Come See Me in the Good Light Leads all Films with 6 Nominations
2000 Meters to Andriivka, Cover-Up and Seeds receive Five each
Feature Film nominees include Afternoons of Solitude, The Perfect Neighbor and Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk
19th Annual Award Ceremony set for Thursday, January 8, 2026
at New York Academy of Medicine in East Harlem, New York
Los Angeles, CA, November 13, 2025 — Cinema Eye Honors, the organization that recognizes outstanding artistic achievement in nonfiction and documentary films and series, revealed the full slate of Feature Film nominations for its 19th annual awards celebrations.
Ryan White’s Come See Me in the Good Light, an intimate look at the relationship between poet and activist Andrea Gibson and their wife Megan Falley after Gibson is diagnosed with terminal ovarian cancer, led all films with six nominations including Outstanding Nonfiction Feature, Direction and Unforgettable Honors for Gibson and Falley.
Three films – Mstyslav Chernov’s 2000 Meters to Andriivka, Laura Poitras and Mark Obenhaus’ Cover-Up and Brittany Shyne’s Seeds – were also nominated for Outstanding Feature and Direction, with each film receiving five nominations.
Poitras’ three nods for Cover-Up (she is also up for Outstanding Editing), make her the most nominated individual in Cinema Eye history, with sixteen nominations total (she has won five Honors, including three for Outstanding Direction).
Brittany Shyne was the most nominated individual of the day, with four nominations (Feature, Direction, Cinematography and Debut) for Seeds.
Albert Serra’s Afternoons of Solitude and Geeta Gandbhir’s The Perfect Neighbor were also nominated for both Feature and Direction. The seventh film up for Feature is Sepideh Farsi’s Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk and the seventh nominee for Outstanding Direction is David Osit for Predators.
This is the second year that the named nominees in the Nonfiction Feature category will include the entire creative team – the directors, producers, editors, cinematographers, composers, sound designers, visual designers and significant on-screen participants.
Gandbhir made history today with recognition for three different projects across Feature Film, Short Film and Broadcast categories. In addition to her two nominations for The Perfect Neighbor, she is on the Cinema Eye Shorts List for her film The Devil is Busy (which she directed with Christalyn Hampton) and is nominated for Anthology Series as one of the Executive Producers of the Disney+ series, Harlem Ice.
In the category of Outstanding Production, nominees include four previous Cinema Eye winners. 2000 Meters to Andriivka producers Mstyslav Chernov, Michelle Mizner and Raney Aronson-Rath won in this category two years ago for 20 Days in Mariupol, en route to their Oscar win for the same film. James Jones, nominated for Antidote, won the Broadcast Film Honor three years ago for Chernobyl: The Lost Tapes. The Alabama Solution, Apocalypse in the Tropics, Mr. Nobody Against Putin and My Undesirable Friends: Part 1 – Last Air in Moscow are also competing for the Production Honor.
There is significant overlap between the nominees for Production and the films nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the Oscars. Last year, the Oscar winner No Other Land and nominees Porcelain War and Sugarland were up for Production and over the past decade, the winner of the Cinema Eye Production Honor has gone on to win the Best Documentary Feature Oscar on five occasions.
After a first round of voting that saw nonfiction fans from around the world cast more than 60,000 votes for their favorite films, the Audience Choice nominees were announced, including a number of the most talked about and lauded films of the year: Apocalypse in the Tropics, Coexistence, My Ass!, Come See Me in the Good Light, The Eyes of Ghana, It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley, The Librarians, Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore, Mr. Nobody Against Putin, Prime Minister and The Tale of Silyan.
The last seven winners of the Best Documentary Feature Oscar – No Other Land, 20 Days in Mariupol, Navalny, Summer of Soul, My Octopus Teacher, American Factory and Free Solo – were all first contenders for the Audience Choice Prize. Second round voting to determine this year’s winner will take place in December.
