41st IDA Documentary Awards Nominations: ‘Apocalypse in the Tropics’ Leads with 4

Petra Costa’s Apocalypse in the Tropics, which chronicles the impact of evangelism on Brazil’s political landscape, leads the Independent Documentary Association’s IDA Awards with four nominations, including Best Feature and Best Director.

Seeds and The Tale of Silyan earned three nods apiece, also for feature and directing. Life After and Songs of the Slow Burning Earth round out both the Best Feature Documentary and Best Director nominees.

The 41st IDA Documentary Awards will be presented in the following categories on December 6, 2025: Best Feature Documentary, Best Short Documentary, Best Editing, Best Cinematography, Best Production, Best Director, Best Original Music Score, Best Sound Design, Best Writing, Best Music Documentary, Best Editing, Best Writing, Best Music Score and David L. Wolper Student Documentary Award. Winners in two special categories, the ABC News VideoSource Award and the Pare Lorentz Award, will also be announced on December 6, 2025.

Here is the complete list of nominations.

Best Feature Documentary

• Apocalypse in the Tropics (United States | Netflix | Director: Petra Costa | Producers: Alessandra Orofino, Petra Costa)


• Life After (United States | Multitude Films | Director: Reid Davenport | Producer: Colleen Cassingham)


• Seeds (United States | Director: Brittany Shyne | Producers: Danielle Varga, Sabrina Schmidt Gordon, Brittany Shyne)


• Songs of Slow Burning Earth (Ukraine, Sweden, Denmark | EPF Media | Director: Olha Zhurba | Producer: Darya Bassel)


• The Tale of Silyan (Republic of North Macedonia, United States, United Kingdom | National Geographic | Director: Tamara Kotevska | Producers: Tamara Kotevska, Jean Dakar, Anna Hashmi, Jordanco Petkovski)

Special mentions: 

• Come See Me in the Good Light (United States | Apple | Director: Ryan White | Producers: Jessica Hargrave, Ryan White, Tig Notaro, Stef Willen)


• Cover-Up (United States | Netflix | Director: Laura Poitras, Mark Obenhaus | Producers: Yoni Golijov, Olivia Streisand, Laura Poitras, Mark Obenhaus)


• Deaf President Now! (United States | Apple | Directors: Nyle DiMarco, Davis Guggenheim | Producers: Amanda Rohlke, Davis Guggenheim, Jonathan King, Nyle DiMarco, Michael Harte, Wayne Betts Jr.)


• Mothers of Chibok (United States, Nigeria | Director: Joel’ Kachi Benson | Producers: Jamie Patricof, Katie McNeill, Rachel Halilej, Joel’ Kachi Benson, Samira Mohammed, Adeyinka Oduniyi)


• ORWELL: 2+2=5 (United States | NEON | Director: Raoul Peck | Producers: Alex Gibney, Raoul Peck, George Chignell, Nick Shumaker)


• YANUNI (Austria, Brazil, United States | Director: Richard Ladkani | Producers: Anita Ladkani, Richard Ladkani, Juma Xipaia, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Davisson, Phillip Watson)
   

Best Short Documentary

• Correct Me If I’m Wrong (Germany, United States | Director: Hao Zhou | Producer: Tyler Hill)


• If a Walnut Falls (China, Hong Kong | Director: Bohao Liu | Producer: Bohao Liu)


• Looking for a Donkey (Mexico, Venezuela | Director: Juan Vicente Manrique | Producers: Juan Vicente Manrique, María Benítez)


• Mama Micra (Germany | interfilm Berlin | Director: Rebecca Blöcher | Co-director: Frédéric Schuld | Producer: Fabian Driehorst)


• Their Eyes (France, United States | The New York Times Op-Docs | Director: Nicolas Gourault | Producers: Yannick Beauquis and Quentin Brayer)

Best Short Documentary Special Mentions:

• All The Empty Rooms (United States | Netflix | Director: Joshua Seftel | Producers: Joshua Seftel, Conall Jones, James Costa, Trevor Burgess)


