2025 Cinema Eye Honors Nominations: ‘Sugarcane,’ ‘Dahomey,’ ‘No Other Land’ Lead Documentary/Nonfiction Awards
Cinema Eye Honors, which celebrates the artistic achievements of nonfiction and documentary filmmakers, has unveiled the feature film nominees where Sugarcane, Dahomey and No Other Land led the field.
CEH will return to the historic New York Academy of Medicine in East Harlem for its 18th Annual Awards Ceremony, to be held on Thursday, January 9, 2025.
Sugarcane, from co-directors Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie, led the pack with six nods, including nominations for Outstanding Nonfiction Feature and Direction. The film led the Critics Choice Documentary Awards nominations last month, winning two awards there. The film investigates abuses and forced separations of families within a Canadian Indigenous community.
Mati Dop’s Dahomey, and No Other Land, from Yuval Abraham, Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal and Rachel Szor, earned five nominations each, also for Outstanding Nonfiction Feature and Direction.
Critics Choice winners Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story and Will and Harper were relegated to the Audience Award and Unforgettable Honorees sections.
In last 10 years, five winners in the Outstanding Production category have gone on to win the Documentary Feature Oscar at the Academy Awards: 20 Days in Mariupol, Navalny, Free Solo, OJ: Made in America and Citizenfour. This year those nominees include No Other Land, Porcelain War, Sugarcane and Union. Only No Other Land and Sugarcane are nominated for both Production, Directing and the top award.
Here is the complete list of feature film and broadcast nominations.
Nonfiction Feature Film
Black Box Diaries
Shiori Ito, Eric Nyari, Hanna Aqvilin, Ema Ryan Yamazaki, Yuta Okamura, Yuichiro Otsuka, Mark Degli Antoni and Andrew Tracy
Dahomey
Mati Diop, Eve Robin, Judith Lou Levy, Gabriel Gonzalez, Joséphine Drouin Viallard and Nicolas Becker
Daughters
Natalie Rae, Angela Patton, Lisa Mazzotta, Justin Benoliel, James Cunningham, Mindy Goldberg, Sam Bisbee, Kathryn Everett, Laura Choi Raycroft, Adrian Aurelius, Philip Nicolai Flindt, Michael Cambio Fernandez and Kelsey Lu
Look Into My Eyes
Lana Wilson, Kyle Martin, Hannah Buck and Stephen Maing
No Other Land
Yuval Abraham, Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Rachel Szor, Fabien Greenberg, Bård Kjøge Rønning, Julius Pollux Rothlaender and Bård Harazi Farbu
Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat
Johan Grimonprez, Daan Milius, Rémi Grellety, Jonathan Wannyn, Rik Chaubet, Ranko Pauković and Alek Bunic Goosse
Sugarcane
Julian Brave NoiseCat, Emily Kassie, Kellen Quinn, Christopher LaMarca, Nathan Punwar, Maya Daisy Hawke, Mali Obomsawin, Martin Czembor, Andrea Bella, Michael Feuser and Ed Archie Noisecat
Direction
Mati Diop for Dahomey
Gary Hustwit for Eno
Lana Wilson for Look Into My Eyes
Elizabeth Lo for Mistress Dispeller
Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor for No Other Land
Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie for Sugarcane
Stephen Maing and Brett Story for Union
Editing
Maya Tippet and Marley McDonald for Eno
Alexandra Strauss for Ernest Cole: Lost and Found
Carla Gutiérrez for Frida
Charlotte Tourres for Intercepted
Hannah Buck for Look Into My Eyes
Rik Chaubet for Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat
Production
Shane Boris, Odessa Rae and Talal Derki for Hollywoodgate
Emma D. Miller, Elizabeth Lo and Maggie Li for Mistress Dispeller
Fabien Greenberg and Bård Kjøge Rønning for No Other Land
Paula DuPre’ Pesmen, Aniela Sidorska, Camilla Mazzaferro and Olivia Ahnemann for Porcelain War
Emily Kassie and Kellen Quinn for Sugarcane
Mars Verrone and Samantha Curley for Union
Cinematography
Joséphine Drouin Viallard for Dahomey
Elizabeth Lo for Mistress Dispeller
Satya Rai Nagpual for Nocturnes
Andrey Stefanov for Porcelain War
Christopher LaMarca for Sugarcane
Olivier Sarbil for Viktor
Original Score
Wally Badarou and Dean Blunt for Dahomey
Alexeï Aïgui for Ernest Cole: Lost and Found
Victor Hernández Stumpfhauser for Frida
Nainita Dasai for Nocturnes
Uno Helmersson for The Remarkable Life of Ibelin
Mali Obomsawin for Sugarcane
Sound Design
Nicolas Becker for Dahomey
Nas Parkash and Patrick Fripp for Eno
Alex Lane for Intercepted
Tom Paul, Shreyank Nanjappa and Sukanto Mazumder for Nocturnes
Ranko Pauković and Alek Bunic Goosse for Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat
Peter Albrechtsen, Nicolas Becker and Heikki Kossi for Viktor
Visual Design
Brendan Dawes for Eno
Sofía Inés Cázares and Renata Galindo for Frida
Howard Baker for Piece by Piece
Brendan Bellomo and BluBlu Studios for Porcelain War
Agniia Galdanova for Queendom
Rasmus Tukia and Ada Wikdahl for The Remarkable Life of Ibelin
Audience Choice Award Long List
Copa 71
Directed by Rachel Ramsay and James Erskine
Daughters
Directed by Natalie Rae and Angela Patton
Frida
Directed by Carla Gutiérrez
Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa
Directed by Lucy Walker
Porcelain War
Directed by Brendan Bellomo and Slava Leontyev
The Remarkable Life of Ibelin
Directed by Benjamin Ree
Skywalkers: A Love Story
Directed by Jeff Zimbalist
Sugarcane
Directed by Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie
Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story
Directed by Ian Bonhôte, Peter Ettedgui
Will and Harper
Directed by Josh Greenbaum
The Unforgettables Honorees
Shiori Ito
Black Box Diaries
Brian Eno
Eno
Lhakpa Sherpa
Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa
Basel Adra and Yuval Abraham
No Other Land
Patrice Jetter
Patrice: The Movie
Jenna Marvin
Queendom
Chris Smalls
Union
Harper Steele
Will and Harper
Broadcast Film
Bread & Roses
Directed by Sahra Mani
Apple TV+
Girls State
Directed by Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss
Apple TV+
Great Photo, Lovely Life: Facing a Family’s Secrets
Directed by Amanda Mustard and Rachel Beth Anderson
HBO
The Lady Bird Diaries
Directed by Dawn Porter
Hulu
Slave Play. Not a Movie. A Play.
