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