Online Film Critics Society Awards 2020

Posted on January 26, 2021 at 11:10 am

The OFCS Top Ten:
1. Nomadland
2. Da 5 Bloods
3. Promising Young Woman
4. Never Rarely Sometimes Always
5. First Cow
6. Minari
7. Sound of Metal
8. I’m Thinking of Ending Things
9. Soul
10. The Trial of the Chicago 7

“This list of nominations showcases the diversity and broad expressiveness of the film community. In a year where nothing was as we expected, and those expectations had to shift, cinema not only maintained its creativity and expansive canvas, but it managed to give new voices a chance to speak louder than they might have in any other year,” said Wesley Lovell, a member of the Governing Committee of OFCS, and founder of CinemaSight.com.

He added, “In our directing category alone, we have four women, each at varying points in their careers, alongside one of the major voices of his generation. It is one of our most diverse slates ever. As for the nominees of Best Picture, the feature films represent filmmakers from a wide array of backgrounds and experiences who are able to explore subjects that exemplify the breadth of American life in unique and compelling ways. I don’t think we could be more proud of the selections our members have made this year.”

BEST PICTURE
· Da 5 Bloods
· First Cow
· I’m Thinking of Ending Things
· Minari
· Never Rarely Sometimes Always
· Nomadland — WINNER
· Promising Young Woman
· Soul
· Sound of Metal
· The Trial of the Chicago 7

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
· Onward
· Over the Moon
· Soul — WINNER
· The Wolf House
· Wolfwalkers

BEST DIRECTOR
· Emerald Fennell — Promising Young Woman
· Eliza Hittman — Never Rarely Sometimes Always
· Spike Lee — Da 5 Bloods
· Kelly Reichardt — First Cow
· Chloé Zhao – Nomadland WINNER

BEST ACTOR
· Riz Ahmed — Sound of Metal
· Chadwick Boseman — Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
· Anthony Hopkins — The Father
· Delroy Lindo — Da 5 Bloods WINNER
· Steven Yeun — Minari

BEST ACTRESS

· Jessie Buckley — I’m Thinking of Ending Things
· Viola Davis — Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
· Sidney Flanigan — Never Rarely Sometimes Always
· Frances McDormand – Nomadland WINNER
· Carey Mulligan — Promising Young Woman

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
· Sacha Baron Cohen — The Trial of the Chicago 7
· Chadwick Boseman — Da 5 Bloods
· Bill Murray — On the Rocks
· Leslie Odom Jr. — One Night in Miami WINNER
· Paul Raci — Sound of Metal

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
· Maria Bakalova — Borat Subsequent Moviefilm WINNER
· Olivia Colman — The Father
· Talia Ryder — Never Rarely Sometimes Always
· Amanda Seyfried — Mank
· Youn Yuh-jung — Minari

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
· Da 5 Bloods
· Minari
· Never Rarely Sometimes Always
· Promising Young Woman, Emerald Fennell WINNER
· The Trial of the Chicago 7

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
· First Cow
· I’m Thinking of Ending Things
· Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
· Nomadland, Chloe Zhao WINNER
· One Night in Miami

BEST EDITING
· Da 5 Bloods
· Mank
· Nomadland, Chloe Zhao WINNER
· Tenet
· The Trial of the Chicago 7

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
· Da 5 Bloods
· First Cow
· Mank
· Nomadland, Joshua James Richards WINNER
· Tenet

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
· Da 5 Bloods
· Mank
· Minari
· Soul, Trent Reznor Atticus Ross WINNER
· Tenet

BEST DEBUT FEATURE
· Radha Blank — The Forty-Year-Old Version
· Emerald Fennell — Promising Young Woman WINNER
· Regina King — One Night in Miami
· Darius Marder — Sound of Metal
· Andrew Patterson –The Vast of Night

BEST FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
· Another Round
· Bacurau
· Collective
· La Llorona
· Minari (United States) WINNER

BEST DOCUMENTARY
· Boys State
· Collective
· Dick Johnson Is Dead WINNER
· The Painter and the Thief
· Time

TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS:
· Sound of Metal – Sound Design
· Emma. – Costume Design
· Tenet – Visual Effects
· Mank – Production Design
· The Invisible Man – Visual Effects

