The 11th Cinema Eye Honors Awards Ceremony occurred on January 11, 2018 and saw Yance Ford’s STRONG ISLAND make history as the first film to win the awards for Outstanding Feature, Outstanding Direction and Outstanding Debut. The Editing prize went to Lindsay Utz for QUEST, with the team from LAST MEN IN ALEPPO winning Outstanding Production. Brett Morgen’s JANE won the Audience Choice Prize and also Outstanding Score for composer Philip Glass. At the Honors Lunch, Sean Baker’s THE FLORIDA PROJECT received the Heterodox Award and Leon Gast was presented the Legacy Award for WHEN WE WERE KINGS. The Awards Ceremony at the Museum of the Moving Image was hosted again by filmmaker Steve James, a 2018 nominee for ABACUS: SMALL ENOUGH TO JAIL. Presenters included Sheila Nevins, Roger Ross Williams, Julie Goldman, Nanfu Wang, Kirsten Johnson, Liz Garbus, Marshall Curry and Nathan Truesdell.
Outstanding Achievement
in Nonfiction Feature Filmmaking
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City of Ghosts
Directed and Produced by Matthew Heineman
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Ex Libris: The New York Public Library
Directed and Produced by Frederick Wiseman
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Faces Places
Directed by Agnès Varda and JR (Director)
Produced by Rosalie Varda -
Last Men in Aleppo
Directed by Feras Fayyadn
Produced by Kareem Abeed, Stefan Kloos, and Søren Steen Jespersen -
Quest
Directed by Jonathan Olshefski
Produced by Sabrina Schmidt Gordon -
Winner
Strong Island
Directed by Yance Ford
Produced by Joslyn Barnes and Yance Ford
Outstanding Achievement in Direction
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Kitty Green
For Casting JonBenet
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Matthew Heineman
For City of Ghosts
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Yuri Ancarani
For The Challenge
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Frederick Wiseman
For Ex Libris: The New York Public Library
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Agnès Varda and JR
For Faces Places
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Winner
Yance Ford
For Strong Island
Outstanding Achievement in Editing
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Bill Morrison
For Dawson City: Frozen Time
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Joe Beshenkovsky
For Jane
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TJ Martin
For LA92
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Keith Fraase and John Walter
For Long Strange Trip
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Winner
Lindsay Utz
For Quest
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Francisco Bello, Daniel Garber, and David Barker
For The Reagan Show
Outstanding Achievement in Production
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Nominees to be Determined
For Brimstone and Glory
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Matthew Heineman
For City of Ghosts
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Heino Deckert, Ai Weiwei, and Chin-Chin Yap
For Human Flow
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Winner
Kareem Abeed, Stefan Kloos, and Søren Steen Jespersen
For Last Men in Aleppo
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Brenda Coughlin, Yoni Golijov and Laura Poitras
For Risk
Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography
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Tobias von dem Borne
For Brimstone and Glory
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Yuri Ancarani, Luca Nervegna and Jonathan Ricquebourg
For The Challenge
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Winner
Andrew Ackerman and Jeff Orlowski
For Chasing Coral
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Nominees to be Determined
For Human Flow
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Rodrigo Trejo Villanueva
For Machines
Audience Choice
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Abacus: Small Enough to Jail
Directed by Steve James
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City of Ghosts
Directed by Matthew Heineman
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Chasing Coral
Directed by Jeff Orlowski
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Faces Places
Directed by Agnès Varda and JR
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Winner
Jane
Directed by Brett Morgen
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Kedi
Directed by Ceyda Torun
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Quest
Directed by Jonathan Olshefski
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Step
Directed by Amanda Lipitz
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Whose Streets?
