The documentaries “The Act of Killing,” “After Tiller,” “Cutie and the Boxer,” “Leviathan” and “Stories We Tell” (photo above) have been nominated for the top award at the 2014 Cinema Eye Honors, one of the most prominent awards given to nonfiction filmmaking.
In a press conference held on Wednesday afternoon in New York City, “Cutie and the Boxer” led all films with six nominations.
“The Act of Killing” received five, with “After Tiller” and “Leviathan” receiving four each and “Expedition to the End of the World” and “Stories We Tell” receiving three.
Joshua Oppenheimer’s disturbing story of mass killings in Indonesia, “The Act of Killing,” and Sarah Polley‘s examination of her own tangled family history, “Stories We Tell,” are the only Cinema Eye Honors nominees to also be in the running for the top prize at the International Documentary Association’s IDA Documentary Awards, whose nominations were announced last week.
(The Oscar shortlist of 15 documentaries will be announced in December, and the nominees on Jan. 16.)
As it was at the IDA Awards, the year’s top-grossing non-concert doc, the music movie “20 Feet From Stardom,” was left out of the top category. It was, however, nominated in the Audience Choice category, which also contains two other music movies, “Muscle Shoals” and “Sound City.”
For the first time, the Cinema Eye Honors nominated made-for-television documentaries, with that category including “The Crash Reel,” “Inventing David Geffen,” “Mea Maxima Culpa” and “Which Way Is the Front Line From Here? The Life and Times of Tim Hetherington.”
The Cinema Eye Honors are the most extensive awards for nonfiction filmmaking, handing out prizes in directing, producing, cinematography, editing, music and graphic design or animation, in addition to overall film awards.
A total of 174 films qualified for the awards this year, 23 more than the record field of 151 for the Academy Awards. (273 films had qualified for the IDA Awards.)
Also read: Here They Are, All 151 Oscar-Qualifying Documentaries (Exclusive)
Over its first six years, the awards twice gave their top honor to the film that went on to win the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. James Marsh‘s “Man on Wire” won in 2009, and Louie Psihoyos’ “The Cove” the following year.
Last year’s Cinema Eye winner was “5 Broken Cameras,” which was nominated for an Oscar but did not win. The Oscar winner, “Searching for Sugar Man,” was also nominated for the top Cinema Eye award.
The Cinema Eye Honors were launched in 2007 by filmmaker and journalist A.J. Schnack and documentary programmer Thom Powers, who wanted to create documentary awards that would honor the entire creative team and all facets of nonfiction filmmaking.
The awards ceremony will take place in early January, at a time and place to be announced.
The nominees:
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN NONFICTION FEATURE FILMMAKING
The Act of Killing
Directed by: Joshua Oppenheimer
Produced by: Signe Byrge Sorensen
After Tiller
Directed by: Martha Shane and Lana Wilson
Produced by: Martha Shane and Lana Wilson
Cutie and the Boxer
Directed by: Zachary Heinzerling
Produced by: Lydia Dean Pilcher, Mark steele
Leviathan
Directed by: Lucien Castaig-Taylor & Verena Paravel
Produced by: Lucien Castaig-Taylor & Verena Paravel
Stories We Tell
Directed by: Sarah Polley
Produced by: Anita Lee
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN DIRECTION
The Act of Killing
Directed by Joshua Oppenheimer
After Tiller
Directed by Martha Shane and Lana Wilson
First Cousin Once Removed
Directed by Alan Berliner
Leviathan
Directed by Lucien Castaing-Taylor & Véréna Paravel
The Machine Which Makes Everything Disappear
Directed by Tinatin Gurchiani
Stories We Tell
Directed by Sarah Polley
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN EDITING
The Act of Killing
Edited by Janus Billeskov Jansen
First Cousin Once Removed
Edited by Alan Berliner
Let the Fire Burn
Edited by Nels Bangerter
Leviathan
Edited by Lucien Castaing-Taylor & Véréna Paravel
Our Nixon
Edited by Francisco Bello
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN PRODUCTION
The Act of Killing