SPECIAL AWARDS
BEST NON-UNITED STATES RELEASE:
(This award is for the best films released outside the United States in 2020 that were not released in the United States during the eligibility period.)
· A Beast in Love (Japan)
· The Disciple (India)
· Ghosts (Turkey)
· Mogul Mowgli (United Kingdom)
· New Order (Mexico)
· Notturno (Italy)
· Rocks (United Kingdom)
· Saint Maud (United Kingdom)
· Summer of 85 (France)
· Undine (Germany)

SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS:
· “Small Axe” — Director Steve McQueen created a series of films for the small screen that rivals the best of the theatrical features of the year, that can be seen individually and yet work together to explore a cultural experience largely unseen on big screens, television, or streaming to date.
· Distributor Kino Lorber for being the first company to offer virtual film distribution as a way to help independent theaters during the pandemic through the Kino Marquee.
· Kudos to the independent theater entities that participated in presenting “Virtual Cinema” when forced to close due to the pandemic. Films that otherwise may not have been seen were made available through online platforms, with ticket prices shared by the distributor with the theater.

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS:
· Rob Bottin (Makeup Artist)
· David Byrne (Composer)
· Jane Fonda (Actor)
· Jean-Luc Godard (Director)
· Frederick Wiseman (Documentarian)

Related Tags:

Awards Critics

Critics Choice First Ever Super Awards! January 10 on the CW

Posted on January 6, 2021 at 4:43 pm

The Critics Choice Awards are my favorite awards show, and not just because I get to vote and sometimes attend! It is because it is the only awards show where the choices are made by the professionals who see just about everything and report our reactions to readers. We aren’t part of the industry like the Oscars and the SAG Awards. We aren’t a tiny group of international journalists based in LA like the Golden Globes voters. We are the people who see everything and we review movies for a living because ticket-buyers want to know whether we think a movie is worth seeing.

And a movie doesn’t have to be a prestige film for us to love it. That’s why we now have this special show to honor popcorn movies, the movies that are just plain fun.

So the Critics Choice SUPER Awards honor the finest movies and series in the wildly popular but often under-appreciated Superhero/Comic Book, Action, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Horror and Animation genres. The inaugural Critics Choice SUPER Awards show makes its debut Sunday night on The CW Television Network (8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT). It is hosted by Kevin Smith and Dani Fernandez and features a Special Legacy Award presented to the entire Star Trek Universe.

Every one of the 32 winners will appear on the show to accept their awards. There are also celebrity presenters galore and some of the most memorable packages of clips from the nominated movies, series and performances that you have ever seen.

Follow the Critics Choice Super Awards on Twitter and Instagram @CriticsChoice and on Facebook/CriticsChoiceAwards. Join the conversation using #CriticsChoice and #SuperAwards.

Related Tags:

Awards Critics

Best and Worst Films of 2020

Posted on December 30, 2020 at 5:44 pm

Well, it’s been a year. Who could have imagined we’d be watching all the new movies at home this year? That there would have been so many delays? And so much more?

But there have been some silver linings in the clouds of 2020, even when it comes to movies. One has been the democratizing impact of putting everything from big-budget studio films to micro-budget indies on the same platforms, allowing some smaller films to attract more attention.

So here is my list (in alphabetical order) of the top 10 films of the year, with a long list of runners-up that are also outstanding. I’m posting a separate top ten documentaries soon.

Mank

“Mank” is a big, breathtakingly ambitious, multii-layered story of Herman Mankiewicz, the man who wrote the original screenplay for what many people consider the greatest film ever made, “Citizen Kane.” But it is very much in conversation with our era as much as it is with its own.

Miss Juneteenth

My favorite performance of the year is Nicole Beharie as Turquoise Jones, a one-time beauty determined to have her daughter make up for the opportunities she lost.

Never Rarely Sometimes Always

Newcomer Sidney Flanigan plays Autumn, a teenager who travels with her cousin Skylar (Talia Ryder) from Pennsylvania to New York because that is the only way Autumn can get an abortion without her mother and stepfather finding out. In an interview, director Eliza Hittman told me she wanted to “reclaim the narrative” on reproductive rights with a woman’s perspective. She tells the story with great tenderness, more protective of the two girls than the other characters are. Hittman’s intimate, documentary tone illuminates the girls’ vulnerability, their determination, and their resilience.

