The riveting, animated LGBTQ refugee film Flee, from director Jonas Poher Rasmussen, won the top prize from the International Documentary Association (IDA). The film won Best Feature and is Oscar-nominated for the Documentary Feature Oscar. The film made Oscar history by also being nominated for Animated Feature and International Feature Film.
Leading with the most wins was Summer of Soul, which took home the Best Director prize for Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, Best Music Documentary and Best Editing. Summer of Soul is also Oscar-nominated for Documentary Feature.
Special awards were given to Roger Ross Williams (Career Achievement Award), Ronan Farrow (Truth to Power Award), Cecilia Aldarondo (Emerging Documentary Filmmaker Award), Jean Tsien (Pioneer Award) and Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghost (Courage Under Fire Award).
Here is the complete list of winners.
Best Feature
Flee (Denmark, France, Norway / NEON, Participant. Director: Jonas Poher Rasmussen. Producers: Monica Hellstrӧm,Signe Byrge Sørensen, Charlotte De La Gournerie)
Best Director
Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson — Summer of Soul (USA / Hulu, Searchlight Pictures/Onyx Collective)
Best Short
A Broken House (USA, Lebanon / Condé Nast Entertainment, The New Yorker, POV. Director/Producer: Jimmy Goldblum. Producer: Matt Weaver, former Representative Richard Gephardt and Harrison Nalevansky)
Best Curated Series
Independent Lens (USA / Independent Lens, PBS. Executive Producers: Lois Vossen, Sally Jo Fifer)
Best Episodic Series
My Love: Six Stories of True Love (USA / Netflix. Executive Producer: Mo-young Jin, Andrew Fried, Dane Lillegard and Jordan Wynn)
Best Multi-Part Documentary
Exterminate All the Brutes (USA, France / HBO, HBO Max. Director/Executive Producer: Raoul Peck. Producers: Daniel Delume. Executive Producers: Rémi Grellety, Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller, Jamie Morris, Jack Oliver and Poppy Dixon)
Best Short-Form Series
Viral Dreams (Germany, Israel / ZDF Arte. Producer: Georg Tschurtschenthaler. Executive Producers: Christian Beetz)
Best Standalone Audio Documentary
VICE News Reports: Monaea, A 2020 Diary (USA / VICE News, iHeartRadio. Reporters: Monaea Upton and Jen Kinney. Producers: Jen Kinne, Ashley Cleek, Adizah Eghan and Adreanna Rodriguez. Executive Producer: Kate Osborn)
Best Multi-Part Audio Documentary or Series
Suave (USA / Futuro Studios, PRX. Reporters: Maggie Freleng and Julieta Martinelli. Producers: Maria Hinojosa, Maggie Freleng, Julieta Martinelli, Marlon Bishop, Audrey Quinn and Stephanie Lubow. Executive Producer: Maria Hinojosa)
Best Music Documentary
Summer of Soul (USA / Hulu, Searchlight Pictures/Onyx Collective. Director: Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson. Producers: Joseph Patel, Robert Fyvolent, David Dinerstein)
David L. Wolper Student Documentary Award
Seahorse (Germany / Film Academy Baden-Württemberg. Director/Producer: Nele Dehnenkamp. Producer: Christine Duttlinger)
Best Cinematography
Faya Dayi (Ethiopia, USA, Qatar / Janus Films. Cinematographer: Jessica Beshir)
Best Editing
Summer of Soul (USA / Hulu, Searchlight Pictures/Onyx Collective. Editor: Joshua L. Pearson)
Best Music Score
Eyes on the Prize: Hallowed Ground (USA / HBO Max. Composer: Roman GianArthur)
Best Writing
North by Current (USA / POV, PBS. Writer: Angelo Madsen Minax)
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