Signe Byrge Sørensen
After Tiller
Martha Shane and Lana Wilson
Dirty Wars
Anthony Arnove, Brenda Coughlin and Jeremy Scahill
Expedition to the End of the World
Michael Haslund-Christensen
The Square
Karim Amer
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN CINEMATOGRAPHY
12 O’Clock Boys
Cinematography by Lotfy Nathan
Cutie and the Boxer
Cinematography by Zachary Heinzerling
Dirty Wars
Cinematography by Richard Rowley
Elena
Cinematography by Janice D’avila, Will Etchebehere and Miguel Vassy
Expedition to the End of the World
Cinematography by Martin Munch
Leviathan
Cinematography by Lucien Castaing-Taylor & Véréna Paravel
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN NONFICTION FILMS MADE FOR TELEVISION
The Crash Reel
Directed by Lucy Walker
Produced by Julian Cautherley and Lucy Walker
For HBO Documentary Films: Executive Producer Sheila Nevins; Supervising Producer Sara Bernstein
Gideon’s Army
Directed by Dawn Porter
Produced by Dawn Porter and Julie Goldman
For HBO Documentary Films: Executive Producer Sheila Nevins; Senior Producer Nancy Abraham
Homegoings
Directed by Christine Turner
Produced by Christine Turner
For PBS/POV: Executive Producer Simon Kilmurry
Inventing David Geffen
Directed by Susan Lacy
Produced by Susan Lacy and Jessica Levin
For PBS/American Masters: Executive Producer Susan Lacy
Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God
Directed by Alex Gibney
Produced by Alex Gibney, Alexandra Johnes, Jedd Wider, Todd Wider and Kristen Vaurio
For HBO Documentary Films: Executive Producer Sheila Nevins; Supervising Producer Sara Bernstein
Which Way Is the Front Line From Here? The Life and Time of Tim Hetherington
Directed by Sebastian Junger
Produced by Nick Quested and James Brabazon
For HBO Documentary Films: Executive Producer Sheila Nevins; Supervising Producer Sara Bernstein
AUDIENCE CHOICE PRIZE
20 Feet From Stardom
Directed by Morgan Neville
The Act of Killing
Directed by Joshua Oppenheimer
Blackfish
Directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite
The Crash Reel
Directed by Lucy Walker
Cutie and the Boxer
Directed by Zachary Heinzerling
Muscle Shoals
Directed by Greg ‘Freddy’ Camalier
Rafea: Solar Mama
Directed by Mona Eldaief & Jehane Noujaim
Sound City
Directed by Dave Grohl
The Square
Directed by Jehane Noujaim
Stories We Tell
Directed by Sarah Polley
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN A DEBUT FEATURE FILM
12 O’Clock Boys
Directed by Lotfy Nathan
After Tiller
Directed by Martha Shane and Lana Wilson
Cutie and the Boxer
Directed by Zachary Heinzerling
Let the Fire Burn
Directed by Jason Osder
The Machine Which Makes Everything Disappear
Directed by Tinatin Gurchiani
Sofia’s Last Ambulance
Directed by Ilian Metev
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN ORIGINAL MUSIC SCORE
A Band Called Death
Score by Sam Retzer & Tim Boland
Blackfish
Score by Jeff Beal
Cutie and the Boxer
Score by Yasuaki Shimizu
Expedition to the End of the World
Score by Mads Heldtberg
Narco Cultura
Score by Jeremy Turner
Teenage
Score by Bradford Cox
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN GRAPHIC DESIGN OR ANIMATION
Cutie and the Boxer
Graphics by Art Jail
Far Out Isn’t Far Enough
Graphics by Rick Cikowski & Brandon Dumlao
The Fruit Hunters
Graphics by Brandon Blommaert & Fred Casia
Inequality for All
Graphics by Brian Oakes
Maidentrip
Graphics by Margot Tsakiri-Scanatovits & Daniel Chester
We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks
Graphics by Maryanne Butler & Marc Smith
SPOTLIGHT AWARD
Bending Steel
Directed by Dave Carroll
Fuck for Forest
Directed by Michal Marczak
Harry Dean Stanton: Partly Fiction
Directed by Sophie Huber
The Last Station
Directed by Cristian Soto and Catalina Vergara
The Search for Emak Bakia
Directed by Oskar Algeria
Valentine Road
Directed by Marta Cunningham
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN NONFICTION SHORT FILMMAKING
Da Vinci
Director: Yuri Ancarani
Death of a Prisoner
Director: Laura Poitras
Outlawed in Pakistan
Director: Habiba Nosheen, Hilke Schellmann
Reindeer
Director: Eva Weber
SLOMO
Director: Josh Izenberg
A Story for the Modlins
Director: Sergio Oksman