Matthew Heineman’s American Symphony exploring a year in the life of musician Jon Batiste led the Critics Choice Documentary Awards with six nominations on Monday (October 16).
Heineman (Cartel Land, The First Wave) also gets a nod for best director, Tony Hardmon, Heineman, and Thorsten Thielow for best cinematography, Sammy Dane, Jim Hession, Heineman, and Fernando Villegas for best editing, Jon Batiste for best score, and best music documentary.
Mstyslav Chernov’s 20 Days In Mariupol, D. Smth’s Kokomo City, and Davis Guggenheim’s Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie each received five nominations and are also in the running for best documentary feature.
Steve McQueen is in among the best director nominees for Occupied City, which also earned nominations in the best historical documentary and cinematography categories.
The Pennebaker Award, formerly known as the Critics Choice Lifetime Achievement Award) will be presented to documentarian Ross McElwee, who directed 2011 Venice selection Photographic Memory and 1987 Sundance grand jury prize documentary winner Sherman’s March.
The award is named after Critics Choice Lifetime Achievement Award winner D A Pennebaker, who died in 2019, and will be presented by Chris Hegedus, Pennebaker’s producing partner and wife.
The winners will be announced on November 12 at The Edison Ballroom in Manhattan. (The Critics Choice Association’s separate Critics Choice Awards ceremony will take place on January 14 2024 at the Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles.)
At the seventh Annual Critics Choice Documentary Awards, Good Night Oppy took home five trophies including best documentary feature.
An edited list of nominees for the 8th Annual Critics Choice Documentary Awards appears below.
Best Documentary Feature
20 Days in Mariupol (PBS)
American Symphony (Netflix)
Beyond Utopia (Roadside Attractions)
The Deepest Breath (Netflix)
The Eternal Memory (MTV Documentary Films)
Judy Blume Forever (Amazon Studios)
Kokomo City (Magnolia Pictures)
The Mission (National Geographic)
Stamped from the Beginning (Netflix)
Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie (Apple TV+)
Best Director
Maite Alberdi – The Eternal Memory (MTV Documentary Films)
Madeleine Gavin – Beyond Utopia (Roadside Attractions)
Davis Guggenheim – Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie (Apple TV+)
Matthew Heineman – American Symphony (Netflix)
Amanda McBaine, Jesse Moss – The Mission (National Geographic)
Steve McQueen – Occupied City (A24)
Best First Documentary Feature
20 Days in Mariupol (PBS)
26.2 to Life (Film Halau)
Bad Press (Oklafilm)
Bobi Wine: The People’s President (National Geographic)
Kokomo City (Magnolia Pictures)
Orlando, My Political Biography (Sideshow)
Smoke Sauna Sisterhood (Greenwich Entertainment)
The Thief Collector (FilmRise)
Best Cinematography
Tim Cragg – The Deepest Breath (Netflix)
Tony Hardmon, Matthew Heineman, Thorsten Thielow – American Symphony (Netflix)
Lennert Hillege – Occupied City (A24)
Franz Lustig – Anselm (Sideshow)
D. Smith – Kokomo City (Magnolia Pictures)
Toby Strong, James Boon, Bob Poole, Neil Fairlie, Wim Vorster, Joshua Tarr, Pete Allibone, Neil Harvey, Andreas Knausenberger – Secrets of the Elephants (National Geographic)
Best Editing
Sammy Dane, Jim Hession, Matthew Heineman, Fernando Villegas – American Symphony (Netflix)
Madeleine Gavin – Beyond Utopia (Roadside Attractions)
Michael Harte – Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie (Apple TV+
Michelle Mizner – 20 Days in Mariupol (PBS)
D. Smith – Kokomo City (Magnolia Pictures)
Aaron Wickenden – The Mission (National Geographic)
Best Score
Jon Batiste – American Symphony (Netflix)
Danny Bensi & Saunder Jurriaans – The Mission (National Geographic)
Nainita Desai – The Deepest Breath (Netflix)
Philip Glass & Paul Leonard-Morgan – The Pigeon Tunnel (Apple TV+)
Katya Richardson & Kris Bowers – The Last Repair Shop (Breakwater Studios)
D. Smith – Kokomo City (Magnolia Pictures)
Best Historical Documentary
The 1619 Project (Hulu/Onyx Collective)
JFK: One Day in America (National Geographic)
The Lady Bird Diaries (Hulu/ABC News Studios)
Lakota Nation vs. United States (IFC Films)
The League (Magnolia Pictures)
Occupied City (A24)
Stamped From The Beginning (Netflix)
Best Biographical Documentary
Being Mary Tyler Moore (HBO | Max)
The Disappearance of Shere Hite (IFC Films)
Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project (HBO Documentary Films)
Judy Blume Forever (Amazon Studios)
Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields (Hulu/ABC News Studios)
Sly (Netflix)
Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie (Apple TV+)
Best Music Documentary
American Symphony (Netflix)
Carlos (Sony Pictures Classics)
Ladies First: A Story of Women in Hip-Hop (Netflix)
Little Richard: I Am Everything (Magnolia Pictures/CNN Films)
Love to Love You, Donna Summer (HBO | Max)
Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour (AMC Theatres)
What The Hell Happened to Blood, Sweat & Tears? (Abramorama)
Best Limited Documentary Series
The 1619 Project (Hulu/Onyx Collective)
Big Vape: The Rise and Fall of Juul (Netflix)
Deadlocked: How America Shaped the Supreme Court (Showtime)
JFK: One Day in America (National Geographic)
John Lennon: Murder Without a Trial (Apple TV+)
Secrets of the Elephants (National Geographic)
Shiny Happy People (Amazon Studios)
Telemarketers (HBO | Max)
Best Ongoing Documentary Series
30 for 30 (ESPN)
Frontline (PBS)
Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal (Netflix)
POV (PBS)
Trafficked with Mariana van Zeller (National Geographic)
Welcome to Wrexham (FX).
No comments yet