Lucy Walker's "WasteLand" has won the top feature award from the International Documentary Association.
The award, presented Friday night in ceremonies at the Directors Guild of America, was the second of the evening for the documentary, which had also won the IDA's Pare Lorentz award.
"WasteLand" focused on artist Vik Munoz' journey from Brooklyn to his native Brazil and the world's largest garbage dump.
Documentary, which has been shortlisted by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for its documentary Oscar, topped "Exit Through the Gift Shop," "The Oath," "Steam of Life" and "Sweetgrass."
Host Morgan Spurlock presented both awards to Walker and producer Angus Aynsley — delivering the Lorentz award in a large plastic garbage bag. Aynsley credited Walker with "providing multiple poetic voices to multiple characters."
"I keep pinching myself and thinking I've gone to heaven," said a moved Walker on accepting the award.
Kiran Deol's "Women Rebel," the story of a female soldier in Nepal's People's Liberation Army, won the distinguished short category. It topped "The Fence," "Keep Dancing," "The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner" and "The Last Truck: The Closing of a GM Plant." "Rebel" is Deol's first film.
Connie Field's "Have You Heard From Johannesburg," an exploration of the impact of apartheid on sports, took the limited series award. ESPN's "30 for 30" took the continuing series award.
Joe Berlinger, director of "Crude," gave thanks to the audience for the IDA's support of his legal battle against Chevron over the oil company's demand for his raw footage.
"This experience has taught me that I'm a part of a community," he said. "Being a documentarian has never been more important. It's more important than ever that we stick together."
Cecilia Peck presented Barbara Kopple with the IDA's career achievement award.
"We live in challenging times, politically and professionally," Kopple said in her acceptance speech. "We need to lean on each other. "None of us can do this alone."
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