‘Act of Killing,’ ‘Stories We Tell,’ ‘Cutie and the Boxer’ Lead Cinema Eye Honors Nominations

“Cutie” leads all films with six nominations; “The Act of Killing” and “Stories We Tell” receive their second major doc nominations in a week

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.)

Also read: Hard-Hitting IDA Awards Nominees Include Documentaries ‘Act of Killing,’ ‘Blackfish,’ ‘Stories We Tell’

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

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