Los Angeles, CA, November 14, 2024 — 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 18th annual awards celebrations.
Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie’s Sugarcane, an investigation into abuse and forced separations in a Canadian Indigenous community, led all films with six nominations, including nods for Outstanding Nonfiction Feature and Direction.
Two prize winners at the 2024 Berlinale – Mati Diop’s Dahomey and No Other Land from filmmakers Yuval Abraham, Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal and Rachel Szor – also were nominated for Outstanding Nonfiction Feature and Direction, with each film receiving five nominations.
Black Box Diaries, Daughters, Look Into My Eyes and Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat were also nominated for Outstanding Nonfiction Feature. Gary Hustwit (Eno), Lana Wilson (Look Into My Eyes), Elizabeth Lo (Mistress Dispeller) and Stephen Maing & Brett Story (Union) round out the nominees for Outstanding Direction.
In the category of Outstanding Production, nominees include previous winners and Cinema Eye alumni. Paula DuPre’ Pesman is nominated for Porcelain War, returning to the category after winning for The Cove at the 3rd Cinema Eye Honors in 2010. Navalny producers Shane Boris and Odessa Rae, who won in this category in 2023, are nominated this year for Hollywoodgate. And Sugarcane producer Kellen Quinn is a previous two-time nominee in the category for Brimstone and Glory and Midnight Family.
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, including the past two years: 20 Days in Mariupol, Navalny, Free Solo, OJ: Made in America and Citizenfour.
This is the first 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.
While most of this year’s nominees are receiving their first Cinema Eye nominations (including 48 of the 56 nominees in the Feature Film category), there are some notable alumni amongst this year’s class.
Filmmaker Steve James once again claimed the record for the most Cinema Eye nominations in history. He received his 14th nomination this year in the Nonfiction Series category for ESPN’s The Luckiest Guy in the World. Filmmaking team Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi scored their 11th and 9th nominations with recognition in the Anthology Series category for National Geographic’s Photographer.
Several of this year’s nominees were nominated for two different projects. Filmmaker Stephen Maing is nominated for Outstanding Direction (along with Brett Story) for Union and is also up for Outstanding Nonfiction Feature as the cinematographer on Look Into My Eyes. Marley McDonald is nominated for Outstanding Editing (along with Maya Tippett) for Eno and for Broadcast Editing for Time Bomb Y2K (with Maya Mumma).
Ema Ryan Yamazaki is nominated for Outstanding Nonfiction Feature for her editing work on Black Box Diaries. She is also the director of Instruments of a Beating Heart, one of this year’s Shorts List films. Sound Designer Nicolas Becker is nominated twice in that category this year for his work on Dahomey and Viktor.
In the Broadcast Categories, filmmakers Dawn Porter and Lance Oppenheim both scored nominations for two different projects. Oppenheim was nominated for Nonfiction Series for Ren Faire and for Broadcast Film for Spermworld. Porter also received two nominations, in Broadcast Film for The Lady Bird Diaries and in Nonfiction Series for Deadlocked: How America Shaped the Supreme Court.
Cinema Eye previously announced its first Honorees of the season, their annual list of the Unforgettables – the on-camera collaborators from eight feature documentaries. The winners include Patrice Jetter from Ted Passon’s Patrice: The Movie, Lhakpa Sherpa from Lucy Walker’s Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa, Jenna Marvin from Agniia Galdanova’s Queendom and Harper Steele from Josh Greenbaum’s Will & Harper.
For the first time, 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.
After a first round of voting that saw nonfiction fans from around the world cast more than 30,000 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: Copa 71, Daughters, Frida, Mountain Queen, Porcelain War, The Remarkable Life of Ibelin, Skywalkers: A Love Story, Sugarcane, Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story and Will and Harper.
The last six winners of the Best Documentary Feature Oscar – 20 Days in Mariupol, Navalny, Summer of Soul, My Octopus Teacher, American Factory and Free Solo – were all first nominees for the Audience Choice Prize. Second round voting will take place in December.
