2024 Critics Choice Documentary Awards nominations: ‘Sugarcane’ leads with 8
The Critics Choice Association unveiled the nominees for its 9th annual documentary awards on Oct. 14. “Sugarcane” leads with eight bids including Best Documentary Feature, Best Director for Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie, Cinematography, and Editing. This film about child abuse at an Indian residential school also contends in the historical, political, and true crime categories while the helmers are up for the newcomers prize.
Three films netted a half dozen nominations each: “Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story,” “Daughters,” and “Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story.” All three contend for Best Documentary Feature. That race is rounded out by “The Greatest Night in Pop,” “Jim Henson Idea Man,” “Music by John Williams,” “Piece by Piece,” “The Remarkable Life of Ibelin,” and “Will & Harper.”
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Last year, “American Symphony” earned a leading six nominations from the CCDA but was then snubbed by the documentary branch of the academy. The big winner at the 2023 Critics Choice Documentary Awards was “Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie,” which won all five of its races. It too was overlooked at the Oscars.
A five-time CCDA nominee, “20 Days in Mariupol,” went on to win Best Documentary Feature at the Academy Awards. Over the past eight years, the CCDA and Oscar winners have aligned only twice: in 2016 with “O.J.: Made in America” and in 2021 with “Summer of Soul.”
The CCDA winners will be revealed on Sunday, Nov. 10 at The Edison Ballroom in Manhattan. The ceremony will be hosted by Erich Bergen (“Madam Secretary”).
See the full list of 2024 Critics Choice Documentary Awards nominees below.
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story (National Geographic)
Daughters (Netflix)
The Greatest Night in Pop (Netflix)
Jim Henson Idea Man (Disney+)
Music by John Williams (Walt Disney Studios)
Piece by Piece (Focus Features)
The Remarkable Life of Ibelin (Netflix)
Sugarcane (National Geographic)
Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story (Warner Bros. Pictures, DC Studios, HBO
Documentary Films, CNN Films)
Will & Harper (Netflix)
BEST DIRECTOR
Ian Bonh?te & Peter Ettedgui – Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story (Warner Bros.
Pictures, DC Studios, HBO Documentary Films, CNN Films)
Josh Greenbaum – Will & Harper (Netflix)
Ron Howard – Jim Henson Idea Man (Disney+)
Julian Brave NoiseCat & Emily Kassie – Sugarcane (National Geographic)
Natalie Rae & Angela Patton – Daughters (Netflix)
Benjamin Ree – The Remarkable Life of Ibelin (Netflix)
BEST NEW DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKER(S)
Brendan Bellomo & Slava Leontyev – Porcelain War (Picturehouse)
Carla Gutiérrez – Frida (Amazon MGM Studios)
Charlie Hamilton James – Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story (National Geographic)
Sue Kim – The Last of the Sea Women (Apple TV+)
Julian Brave NoiseCat & Emily Kassie – Sugarcane (National Geographic)
Natalie Rae & Angela Patton – Daughters (Netflix)
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Michael Cambio Fernandez – Daughters (Netflix)
Charlie Hamilton James, Johnny Rolt, Bertie Gregory – Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story
(National Geographic)
Christopher LaMarca, Emily Kassie – Sugarcane (National Geographic)
Iris Ng, Eunsoo Cho, Justin Turkowski – The Last of the Sea Women (Apple TV+)
Zo? White – Will & Harper (Netflix)
Jessica Young – The Blue Angels (Amazon MGM Studios)
BEST EDITING
Otto Burnham – Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story (Warner Bros. Pictures, DC Studios,
HBO Documentary Films, CNN Films)
Rik Chaubet – Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat (Kino Lorber)
Paul Crowder – Jim Henson Idea Man (Disney+)
Troy Lewis, Adelina Bichi? – Daughters (Netflix)
Nathan Punwar, Maya Daisy Hawke – Sugarcane (National Geographic)
Robert Steng?rd – The Remarkable Life of Ibelin (Netflix)
BEST SCORE
Erland Cooper – Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story (National Geographic)
