‘Time’ leads 14th Cinema Eye Honors for documentaries

Time, Garrett Bradley’s intimate portrait of a family’s struggle over years of incarceration, led the Cinema Eye Honors nominations today with six, including Outstanding Feature, Direction, Editing, Score and Debut. Last year, Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert’s American Factory led the Cinema Eye Honors nominations on its way to a win and ultimately the Documentary Feature Oscar. The 14th Annual Awards Ceremony, which will be held virtually this year, will be on Tuesday, March 9, 2021.

Alexander Nanau’s Collective and Victor Kossakovsky’s Gunda had four nominations and joined Time in being nominated for Feature, Direction and Editing.

Those three films were joined in the Outstanding Feature category by Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss’ Boys State and Kirsten Johnson’s Dick Johnson is Dead. Johnson, Kossakovsky McBaine, Moss and Nanau are all previous Cinema Eye nominees, with Johnson winning two Honors in 2017 for her debut film Cameraperson, and Nanau winning the Spotlight Award in 2016 for Toto and His Sisters. Time is Bradley’s debut feature, but her short documentary The Earth is Humming was on the Cinema Eye Shorts List in 2019.

David France’s Welcome to Chechnya also received four nominations, including three in the Broadcast categories for Outstanding Film, Editing and Cinematography.

Boys State, Dick Johnson is Dead, Liz Garbus’ HBO series I’ll Be Gone in the Dark, Gianfranco Rosi’s Notturno and Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw’s The Truffle Hunters were each nominated for three awards. Rosi received his second consecutive nominations for Outstanding Direction and Cinematography. He was first nominated in 2017 for Fire at Sea.

It’s the second straight year that Kellen Quinn has been nominated for Outstanding Feature. Last year he was nominated as the producer of Midnight Family and he is up this year as one of the producers of Time. This marks the third time that Gunda director Kossakovsky was nominated for Outstanding Cinematography. He was a nominee last year for Aquarella and in 2013 for ¡Vivan las Antipodas!.

Marilyn Ness, a Cinema Eye winner for Cameraperson, is nominated again this year for Dick Johnson is Dead, along with producer Katy Chevigny, who was nominated for Outstanding Production for The E-Team in 2015. Boys State helmers McBaine and Moss were nominees in 2015 for their film, The Overnighters.

Legendary documentary filmmaker Frederick Wiseman received his seventh Cinema Eye nomination for the editing on his latest film, City Hall. Filmmaker Bill Ross also received his seventh nod, this year in the Heterodox category for Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets, his latest collaboration with brother Turner Ross, who received his fifth nomination. Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets composer Casey Wayne McAllister was nominated for Original Score for the second time, his first being for the Ross Brothers’ Western.

Elizabeth Lo, who received the Outstanding Nonfiction Short Film Honor in 2016 for Hotel 22, is up for two awards this year for her first feature documentary, Stray: Outstanding Cinematography and Outstanding Debut. Filmmaker Dawn Porter, nominated in 2014 for Gideon’s Army, is an Audience Choice nominee this year for John Lewis: Good Trouble.

Heidi Ewing, who, with filmmaking partner Rachel Grady, received the Outstanding Direction Honor in 2013 for Detropia, is nominated for the Heterodox Award for her solo fiction debut, I Carry You With Me. It’s the second nomination for Ewing this year as she and Grady were previously named as nominees in the Broadcast Series category for Showtime’s, Love Fraud. Filmmaker Chloe Zhao received her second nomination for the Heterodox award for this year’s acclaimed fiction film, Nomadland. She was previously nominated in 2018 for The Rider.

In the category of Outstanding Graphic Design and Animation, Jeremy Landman is nominated for the third time, this year for My Psychedelic Love Story, his latest collaboration with director Errol Morris. He won the award in 2012 for Tabloid. Jeff Orlowski, a two-time winner for Cinematography (for Chasing Ice and Chasing Coral), returns to Cinema Eye with a nomination in the Audience Choice category for his latest, The Social Dilemma.

Other returning nominees include the Motto Pictures producing team of Julie Goldman, Christopher Clements and Carolyn Hepburn, nominated for Outstanding Feature last year for Nanfu Wang’s One Child Nation and up this year for Outstanding Production for Ramona S. Diaz’ A Thousand Cuts. Also in Production, Serge Lalou received his third nomination in the category for Notturno, having been previously nominated for Waltz With Bashir and Fire at Sea. Filmmaker Bryan Fogel, who won the Hell Yeah Prize in 2018 for Icarus, is also a Production nominee this year for his latest, The Dissident.