Finally, Cinema Eye confirmed New York and Los Angeles screening dates for the eleven films on this year’s Shorts List, the organization’s annual list of semi-finalists for its Nonfiction Short Film Honor. For the second year in a row, Cinema Eye will screen all of the Shorts List films in New York at DCTV on Sunday, December 1, and in Los Angeles at Vidiots on Sunday, December 7. The nominees in the Short Film category will be announced the week of December 8.
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 9, 2025. 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 2025 Cinema Eye Honors
Sunday, December 1: Shorts List Screenings, DCTV, New York
Sunday, December 7: Shorts List Screenings, Vidiots, Los Angeles
Week of December 8: Short Film Nominees Announced and Audience Choice Second Round Voting Opens
Monday, January 6, 2025: Cinema Eye Week begins in New York City
Thursday, January 9, 2025: 18th Annual Cinema Eye Honors Awards Ceremony, New York Academy of Medicine, East Harlem, New York
A full list of this year’s announcements and nominees follows.
Nonfiction Feature
Black Box Diaries
Shiori Ito, Eric Nyari, Hanna Aqvilin, Ema Ryan Yamazaki, Yuta Okamura, Yuichiro Otsuka, Mark Degli Antoni and Andrew Tracy
Dahomey
Mati Diop, Eve Robin, Judith Lou Levy, Gabriel Gonzalez, Joséphine Drouin Viallard and Nicholas Becker
Daughters
Natalie Rae, Angela Patton, Lisa Mazzotta, Justin Benoliel, James Cunningham, Mindy Goldberg, Sam Bisbee, Kathryn Everett, Laura Choi Raycroft, Adrian Aurelius, Michael Cambio Fernandez, Troy Lewis, Adelina Bichiș, Kelsey Lu, Adrian Aurelius, and Philip Nicolai Flindt
Look Into My Eyes
Lana Wilson, Kyle Martin, Hannah Buck and Stephen Maing
No Other Land
Yuval Abraham, Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Rachel Szor, Fabien Greenberg, Bård Kjøge Rønning, Julius Pollux Rothlaender and Bård Harazi Farbu
Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat
Johan Grimonpre, Daan Milius, Rémi Grellety, Jonathan Wannyn, Rik Chaubet, Ranko Pauković and Alek Bunic Goosse
Sugarcane
Julian Brave NoiseCat, Emily Kassie, Kellen Quinn, Christopher LaMarca, Nathan Punwar, Maya Daisy Hawke, Mali Obomsawin, Martin Czembor, Andrea Bella, Michael Feuser and Ed Archie Noisecat
Direction
Mati Diop
For Dahomey
Gary Hustwit
For Eno
Lana Wilson
For Look Into My Eyes
Elizabeth Lo
For Mistress Dispeller
Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor
For No Other Land
Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie
For Sugarcane
Stephen Maing and Brett Story
For Union
Production
Shane Boris, Odessa Rae and Talal Derki
For Hollywoodgate
Emma D. Miller, Elizabeth Lo and Maggie Li
For Mistress Dispeller
Fabien Greenberg and Bård Kjøge Rønning
For No Other Land
Paula DuPre’ Pesmen, Aniela Sidorska, Camilla Mazzaferro and Olivia Ahnemann
For Porcelain War
Emily Kassie and Kellen Quinn
For Sugarcane
Mars Verrone and Samantha Curley
For Union
Editing
Maya Tippet and Marley McDonald
For Eno
Alexandra Strauss
For Ernest Cole: Lost and Found
Carla Gutiérrez
For Frida
Charlotte Tourres
For Intercepted
Hannah Buck
For Look Into My Eyes
Rik Chaubet
For Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat
Cinematography
Joséphine Drouin Viallard
For Dahomey
Elizabeth Lo
For Mistress Dispeller
Satya Rai Nagpual
For Nocturnes
Andrey Stefanov
For Porcelain War
Christopher LaMarca and Emily Kassie
For Sugarcane
Olivier Sarbil
For Viktor
Original Score
Alexeï Aïgui
For Ernest Cole: Lost and Found
Victor Hernández Stumpfhauser
For Frida
Nainita Dasai
For Nocturnes
Uno Helmersson
For The Remarkable Life of Ibelin