Ilan Eshkeri – Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story (Warner Bros. Pictures, DC Studios, HBO Documentary Films, CNN Films)
Nathan Halpern – Will & Harper (Netflix)
Uno Helmersson – The Remarkable Life of Ibelin (Netflix)
Kelsey Lu – Daughters (Netflix)
Marc Shaiman – Albert Brooks: Defending My Life (HBO | Max)
BEST NARRATION
Bad River (50 Eggs Films)
Written by Mary Mazzio
Performed by Quannah ChasingHorse & Edward Norton
Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story (National Geographic)
Written by Charlie Hamilton James
Performed by Billy Mail & Susan Mail
Dahomey (Mubi)
Written by Makenzy Orcel
Performed by Lucrece Houegbelo, Parfait Viayinon, Didier Sedoha Nassegande, and Sabine Badjogoumin
Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger (Cohen Media Group)
Written and performed by Martin Scorsese
Queens (National Geographic)
Written by Chlo? Sarosh
Performed by Angela Bassett
Steve! (Martin) A Documentary in 2 Pieces (Apple TV+)
Written and performed by Steve Martin
BEST ARCHIVAL DOCUMENTARY
Black Twitter: A People’s History (Hulu/Onyx Collective)
The Greatest Night in Pop (Netflix)
Jim Henson Idea Man (Disney+)
Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger (Cohen Media Group)
Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat (Kino Lorber)
Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story (Warner Bros. Pictures, DC Studios, HBO
Documentary Films, CNN Films)
BEST HISTORICAL DOCUMENTARY
Bad River (50 Eggs Films)
Dahomey (Mubi)
The Greatest Night in Pop (Netflix)
Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger (Cohen Media Group)
Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat (Kino Lorber)
Sugarcane (National Geographic)
BEST BIOGRAPHICAL DOCUMENTARY
Frida (Amazon MGM Studios)
I Am: Celine Dion (Amazon MGM Studios)
Jim Henson Idea Man (Disney+)
The Remarkable Life of Ibelin (Netflix)
Steve! (Martin) A Documentary in 2 Pieces (Apple TV+)
Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story (Warner Bros. Pictures, DC Studios, HBO Documentary Films, CNN Films)
BEST MUSIC DOCUMENTARY
The Greatest Night in Pop (Netflix)
I Am: Celine Dion (Amazon MGM Studios)
Music by John Williams (Walt Disney Studios)
Piece by Piece (Focus Features)
Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band (Hulu)
Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat (Kino Lorber)
BEST POLITICAL DOCUMENTARY
Bad River (50 Eggs Films)
Girls State (Apple TV+)
Porcelain War (Picturehouse)
Stopping the Steal (HBO | Max)
Sugarcane (National Geographic)
The Truth vs. Alex Jones (HBO | Max)
BEST SCIENCE/NATURE DOCUMENTARY
Apollo 13: Survival (Netflix)
Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story (National Geographic)
Blink (National Geographic)
The Last of the Sea Women (Apple TV+)
Secrets of the Octopus (National Geographic)
The Space Race (National Geographic)
BEST SPORTS DOCUMENTARY
Copa 71 (New Black Films)
The Dynasty: New England Patriots (Apple TV+)
Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa (Netflix)
Mr. McMahon (Netflix)
Simone Biles Rising (Netflix)
The Turnaround (Netflix)
BEST TRUE CRIME DOCUMENTARY
American Nightmare (Netflix)
Black Box Diaries (MTV Documentary Films/Paramount+)
Incident (The New Yorker)
The Jinx – Part Two (HBO | Max)
Stopping the Steal (HBO | Max)
Sugarcane (National Geographic)
BEST SHORT DOCUMENTARY
I Am Ready, Warden (MTV Documentary Films/Paramount+)
Incident (The New Yorker)
Makayla’s Voice: A Letter to the World (Netflix)
Once Upon a Time in Ukraine (Earle Mack Productions, Storyville Films, Goldcrest Films)
The Only Girl in the Orchestra (Netflix)
The Turnaround (Netflix)
BEST LIMITED DOCUMENTARY SERIES
America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders (Netflix)
Black Twitter: A People’s History (Hulu/Onyx Collective)
Mr. McMahon (Netflix)
Ren Faire (HBO | Max)
Secrets of the Octopus (National Geographic)
Simone Biles Rising (Netflix)
BEST ONGOING DOCUMENTARY SERIES
30 for 30 (ESPN)
America’s Most Wanted (Fox Broadcasting Company)
The Food That Built America (History)
Independent Lens (PBS)
The Jinx – Part Two (HBO | Max)
POV (PBS)
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