The Outpost

There are war stories that are about strategy and courage and triumph over evil that let us channel the heroism of the characters on screen. And then there are war stories that are all of that but also engage in the most visceral terms with questions of purpose and meaning that touch us all. “The Outpost,” based on the book by news correspondent Jake Tapper, is that rare film in the second category, an intimate, immersive drama from director Rod Lurie, a West Point graduate and Army veteran who knows this world inside out and brings us from the outside in.

Palm Springs

The cleverest script of the year is a “Groundhog Day”-style story about three people caught in an infinite time loop. It is charming, romantic, funny, and very smart.

The Personal History of David Copperfield

There is no higher praise than to say that Armando Iannucci (“In the Loop,” “Veep”) has adapted the book Charles Dickens said was his favorite of all the novels he had written, the book closest to his own history, in a manner as jubilant and shrewdly observed, as touching, as romantic, as exciting, as the novel itself.

Sorry We Missed You/Nomadland

These two films, one from England, one from the US, are searing portraits of marginalized people, but also deeply moving portraits of resilience and connection.

Soul

Pixar likes to take big swings, not just artistically but thematically. In “Soul,” Pixar has its first adult male (human) and its first Black lead character in Joe Gardner, voiced by Jamie Foxx. It has a less stylized look, set in a sepia-toned New York City. And it is about the most fundamental existential questions of all: Why am I me? What makes life meaningful?

The Trial of the Chicago 7

They say that history doesn’t repeat itself, but it rhymes. And that is how “The Trial of the Chicago 7,” based on events that occurred in 1968-69 and in development as a film more more than a decade, seems to have been made for exactly this moment of the fall of 2020.

Honorable Mention

Antigone: The eternal themes of Sophocles’ play are powerfully brought into a present-day story about immigrants in Canada, with a radiant performance by Nahéma Ricci.
The Assistant: Julia Garner plays the lowest-ranking employee of a powerful but never-seen producer in this searing story of just one day in a workplace run by a predator.
Banana Split: Two teen girls, the current and ex-girlfriend of the same boy, form an unexpected friendship.
Bill and Ted Face the Music: The third in the series about the lovable guys from San Dimas is lots of fun and, unlike its heroes, surprisingly wise.
Broken Hearts Gallery: The best romantic comedy of the year had one of the best ensemble casts of the year, refreshingly diverse, with a witty script and an adorable heroine.
Bull: With “The Photograph,” “Greyhound,” and this film about a one-time rodeo rider who grudgingly befriends a young girl, Rob Morgan was this year’s acting MVP.
Da Five Bloods: Spike Lee’s searing story about Black Vietnam vets returning to the country where they fought was broadly conceived and brilliantly performed, especially Delroy Lindo, and the late Chadwick Boseman.
Emma.: The latest version of the Jane Austen classic was deliciously sharp, with a terrific performance by “The Queen’s Gambit’s” Anya Taylor-Joy. And oh, the costumes!
The Forty Year Old Version: Radha Black’s autobiographically-inspired film about a struggling playwright is brimming with sharp but often understated humor and a deep experience of making art. “Don’t think just because you created something people will appreciate it,” she tells her students, but the unstated message is, “Don’t think just because people don’t appreciate you that you haven’t told a story worth telling.”
Hamilton: Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Broadway smash about one of America’s founding fathers was just the thing we needed for the 4th of July this year, and the original cast shows us they deserved every award they won.
Minari: This gentle autobiographical story of a Korean family who buy a farm in Arkansas is told with infinite tenderness and quiet humor.
The Old Guard: Gina Prince-Bythewood may be the most deeply, unabashedly romantic director working today, even in a superhero movie with breathtaking fight scenes. Her films are about profound connection and commitment. There is a moment in this film that will be in clip reels of the most true-hearted movie depictions of love forever.
One Night in Miami: The writing MVP this year is Kemp Powers, who wrote this film based on his award-winning play about the night four key figures of the 20th century: Muhammed Ali, Malcolm X, Sam Cooke, and Jim Brown spent talking to each other. He also co-wrote “Soul.”
Ordinary Love: A couple faces cancer in a story where the smallest details are thoughtfully observed and portrayed with sympathetic honesty.
The Photograph: From the steamy moments with a storm outside the window to an Al Green LP to flirtatious banter about the relative merits of Kendrick Lamar and Drake, the heavenly romanticism is captivating all the way to the last moment.
The Sound of Metal: We’re going to have to come up with a better term than POV to describe “Sound of Metal,” the story of a drummer who loses his hearing. POV describes a subjective portrayal, where we see just what the character sees instead of what an outsider can see. But “see” is the operative word. Much of “Sound of Metal” is subjective, so that the filmmakers let us hear only what Ruben (brilliantly played by Riz Ahmed) is hearing. Many of the sounds are muted or distorted. Some of the movie is in silence. Sometimes we get a brief chance to hear what he cannot.
Sylvie’s Love: The other great romance of the year is the story of a young woman who wants to work in television and a musician. What could have been soapy is told with such sincerity and tenderness is becomes anthemic.
The Vast of Night: Stunning imagination make this low-budget sci-fi story engaging, with masterful camerawork and control of tone.
Words on Bathroom Walls: A teenager struggles with mental illness and his family struggles to find a way to help him in this sympathetic story.

