Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Mr. Rogers Will Be Competing at the Cinema Eye Honors
In early nominations, the nonfiction film awards nominated both ”RBG“ and ”Won’t You Be My Neighbor?“ for the Audience Choice Award, and honored Ginsburg and Rogers as unforgettable subjects
“Free Solo,” “Quincy,” “Minding the Gap,” “RBG,” “Three identical Strangers” and “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” are among the films nominated for the Audience Choice Prize at the 2018 Cinema Eye Honors, an awards show devoted to all facts of nonfiction filmmaking.
“Bathtubs Over Broadway,” “Matangi/Maya/M.I.A.,” “On Her Shoulders” and “Shirkers” were also nominated in the Audience Choice category, which can be voted on by members of the public at the Cinema Eye website.
The bulk of the Cinema Eye Honors nominees will be announced on Thursday, Nov. 8, and the winners will be announced on Thursday, Jan. 10 at the Museum of the Moving Image in New York City.
In the Broadcast Film category, the nominees were four docs from HBO – “Baltimore Rising,” “Believer,” “The Final Year” and “I Am Evidence” – plus “Nobody Speak: The Trials of a Free Press” from Netflix and “This Is Home: A Refugee Story” from Epix.
In the Unforgettables category, which recognizes the most interesting subjects of the year’s nonfiction films, the noncompetitive list includes a tennis instructor (Nick Bollettieri, “Love Means Zero”), a Supreme Court justice (Ruth Bader Ginsburg, “RBG”), a Hollywood pimp of sorts (Scotty Bowers, “Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood”) and a beloved children’s television icon (Fred Rogers, “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?”).
Contenders for the Heterodox Award, which singles out films that mix narrative and nonfiction techniques, are “American Animals,” “Obscuro Barocco,” “Skate Kitchen,” “The Tale” and “We the Animals.”
The nominees:
Audience Choice Prize Nominees
“Bathtubs Over Broadway,” Dava Whisenant
“Free Solo,” Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin
“Matangi/Maya/M.I.A.,” Stephen Loveridge
“Minding the Gap,” Bing Liu
“On Her Shoulders,” Alexandria Bombach
“Quincy,” Rashida Jones and Al Hicks
“RBG,” Julie Cohen and Betsy West
“Shirkers,” Sandi Tan
“Three Identical Strangers,” Tim Wardle
“Won’t You Be My Neighbor?,” Morgan Neville
Nonfiction Shorts List
(Five nominees in this category will be announced on Thursday, November 8)
“Baby Brother,” Kamau Bilal
“Concussion Protocol,” Josh Begley
“The Earth is Humming,” Garrett Bradley
“My Dead Dad’s Porno Tapes,” Charlie Tyrell
“A Night at the Garden,” Marshall Curry
“Las Nubes,” Juan Pablo González
“Sister Hearts,” Mohammad Gorjestani
“Skip Day,” Patrick Bresnan and Ivete Lucas
“Volte,” Monika Kotecka and Karolina Poryzala
“Zhalanash – Empty Shore,” Marcin Sauter
Heterodox Award Nominees
“American Animals,” Bart Layton
“Obscuro Barocco,” Evangelia Kranioti
“Skate Kitchen,” Crystal Moselle
“The Tale,” Jennifer Fox
“We the Animals,” Jeremiah Zagar
Broadcast Film Nominees
“Baltimore Rising ,” Sonja Sohn, HBO
“Believer,” Don Argott HBO
“The Final Year,” Greg Barker HBO
“I Am Evidence,” Trish Adlesic and Geeta Gandbhir HBO
“Nobody Speak: Trials of the Free Press,” Brian Knappenberger Netflix
“This is Home: A Refugee Story,” Alexandra Shiva Epix
Broadcast Series Nominees
“America to Me,” Steve James Starz
“Evil Genius,” Trey Borzilleri and Barbara Schroeder Netflix
“Flint Town,” Zackary Canepari, Drea Cooper and Jessica Dimmock Netflix
“The Fourth Estate,” Liz Garbus Showtime
“The Trade,” Matthew Heineman Showtime
“Wild Wild Country,” Chapman Way and Maclain Way Netflix
Unforgettables Nonfiction Subjects of 2018
(Non-competitive Honor)
Annette Ontell, “306 Hollywood”
América, “América”
Issei Sagawa, “Caniba”
Alex Honnold, “Free Solo”
Julita Salmerón, “Lots of Kids, a Monkey and a Castle”
Nick Bollettieri, “Love Means Zero”
M.I.A., “Matangi/Maya/M.I.A.”
Keire Johnson, Bing Liu and Zack Mulligan, “Minding the Gap”
Abu Osama, “Of Fathers and Sons”
Nadia Murad, “On Her Shoulders”
Ruth Bader Ginsburg, “RBG”
Scotty Bowers, “Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood”
Georges Cardona, Jasmine Ng, Sophie Siddique and Sandi Tan, “Shirkers”
Edward Galland, David Kellman and Robert Shafran, “Three Identical Strangers”
Fred Rogers, “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?”