Directed by Sabaah Folayan and Damon Davis
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The Work
Directed by Gethin Aldous and Jairus McLeary
Outstanding Achievement in a Debut Feature Film
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Viktor Jakovleski
For Brimstone and Glory
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Anna Zamecka
For Communion
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Rahul Jain
For Machines
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Theo Anthony
For Rat Film
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Winner
Yance Ford
For Strong Island
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Heidi Brandenburg and Mathew Orzel
For When Two Worlds Collide
Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Score
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Dan Romer and Benh Zeitlin
For Brimstone and Glory
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Francesco Fantini and Lorenzo Senni
For The Challenge
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Alex Somers
For Dawson City: Frozen Time
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Philip Glass
WinnerFor Jane
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Dan Deacon
For Rat Film
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Hildur Gudnadóttir and Craig Sutherland
For Strong Island
Outstanding Achievement
in Graphic Design or Animation
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Chad Herschberger
For 78/52: Hitchcock’s Shower Scene
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Matt Schultz and Shawna Schultz
For Chasing Coral
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Grant Nellessen
For Citizen Jane: Battle for the City
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Daniel Gies and Emily Paige
For Let There Be Light
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Winner
Stefan Nadelman
For Long Strange Trip
Spotlight Award
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Donkeyote
Directed by Chico Pereira
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An Insignificant Man
Directed by Khushboo Ranka and Vinay Shukla
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Winner
Lots of Kids, a Monkey and a Castle
Directed by Gustavo Salmerón
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Plastic China
Directed by Jiuliang Wang
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Stranger in Paradise
Directed by Guido Hendrikx
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Taste of Cement
Directed by Ziad Kalthoum
Outstanding Achievement
in Broadcast Nonfiction Filmmakiking
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13th
Directed by Ava DuVernay
Produced by Ava DuVernay and Howard Barish
For Netflix: Executive Producers Ben Cotner, Adam Del Deo, and Lisa Nishimura -
Abortion: Stories Women Tell
Directed and Produced Tracy Droz Tragos
For HBO Documentary Films: Executive Producer Sheila Nevins, Senior Producer Sara Bernstein -
Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds
Directed by Alexis Bloom and Fisher Stevens
Produced by Alexis Bloom, Fisher Stevens, Julie Nives and Todd Fisher
For HBO Documentary Films: Executive Producer Sheila Nevins, Senior Producer Nancy Abraham -
Five Came Back
Directed by Laurent Bouzereau
Produced by John Battsek and Laurent Bouzereau
For Netflix: Executive Producers Ben Cotner, Adam Del Deo, and Lisa Nishimura -
Winner
The Keepers
Directed by Ryan White
Produced by Jessica Hargrave
For Netflix: Executive Producers Ben Cotner, Jason Springarn-Koff, and Lisa Nishimura -
Solitary: Inside Red Onion State Prison
Directed and Produced by Kristi Jacobson
Produced by Katie Mitchell and Julie Goldman
For HBO Documentary Films: Executive Producer Sheila Nevins, Senior Producer Nancy Abraham
Outstanding Achievement
in Nonfiction Short Filmmaking
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Edith+Eddie
Directed by Laura Checkoway
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Heroin(e)
Directed by Elaine McMillion Sheldon
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Little Potato
Directed by Wes Hurley and Nathan M. Miller
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Polonaise
Directed by Agnieszka Elbanowska
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Winner
The Rabbit Hunt
Directed by Patrick Bresnan
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Ten Meter Tower
Directed by Maximilien Van Aertryck and Axel Danielson
Heterodox Award
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Winner
The Florida Project
Directed by Sean Baker
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Menashe
Directed by Joshua Z Weinstein
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The Rider
Directed by Chloé Zhao
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Stranger in Paradise
Directed by Guido Hendrikx
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You Have No Idea How Much I Love You
Directed by Pawel Lozinski
Legacy Award
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Winner
When We Were Kings
Directed by Leon Gast
Hell Yeah Prize
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Winner
Icarus
Directed by Bryan Fogel
The Unforgettables
The year’s most notable and significant nonfiction film subjects (previously announced)
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Chanterelle Sung, Hwei Lin Sung, Jill Sung, Thomas Sung, and Vera Sung
For Abacus: Small Enough to Jail
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Bobbi Jene Smith
For Bobbi Jene
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Abdalaziz Alhamza, Hamoud Almousa, and Mohamad Almusari
For City of Ghosts
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Ola Kaczanowska
For Communion
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Dolores Huerta
For Dolores
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Dina Buno and Scott Levin
For Dina
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Agnés Varda
For Faces Places
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Daje Shelton
For For Ahkeem
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Grigory Rodchenkov
For Icarus
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Jane Goodall
For Jane
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Jim Carrey
For Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond
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Christine’a Rainey, Christopher “Quest” Rainey, PJ Rainey, and William Withers
For Quest
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Yance Ford
For Strong Island
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Jennifer Brea
For Unrest
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Brian, Charles, Chris, Dark Cloud, Kiki, and Vegas
For The Work