While many returning veterans appeared amongst this year’s nominees, more than 65% of the nominations went to first-timers. Women filmmakers and craftspersons made up 44% of today’s announcements, a record for Cinema Eye, and female directors scored more nominations overall than their male counterparts across all categories for the first time.

Netflix led all distributors/broadcasters with a total of 13 nominations, followed by HBO Documentary Films with 10 and Magnolia Pictures with 9.

Nominees for this year’s Broadcast Film and Series awards were announced on November 19, 2020, during the annual Cinema Eye Fall Lunch. Winners in all categories will be announced during the 2021 Awards Ceremony, to be held virtually on Tuesday, March 9, 2021.

Sponsors for the 14th Annual Cinema Eye Honors include Netflix, ESPN Films, Hulu, National Geographic and Vidiots. Additional sponsors will be announced in the coming months.

A full list of nominees follows:

Outstanding Nonfiction Feature

“Boys State”
Directed and Produced by Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss

“Collective”
Directed and Produced by Alexander Nanau
Produced by Blanca Oana, Bernard Michaud and Hanna Kastelicová

“Dick Johnson is Dead”
Directed by Kirsten Johnson
Produced by Katy Chevigny and Marilyn Ness

“Gunda”
Directed by Victor Kossakovsky
Produced by Anita Rehoff Larsen

“Time”
Directed and Produced by Garrett Bradley
Produced by Lauren Domino and Kellen Quinn

Outstanding Direction

“Collective ” Alexander Nanau
“Dick Johnson is Dead,” Kirsten Johnson
“Gunda,” Victor Kossakovsky
“Notturno,” Gianfranco Rosi
“Time,” Garrett Bradley

Outstanding Editing

“Boys State,” Jeff Gilbert
“City Hall,” Frederick Wiseman
“Collective,” Dana Bunescu, George Cragg and Alexander Nanau
“Gunda,” Victor Kossakovsky
“MLK/FBI,” Laura Tomaselli
“Time,” Gabriel Rhodes

Outstanding Production

“76 Days,” Hao Wu and Jean Tsien
“Collective,” Alexander Nanau, Bianca Oana, Bernard Michaud and Hanna Lastelicová
“The Dissident,” Bryan Fogel, Thor Halvorssen, Mark Monroe and Jake Swantko
“Notturno,” Donatella Palermo, Camille Laemmle, Serge Lalou, Orwa Nyrabia and Eva-Maria Weerts
“A Thousand Cuts,” Ramona S. Diaz, Leah Marino, Julie Goldman, Christopher Clements and Carolyn Hepburm
“Welcome to Chechnya,” Alice Henty, Askold Kurov and Joy Tomchin

Outstanding Cinematography

“Gunda,” Erik Haskjold Lersen and Victor Kossokovsky
“My Octopus Teacher,” Roger Horrocks
“Notturno,” Gianfranco Rosi
“Stray,” Elizabeth Lo
“The Truffle Hunters,” Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw

Outstanding Original Score

“Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets,” Casey Wayne McAllister
“Bulletproof,” Troy Herion
“The Mole Agent,” Vincent Van Warmerdam
“The Reason I Jump,” Nainita Desai
“Time,” Jamieson Shaw and Edwin Montgomery
“The Truffle Hunters,” Ed Côrtez

Outstanding Graphic Design or Animation

“Coded Bias,” Zachary Ludescher
“Feels Good Man,” Jenna Caravello and Arthur Jones
“My Psychedelic Love Story,” Jeremy Landman
“Slay the Dragon,” Andy Cahill
“The Social Dilemma,” Simon Barker, Matthew Poliquin, Matt Schultz and Shawna Schultz

Outstanding Debut

“Feels Good Man,” Directed by Arthur Jones
“Mr Soul!” Directed by Melissa Haizlip
“Softie,” Directed by Sam Soko
“Some Kind of Heaven,” Directed by Lance Oppenheim
“Stray,” Directed by Elizabeth Lo
“Time,” Directed by Garrett Bradley