Mali Obomsawin
For Sugarcane
Sound Design
Nicolas Becker
For Dahomey
Nas Parkash and Patrick Fripp
For Eno
Alex Lane
For Intercepted
Tom Paul, Shreyank Nanjappa and Sukanto Majumdar
For Nocturnes
Ranko Pauković and Alek Bunic Goosse
For Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat
Peter Albrechtsen, Nicolas Becker and Heikki Kossi
For Viktor
Visual Design
Brendan Dawes
For Eno
Sofía Inés Cázares and Renata Galindo
For Frida
Howard Baker
For Piece by Piece
Brendan Bellomo and BluBlu Studios
For Porcelain War
Agniia Galdanova
For Queendom
Rasmus Tukia and Ada Wikdahl
For The Remarkable Life of Ibelin
Debut Feature
Black Box Diaries
Directed by Shiori Ito
Daughters
Directed by Natalie Rae and Angela Patton
Frida
Directed by Carla Gutiérrez
Grand Theft Hamlet
Directed by Pinny Grylls and Sam Crane
Hollywoodgate
Directed by Ibrahim Nash’at
No Other Land
Directed by Yuval Abraham, Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal and Rachel Szor
Audience Choice Prize Nominees
Copa 71
Directed by James Erskine and Rachel Ramsay
Daughters
Directed by Natalie Rae and Angela Patton
Frida
Directed by Carla Gutiérrez
Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa
Directed by Lucy Walker
Porcelain War
Directed by Brendan Bellomo and Slava Leontyev
The Remarkable Life of Ibelin
Directed by Benjamin Ree
Skywalkers: A Love Story
Directed by Jeff Zimbalist
Sugarcane
Directed by Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie
Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story
Directed by Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui
Will and Harper
Directed by Josh Greenbaum
Shorts List Semifinalists (nominees to be announced in December)
Contractions
Directed by Lynne Sachs | NY Times Op-Docs
Eternal Father
Directed by Ömer Sami | New Yorker
I Am Ready, Warden
Directed by Smriti Mundhra | MTV Documentary Films
Incident
Directed by Bill Morrison | New Yorker
Instruments of a Beating Heart
Directed by Ema Ryan Yamazaki | NY Times Op-Docs
Love in the Time of Migration
Directed by Erin Semine Kökdil and Chelsea Abbas | LA Times
Makayla’s Voice: A Letter to the World
Directed by Julio Palacio | Netflix
The Medallion
Directed by Ruth Hunduma | New Yorker
A Move
Directed by Elahe Esmaili | NY Times Op-Docs
The Only Girl in the Orchestra
Directed by Molly O’Brien | Netflix
A Swim Lesson
Directed by Rashida Jones and Will McCormack | POV
Unforgettables Honorees
Shiori Ito
In Black Box Diaries
Brian Eno
In Eno
Lhakpa Sherpa
In Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa
Basel Adra and Yuval Abraham
In No Other Land
Patrice Jetter
In Patrice: The Movie
Jenna Marvin
In Queendom
Chris Smalls
In Union
Harper Steele
In Will and Harper
Spotlight
Black Snow
Directed by Alina Simone
Homegrown
Directed by Michel Premo
A New Kind of Wilderness
Directed by Silje Evensmo Jacobsen
A Photographic Memory
Directed by Rachel Elizabeth Seed
Two Strangers Trying Not to Kill Each Other
Directed by Jacob Perlmutter and Manon Ouimet
Heterodox
Caught by the Tides
Directed by Jia Zhang-ke
Kneecap
Directed by Rich Peppiatt
My First Film
Directed by Zia Anger
Pavements
Directed by Alex Ross Perry
Sing Sing
Directed by Greg Kwedar
Songs from the Hole
Directed by Contessa Gayles
Broadcast Film
Bread & Roses
Directed by Sahra Mani | Apple TV+
Girls State
Directed by Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss | Apple TV+
Great Photo, Lovely Life: Facing a Family’s Secrets
Directed by Amanda Mustard and Rachel Beth Anderson | HBO
The Lady Bird Diaries
Directed by Dawn Porter | Hulu
Slave Play. Not a Movie. A Play.