Directed by Jeremy O. Harris
HBO
Spermworld
Directed by Lance Oppenheim
FX
Nonfiction Series
America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders
Directed by Greg Whiteley and Chelsea Yarnell
Netflix
Deadlocked: How America Shaped the Supreme Court
Directed by Dawn Porter
Showtime
The Enfield Poltergeist
Directed by Jerry Rothwell
Apple TV+
The Luckiest Guy in the World
Directed by Steve James
ESPN
Ren Faire
Directed by Lance Oppenheim
HBO
Telemarketers
Directed by Adam Bhala Lough and Sam Lipman-Stern
HBO
Anthology Series
Conan O’Brien Must Go
Executive Producers Conan O’Brien, Jeff Ross
HBO
De La Calle
Executive Producers Nick Barili, Jared Andrukanis, Picky Talarico, Lydia Tenaglia, Christopher Collins, Amanda Culkowski, Bruce Gillmer, Craig H. Shepherd
Paramount+
God Save Texas
Executive Producers Lawrence Wright, Alex Gibney, Richard Linklater, Peter Berg, Michael Lombardo, Elizabeth Rogers, Stacey Offman, Richard Perello, Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller
HBO
High on the Hog Season 2
Executive Producers Roger Ross Williams, Geoff Martz, Craig Piligian, Sarba Das, Fabienne Toback, Karis Jagger, Jessica B. Harris, Stephen Satterfield, Michele Barnwell
Netflix
How To with John Wilson Season 3
Executive Producers Nathan Fielder, John Wilson, Michael Koman, Clark Reinking
HBO
Photographer
Executive Producers Elizabeth Chai Vasarhely, Jimmy Chin, Pagan Harleman, Betsy Forhan
National Geographic
Broadcast Editing
Girls State
Edited by Amy Foote
Apple TV+
The Greatest Night in Pop
Edited by Nic Zimmerman, Will Znidaric, David Brodie
Netflix
Ren Faire
Edited by Max Allman, Nicholas Nazmi
HBO
The Saint of Second Chances
Edited by Alan Lowe, Jeff Malmberg, Miles Wilkerson
Netflix
Telemarketers
Edited by Christopher Passig
HBO
Time Bomb Y2K
Edited by Marley McDonald, Maya Mumma
HBO
Broadcast Cinematography
America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders
Director of Photography Jonathan Nicholas
Netflix
The Enfield Poltergeist
Director of Photography Ruben Woodin Deschamps, Carmen Pellon Brussosa, David Katznelson
Apple TV+
Girls State
Director of Photography – Nominees to be Determined
Apple TV+
Photographer
Director of Photography Michael Crommett, Rita Baghdadi, Peter Hutchens, Melissa Langer, Pauline Maroun
National Geographic
Ren Faire
Director of Photography Nate Hurtsellers
HBO
You Were My First Boyfriend
Director of Photography Brennan Vance, J. Bennett
HBO
Shorts List Semifinalists
Contractions
Directed by Lynne Sachs / NY Times Op-Docs
Eternal Father
Directed by Ömer Sami / New Yorker
I Am Ready, Warden
Directed by Smriti Mundhra / MTV Documentary Films
Incident
Directed by Bill Morrison / New Yorker
Instruments of a Beating Heart
Directed by Ema Ryan Yamazaki / NY Times Op-Docs
Love in the Time of Migration
Directed by Erin Semine Kökdil and Chelsea Abbas / LA Times
Makayla’s Voice: A Letter to the World
Directed by Julio Palacio / Netflix
The Medallion
Directed by Ruth Hunduma / New Yorker
A Move
Directed by Elahe Esmaili / NY Times Op-Docs
The Only Girl in the Orchestra
Directed by Molly O’Brien / Netflix
A Swim Lesson
Directed by Rashida Jones and Will McCormack / POV
He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.
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