Bob Berney, Paula Ossandón Cabrera, Toni Kamau Join Board Of International Documentary Association

Three prominent members of the filmmaking community are joining the board of directors of the nonprofit International Documentary Association.

The trio includes Bob Berney, CEO of Picturehouse, the marketing and distribution company founded in 2005; Paula Ossandón Cabrera, director of Chiledoc, an organization that “promotes Chilean talents, their films and series worldwide”; and Oscar-shortlisted producer Toni Kamau, founder of Kenya-based production company We Are Not the Machine.

They join an IDA board led by co-presidents Ina Fichman and Michael A. Turner, treasurer Chris Albert, treasurer Maria Agui Carter, and members Orwa Nyrabia, Alfred Clinton Perry, Amir Shahkhalili, Chris Pérez, Grace Lee, and Marcia Smith.

“We are thrilled to welcome Bob, Paula, and Toni to the IDA Board of Directors,” Fichman said in a statement. “Bob’s expertise in marketing and distribution, Paula’s work and understanding of the documentary ecosystem in Chile and South America, and Toni’s expertise in production in Kenya and internationally will be very beneficial to IDA’s contributions to the international documentary community as we write IDA’s next chapter.”

IDA, founded in 1982, “supports the vital work of documentary storytellers and champions a thriving and inclusive documentary culture.” Among its initiatives, IDA provides production and development grants to documentary filmmakers and helps them fundraise for their projects through a Fiscal Sponsorship Program. IDA also publishes Documentary magazine.

The org is set to hold the 40th annual IDA Documentary Awards ceremony on December 5 at The Orpheum Theater in downtown Los Angeles. Dominic Asmall Willsdon serves as executive director of IDA.

Picturehouse documentaries include the 2024 Oscar contender Porcelain War, Carol Doda Topless at the Condor, The Territory, The Mission, Wild Life, Frank Miller: American Genius, Becoming Cousteau, and Tea with the Dames. Narrative films distributed by Picturehouse include At the Gates, Pan’s Labyrinth, and La Vie en Rose, which earned an Oscar for Marion Cotillard in the role of French singer Édith Piaf.

In addition to leading Chiledoc, Ossandón Cabrera is the director and founder of Miradoc, a distribution program for Chilean documentaries. Since 2012, she has been part of the Chilean Corporation for Documentaries, “whose main lines of action are promotion, networking, training, diffusion, research, and creating ties and associative initiatives between members of the Chilean documentary community.”

Kamau is the 2024 Sundance Amazon MGM nonfiction producing prize winner. Her credits including producing the 2024 Oscar contender The Battle of Laikipia, I Am Samuel, and the Oscar-shortlisted Softie, directed by Sam Soko. A release notes, “Toni is currently in development and production on a diverse slate of factual and scripted projects, collaborating with filmmakers from across the world.”