Some notes: “The Photograph” and “Sylvie’s Love” were the two most deliciously romantic films of the year both had nearly-all Black casts and both were throwbacks to the era of the great Hollywood love stories. “The Personal History of David Copperfield” and “The Broken Hearts Gallery both used race-blind casting to bring together two of the strongest ensembles of the year and give their stories a freshness and vitality I hope more movies will emulate. And of course this was the best year ever for streaming media, including “The Queen’s Gambit.”

And the Hall of Shame, the worst movies of 2020:

Force of Nature: Even a script written by algorithm would make more sense than “Force of Nature,” a dumb dud of a movie that relies on the most preposterous of coincidences and the most exhausted of premises (in both senses of the word).
The War With Grandpa: Even the A-list cast can’t win the war with a dumbed-down script, awkwardly staged stunts, and lackluster direction.
Inheritance: A film that’s so full of holes, it was likely recut from an earlier version and not quite stitched back together.
Holidate: “Holidate” has nothing to say about anything. Basically, if Hallmark movies like “The Mistletoe Promise” and Netflix hits like “The Kissing Booth” are out in the world looking as beautiful as Dorian Gray, “Holidate” is the portrait hidden away in the attic getting more scrofulous by the minute.
Love, Weddings & Other Disasters: Oscar-winners Diane Keaton and Jeremy Irons can’t make up for a script full of tired jokes. Their blind date is funny because she’s blind, get it?
The Stand-In: Drew Barrymore seems to be trying to make her own Adam Sandler movie, playing opposite herself as two unpleasant characters, a movie star and her stand-in.

Related Tags:

Awards

Critics Choice Documentary Awards 2020

Posted on November 18, 2020 at 10:59 am

This has been a great year for documentaries and it was very hard to decide on my ballot for the Critics Choice Awards. I salute all of this year’s nominees and awardees.

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
“Dick Johnson is Dead” (Netflix)

BEST DIRECTOR
Kirsten Johnson, “Dick Johnson is Dead” (Netflix)

BEST FIRST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Melissa Haizlip, “Mr. SOUL!” (Shoes in the Bed Productions)

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Roger Horrocks, “My Octopus Teacher” (Netflix)

BEST EDITING
Lindy Jankura, Alexis Johnson and Alex Keipper, “Totally Under Control” (Neon)

BEST SCORE
Marco Beltrami, Brandon Roberts and Buck Sanders, “The Way I See It” (Focus Features)

BEST NARRATION
“David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet”(Netflix)

David Attenborough, Narrator
David Attenborough, Writer

BEST ARCHIVAL DOCUMENTARY
“MLK/FBI” (Field of Vision/IFC Films)

BEST HISTORICAL/BIOGRAPHICAL DOCUMENTARY
“John Lewis: Good Trouble” (Magnolia Pictures/Participant)

BEST MUSIC DOCUMENTARY (TIE)
“Beastie Boys Story” (Apple)
“The Go-Go’s” (Showtime)