15 Top Grossing Documentaries at the Box Office, From 'An Inconvenient Truth' to 'Fahrenheit 9/11' (Photos)
Documentaries are rarely big money makers, but they can have the power to influence change and motivate people to action in a way narrative films cannot. So when a documentary does make a splash at the box office, it's an even bigger surprise. This list of the top-15 grossing documentaries ever is an interesting mix of political, nature and concert docs, and several of them likewise went on to win Oscars and critical acclaim. All numbers are domestic totals via Box Office Mojo.
Warner Bros./National Geographic Films/Paramount Classics
15. "They Shall Not Grow Old" (2018) - $17.9 million
Director Peter Jackson went to painstaking lengths to digitally restore and transform 100-year-old archival footage for his powerful documentary on World War I. Jackson restored color and sound to the Great War, something that was previously only known through black and white silent film. The documentary performed well in part because of a release that even transformed the footage into 3D.
Warner Bros.
14. "Oceans" (2010) - $19.4 million
You'll see a lot of Disneynature documentaries on this list. Pierce Brosnan narrates this 2010 documentary filmed across the world's oceans.
Disneynature
13. "Bowling for Columbine" (2002) - $21.5 million
Michael Moore's provocative documentary about American gun violence (and one of his best) won the Oscar for Best Documentary and broke international box office records for a documentary in 2002.
United Artists
12. "Won't You Be My Neighbor?" (2018) - $22.8 million
Morgan Neville's portrait of Fred Rogers and "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" proved to be a crowd-pleasing hit in the summer of 2018 because of the absolute niceness at its heart. Neville in his film explains that Fred Rogers was the rare person who really did not have a dark side, and in "Won't You Be My Neighbor?" it shows.
Jim Judkis / Focus Features
11. "An Inconvenient Truth" (2006) - $24.1 million
Davis Guggenheim's documentary spotlighting former Vice President Al Gore's plea to alert the world to the effects of global warming and climate change went on to win two Oscars and earn a sequel.
Paramount Classics
10. "Sicko" (2007) - $24.5 million
Another Michael Moore movie to crack the list, "Sicko" was Moore's look at the healthcare industry in America compared to other nations, with Moore sailing sick veterans down to Cuba to receive the care they couldn't have had at home.
Lionsgate
9. "Katy Perry: Part of Me" (2012) - $25.3 million
This 2012 concert movie followed Katy Perry on her California Dreams World Tour.
Paramount Pictures
8. "One Direction: This Is Us" (2013) - $28.8 million
"Super Size Me" filmmaker Morgan Spurlock directed this concert doc about the then wildly popular British boy group.
TriStar
7. "Chimpanzee" (2012) - $28.9 million
Tim Allen narrated this Disneynature doc about a three-month old chimp separated from his flock and adopted by another grown male.
Disneynature
6. "Earth" (2007) - $32 million
The first of Disneynature's documentaries, "Earth" was a theatrical version of the popular "Planet Earth" miniseries from 2006. "Earth" was finally given a stateside theatrical release in 2009.
Disneynature
5. "2016: Obama's America" (2012) - $33.4 million
Dinesh D'Souza's anti-Obama documentary speculated about where the country would be if Obama won a second term in office in 2012.
Getty Images
4. "Michael Jackson's This Is It" (2009) - $72 million
The footage in "This Is It" comes from a behind-the-scenes look at preparation for Michael Jackson's 50 shows at London's O2 Arena. It wasn't originally meant to be made into a film, but it provided an intimate look at Jackson in his final days.
Getty Images
3. "Justin Bieber: Never Say Never" (2011) - $73 million
The Biebs holds the spot for the highest-grossing concert film ever and the documentary with the biggest opening weekend of all time.
Paramount Pictures
2. "March of the Penguins" (2005) - $77.4 million
People sure love penguins. Morgan Freeman narrates the nature documentary that opened on just four screens but soon spread into a nationwide hit.
National Geographic Films
1. "Fahrenheit 9/11" (2004) - $119.1 million
Michael Moore's scathing documentary about President George W. Bush and the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks is the highest-grossing documentary of all time and it isn't even close. The film won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. Opening at over $23 million, the movie at the time opened higher than any other documentary had ever grossed in its lifetime. Moore followed up the film with a documentary about the 2016 election and Donald Trump, titled "Fahrenheit 11/9," which refers to the day after he was elected.
Miramax
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Michael Moore, Disneynature and several concert films top the list
Documentaries are rarely big money makers, but they can have the power to influence change and motivate people to action in a way narrative films cannot. So when a documentary does make a splash at the box office, it's an even bigger surprise. This list of the top-15 grossing documentaries ever is an interesting mix of political, nature and concert docs, and several of them likewise went on to win Oscars and critical acclaim. All numbers are domestic totals via Box Office Mojo.