Broadcast Film Critics Announce Documentary Awards Nominations

It is one of the great honors of my professional life to be a member of the Broadcast Film Critics Association and participate in the Critics Choice awards. This year, I am delighted that we have established a new, separate awards ceremony for documentaries. Here are the outstanding nominees for the inaugural Critics Choice documentary awards.

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
– 13th (Netflix/Kandoo Films)
– 30 For 30: O.J.: Made in America (ESPN/Laylow Films)
– Cameraperson (Janus Films/Fork Films/Big Mouth Productions)
– Fire at Sea (Kino Lorber/Stemal Entertainment/21 Unofilm/Cinecittà Luce/Rai Cinema/Les Films d’Ici/Arte France Cinéma)
– Gleason (Open Road/Amazon/Exhibit A)
– Life, Animated (A&E IndieFilms/The Orchard/Motto Pictures/Roger Ross Williams Productions)
– Tickled (Magnolia/A Ticklish Tale/Fumes Production/Horseshoe Films)
– Tower (Kino Lorber/ITVS/Meredith Vieira Productions/GTS Films/Diana DiMenna Film)
– Weiner (Sundance Selects/Motto Pictures/Edgeline Films)
– The Witness (FilmRise/Five More Minutes Productions)

BEST DIRECTION OF A DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
– Ezra Edelman – 30 For 30: O.J.: Made in America (ESPN/Laylow Films)
– Ron Howard – The Beatles: Eight Days a Week – The Touring Years (Hulu/Imagine Entertainment/Apple Corps)
– Kirsten Johnson – Cameraperson (Janus Films/Fork Films/Big Mouth Productions)
– Keith Maitland – Tower (Kino Lorber/ITVS/Meredith Vieira Productions/GTS Films/Diana DiMenna Film)
– Clay Tweel – Gleason (Open Road/Amazon/Exhibit A)
– Roger Ross Williams – Life, Animated (A&E IndieFilms/The Orchard/Motto Pictures/Roger Ross Williams Productions)

BEST FIRST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
– Otto Bell – The Eagle Huntress (Sony Pictures Classics/Kissaki Films/Stacey Reiss Productions)
– David Farrier and Dylan Reeve – Tickled (Magnolia/A Ticklish Tale/Fumes Production/Horseshoe Films)
– Adam Irving – Off the Rails (The Film Collaborative/Zipper Bros Films)
– Josh Kriegman and Elyse Steinberg – Weiner (Sundance Selects/Motto Pictures/Edgeline Films)
– James D. Solomon – The Witness (FilmRise/Five More Minutes Productions)
– Nanfu Wang – Hooligan Sparrow (The Film Collaborative/Little Horse Crossing the River)

BEST POLITICAL DOCUMENTARY
– 13th (Netflix/Kandoo Films)
– 30 For 30: O.J.: Made in America (ESPN/Laylow Films)
– Audrie & Daisy (Netflix/Actual Films)
– Newtown (Abramorama/Mile 22/Independent Television Service)
– Weiner (Sundance Selects/Motto Pictures/Edgeline Films)
– Zero Days (Magnolia/Jigsaw Productions/Participant Media)

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE (TV/STREAMING)
– 13th (Netflix/Kandoo Films)
– 30 For 30: Fantastic Lies (ESPN)
– Amanda Knox (Netflix/Plus Pictures)
– Audrie & Daisy (Netflix/Actual Films)
– Before the Flood (National Geographic/Appian Way/Insurgent Docs/RatPac Documentary Films)
– Holy Hell (CNN/WRA Productions)
– Into the Inferno (Netflix/Herzog-Film/Matter of Fact Media/Spring Films)
– Jim: The James Foley Story (HBO/Kunhardt Films)
– Mapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures (HBO/Film Manufacturers/World of Wonder Productions)
– Rats (Discovery Channel/Dakota Group/Submarine Entertainment/Warrior Poets)

BEST DIRECTOR (TV/STREAMING)
– Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato – Mapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures (HBO/Film Manufacturers/World of Wonder Productions)
– Rod Blackhurst and Brian McGinn – Amanda Knox (Netflix/Plus Pictures)
– Ava DuVernay – 13th (Netflix/Kandoo Films)
– Werner Herzog – Into the Inferno (Netflix/Herzog-Film/Matter of Fact Media/Spring Films)
– Morgan Spurlock – Rats (Discovery Channel/Dakota Group/Submarine Entertainment/Warrior Poets)
– Fisher Stevens – Before the Flood (National Geographic/Appian Way/Insurgent Docs/RatPac Documentary Films)