• The Candy Factory (United States | The New Yorker | Directors: Cory Jacobs and Jason Schmidt | Producers: Cory Jacobs and Jason Schmidt)


• Landscapes of Longing (India, United States | Directors: Alisha Tejpal, Mireya Martinez, Anoushka Mirchandani | Producers: Alisha Tejpal, Mireya Martinez)


• perfectly a strangeness (Canda, Chile | Premium Films | Director: Alison McAlpine | Producer: Alison McAlpine)


• Please Step Aside! (Germany | Raha Films | Director: Raha Faridi | Producer: Raha Faridi)


• Voices From The Abyss (Mexico | EPF Media | Directors: Irving Serrano & Víctor Rejón | Producer: Ramón Llaven Zavala)
   

Best Director

• Petra Costa, Apocalypse in the Tropics (United States | Netflix)


• Reid Davenport, Life After (United States | Multitude Films)


• Brittany Shyne, Seeds (United States)


• Olha Zhurba, Songs of Slow Burning Earth (Ukraine, Sweden, Denmark | EPF Media)


• Tamara Kotevska, The Tale of Silyan (Republic of North Macedonia, United States, United Kingdom | National Geographic)
   

Best Cinematography

• Ben Sturgulewski, Champions of the Golden Valley (United States)


• Subhadeep Dey, Mrinmoy Mondal, Rupesh Chaturbedi, Redlight to Limelight (India, Finland, Latvia | BBC Storyville)


• Jean Dakar, The Tale of Silyan (Republic of North Macedonia, United States, United Kingdom | National Geographic)


• Natalia Pietsch, Grzegorz Piekarski, The Town That Drove Away (Poland | Polish National TV)


• Richard Ladkani, YANUNI (Austria, Brazil, United States)
   

Best Editing

• Julia Loktev, My Undesirable Friends: Part I — Last Air in Moscow (United States | Argot)


• Pablo Proenza, Natchez (United States | ITVS)


• Jason Reid, Robinson Devor, Adam Sekuler, Matt Levinthal, Suburban Fury (United States)


• Daniel Claridge, Pedro Kos, Sara Newens, The White House Effect (United States | Netflix)


• Alex Megaro, Ian Bell, WTO/99 (United States)
   

Best Production

• Alessandra Orofino, Petra Costa, Apocalypse in the Tropics (United States | Netflix)


• Yoni Golijov, Olivia Streisand, Laura Poitras, Mark Obenhaus, Cover-Up (United States | Netflix)


• Colleen Cassingham, Life After (United States | Multitude Films)


• Danielle Varga, Sabrina Schmidt Gordon, Brittany Shyne, Seeds (United States)


• Andrew Jarecki, Charlotte Kaufman, The Alabama Solution (United States | HBO Max)
   

Best Original Music Score

• Sam Slater, Divia (Ukraine, Poland, Netherlands)


• Mato Wayuhi, Free Leonard Peltier (United States)


• Matthew Dougherty, Shuffle (United States)


• Fréderic Filiartre, The Sorcerer: Julio Zachrisson (Panama)


• Afshin Azizi, Writing Hawa (France, Netherlands, Qatar | First Hand Films, Icarus Films)
   
Best Sound Design

• Yannick Dauby, Always (United States, France, Taiwan)


• Alexander Dudarev, Architecton (Germany, France, United States | A24)


• Thomas Perez-Pape, Only on Earth (Denmark, Spain | DR, HBO, SVT)


• Rico Andriolo, Manu Gerber, Song of Breath (Switzerland, Italy)


• Rubí J. Pérez, The Silence of My Hands (Mexico | AD Maiora)
   

Best Writing

• Petra Costa, Alessandra Orofino, Nels Bangerter, David Barker, Apocalypse in the Tropics (United States | Netflix)


• Bipuljit Basu, Redlight to Limelight (India, Finland, Latvia | BBC Storyville)


• Sasha Wortzel, River of Grass (United States)


• Cristina Costantini, Tom Maroney, Sally (United States | National Geographic)


