“The Perfect Neighbor” has been named the best nonfiction film of 2025 at the Critics Choice Documentary Awards, which were held on Sunday evening at the Edison Ballroom in New York City.
Geeta Gandbhir won the best director award for the Nexflix film, which deals with a Florida incident of a white woman shooting her Black neighbor.
This is the 10th Critics Choice Documentary Awards. In the first nine years, the Critics Choice winner has gone on to win the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature only twice, with “O.J.: Made in America” winning both awards in 2016 and “Summer of Soul” doing it in 2021. In the other seven years, the Critics Choice winner was not even nominated for the Oscar.
Mariska Hargitay won the award for best first documentary for her film about her mother, Jayne Mansfield, “My Mom Jayne: A Film by Mariska Hargitay.”
In the genre categories, “The Alabama Solution” won the award for political documentary, “Becoming Led Zeppelin” and “Sly Lives!” tied for music doc, “Mr. Scorsese” won for biographical doc, “America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders” won for sports doc, “Ocean With David Attenborough” won for science/nature doc, “The Perfect Neighbor” won for archival doc and for true crime doc and “The American Revolution” and “Hurricane Katrina: Race Against Time” tied for historical doc.
Craft winners were Alexei Aigui for the score and Damian Lewis for the narration to “Orwell: 2+2=5,” Toby Strong and Doug Anderson for the cinematography to “Ocean With David Attenborough” and Viridiana Lieberman for the editing of “The Perfect Neighbor.”
In the categories limited to broadcast and streaming, “Mr. Scorsese” won for limited documentary series and “30 for 30” won for ongoing documentary series.
In many of the top categories, including Best Documentary Feature, the Critics Choice Documentary Awards do not distinguish between theatrical and broadcast or streaming docs, with both eligible for awards.
Honorary awards were presented to director Ken Burns and the filmmaking team of Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady.
The winners:
Best Documentary Feature: “The Perfect Neighbor” (Netflix)
Best Director: Geeta Gandbhir – “The Perfect Neighbor” (Netflix)
Best First Documentary Feature: “My Mom Jayne: A Film by Mariska Hargitay” (HBO Max)
Best Cinematography: Toby Strong, Doug Anderson (Underwater Photography) – “Ocean With David Attenborough” (National Geographic)
Best Editing:Viridiana Lieberman – “The Perfect Neighbor” (Netflix)
Best Score: Alexei Aigui – “Orwell: 2+2=5” (Neon)
Best Narration: “Orwell: 2+2=5” (Neon)
Written by George Orwell; adapted by Raoul Peck; performed by Damian Lewis
Best Archival Documentary: “The Perfect Neighbor” (Netflix)
Best Historical Documentary: TIE
“The American Revolution” (PBS)
“Hurricane Katrina: Race Against Time” (National Geographic)
Best Biographical Documentary: “Mr. Scorsese” (Apple TV)
Best Music Documentary: TIE
“Becoming Led Zeppelin” (Sony Pictures Classics)
“Sly Lives! (aka The Burden of Black Genius)” (Hulu)
Best Political Documentary: “The Alabama Solution” (HBO Max)
Best Science/Nature Documentary: “Ocean with David Attenborough” (National Geographic)
Best Sports Documentary: “America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders” (Netflix)
Best True Crime Documentary: “The Perfect Neighbor” (Netflix)
Best Short Documentary: “Saving Superman” (Switchboard)
Best Limited Documentary Series: “Mr. Scorsese” (Apple TV)
Best Ongoing Documentary Series: “30 for 30” (ESPN Films)