‘Minding the Gap’ tops Cinema Eye Honors nominations

‘Shirkers,’ ‘Bisbee ’17,’ ‘Hale County’ also score big

The Cinema Eye Honors, which “celebrates outstanding artistry and craft in nonfiction film,” has revealed its nominees in 10 categories, including Outstanding Nonfiction Feature, Outstanding Debut Feature Film and Outstanding Nonfiction Short.

Bing Liu’s Minding the Gap led the pack with a field best 7 nominations including Outstanding Nonfiction Feature, Direction, Editing and Cinematography. Liu, a first-time filmmaker, is an individual nominee in Feature, Direction, Editing, Cinematography, Debut, and Audience Choice, which ties him with Lixin Fan as the most-nominated individual in Cinema Eye Honors history. 

Sandi Tan’s Shirkers, Robert Greene’s Bisbee ’17 and RaMell Ross’s Hale County This Morning, This Evening all earned five mentions apiece, with the latter two earning the top mention.

Of Fathers and Sons, Three Identical Strangers, Won’t You Be My Neighbor? round out the Nonfiction Feature contenders.

The winners will be announced on January 10, 2019. Here is the full list of nominees:

Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Feature Filmmaking
“Bisbee ‘17”
“Hale County This Morning, This Evening”
“Minding the Gap”
“Of Fathers and Sons”
“Three Identical Strangers”
“Won’t You Be My Neighbor?”

Outstanding Achievement in Direction
Robert Greene, “B​isbee ‘17”
RaMell Ross, “Hale County This Morning, This Evening”
Bing Liu, “Minding the Gap”
Talal Derki, “Of Fathers and Sons”
Sandi Tan, “Shirkers”

Outstanding Achievement in ​Production
“B​isbee ‘17”
“C​rime+Punishment”
“The Dawn Wall”
“Free Solo”
“O​f Fathers and Sons”
“This is Congo”

Outstanding Achievement in ​Editing
“Hale County, This Morning, This Evening” (Ramell Ross)
“John McEnroe: In the Realm of Perfection” (Julien Faraut)
“Minding the Gap” (Joshua Altman and Bing Liu)
“Three Identical Strangers” (Michael Harte)
“Won’t You By My Neighbor?” (Jeff Malmberg and Aaron Wickenden)

Outstanding Achievement in ​Cinematography
“Bisbee ’17” (Jarred Alterman)
“Distant Constellation” (Shevaun Mizrahi)
“Free Solo” (Jimmy Chin, Clair Popkin and Mikey Schaeffer)
“Hale County This Morning, This Evening” (RaMell Ross)
“Makala” (Emmanuel Gras)
“Minding the Gap” (Bing Liu)

Outstanding Achievement in ​Original Music Score
“Bisbee ’17” (Keegan DeWitt)
“Did You Wonder Who Fired the Gun?” (Travis Wilkerson)
“Free Solo” (Marco Beltrami)
“Minding the Gap” (Nathan Halpern and Chris Ruggiero)
“Shirkers” (Ishai Adar)
“Time Trial” (Dan Deacon)

Outstanding Achievement in ​Graphic Design or Animation
“Bathtubs Over Broadway” (Syd Garon, Anton Goddard and Chris Kirk)
“Beuys” (Toby Cornish)
“Harold and Lillian: A Hollywood Love Story” (Patrick Mate)
“Liyana” (Shofela Coker)
“Shirkers” (Lucas Cellar and Sandi Tan)
“Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” (Ariel Costa and Rodrigo Miguel Rangel)

Outstanding Achievement in a ​Debut Feature Film
“América”
“Distant Constellation”
“Hale County This Morning, This Evening”
“Minding the Gap”
“Shirkers”

Outstanding Achievement in ​Nonfiction Short Filmmaking
“Baby Brother”
“Concussion Protocol”
“My Dead Dad’s Porno Tapes”
“Skip Day”
“Volte”

Spotlight Award
“The Distant Barking of Dogs”
“Island of Hungry Ghosts”
“The Other Side of Everything”
“Roll Red Roll”
“The Silence of Others”
“A Woman Captured”

(The following nominations were previously announced.)

Audience Choice Prize
“Bathtubs Over Broadway”
“Free Solo”
“Matangi/Maya/M.I.A.”
“Minding the Gap”
“On Her Shoulders”
“Quincy”
“RBG”
“Shirkers”
“Three Identical Strangers”
“Won’t You Be My Neighbor?”

Nonfiction Shorts List
“Baby Brother”
“Concussion Protocol”
“The Earth is Humming”
“My Dead Dad’s Porno Tapes”
“A Night at the Garden”
“Las Nubes”
“Sister Hearts”
“Skip Day”
“Volte”
“Zhalanash – Empty Shore”

Heterodox Award
“American Animals”
“Obscuro Barocco”
“Skate Kitchen”
“The Tale”
“We the Animals”

Broadcast Film
“Baltimore Rising”
“Believer”
“The Final Year”
“I Am Evidence”
“Nobody Speak: Trials of the Free Press”
“This is Home: A Refugee Story”

Broadcast Series
“America to Me”
“Evil Genius”
“Flint Town”
“The Fourth Estate”
“The Trade”
“Wild Wild Country”

“Unforgettables” – Nonfiction Subjects of 2018 (Non-Competitive Honor)
Annette Ontell (“306 Hollywood”)
América (“América”)
Issei Sagawa (“Caniba”)
Alex Honnold (“Free Solo”)
Julita Salmerón (“Lots of Kids, a Monkey and a Castle”)
Nick Bollettieri (“Love Means Zero”)
M.I.A. (“Matangi/Maya/M.I.A.”)
Keire Johnson, Bing Liu and Zack Mulligan (“Minding the Gap”)
Abu Osama (“Of Fathers and Sons”)
Nadia Murad (“On Her Shoulders”)
Ruth Bader Ginsburg (“RBG”)
Scotty Bowers (“Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood”)
Georges Cardona, Jasmine Ng, Sophie Siddique and Sandi Tan (“Shirkers”)
Edward Galland, David Kellman and Robert Shafran (“Three Identical Strangers”)
Fred Rogers (“Won’t You Be My Neighbor?”)