‘Biggest Little Farm’ Tops Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards Nominations

With seven mentions, Biggest Little Farm leads the 4th Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards nominations, followed by Apollo 11 and They Shall Not Grow Old with six apiece. The Cave and One Child Nation earned five nominations.

The group has several categories that break up documentary filmmaking into genres like Sports, Science/Nature and Music as well as technical sections for Cinematography and Editing. Last year, the big winner was the Mr. Rogers doc Won’t You Be My Neighbor, from Morgan Neville. It went on to be snubbed at the Oscars, where Free Solo ended up winning.

“As the film and television industry constantly evolves, documentaries remain a vibrant creative art form that entertains as well as informs. We are proud that our awards event has become a valuable way to help people ‘find the good stuff’ and to help filmmakers find their audiences.”

CCA CEO Joey Berlin

New this year is the renaming of the Critics’ Choice Lifetime Achievement Award, which is now called the D A Pennebaker Award, named after the previous recipient of this award and Academy Award nominee for The War Room. This year’s recipient is the legendary documentary filmmaker Frederick Wiseman, winner of four Emmy Awards and an Honorary Oscar two years ago.

The Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards will be announced at a ceremony on November 10. Here is the full list of categories and nominees.

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

“American Factory” (Netflix)
“Apollo 11” (Neon)
“The Biggest Little Farm” (Neon)
“The Cave” (National Geographic)
“Honeyland” (Neon)
“The Kingmaker” (Showtime)
“Knock Down the House” (Netflix)
“Leaving Neverland” (HBO)
“Maiden” (Sony Pictures Classics)
“One Child Nation” (Amazon Studios)
“They Shall Not Grow Old” (Warner Bros.)

DIRECTOR

Waad Al-Kateab and Edward Watts, For “Sama” (PBS)
Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert, “American Factory” (Netflix)
John Chester, “The Biggest Little Farm” (Neon)
Feras Fayyad, “The Cave” (National Geographic)
Peter Jackson, “They Shall Not Grow Old” (Warner Bros.)
Todd Douglas Miller, “Apollo 11” (Neon)
Nanfu Wang and Jialing Zhang, “One Child Nation” (Amazon Studios)

CINEMATOGRAPHY

Ben Bernhard and Viktor Kossakovsky, “Aquarela” (Sony Pictures Classics)
John Chester, “The Biggest Little Farm” (Neon)
Fejmi Daut and Samir Ljuma, “Honeyland” (Neon)
Nicholas de Pencier, “Anthropocene: The Human Epoch” (Kino Lorber)
Muhammed Khair Al Shami, Ammar Suleiman, and Mohammad Eyad, “The Cave” (National Geographic)
Richard Ladkani, “Sea of Shadows” (National Geographic)

EDITING

Georg Michael Fischer and Verena Schönauer, “Sea of Shadows” (National Geographic)
Todd Douglas Miller, “Apollo 11” (Neon)
Jabez Olssen, “They Shall Not Grow Old” (Warner Bros.)
Amy Overbeck, “The Biggest Little Farm” (Neon)
Lindsay Utz, “American Factory” (Netflix)
Nanfu Wang, “One Child Nation” (Amazon Studios)

SCORE

Jeff Beal, “The Biggest Little Farm” (Neon)
Matthew Herbert, “The Cave” (National Geographic)
Matt Morton, “Apollo 11” (Neon)
Plan 9, “They Shall Not Grow Old” (Warner Bros.)
H. Scott Salinas, “Sea of Shadows” (National Geographic)
Eicca Toppinen, “Aquarela” (Sony Pictures Classics)

NARRATION

Alicia Vikander, narrator; Jennifer Baichwal, writer, “Anthropocene: The Human Epoch” (Kino Lorber)
John Chester and Molly Chester, narrators; John Chester, writer, “The Biggest Little Farm” (Neon)
Petra Costa, narrator; Petra Costa, Carol Pires, David Barker and Moara Passoni, writers, “The Edge of Democracy” (Netflix)
Chiwetel Ejiofor, narrator; Mark Deeble, writer, “The Elephant Queen” (Apple)
Waad Al-Kateab, narrator-writer, “For Sama” (PBS)
Adam Driver, narrator; Oren Rudavsky and Bob Seidman, writers, “Joseph Pulitzer: Voice of the People” (First Run)
Nanfu Wang, narrator-writer, “One Child Nation” (Amazon Studios)
Bruce Springsteen, narrator-writer, “Western Stars” (Warner Bros.)

