“American Factory” and “Apollo 11” led all films in nominations for the 13th annual Cinema Eye Honors, a New York-based awards show created to pay tribute to all facets of nonfiction filmmaking.
The two films each received five nominations, including Outstanding Nonfiction Feature, from the Cinema Eye jury of festival programmers, as well as votes from this year’s eligible filmmakers.
The full slate of nominees in that category is a solid lineup of the year’s most acclaimed docs. In addition to Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert’s “American Factory” and Todd Douglas Miller’s “Apollo 11,” it includes Waad al-Kateab and Edward Watts’ “For Sama,” Ljubomir Stefanov and Tamara Kotevska’s “Honeyland,” Luke Lorentzen’s “Midnight Family” and Nanfu Wang and Jialing Zhang’s “One Child Nation.”
“American Factory,” “Apollo 11” and “One Child Nation” have been nominated in the top category at the two main awards for nonfiction filmmaking, the Cinema Eye Honors and IDA Documentary Awards, as well as by the Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards and the Gotham Awards.
Films with three Cinema Eye nominations are “Aquarela,” “The Cave,” “For Sama,” “Homecoming, a Film by Beyonce,” “Honeyland” and “Midnight Family.”
Over the last seven years, at least two Cinema Eye Honors nominees have gone on to receive Oscar nominations for Best Documentary Feature each year, with three Cinema Eye nominees doing so in each of the last four years. While the Cinema Eye Honors started as a New York-based organization with more challenging taste than the Academy, the two organizations have become closer over the years, as the AMPAS Documentary Branch has worked to admit a younger and more diverse group of filmmakers.
The 13th Cinema Eye Honors ceremony will take place on Monday, January 6 at the Museum of the Moving Image in New York City.
The nominees:
Outstanding Nonfiction Feature
“American Factory”
Directed and Produced by Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert
Produced by Jeff Reichert and Julie Parker Benello
“Apollo 11”
Directed and Produced by Todd Douglas Miller
Produced by Thomas Petersen and Evan Krauss
“For Sama”
Directed by Waad al-Kateab and Edward Watts
Produced by Waad al-Kateab
“Honeyland”
Directed by Ljubomir Stefanov and Tamara Kotevska
Produced by Atanas Georgiev and Ljubomir Stefanov
“Midnight Family”
Directed and Produced by Luke Lorentzen
Produced by Kellen Quinn
“One Child Nation”
Directed and Produced by Nanfu Wang and Jialing Zhang
Produced by Christoph Jörg, Julie Goldman, Christopher Clements and Carolyn Hepburn
Outstanding Direction
“American Factory,” Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert
“The Cave,” Feras Fayyad
“Cold Case Hammarskjöld,” Mads Brügger
“Honeyland,” Ljubomir Stefanov and Tamara Kotevska
“The Hottest August,” Brett Story
“One Child Nation,” Nanfu Wang and Jialing Zhang
Outstanding Editing
“17 Blocks,” Jennifer Tiexiera
“American Factory,” Lindsay Utz
“Apollo 11,” Todd Douglas Miller
“Letter to the Editor,” Alan Berliner
“Mike Wallace is Here,” Billy McMillin
Outstanding Production
“Aquarela,” Aimara Reques, Sigrid Dyekjær and Heino Deckert
“Apollo 11,” Todd Douglas Miller, Thomas Petersen and Evan Krauss
“The Cave,” Kirstine Barfod and Sigrid Dyekjær
“For Sama,” Waad Al-Kateab
“Midnight Family,” Luke Lorentzen and Kellen Quinn
“Midnight Traveler,” Emelie Mahdavian and Su Kim
Outstanding Cinematography
“Aquarela,” Victor Kossokovsky
“Anthropocene: The Human Epoch,” Nicholas De Pencier
“Honeyland,” Fejmi Daut and Samir Ljuma
“Midnight Family,” Luke Lorentzen
“What You Gonna Do When the World’s On Fire?” Diego Romero
Outstanding Original Score
“American Factory,” Chad Cannon
“Anthropocene: The Human Epoch,” Rose Bolton and Norah Lorway
“Apollo 11,” Matt Morton
“Aquarela,” Eicca Toppinen
“Black Mother,” 4th Disciple
“Symphony of the Ursus Factory,” Dominik Strycharski
Outstanding Graphic Design or Animation
“The Great Hack,” Ash Thorp, Matthew Hornick and Patrick Cederberg
“The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley,” Hazel Baird
“Moonlight Sonata: Deafness in Three Movements,” Brian Kinkley and Ben Luce