BEST POLITICAL DOCUMENTARY
“Boys State” (Apple)

BEST SCIENCE/NATURE DOCUMENTARY
“My Octopus Teacher” (Netflix)

BEST SPORTS DOCUMENTARY (TIE)
“Ali & Cavett: The Tale of the Tapes” (HBO)
“Athlete A” (Netflix)

BEST SHORT DOCUMENTARY
“St. Louis Superman” (MTV Documentary Films)
(Directors and Producers: Sami Khan and Smriti Mundhra. Producer: Poh Si Teng)

MOST COMPELLING LIVING SUBJECTS OF A DOCUMENTARY (HONOR)
Dr. Rick Bright – “Totally Under Control” (Neon)
Steven Garza – “Boys State” (Apple)
The Go-Go’s – “The Go-Go’s” (Showtime)
Judith Heumann – “Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution” (Netflix)
Dick Johnson – “Dick Johnson is Dead” (Netflix)
Maggie Nichols, Rachael Denhollander, Jamie Dantzscher – “Athlete A” (Netflix)
Fox Rich – “Time” (Amazon)
Pete Souza – “The Way I See It” (Focus Features)
Taylor Swift – “Miss Americana” (Netflix)
Greta Thunberg – “I Am Greta” (Hulu)

Related Tags:

Awards Documentary

Critics Choice Nominees for Documentary Awards

Posted on October 26, 2020 at 11:38 am

The Critics Choice Association (CCA) has announced the nominees for the fifth annual Critics Choice Documentary Awards (CCDA). The winners will be revealed in a Special Announcement on Monday, November 16, 2020.

Netflix leads the nominations with 31, followed by Neon (14), Magnolia Pictures (9), HBO (5), Showtime (6), and Amazon, National Geographic, and PBS Independent Lens with 5 each.

Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution, Gunda, and Mr. SOUL! lead this year’s nominations with five each.

Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution is nominated for Best Documentary Feature, James Lebrecht and Nicole Newnham for Best Director, Best Editing, Best Archival Documentary, and Best Historical/Biography Documentary. The film also received an honor for Judith Heumann for Most Compelling Living Subject of a Documentary.

Gunda is nominated for Best Documentary Feature, Victor Kossakovsky for Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, and Best Science/Nature Documentary.

Mr. SOUL! is nominated for Best Documentary Feature, Best First Documentary Feature, Best Narration, Best Archival Documentary, and Best Historical/Biographical Documentary.

Recognized with four nominations each are Athlete A, Dick Johnson is Dead, My Octopus Teacher, and Totally Under Control.

The nominations for Athlete A are Best Documentary Feature, Bonni Cohen and Jon Shenk for Best Director, Best Editing, and Best Sports Documentary. Maggie Nichols, Rachael Denhollander, and Jamie Dantzscher are also being recognized with the honor of Most Compelling Living Subjects of a Documentary.

The nominations for Dick Johnson is Dead are Best Documentary Feature, Kirsten Johnson for Best Director, Best Cinematography, and Best Narration. The film also received an honor for Dick Johnson for Most Compelling Living Subject of a Documentary.

The nominations for My Octopus Teacher are Best Documentary Feature, Best Cinematography, Best Narration, and Best Science/Nature Documentary.

The nominations for Totally Under Control are Best Editing, Best Score, Best Narration, and Best Political Documentary. The film also received an honor for Dr. Rick Bright for Most Compelling Living Subject of a Documentary.

“At a unique time for the entertainment industry and the world, documentaries are more important and fortunately more abundant and more available and more essential than ever,” said Christopher Campbell, President of the Critics Choice Association Documentary Branch. “In 2020, documentaries have taken us to places and shown us perspectives we’ve never experienced before. They’ve chronicled events and life stories that are enlightening and enthralling – and sometimes frightening. It is a great honor for the CCA to celebrate these stories and subjects and shed light on the work of so many incredible filmmakers. The Documentary Branch faced its greatest task yet considering the quantity and quality of nonfiction cinema released this year. Ultimately, these nominees represent the best of the best of a remarkably fruitful moment for documentary filmmaking.”

Congratulations to all of the very worthy nominees. I look forward to the difficult decision about which will get my votes.