Cinema Eye previously announced its first Honorees of the season, their annual list of the Unforgettables – the on-camera collaborators from seven feature documentaries. The winners include Noam Shuster-Eliassi from Coexistence, My Ass!, Seymour Hersh for Cover-Up, Sara Shahverdi from Cutting Through Rocks, Pavel Talankin from Mr. Nobody Against Putin, Jacinda Ardern from Prime Minister and Fatma Hassona from Put Your Soul On Your Hand and Walk.
For the second year, Unforgettables who attend Cinema Eye’s Awards Ceremony in New York in January will be presented with a special medallion honoring their contribution to their Cinema Eye winning films.
Also previously announced were the ten short films that have been named to Cinema Eye’s annual Shorts List. Those ten films will screen at DCTV in New York City on Sunday, November 30 and in Los Angeles at Vidiots on Saturday, December 6.
Nominees in the categories of Nonfiction Short Film and the Heterodox Award, along with this year’s Legacy Award recipient, will be announced in December.
Netflix led all distributors and streamers with 15 nominations. HBO Max had 12 nominations and Apple had 11. Magnolia Pictures and Kino Lorber had nine and eight, respectively.
Cinema Eye will return to the historic New York Academy of Medicine in East Harlem for its 18th Annual Awards Ceremony, to be held on Thursday, January 8, 2026. Cinema Eye Week, which includes a number of events and activities for Cinema Eye nominees and honorees, kicks off on Monday, January 6.
Key Dates for the 2026 Cinema Eye Honors
Sunday, November 30: Shorts List Screenings, DCTV, New York
Saturday, December 6: Shorts List Screenings, Vidiots, Los Angeles
Week of December 8: Audience Choice Second Round Voting Opens
Week of December 15: Short Film and Heterodox Nominees, and Legacy Award recipient Announced
Monday, January 5, 2026: Cinema Eye Week begins in New York City
Thursday, January 8, 2026: 19th Annual Cinema Eye Honors Awards Ceremony, New York Academy of Medicine, East Harlem, New York
Feature
2000 Meters to Andriivka
Mstyslav Chernov, Michelle Mizner, Raney Aronson-Rath, Alex Babenko and Sam Slater
Afternoons of Solitude
Albert Serra, Montse Triola, Luis Ferrón, Pedro Palacios, Artur Tort, Mac Verdaguer and Jordi Ribas
Come See Me in the Good Light
Ryan White, Jessica Hargrave, Tig Notaro, Stef Willen, Brandon Somerhalder, Berenice Chávez, Blake Neely, Dave Richards, Brent Kiser, Andrea Gibson and Megan Falley
Cover-Up
Laura Poitras, Mark Obenhaus, Yoni Golijov, Olivia Streisand, Mia Cioffi Henry, Amy Foote, Peter Bowman, Maya Shenfeld and Seymour Hersh
The Perfect Neighbor
Geeta Gandbhir, Alisa Payne, Nikon Kwantu, Sam Bisbee, Viridiana Lieberman, Laura Heinzinger and Felipe Messeder
Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk
Sepideh Farsi, Javad Djavahery, Fatma Hassona, Cinna Peyghamy and Pierre Carrasco
Seeds
Brittany Shyne, Danielle Varga, Sabrina Schmidt Gordon, Malika Zouhali-Worrall, Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe, Daniel Timmons, Ben Kruse and Willie Head Jr.
