Every year when I’m compiling the best films of the year, I find that documentaries would usually fill half the list. For that reason, I’ve started separate year-end lists – it’s only fair. The Critics Choice Association also separates docs from features.
The Seventh Annual Critics Choice Documentary Awards honored the best last night at a ceremony held in New York. The emcee was Wyatt Cenec, a funny and talented man whose work you should check out, in the rare case that you may not already know.
See the list of nominees below with the winners highlighted. Many of these I voted for, but not necessarily in the same categories. Still, no major disagreements from me, except for best narration and best biographical doc.
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Aftershock (Hulu/Onyx Collective)
The Automat (A Slice of Pie Productions)
Descendant (Netflix)
Fire of Love (National Geographic Documentary Films/Neon)
Gabby Giffords Won’t Back Down (Briarcliff Entertainment/CNN Films/TIME Studios)
Good Night Oppy (Amazon Studios)
The Janes (HBO Documentary Films)
Moonage Daydream (Neon/HBO Documentary Films)
Navalny (CNN Films/HBO Max/Warner Bros. Pictures)
Sidney (Apple TV+)
BEST DIRECTOR
Judd Apatow, Michael Bonfiglio – George Carlin’s American Dream (HBO Documentary Films)
Margaret Brown – Descendant (Netflix)
Sara Dosa – Fire of Love (National Geographic Documentary Films/Neon)
Reginald Hudlin – Sidney (Apple TV+)
Brett Morgen – Moonage Daydream (Neon/HBO Documentary Films)
Laura Poitras – All the Beauty and the Bloodshed (Neon/HBO Documentary Films)
Daniel Roher – Navalny (CNN Films/HBO Max/Warner Bros. Pictures)
Ryan White – Good Night Oppy (Amazon Studios)
BEST FIRST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Andrea Arnold – Cow (IFC Films)
Lisa Hurwitz – The Automat (A Slice of Pie Productions)
Jono McLeod – My Old School (Magnolia Pictures)
Amy Poehler – Lucy and Desi (Amazon Studios)
Alex Pritz – The Territory (National Geographic Documentary Films)
David Siev – Bad Axe (IFC Films)
Bianca Stigter – Three Minutes: A Lengthening (SUPER)
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Benjamin Bernhard, Riju Das – All That Breathes (HBO Documentary Films/Sideshow)
Magda Kowalczyk – Cow (IFC Films)
Lucas Tucknott – McEnroe (Showtime Documentary Films)
Gabriela Osio Vanden, Jack Weisman, Sam Holling – Nuisance Bear (The New Yorker)
The Cinematography Team – Our Great National Parks (Netflix)
Alex Pritz, Tangãi Uru-eu-wau-wau – The Territory (National Geographic Documentary Films)
BEST EDITING
Jabez Olssen – The Beatles: Get Back (Disney+)
Erin Casper, Jocelyne Chaput – Fire of Love (National Geographic Documentary Films/Neon)
Joe Beshenkovsky – George Carlin’s American Dream (HBO Documentary Films)
Helen Kearns, Rejh Cabrera – Good Night Oppy (Amazon Studios)
Brett Morgen – Moonage Daydream (Neon/HBO Documentary Films)
Langdon Page, Maya Daisy Hawke – Navalny (CNN Films/HBO Max/Warner Bros. Pictures)
Katharina Wartena – Three Minutes: A Lengthening (SUPER)
BEST SCORE
Hummie Mann – The Automat (A Slice of Pie Productions)
Nicolas Godin – Fire of Love (National Geographic Documentary Films/Neon)
Blake Neely – Good Night Oppy (Amazon Studios)
Max Avery Lichtenstein – The Janes (HBO Documentary Films)
David Schwartz – Lucy and Desi (Amazon Studios)
Marius de Vries, Anna Drubich, Matt Robertson – Navalny (CNN Films/HBO Max/Warner Bros. Pictures)
BEST NARRATION
Deep in the Heart: A Texas Wildlife Story (Fin and Fur Films)
Written by Ben Masters
Performed by Matthew McConaughey
Fire of Love (National Geographic Documentary Films/Neon)