The nominees for the fifth annual Critics Choice Documentary Awards are:

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

Athlete A (Netflix)
Belushi (Showtime)
Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution (Netflix)
Dick Johnson is Dead (Netflix)
Feels Good Man (Wavelength Productions/PBS Independent Lens)
The Fight (Magnolia Pictures)
The Go-Go’s (Showtime)
Gunda (Neon)
Mr. SOUL! (Shoes in the Bed Productions)
My Octopus Teacher (Netflix)
The Painter and the Thief (Neon)
A Secret Love (Netflix)
The Social Dilemma (Netflix)
Time (Amazon Studios)

BEST DIRECTOR

Garrett Bradley, Time (Amazon Studios)
Bonni Cohen and Jon Shenk, Athlete A (Netflix)
Kirsten Johnson, Dick Johnson is Dead (Netflix)
Victor Kossakovsky, Gunda (Neon)
James Lebrecht and Nicole Newnham, Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution (Netflix)
Dawn Porter, John Lewis: Good Trouble (Magnolia Pictures)
Benjamin Ree, The Painter and the Thief (Neon)

BEST FIRST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

Robert S. Bader, Ali & Cavett: The Tale of the Tapes (HBO)
Chris Bolan, A Secret Love (Netflix)
Melissa Haizlip, Mr. SOUL! (Shoes in the Bed Productions)
Arthur Jones, Feels Good Man (Wavelength Productions/PBS Independent Lens)
Elizabeth Leiter and Kim Woodard, Jane Goodall: The Hope (National Geographic)
Elizabeth Lo, Stray (Magnolia Pictures)
Sasha Joseph Neulinger, Rewind (Grizzly Creek Films/PBS Independent Lens)

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw, The Truffle Hunters (Sony Pictures Classics)
Roger Horrocks, My Octopus Teacher (Netflix)
Kirsten Johnson, Dick Johnson is Dead (Netflix)
Victor Kossakovsky and Egil Håskjold Larsen, Gunda (Neon)
Scott Ressler, Neil Gelinas and Stefan Wiesen, The Last Ice (National Geographic)
Gianfranco Rosi, Notturno (Stemal Entertainment)
Ruben Woodin Dechamps, The Reason I Jump (Kino Lorber)

BEST EDITING

Don Bernier, Athlete A (Netflix)
Eli Despres, Greg Finton and Kim Roberts, The Fight (Magnolia Pictures)
Lindy Jankura and Alex Keipper, Totally Under Control (Neon)
Helen Kearns, Assassins (Greenwich Entertainment)
Victor Kossakovsky and Ainara Vera, Gunda (Neon)
Eileen Meyer and Andrew Gersh, Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution (Netflix)
Charlotte Munch Bengtsen, The Truffle Hunters (Sony Pictures Classics)

BEST SCORE

Ari Balouzian and Ryan Hope, Feels Good Man (Wavelength Productions/PBS Independent Lens)
Marco Beltrami, Brandon Roberts and Buck Sanders, The Way I See It (Focus Features)
Tyler Durham, Sven Faulconer and Xander Rodzinski, The Last Ice (National Geographic)
Peter Nashel and Brian Deming, Totally Under Control (Neon)
Daniel Pemberton, Rising Phoenix (Netflix)
Jeff Tweedy, Long Gone Summer (ESPN)
Jeff Tweedy, Spencer Tweedy and Sammy Tweedy, Showbiz Kids (HBO)

BEST NARRATION

David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet (Netflix)
David Attenborough, Narrator
David Attenborough, Writer
Dick Johnson is Dead (Netflix)
Kirsten Johnson, Narrator
Kirsten Johnson, Writer
Fireball: Visitors From Darker Worlds (Apple)
Werner Herzog, Narrator
Werner Herzog, Writer
Mr. SOUL! (Shoes in the Bed Productions)
Blair Underwood, Narrator
Ellis Haizlip, Writer
My Octopus Teacher (Netflix)
Craig Foster, Narrator
Craig Foster, Writer
Time (Amazon Studios)
Fox Rich, Narrator
Fox Rich, Writer
Totally Under Control (Neon)
Alex Gibney, Narrator
Alex Gibney, Writer