Directed by Jeremy O. Harris | HBO
Spermworld
Directed by Lance Oppenheim | FX
Nonfiction Series
America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders
Directed by Greg Whiteley and Chelsea Yarnell | Netflix
Deadlocked: How America Shaped the Supreme Court
Directed by Dawn Porter | Showtime
The Enfield Poltergeist
Directed by Jerry Rothwell | Apple TV+
The Luckiest Guy in the World
Directed by Steve James | ESPN
Ren Faire
Directed by Lance Oppenheim | HBO
Telemarketers
Directed by Adam Bhala Lough and Sam Lipman-Stern | HBO
Anthology Series
Conan O’Brien Must Go
Executive Producers Conan O’Brien and Jeff Ross | HBO
De La Calle
Executive Producers Nick Barili, Jared Andrukanis, Picky Talarico, Lydia Tenaglia, Christopher Collins, Amanda Culkowski, Bruce Gillmer and Craig H. Shepherd | Paramount+
God Save Texas
Executive Producers Lawrence Wright, Alex Gibney, Richard Linklater, Peter Berg, Michael Lombardo, Elizabeth Rogers, Stacey Offman, Richard Perello, Nancy Abraham and Lisa Heller | HBO
High on the Hog Season 2
Executive Producers Roger Ross Williams, Geoff Martz, Craig Piligian, Sarba Das, Fabienne Toback, Karis Jagger, Jessica B. Harris, Stephen Satterfield and Michele Barnwell | Netflix
How To with John Wilson Season 3
Executive Producers John Wilson, Nathan Fielder, Michael Koman and Clark Reinking | HBO
Photographer
Executive Producers Elizabeth Chai Vasarhely, Jimmy Chin, Pagan Harleman, Betsy Forhan, Anna Barnes and Chris Kugelman | National Geographic
Broadcast Editing
Girls State
Edited by Amy Foote | Apple TV+
The Greatest Night in Pop
Edited by Nic Zimmerman, Will Znidaric and David Brodie | Netflix
Ren Faire
Edited by Max Allman and Nicholas Nazmi | HBO
The Saint of Second Chances
Edited by Alan Lowe, Jeff Malmberg and Miles Wilkerson | Netflix
Telemarketers
Edited by Christopher Passig | HBO
Time Bomb Y2K
Edited by Marley McDonald and Maya Mumma | HBO
Broadcast Cinematography
America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders
Director of Photography Jonathan Nicholas | Netflix
The Enfield Poltergeist
Directors of Photography Ruben Woodin Deschamps, Carmen Pellon Brussosa and David Katznelson | Apple TV+
Girls State
Directors of Photography Martina Radwan, Daniel Carter, Laela Kilbourn, Erynn Patrick Lamont, Laura Hudock, Thorsten Thielow | Apple TV+
Photographer
Director of Photography Michael Crommett, Rita Baghdadi, Peter Hutchens, Melissa Langer and Pauline Maroun | National Geographic
Ren Faire
Director of Photography Nate Hurtsellers | HBO
You Were My First Boyfriend
Director of Photography Brennan Vance and J. Bennett | HBO
About Cinema Eye, Cinema Eye Week and the 2025 Cinema Eye Honors
Cinema Eye was founded in 2007 to recognize excellence in artistry and craft in nonfiction filmmaking. It was the first and remains the only international nonfiction award to recognize the whole creative team, presenting annual craft awards in directing, producing, cinematography, editing, composing, sound design, visual design and recognizing the contributions of participants in front of the camera. The 18th Cinema Eye Honors Week will take place in January 2025, where a series of celebratory events bring together many of the year’s most accomplished filmmakers from around the globe. The week culminates on January 9, 2025, when the Cinema Eye Honors will be presented at the annual Awards Ceremony, which will take place at the New York Academy of Medicine in East Harlem.
