Many Oscar-shortlisted documentaries were honored at the 16th Annual Cinema Eye Honors Nonfiction Film Awards. “All That Breathes” was awarded the top prize of Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Feature Filmmaking, with Ben Bernhard and Riju Das also winning for Achievement in Cinematography. Another shortlisted film, “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed,” won Outstanding Achievement in Direction. And “Fire of Love” won three awards, sharing Achievement in Visual Design with “Moonage Daydream,” which also won Achievement in Sound Design. My favorite documentary of 2022, “Navalny,” won Outstanding Achievement in Production and the Audience Choice Prize.
Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Feature Filmmaking
“All That Breathes”
Directed by Rosa Ruth Boesten
Produced by Roger Ross Williams, Anousha Nzume, and Ilja Roomans
HBO Max
NOMINEES:
“All The Beauty and the Bloodshed”
“Fire Of Love”
“Navalny”
“A Night of Knowing Nothing”
“The Territory”
Outstanding Achievement in Direction
Laura Poitras
“All the Beauty and the Bloodshed”
Produced by Nan Goldin, Howard Gertler, John S. Lyons, Yoni Golijov, and Laura Poitras
Neon
NOMINEES:
Margaret Brown — “Descendant”
Sara Dosa — “Fire of Love”
Rebeca Huntt — “Beba”
Payal Karadia — “A Night of Knowing Nothing”
Shaunak Sen — “All That Breathes”
Outstanding Achievement in Editing
“Fire of Love”
Erin Casper and Jocelyne Chaput
Directed by Sara Dosa
Produced by Shane Boris, Ina Fichman, and Sara Dosa
National Geographic Documentary Films
NOMINEES:
“All the Beauty and the Bloodshed”
“Moonage Daydream”
“Riotsville, USA”
“Three Minutes: A Lengthening”
Outstanding Achievement in Production
“Navalny”
Odessa Rae, Diane Becker, Melanie Miller and Shane Boris
Directed by Daniel Roher
Produced by Odessa Rae, Diane Becker, Melanie Miller and Shane Boris
Warner Bros. Pictures/CNN Films/HBO Max
NOMINEES:
“All That Breathes”
“A House Made of Splinters”
“In Her Hands”
“The Territory”
Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography
“All That Breathes”
Ben Bernhard and Riju Das
Directed by Rosa Ruth Boesten
Produced by Roger Ross Williams, Anousha Nzume, and Ilja Roomans
HBO Max
NOMINEES:
“Cow”
“A House Made of Splinters”
“A Night of Knowing Nothing”
“The Territory”
“Users”
Outstanding Achievement in Original Score
“Fire Of Love”
Nicolas Godin
Directed by Sara Dosa
Produced by Shane Boris, Ina Fichman, and Sara Dosa
National Geographic Documentary Films
NOMINEES:
“All the Beauty and the Bloodshed”
“Descendant”
“Nothing Compares”
“The Territory”
“Users”
Outstanding Achievement in Sound Design
“Moonage Daydream”
Samir Foco, John Warhurst and Nina Hartstone
Directed by Brett Morgen
Produced by Brett Morgen
Neon
NOMINEES:
“All That Breathes”
“Fire Of Love”
“I Didn’t See You There”
“The Territory”
Outstanding Achievement in Visual Design
(TIE)
“Fire of Love”
Lucy Munger, Kara Blake, and Rui Ting Ji
Directed by Sara Dosa
Produced by Shane Boris, Ina Fichman, and Sara Dosa
National Geographic Documentary Films
“Moonage Daydream”
Stefan Nadelman
Directed by Brett Morgen
Produced by Brett Morgen
Neon
NOMINEES:
“Dear Mr. Brody”
“Louis Armstrong’s Black & Blues”
“My Old School”
Outstanding Achievement in a Debut Feature Film
“The Territory”
Directed by Alex Pritz
Produced by Alex Pritz, Darren Aronofsky, Gabriel Uchida, Sigrid Dyekjær, Lizzie Gillett and Will N. Miller
National Geographic Documentary Films
NOMINEES:
“Bad Axe”
“Beba”
“I Didn’t See You There”
“A Night of Knowing Nothing”
“Nothing Compares”
Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Short Filmmaking
“Nuisance Bear”
Directed by Jack Weisman and Gabriela Osio Vanden
Documist
NOMINEES:
“In Flow of Words”
“Last Days of August”
“Long Line of Ladies”
“The Martha Mitchell Effect”
“Shut Up and Paint”
Audience Choice Prize
“Navalny”
Directed by Daniel Roher
Produced by Odessa Rae, Diane Becker, Melanie Miller and Shane Boris
Warner Bros. Pictures/CNN Films/HBO Max
NOMINEES:
“All That Breathes”
“The Balcony Movie”
“Fire Of Love”
“Last Flight Home”
“Mija”
“My Old School”
“Nothing Compares”
“Sr.”