Outstanding Nonfiction Short

“Huntsville Station,” Directed by Chris Filippone and Jamie Meltzer
“John Was Trying to Contact Aliens,” Directed by Matthew Killip
“A Love Song for Latasha,” Directed by Sophia Nahli Allison
“See You Next Time,” Directed by Crystal Kayiza
“Then comes the evening,” Directed by Maja Novakovic

Audience Choice Prize

“Boys State,” Directed by Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss
“Crip Camp,” Directed by James Lebrecht and Nicole Newnham
“Dick Johnson is Dead,” Directed by Kirsten Johnson
“I Am Greta,” Directed by Nathan Grossman
“John Lewis: Good Trouble,” Directed by Dawn Porter
“The Mole Agent,” Directed by Maite Alberdi
“My Octopus Teacher,” Directed by James Reed and Pippa Ehrlich
“The Social Dilemma,” Directed by Jeff Orlowski
“Time,” Directed by Garrett Bradley
“The Truffle Hunters,” Directed by Michael Dweck and Greogry Kershaw

Spotlight

“Acasa, My Home,” Directed by Radu Ciorniciuc
“The Earth is Blue as an Orange,” Directed by Iryna Tsilyk
“Jacinta,” Directed by Jessica Earnshaw
“Landfall,” Directed by Cecilia Aldarondo
“Mayor,” Directed by David Osit
“Through the Night,” Directed by Loira Limbal

Heterodox

“Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets,” Directed by Bill Ross and Turner Ross
“I Carry You With Me,” Directed by Heidi Ewing
“Never Rarely Sometimes Always,” Directed by Eliza Hittman
“Nomadland,” Directed by Chloe Zhao
“Ridge (Säsong),” Directed by John Skoog

The Unforgettables (Non-Competitive Honor)

“Boys State,” Stephen Garza and Rene Otero
“Collective,” Cătălin Tolontan
“Crip Camp,” Judith Heymann
“Dick Johnson is Dead,” Dick Johnson
“Gunda,” Gunda
“I Am Greta,” Greta Thunberg
“John Lewis: Good Trouble,” John Lewis
“Mayor,” Musa Hadid
“The Mole Agent,” Sergio Chamy
“Mucho Mucho Amor,” Walter Mercado
“Softie,” Boniface Mwangi
“A Thousand Cuts,” Maria Ressa
“Through the Night,” Delores “Nunu” Hogan
“Time,” Fox Richardson
“Welcome to Chechnya,” Olga Baranova and David Isteev

TELEVISION

Outstanding Broadcast Film

Bully. Coward. Victim.: The Story of Roy Cohn | Directed by Ivy Meeropol | HBO
Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You’re a Girl) | Directed by Carol Dysinger | A&E
Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese | Directed by Martin Scorsese | Netflix
Sea of Shadows | Directed by Richard Ladkani | National Geographic
Welcome to Chechnya | Directed by David France | HBO

Outstanding Broadcast Series

Atlanta’s Missing and Murdered: The Lost Children | HBO | Directed by Sam Pollard, Maro Chermayeff, Jeff Dupre and Joshua Bennett
Hillary | Hulu | Directed by Nanette Burstein
I’ll Be Gone in the Dark | HBO | Directed by Liz Garbus
The Last Dance | ESPN and Netflix | Directed by Jason Hehir
Love Fraud | Showtime | Directed by Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady

Outstanding Editing in a Broadcast Film or Series

Anne Alvergue and Adam Kurnitz | Bully. Coward. Victim.: The Story of Roy Cohn |HBO
Erin Barnett, Jawad Metni and Alyse Ardell Spiegel | I’ll Be Gone in the Dark | HBO
Chad Beck, Devin Concannon, Abhay Sofsky and Ben Sozanski | The Last Dance | ESPN and Netflix
Damian Rodriguez and David Tedeschi | Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese | Netflix
Tyler H. Walk | Welcome to Chechnya | HBO

Outstanding Cinematography in a Broadcast Film or Series

Thorsten Thielow | I’ll Be Gone in the Dark | HBO
Nominee(s) to be Determined | Night On Earth – Episode: Moonlit Plains | Netflix
Alexander A. Mora | The Nightcrawlers | National Geographic
Richard Ladkani | Sea of Shadows | National Geographic
Ian Moubayed and Sam Price-Waldman | The Vow | HBO
Askold Kurov |Welcome to Chechnya | HBO