“Our Time Machine,” Ryan Wehner
Outstanding Debut
“The Disappearance of My Mother,” Directed by Beniamino Barrese
“Jawline,” Directed by Liza Mandelup
“Scheme Birds,” Directed by Ellen Fiske and Ellinor Hallin
“Searching Eva,” Directed by Pia Hellenthal
“Swarm Season,” Directed by Sarah Christman
“Symphony of the Ursus Factory,” Directed by Jasmina Wójcik
Outstanding Nonfiction Short
“Crannog,” Directed by Isa Roa
“Fast Horse,” Directed by Alex Lazarowich
“Ghosts of Sugar Land,” Directed by Bassam Tariq
“Lowland Kids,” Directed by Sandra Winther
“Stay Close,” Directed by Luther Clement and Shuhan Fan
“Subject to Review,” Directed by Theo Anthony
Audience Choice Prize
“17 Blocks,” Directed by Davy Rothbart
“The Amazing Johnathan Documentary,” Directed by Ben Berman
“American Factory,” Directed by Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert
“Apollo 11,” Directed by Todd Douglas Miller
“Ask Dr. Ruth,” Directed by Ryan White
“The Biggest LIttle Farm,” Directed by John Chester
“The Cave,” Directed by Feras Fayyad
“For Sama,” Directed by Waad Al-Kateab and Edward Watts
“Knock Down the House,” Directed by Rachel Lears
“Maiden,” Directed by Alex Holmes
Spotlight
“Always in Season,” Directed by Jacqueline Olive
“Bellingcat: Truth in a Post-Truth World,” Directed by Hans Pool
“Dark Suns,” Directed by Julien Elie
“Present.Perfect,” Directed by Shengze Zhu
“The Raft,” Directed by Marcus Lindeen
Previously announced nominations:
The Unforgettables (Non-Competitive Honor)
“Advocate,” Lea Tsemel
“The Amazing Johnathan Documentary,” The Amazing Johnathan
“Ask Dr. Ruth,” Dr. Ruth Westheimer
“The Cave,” Dr. Amani Ballour
“The Disappearance of My Mother,” Benedetta Barzini
“For Sama,” Waad and Hamza al-Kataeb
“Hail Satan?” Lucien Greaves
“Honeyland,” Hatidze Muratova
“Knock Down the House,” Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
“Maiden,” Tracy Edwards
“Midnight Family,” Juan Ochoa
“Midnight Traveler,” Fatima Hussaini and Hassan Fazili
“Seahorse,” Freddy
“What You Gonna Do When the World’s On Fire?” Judy Hill
“XY Chelsea,” Chelsea Manning
2020 Shorts List Films
“All on a Mardi Gras Day,” Directed by Michal Pietrzyk
“In the Absence,” Directed by Seung Jun-Yi
“Life Overtakes Me,” Directed by John Haptas and Kristine Samuelson
“St. Louis Superman,” Directed by Smriti Mundhra and Sami Khan
Outstanding Broadcast Film
“Apollo: Missions to the Moon,” Directed by Tom Jennings | National Geographic
“At the Heart of Gold: Inside the USA Gymnastics Scandal,” Directed by Erin Lee Carr | HBO
“Breslin and Hamill: Deadline Artists,” Directed by John Block, Jonathan Alter and Steve McCarthy | HBO
“Homecoming,” Directed by Beyoncé Knowles-Carter | Netflix
“Leaving Neverland,” Directed by Dan Reed | HBO
“The Sentence,” Directed by Rudy Valdez | HBO
Outstanding Broadcast Series
“The Case Against Adnan Syed,” Directed by Amy Berg | HBO
“The Family,” Directed by Jesse Moss | Netflix
“Jonestown: Terror in the Jungle,” Directed by Shan Nicholson and Richard Lopez | SundanceTV
“Last Chance U: Season 4,” Directed by Greg Whiteley | Netflix
“Salt Fat Acid Heat,” Directed by Caroline Suh | Netflix
“Tricky Dick,” Directed by Mary Robertson | CNN
Outstanding Broadcast Editing
“Apollo: Mission to the Moon,” David Tillman | National Geographic
“Homecoming,” Alexander Hammer, Andrew Morrow, Nia Imani and Julian Klincewicz | Netflix
“Leaving Neverland,” Jules Cornell | HBO
“Tricky Dick,” Benji Kast, David Mehlman, Diana DiCilio and Seth Skundrick | CNN
Outstanding Broadcast Cinematography
“Homecoming,” Mark Ritchie, Julian Klincewicz, Dikayl Rimmasch and Irie Calkins | Netflix
“Into the Okavango,” Neil Gelinas | National Geographic
“Salt Fat Acid Heat,” Luke McCoubrey | Netflix
“Tigerland,” Matt Porwoll and Ross Kauffman| Discovery
Heterodox Award
“Atlantics,” Directed by Mati Diop
“Honey Boy,” Directed by Alma Har’el
“The Infiltrators,” Directed by Alex Rivera and Cristina Ibarra
“The Souvenir,” Directed by Joanna Hogg
“Vitalina Varela,” Directed by Pedro Costa
Legacy Award
“Koyaanisqatsi”
Directed and Produced by Godfrey Reggio
Cinematography Ron Fricke
Editing Ron Fricke and Alton Walpole
Original Score Philip Glass