Written by Shane Boris, Erin Casper, Jocelyne Chaput, Sara Dosa
Performed by Miranda July
Good Night Oppy (Amazon Studios)
Written by Helen Kearns, Ryan White
Performed by Angela Bassett
Our Great National Parks (Netflix)
Performed by Barack Obama
Riotsville, U.S.A. (Magnolia Pictures)
Written by Tobi Haslett
Performed by Charlene Modeste
Three Minutes: A Lengthening (SUPER)
Written by Bianca Stigter
Performed by Helena Bonham Carter
BEST ARCHIVAL DOCUMENTARY
The Beatles: Get Back (Disney+)
Fire of Love (National Geographic Documentary Films/Neon)
Moonage Daydream (Neon/HBO Documentary Films)
Nothing Compares (Showtime Documentary Films)
Riotsville, U.S.A. (Magnolia Pictures)
Three Minutes: A Lengthening (SUPER)
BEST HISTORICAL DOCUMENTARY
The Automat (A Slice of Pie Productions)
Descendant (Netflix)
The Janes (HBO Documentary Films)
Lowndes County and the Road to Black Power (Peacock)
Still Working 9 to 5 (Mighty Fine Entertainment)
Three Minutes: A Lengthening (SUPER)
The U.S. and the Holocaust (Florentine Films/WETA)
BEST BIOGRAPHICAL DOCUMENTARY
George Carlin’s American Dream (HBO Documentary Films)
The Last Movie Stars (HBO Max/CNN Films)
Lucy and Desi (Amazon Studios)
The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks (Peacock)
Salvatore: Shoemaker of Dreams (Sony Pictures Classics)
Sidney (Apple TV+)
Sr. (Netflix)
BEST MUSIC DOCUMENTARY
The Beatles: Get Back (Disney+)
Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, a Journey, a Song (Sony Pictures Classics)
If These Walls Could Sing (Disney Original Documentary)
Louis Armstrong’s Black & Blues (Apple TV+)
Moonage Daydream (Neon/HBO Documentary Films)
Nothing Compares (Showtime Documentary Films)
The Return of Tanya Tucker – Featuring Brandi Carlile (Sony Pictures Classics)
BEST POLITICAL DOCUMENTARY
Aftershock (Hulu/Onyx Collective)
All the Beauty and the Bloodshed (Neon/HBO Documentary Films)
Gabby Giffords Won’t Back Down (Briarcliff Entertainment/CNN Films/TIME Studios)
The Janes (HBO)
Navalny (HBO Max/CNN Films/Warner Bros. Pictures)
Retrograde (National Geographic Documentary Films)
Freedom on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom (Winter on Fire Production)
BEST SCIENCE/NATURE DOCUMENTARY
All That Breathes (HBO Documentary Films/Sideshow)
Cow (IFC Films)
Fire of Love (National Geographic Documentary Films/Neon)
Good Night Oppy (Amazon Studios)
Nuisance Bear (The New Yorker)
Return to Space (Netflix)
The Territory (National Geographic Documentary Films)
BEST SPORTS DOCUMENTARY
Citizen Ashe (HBO Max/CNN Films)
Hockeyland (Greenwich Entertainment)
Kaepernick & America (Dark Star Pictures)
McEnroe (Showtime Documentary Films)
The Redeem Team (Netflix)
Welcome to Wrexham (FX)
BEST SHORT DOCUMENTARY
38 at the Garden (HBO Documentary Films)
Angola Do You Hear Us? Voices From a Plantation Prison (MTV Documentary Films)
The Flagmakers (National Geographic Documentary Films)
Four Seasons Total Documentary (MSNBC)
My Disability Roadmap (The New York Times Op Docs)
Nuisance Bear (The New Yorker)
Stranger at the Gate (The New Yorker)
BEST LIMITED DOCUMENTARY SERIES
The Beatles: Get Back (Disney+)
Hostages (HBO Documentary Films)
The Last Movie Stars (HBO Max/CNN Films)
The Lincoln Project (Showtime Documentary Films)
Our Great National Parks (Netflix)
The U.S. and the Holocaust (Florentine Films/WETA)
We Need to Talk About Cosby (Showtime Documentary Films)
BEST ONGOING DOCUMENTARY SERIES
30 for 30 (ESPN)
American Masters (PBS)
Cheer (Netflix)
The Circus (Showtime Documentary Films)
Unsolved Mysteries (Netflix)
Welcome to Wrexham (FX)
#CCADocumentary
#criticschoice
#CCDOC
@criticschoice
@NatGeoTV