“The Territory”
Spotlight
“Master of Light”
Directed by Rosa Ruth Boesten
Produced by Roger Ross Williams, Anousha Nzume, and Ilja Roomans
HBO Max
NOMINEES:
“After Sherman”
“Brotherhood”
“Hidden Letters”
“Into the Ice”
Heterodox
“Aftersun”
Directed by Charlotte Wells
Produced by Mark Ceryak, Amy Jackson, Barry Jenkins, and Adele Romanski
A24
NOMINEES:
“Dos Estaciones”
“Dry Ground Burning”
“Marcel the Shell With Shoes On”
“The Rehearsal: Season One”
Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Film for Broadcast
“Chernobyl: The Lost Tapes”
Directed by James Jones
Produced by Serhiy Solodko, Sasha Odynova, and James Jones
HBO Documentary Films/HBO Max
NOMINEES:
“Downfall: The Case Against Boeing”
“Four Hours at the Capital”
“George Carlin’s American Dream”
“Playing With Sharks”
Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Series
“Black and Missing”
Directed by Geeta Gandbhir and Samantha Knowles
Executive Produced by Nancy Abraham, Patrick Conway, Geeta Gandbhir, Lisa Heller, Jo Honig, Soledad O’Brien, and Sara Rodriguez
HBO Documentary Films/HBO Max
NOMINEES:
“The Beatles: Get Back”
“Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey”
“Lularich”
“Mind Over Murder”
“We Need to Talk About Cosby”
Outstanding Achievement in Anthology Series
“How To With John Wilson: Season Two”
Directed by Rosa Ruth Boesten
Produced by Roger Ross Williams, Anousha Nzume, and Ilja Roomans
HBO Max
NOMINEES:
“Origins of Hip Hop”
“Prehistoric Planet”
“Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy: Season 2”
“Women Who Rock”
“The World According to Jeff Goldblum: Season 2”
Outstanding Achievement in Editing in a Nonfiction Film or Series for Broadcast
“We Need to Talk About Cosby”
Meg Ramsay
Executive Produced by W. Kamau Bell, Andrew Fried, Katie A. King, Dane Lillegard, Jordan Wynn, Sarina Roma
Showtime
NOMINEES:
“37 Words”
“The Beatles: Get Back”
“Four Hours at the Capital”
“How to Survive a Pandemic”
“How to With John Wilson: Season 2”
Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography in a Nonfiction Film or Series for Broadcast
“Playing With Sharks”
Michael Taylor, Judd Overton, Nathan Barlow and Toby Ralph
Directed by Sally Aitken
Produced by Bettina Dalton
National Geopgrahic Documentary Films
NOMINEES:
“Four Hours at the Capital”
“Jeen-Yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy”
“Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy: Season 2”
“Tony Hawk: Until the Wheels Come Off”
Legacy Award
“Crumb”
Directed by Terry Zwigoff
Produced by Lynn O’Donnell and Terry Zwigoff
Edited by Victor Livingston
Cinematography by Maryse Alberti
Music by David Beddinghaus
Sound by Scott Breindell
Sony Pictures Classics
The Unforgettables (Non-Competitive Honor)
All That Breathes
HBO Documentary Films
Mohammad Saud and Nadeem Shehzad
All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
Neon
Nan Goldin
Bad Axe
IFC Films
Chun Siev
Beba
Neon
Rebeca Huntt
Fire of Love
National Geographic Documentary Films
Katia and Maurice Krafft
Gabby Giffords Won’t Back Down
Briarcliff Entertainment
Gabby Giffords
I Didn’t See You There
The Film Collaborative
Reid Davenport
In Her Hands
Netflix
Zarifa Ghafari
Last Flight Home
MTV Documentary Films
Eli Timoner
Mija
Disney+
Doris Muñoz
My Old School
Magnolia Pictures
Brandon Lee
Navalny
Warner Bros. Pictures
Alexei Navalny
Nothing Compares
Showtime Documentary Films
Sinead O’Connor
Sr.
Netflix
Robert Downey Sr.
The Territory
National Geographic Documentary Films
Bitaté Uru-eu-wau-wau and Neidinha Bandeira
Audience Choice Long List Films
All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
Neon
Directed and Produced by Laura Poitras
Produced by Howard Gertler, John Lyons, Nan Goldin and Yoni Golijov
Good Night Oppy
Amazon Studios
Directed by Ryan White
Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song
Sony Pictures Classics
Directed by Dan Geller and Dayna Goldfire
In Her Hands
Netflix
Directed by Tamana Ayazi and Marcel Mettelsiefen
Louis Armstrong’s Black & Blues
Apple TV+
Directed by Sacha Jenkins
Moonage Daydream
Neon
Directed by Brett Morgen
About the Cinema Eye Honors
Cinema Eye was founded in 2007 on three ideals: creating events to support and build a sense of community amongst those who make documentary films; recognizing the entire creative team of craftspersons that create these films; and recognizing excellence, innovation and boldness in the artistry of nonfiction filmmaking.
Cinema Eye was the first and remains the only international nonfiction award to recognize the whole creative team, presenting annual craft awards in directing, editing, producing, cinematography, original score and graphic design/animation. Cinema Eye presents and produces the annual Cinema Eye Weekend and Honors Awards Ceremony.
The Cinema Eye Honors recognize feature and short-length films and series with an emphasis on nonfiction work that is designed for public distribution, whether primarily theatrical, festival, broadcast or streaming. Cinema Eye seeks to encourage audiences to engage with nonfiction work that crosses all genres, whether observational, journalistic, activist, essayistic, light-hearted or provocative as well as those exciting works that blur the lines between nonfiction and fiction. Since its founding, Cinema Eye has sought to change the conversation that film critics, festivals and awards bodies have surrounding documentary film, shifting the emphasis from importance of topic to artistic craft.
The Honors Awards Ceremony is the culmination of Cinema Eye Weekend, a multi-day, multi-city celebration that acknowledges the best work in nonfiction film through screenings and events. The final days of Cinema Eye Weekend take place in New York City, where a series of events bring together many of the year’s most accomplished filmmakers.
Cinema Eye is led by a core team of filmmakers and programmers who are committed to the organization’s mission.
