Yesterday evening the The Grierson Trust announced the winners of The Griersons 2011 – The British Documentary Awards. Hosted by Mariella Frostrup, the awards ceremony took place at the BFI Southbank.

Viewers will be able to see highlights of the awards in 11 mini-docs spread across the Sky Arts 1 schedule throughout November or tune in to Sky Anytime from 8th November to see all the action from the complete ceremony.

• The award ceremony kicked off as the Envy Best Documentary Series prize went to Hugh’s Fish Fight.
• The Current Most Entertaining Documentary followed and was awarded to Bodysnatchers of New York.
• The CTVC Best Newcomer Award went to Out of the Ashes.
• The Deluxe 142 Best Documentary on a Contemporary Theme – Domestic went to Between Life and Death.
• Shell Best Documentary on a Contemporary Theme – International was awarded to Secret Iraq – The Insurgency
• The ITN Source Best Historical Documentary was awarded to Fire in Babylon.
• Caring for Calum took the inaugural Sky Arts Best Student Documentary award.
• The Bridgeman Art Library Best Arts Documentary was awarded to Bird on a Wire.

Documentary doyen, John Pilger then took to the stage to accept the Honda Grierson Trustees’ Award. Dawn Airey, Chairman of the Grierson Trust said: ‘John Pilger is one of the world’s great documentary producers. His work has uncovered atrocity, probed the underbelly of society, sparked controversy and challenged the heart of democracy’.

The Joy of Stats took the crown for Televisual Best Science Documentary.

The final award of the evening, the Dochouse and The Bertha Foundation Best Cinema Documentary went to The Arbor.

Honda and Sky Arts HD lead a raft of new and existing sponsors and supporters of The Grierson Trust which also includes Shell International, ITN Source, CTVC, Deluxe 142, Bridgeman Art Library, The Bertha Foundation, Current, Envy and the British Council.

Fir further details, visit The Grierson trust homepage at, www.griersontrust.org

Mariella Frostrup hosts the 2011 Grierson Awards