Direction
Mstyslav Chernov
2000 Meters to Andriivka
Albert Serra
Afternoons of Solitude
Ryan White
Come See Me in the Good Light
Laura Poitras and Mark Obenhaus
Cover-Up
Geeta Gandbhir
The Perfect Neighbor
David Osit
Predators
Brittany Shyne
Seeds
Editing
Michelle Mizner
2000 Meters to Andriivka
Amy Foote, Peter Bowman and Laura Poitras
Cover-Up
Alexander Kashcheev
I Am Not Everything I Want to Be
Julia Loktev and Michael Taylor
My Undesirable Friends: Part 1 – Last Air in Moscow
Alexandra Strauss
Orwell: 2+2=5
Viridiana Lieberman
The Perfect Neighbor
Stephan Krumbiegel, Olaf Voigtländer and Alfredo Castro
Riefenstahl
Production
Mstyslav Chernov, Michelle Mizner and Raney Aronson-Rath
2000 Meters to Andriivka
Andrew Jarecki and Charlotte Kaufman
The Alabama Solution
James Jones
Antidote
Petra Costa and Alessandra Orofino
Apocalypse in the Tropics
Helle Faber
Mr. Nobody Against Putin
Julia Loktev
My Undesirable Friends: Part 1 – Last Air in Moscow
Cinematography
Artur Tort
Afternoons of Solitude
Ben Bernhard
Architecton
Brandon Somerhalder
Come See Me in the Good Light
Lars Erlend Tubaas Øymo and Tor Edvin Eliassen
Folktales
Brittany Shyne
Seeds
Jean Dakar
The Tale of Silyan
Original Music Score
Sam Slater
2000 Meters to Andriivka
Blake Neely
Come See Me in the Good Light
Maya Shenfeld
Cover-Up
Kris Bowers
The Eyes of Ghana
Todd Griffin
Folktales
Alexeï Aïgui
Orwell: 2+2=5
Sound Design
Alexander Dudarev
Architecton
James LeBrecht, Greg Francis and Nina Hartstone
Deaf President Now!
Andreas Lindberg Svensson
Folktales
Bonnie Wild
Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore
Sean Ono Lennon, Sam Gannon and Simon Hilton
One to One: John and Yoko
Daniel Timmons and Ben Kruse
Seeds
Visual Design
Nominees To Be Determined
Ghost Boy
Nominees To Be Determined
In Waves and War
Sara Gunnarsdóttir and Josh Shaffner
It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley
Norn Jordan
The New Yorker at 100
Joseph Midthun
Swamp Dogg Gets His Pool Painted
Nominees To Be Determined
Zodiac Killer Project
Debut
Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore
Directed By Shoshannah Stern
Monk in Pieces
Directed By Billy Shebar and David C. Roberts
Remaining Native
Directed By Paige Bethmann
Seeds
Directed By Brittany Shyne
The Shepherd and the Bear
Directed By Max Keegan
Swamp Dogg Gets His Pool Painted
Directed By Isaac Gale and Ryan Olson
Spotlight Award
Always
Directed By Deming Chen
The Encampments
Directed By Michael T Workman and Kei Pritsker
Flophouse America
Directed By Monica Strømdahl
Sanatorium
Directed By Gar O’Rourke
To the West, in Zapata
Directed By David Bim
Audience Choice Prize
Apocalypse in the Tropics
Directed By Petra Costa
Coexistence, My Ass!
Directed By Amber Fares
Come See Me in the Good Light
Directed By Ryan White
The Eyes of Ghana
Directed By Ben Proudfoot
It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley
Directed By Amy Berg
The Librarians
Directed By Kim A. Snyder
Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore
Directed By Shoshannah Stern
Mr. Nobody Against Putin
Directed By David Borenstein
Prime Minister
Directed By Michelle Walsh and Lindsay Utz
The Tale of Silyan
Directed By Tamara Kotevska
Audience Choice Prize Longlist
Cover-Up
Directed By Laura Poitras and Mark Obenhaus
Cutting Through Rocks
Directed By Sara Khaki and Mohammadreza Eyni
Deaf President Now!
Directed By Nyle DiMarco and Davis Guggenheim
Folktales
Directed By Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady
Orwell: 2+2=5
Directed By Raoul Peck
The Perfect Neighbor
Directed By Geeta Gandbhir
Unforgettables Honorees
Noam Shuster-Eliassi
Coexistence, My Ass!