BEST FIRST FEATURE (TV/STREAMING)
– Everything is Copy – Jacob Bernstein and Nick Hooker (HBO/Loveless)
– Holy Hell – Will Allen (CNN/WRA Productions)
– Mavis! – Jessica Edwards (HBO/Film First Co.)
– My Beautiful Broken Brain – Sophie Robinson and Lotje Sodderland (Netflix)
– Southwest of Salem: The Story of the San Antonio Four – Deborah Esquenazi (Investigation Discovery/Motto Pictures/Naked Edge Films)
– Team Foxcatcher – Jon Greenhalgh (Netflix/Hattasan Productions/Madrose Productions)

BEST LIMITED DOCUMENTARY SERIES
– 30 For 30: O.J.: Made in America (ESPN/Laylow Films)
– The Circus: Inside the Greatest Political Show on Earth (Showtime/Left/Right)
– The Eighties (CNN)
– The Hunt (BBC America/Silverback Films/NDR Naturfilm)
– Jackie Robinson (PBS/Florentine Films)
– Soundbreaking: Stories From the Cutting Edge of Recorded Music (PBS/Higher Ground/Show of Force)

BEST ONGOING DOCUMENTARY SERIES
– 30 for 30 (ESPN)
– Frontline (PBS)
– Last Chance U (Netflix)
– Morgan Spurlock Inside Man (CNN)
– POV (PBS)
– This Is Life with Lisa Ling (CNN)

BEST SONG IN A DOCUMENTARY
– “Angel by the Wings” – The Eagle Huntress – Written by Sia – Performed by Sia (Sony Pictures Classics/Kissaki Films/Stacey Reiss Productions)
– “The Empty Chair” – Jim: The James Foley Story – Written by Sting and J. Ralph – Performed by Sting (HBO/Kunhardt Films)
– “Flicker” – Audrie & Daisy – Written by Tori Amos – Performed by Tori Amos (Netflix/Actual Films)
– “Hoping and Healing” – Gleason – Written by Mike McCready – Performed by Mike McCready (Open Road/Amazon/Exhibit A)
– “I’m Still Here” – Miss Sharon Jones! – Written by Sharon Jones – Performed by Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings (Cabin Creek Films/Starz Digital Media)
– “Letters to the Free” – 13th – Written by Common, Karriem Riggins and Robert Glasper – Performed by Common featuring Bilal (Netflix/Kandoo Films)

BEST SPORTS DOCUMENTARY
– 30 For 30: Fantastic Lies (ESPN)
– 30 For 30: O.J.: Made in America (ESPN/Laylow Films)
– Dark Horse (Sony Pictures Classics)
– The Eagle Huntress (Sony Pictures Classics/Kissaki Films/Stacey Reiss Productions)
– Gleason (Open Road/Amazon/Exhibit A)
– Jackie Robinson (PBS/Florentine Films)
– Keepers of the Game (Tribeca Digital Studios/Flatbush Pictures)

BEST MUSIC DOCUMENTARY
– The Beatles: Eight Days a Week – The Touring Years (Hulu/Imagine Entertainment/Apple Corps)
– Gimme Danger (Magnolia/Amazon)
– Miss Sharon Jones! (Cabin Creek Films/Starz Digital Media)
– The Music of Strangers (Participant Media/Tremolo Productions)
– Presenting Princess Shaw (Magnolia)
– We Are X (Drafthouse Films)

MOST INNOVATIVE DOCUMENTARY
– Cameraperson (Janus Films/Fork Films/Big Mouth Productions)
– Kate Plays Christine (Grasshopper Film/4th Row Films/Faliro House Productions/Prewar Cinema Productions)
– Life, Animated (A&E IndieFilms/The Orchard/Motto Pictures/Roger Ross Williams Productions)
– Nuts (Amazon/mTuckman Media/Cartuna/Gland Power Films)
– Tower (Kino Lorber/ITVS/Meredith Vieira Productions/GTS Films/Diana DiMenna Film
– Under The Sun (Icarus Films/Vertov Studio/Saxonia Entertainment/Hypermarket Film)