BEST ARCHIVAL DOCUMENTARY

Ali & Cavett: The Tale of the Tapes (HBO)
Belushi (Showtime)
Class Action Park (HBO)
Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution (Netflix)
MLK/FBI (Field of Vision/IFC Films)
Mr. SOUL! (Shoes in the Bed Productions)
Spaceship Earth (Neon)

BEST HISTORICAL/BIOGRAPHICAL DOCUMENTARY

Belushi (Showtime)
Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution (Netflix)
Howard (Disney+)
John Lewis: Good Trouble (Magnolia Pictures)
Mr. SOUL! (Shoes in the Bed Production)
Mucho Mucho Amor: The Legend of Walter Mercado (Netflix)
Natalie Wood: What Remains Behind (HBO)

BEST MUSIC DOCUMENTARY

Beastie Boys Story (Apple)
Crock of Gold: A Few Rounds with Shane MacGowan (Magnolia Pictures)
The Go-Go’s (Showtime)
Laurel Canyon (Epix)
Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band (Magnolia Pictures)
Other Music (Factory 25)
Zappa (Magnolia Pictures)

BEST POLITICAL DOCUMENTARY

All In: The Fight for Democracy (Amazon Studios)
Boys State (Apple)
John Lewis: Good Trouble (Magnolia Pictures)
MLK/FBI (Field of Vision/IFC Films)
The Social Dilemma (Netflix)
Totally Under Control (Neon)
The Way I See It (Focus Features)

BEST SCIENCE/NATURE DOCUMENTARY

Coded Bias (7th Empire Media/PBS Independent Lens)
Fantastic Fungi (Moving Art)
Gunda (Neon)
I Am Greta (Hulu)
The Last Ice (National Geographic)
My Octopus Teacher (Netflix)
Spaceship Earth (Neon)

BEST SPORTS DOCUMENTARY

Ali & Cavett: The Tale of the Tapes (HBO)
Athlete A (Netflix)
Be Water (ESPN)
A Most Beautiful Thing (50 Eggs Films)
Red Penguins (Universal Pictures)
Rising Phoenix (Netflix)
You Cannot Kill David Arquette (Super LTD)

BEST SHORT DOCUMENTARY

Blackfeet Boxing: Not Invisible (ESPN)
(Directors: Kristen Lappas and Tom Rinaldi. Producers: Craig Lazarus, José Morales, Lindsay Rovegno, Victor Vitarelli and Ben Webber)
The Claudia Kishi Club (Netflix)
(Director and Producer: Sue Ding)
Crescendo! (Quibi)
(Director: Alex Mallis. Producers: Matt O’Neill and Perri Peltz)
Elevator Pitch (Field of Vision)
(Director and Producer: Martyna Starosta)
Hunger Ward (Spin Film/Vulcan Productions/RYOT Films)
(Director and Producer: Skye Fitzgerald. Producer: Michael Scheuerman)
Into the Fire (National Geographic)
(Director: Orlando von Einsiedel. Producers: Mark Bauch, Harri Grace and Dan Lin)
My Father the Mover (MTV Documentary Films)
(Director: Julia Jansch. Producer: Mandilakhe Yengo)
The Rifleman (Field of Vision)
(Director: Sierra Pettengill. Producer: Arielle de Saint Phalle)
The Speed Cubers (Netflix)
(Director and Producer: Sue Kim. Producers: Evan Krauss and Chris Romano)
St. Louis Superman (MTV Documentary Films)
(Directors and Producers: Sami Khan and Smriti Mundhra. Producer: Poh Si Teng)

MOST COMPELLING LIVING SUBJECTS OF A DOCUMENTARY (HONOR)

Dr. Rick Bright – Totally Under Control (Neon)
Steven Garza – Boys State (Apple)
The Go-Go’s – The Go-Go’s (Showtime)
Judith Heumann – Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution (Netflix)
Dick Johnson – Dick Johnson is Dead (Netflix)
Maggie Nichols, Rachael Denhollander, Jamie Dantzscher – Athlete A (Netflix)
Fox Rich – Time (Amazon)
Pete Souza – The Way I See It (Focus Features)
Taylor Swift – Miss Americana (Netflix)
Greta Thunberg – I Am Greta (Hulu)

Related Tags:

Awards Documentary