Andrea Gibson and Megan Falley
Come See Me in the Good Light
Seymour Hersh
Cover-Up
Sara Shahverdi
Cutting Through Rocks
Pavel Talankin
Mr. Nobody Against Putin
Jacinda Ardern
Prime Minister
Fatma Hassona
Put Your Soul On Your Hand and Walk
Shorts List
All The Empty Rooms
Directed by Joshua Seftel
Am I the skinniest person you’ve ever seen?
Directed by Eisha Marjara
Armed Only With a Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud
Directed by Brent Renaud and Craig Renaud
Crying Glacier
Directed by Lutz Stautner
The Devil is Busy
Directed by Geeta Gandbhir and Christalyn Hampton
The Long Valley
Directed by Rodrigo Ojeda-Beck and Robert Machoian
Mama Micra
Directed by Rebecca Blöcher
perfectly a strangeness
Directed by Alison McAlpine
We Were The Scenery
Directed by Christopher Radcliff
Who Loves The Sun
Directed by Arshia Shakiba
Broadcast Film
Deaf President Now!
Directed by Nyle DiMarco and Davis Guggenheim
Apple TV+
Democracy Noir
Directed by Connie Field
SWR / ARTE / DR
Enigma
Directed by Zackary Drucker
HBO | Max
My Mom Jayne
Directed by Mariska Hargitay
HBO | Max
Pee-wee as Himself
Directed by Matt Wolf
HBO | Max
Sly Lives! (aka The Burden of Black Genius)
Directed by Ahmir ‘Questlove’ Thompson
Hulu, Onyx Collective
Nonfiction Series
Chimp Crazy
Directed by Eric Goode
HBO | Max
Couples Therapy
Directed by Pax Wassermann and Bennett Elliott
Paramount+
Dallas, 2019
Directed by Darius Clark Monroe
PBS/Independent Lens
The Sing Sing Chronicles
Directed by Dawn Porter
MSNBC
Social Studies
Directed by Lauren Greenfield
FX on Hulu
The Stanford Prison Experiment: Unlocking the Truth
Directed by Juliette Eisner
National Geographic
Anthology Series
Conan O’Brien Must Go
Executive Producers Conan O’Brien and Jeff Ross
HBO | Max
Harlem Ice
Executive Producers Sara Bernstein, Justin Wilkes, Robin Roberts, Geeta Gandbhir, Meredith Kaulfers and Alisa Payne
Disney+
Omnivore
Executive Producers René Redzepi, Ben Liebmann, Chris Rice, Matt Goulding, Collin Orcutt and Mateo Willis
Apple TV+
Our Oceans
Executive Producers Jonathan Smith and James Honeyborne
Netflix
SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night
Executive Producers Morgan Neville, Caitrin Rogers and Juaquin Cambron
Peacock
Tucci In Italy
Executive Producers Stanley Tucci, Lottie Birmingham, Amanda Lyon and Simon Raikes
National Geographic
Broadcast Editing
Deaf President Now!
Edited by Michael Harte
Apple TV+
My Mom Jayne
Edited by JD Marlow
HBO | Max
Pee-wee as Himself
Edited by Damian Rodriguez
HBO | Max
Sly Lives! (aka The Burden of Black Genius)
Edited by Joshua L. Pearson
Hulu
Social Studies
Edited by Alyse Ardell Spiegel, Helen Kearns, Catherine Bull and Charles Little II
FX on Hulu
Wise Guy: David Chase and The Sopranos
Edited by Andy Grieve
HBO | Max
Broadcast Cinematography
Chef’s Table: Legends
Director of Photography Will Basanta
Netflix
Dallas, 2019
Director of Photography Christine Ng
PBS/Independent Lens
No Taste Like Home with Antoni Porowski
Director of Photography Steve Lidgerwood
National Geographic
Omnivore
Director of Photography Tom Elliott, Sy Turnbull and Jurgen Lisse
Apple TV+
Our Oceans
Director of Photography Roger Munns, Roger Horrocks, Justin Maguire, Ryan Tidman and Jamie McPherson
Netflix
Social Studies
Director of Photography Bryan Donnell, Jenna Rosher and Jerry Risius
FX on Hulu