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

Midge Costin, “Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound” (Matson Films)
A.J. Eaton, “David Crosby: Remember My Name” (Sony Pictures Classics)
Pamela B. Green, “Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché” (Kino Lorber/Zeitgeist Films)
Tamara Kotevska and Ljubomir Stefanov, “Honeyland” (Neon)
Richard Miron, “For the Birds” (Dogwoof)
Garret Price, “Love, Antosha” (Lurker Films)

ARCHIVAL DOCUMENTARY

“Amazing Grace” (Neon)
“Apollo 11” (Neon)
“Maiden” (Sony Pictures Classics)
“Mike Wallace is Here” (Magnolia)
“Pavarotti” (CBS Films)
“Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese” (Netflix)
“They Shall Not Grow Old” (Warner Bros.)
“What’s My Name: Muhammad Ali” (HBO)

BIOGRAPHICAL DOCUMENTARY

“David Crosby: Remember My Name” (Sony Pictures Classics)
“The Kingmaker” (Showtime)
“Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice” (Greenwich)
“Love, Antosha” (Lurker Films)
“Mike Wallace is Here” (Magnolia)
“Pavarotti” (CBS Films)
“Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am” (Magnolia)

MUSIC DOCUMENTARY

“Amazing Grace” (Neon)
“David Crosby: Remember My Name” (Sony Pictures Classics)
“Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice” (Greenwich)
“Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool” (Abramorama)
“Pavarotti” (CBS Films)
“Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese” (Netflix)
“Western Stars” (Warner Bros.)

POLITICAL DOCUMENTARY

“American Factory” (Netflix)
“The Edge of Democracy” (Netflix)
“Hail Satan?” (Magnolia)
“The Kingmaker” (Showtime)
“Knock Down the House” (Netflix)
“One Child Nation” (Amazon Studios)

SCIENCE/NATURE DOCUMENTARY

“Anthropocene: The Human Epoch” (Kino Lorber)
“Apollo 11” (Neon)
“Aquarela” (Sony Pictures Classic)
“The Biggest Little Farm” (Neon)
“The Elephant Queen” (Apple)
“Honeyland” (Neon)
“Penguins” (Disney)
“Sea of Shadows” (National Geographic)

SPORTS DOCUMENTARY

“Bethany Hamilton: Unstoppable” (Entertainment Studios)
“Diego Maradona” (HBO)
“Maiden” (Sony Pictures Classics)
“Rodman: For Better or Worse” (ESPN)
“The Spy Behind Home Plate” (Ciesla Foundation)
“What’s My Name: Muhammad Ali” (HBO)

MOST INNOVATIVE DOCUMENTARY

“Aquarela” (Sony Pictures Classics)
“Cold Case Hammarskjöld” (Magnolia)
“Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese” (Netflix)
“Screwball” (Greenwich)
“Serendipity” (Cohen Media)
“They Shall Not Grow Old” (Warner Bros.)

SHORT DOCUMENTARY

“The Chapel at the Border” (Atlantic Documentaries) (Director and Producer: Jeremy Raff)
“Death Row Doctor” (The New York Times Op-Docs) (Director: Lauren Knapp)
“In the Absence (Field of Vision)” (Director: Yi Seung-Jun. Producer: Gary Byung-Seok Kam)
“Lost World” (Director and Producer: Kalyanee Mam. Producers: Adam Loften and Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee)
“Mack Wrestles” (ESPN) (Directors and Producers: Taylor Hess and Erin Sanger. Producers: Erin Leyden and Gentry Kirby)
“Period. End of Sentence.” (Netflix) (Director: Rayka Zehtabchi. Producers: Melissa Berton, Garrett K. Schiff and Lisa Taback)
“The Polaroid Job” (The New York Times Op-Docs) (Director: Mike Plante)
“Sam and the Plant Next Door” (The Guardian) (Director and Producer: Ömer Sami)
“The Unconditional” (Director and Producer: Dave Adams. Producers: Adam Soltis, Renee Woodruff Adams, Josie Swantek Heitz, and Chris Tuss)
“The Waiting Room” (The Guardian) (Director and Producer: Victoria Mapplebeck)

MOST COMPELLING LIVING SUBJECTS OF A DOCUMENTARY

Dr. Amani Ballor – “The Cave” (National Geographic)
David Crosby – “David Crosby: Remember My Name” (Sony Pictures Classics)
Tracy Edwards – “Maiden” (Sony Pictures Classics)
Imelda Marcos – “The Kingmaker” (Showtime)
Hatidze Muratova – “Honeyland” (Neon)
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Amy Vilela, Cori Bush, and Paula Jean Swearengin – “Knock Down the House” (Netflix)
Linda Ronstadt – “Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice” (Greenwich)
Dr. Ruth Westheimer – “Ask Dr. Ruth” (Hulu)