• Robinson Devor, Jason Reid, Bob Fink, Charles Mudede, Suburban Fury (United States)
   

Best Music Documentary

• El Canto de las Manos (Spain, United States | Feel Sales | Director: María Valverde | Producers: María Valverde, Martí Font i Isern, Cristina Oliva, Gustavo Dudamel)


• Move Ya Body: The Birth of House (United States | Director: Elegance Bratton | Producer: Chester Algernal Gordon)


• One to One: John & Yoko (United Kingdom | Magnolia Pictures, HBO Documentary Films | Director: Kevin Macdonald | Co-director: Sam Rice-Edwards | Producers: Peter Worsley, Kevin Macdonald, Alice Webb)


• Selena y Los Dinos (United States | Netflix | Isabel Castro | Producers: Julie Goldman, Christopher Clements, J. Daniel Torres, Simran Singh, David Blackman)


• Sly Lives! (aka The Burden of Black Genius) (United States | Hulu | Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson | Producers: Joseph Patel and Derik Murray)
   

Best Curated Series

• 99 (France | EP: Jérôme Plan)


• Independent Lens (United States | PBS | EPs: Lois Vossen, Carrie Lozano, Royd Chung)


• POV Season 38 (United States | PBS | EPs: Erika Dilday, Chris White)


• POV Shorts Season 8 (United States | PBS | EPs: Opal H. Bennett, Erika Dilday, Chris White)


• The New York Times Op-Docs (United States | The New York Times Op-Docs | EPs: Kathleen Kingsbury, Adam B. Ellick, Alexandra Garcia)

Best Episodic Series

• Citizen Nation (United States | PBS | Directors: Bret Sigler, Singeli Agnew | Producers: Veronika Adaskova, Emily Orr, Wesley Harris, Cole Cahill, Victor Couto, Tom Brown)


• Earnhardt (United States | Prime Video | Director: Joshua Altman | Producers: Riel Roch-Decter, Tally Hair, Rebecca Russell)


• Eyes on the Prize III: We Who Believe in Freedom Cannot Rest 1977-2015 (United States | HBO Max | Directors: Geeta Gandbhir, Samantha Knowles, Muta’Ali, Rudy Valdez, Smriti Mundhra, Asako Gladsjo | Producers: Asako Gladsjo, Nimco Sheikhaden, Jevon Frank, Leah Smith, Clare Smith Marash, Niema Jordan)


• The Sing Sing Chronicles (United States | NBC News Studios in association with Trilogy Films, MSNBC Films | Director: Dawn Porter | Producers: Lauren Capps, Sadie Bass, Nick McElroy)


• Turning Point: The Vietnam War (United States | Netflix | Director: Brian Knappenberger | Producers: Doan Hoang Curtis, Bo Kovitz, Keven McAlester, Tommy Nguyen)
   

David L. Wolper Student Documentary

• Beyond Eden (United Kingdom | National Film and Television School, UK | Director: Al Johnstone | Producer: Al Johnstone)


• Dancing in Tomorrowland (United States | UCLA | Director: Jakob Roston | Producers: Grace Vincent, Nazanin Nemetollahi)


• Two Days on the Interstate (United Kingdom | National Film and Television School, UK | Director: Tatiana Stark | Producer: Tatiana Stark)


• Two Travelling Aunties (United Kingdom | National Film and Television School, UK | Director: Christine Seow | Producer: Christine Seow)


• What a day, what a life (United Kingdom | National Film and Television School, UK | Director: Maylana Colchete | Producers: Luiza Amelio de Carvalho, Maylana Colchete)

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Erik Anderson

Erik Anderson is the founder/owner and Editor-in-Chief of AwardsWatch and has always loved all things Oscar, having watched the Academy Awards since he was in single digits; making lists, rankings and predictions throughout the show. This led him down the path to obsessing about awards. Much later, he found himself in film school and the film forums of GoldDerby, and then migrated over to the former Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), before breaking off to create AwardsWatch in 2013.

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), Critics Choice Association (CCA), San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle (SFBAFCC) 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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