rd Annual IDA Awards Gala Benefit here at the Directors Guild of America
Theater on December 7.
“Buddy Squires is the author of the images for some of the most compelling
documentaries of our times,” says IDA Executive Director Sandra Ruch. “Our
members want to express their appreciation for his considerable contributions
to advancing the art of nonfiction storytelling.”
Squires has compiled more than 80 documentary credits beginning with
Brooklyn Bridge in 1981. His films have earned 18 Emmy nominations with 13
taking top honors. Squires also shot eight films that were nominated for
Oscars®, including one Academy Award® winner.
Squires was the principal cinematographer for The War, a seven-part, 14 ½-
hour series that debuted on PBS stations in September. The documentary
examines the Second World War with a mélange of archival film, contemporary
location shots and interviews with some 50 Americans, who shared memories of
fighting the battles and working in the factories. No politicians, generals or
historians are included in the film.
A short list of some of Squires’ memorable films includes The Civil War,
Baseball, Scottsboro: An American Tragedy, New York: A Documentary Film, Heart
of a Child, The Donner Party, Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of
Jack Johnson and Jazz. He is only the second cinematographer to receive this
tribute from the IDA. Joan Churchill, ASC received the first Award in 2005.
“I gave up shooting my own films at the beginning of Brooklyn Bridge
when I realized that I had to look into the eyes of the person I was
interviewing,” Burns says. “Buddy has been my principal cinematographer ever
since. We are connected at the hip.”
Their initial endeavor on Brooklyn Bridge was a seminal experience for
Squires. “I learned that every documentary is a process of discovery,” he
explains. “You have to recognize and be open to every possibility, each
moment of every day because you never know what is going to happen next. The
choices you make about the way light falls on someone’s face, composition and
camera angles can speak louder than words.”
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