Critics' Choice Documentary Awards: 'Free Solo,' 'Minding the Gap,' 'Wild Wild Country' Lead Noms
The awards will be handed out Nov. 10 at a ceremony in New York.
Free Solo leads the nominations for the third annual Critics' Choice Documentary Awards.
Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi's doc — which follows rock climber Alex Honnold as he scales Yosemite's El Capitan without a rope — garnered a total of six noms, including best documentary, best directors, best sports documentary, most innovative documentary, best cinematography and best editing, along with a most compelling living subject of a documentary honor for Alex Honnold.
Bing Liu's Minding the Gap, which examines skateboarding and toxic masculinity, and Chapman Way and Maclain Way's Wild Wild Country, about a guru cult's Oregon expansion in the '80s, followed with five noms each, including best documentary for both.
Following with four noms each are Kimberly Reed's Dark Money, which examines the influence of untraceable corporate money on our elections and elected officials; Rüdiger Suchsland's Hitler’s Hollywood, which examines some of the more than 1,000 features the Nazis produced from 1933 to 1945; and Morgan Neville's Mr. Rogers doc Won’t You Be My Neighbor? Tim Wardle's Three Identical Strangers earned three noms and an honor.
The awards will be handed out by the Broadcast Film Critics Association and the Broadcast Television Journalists Association at a gala event, hosted by science educator and television personality Bill Nye, on Nov. 10 at BRIC in Brooklyn.
At the ceremony, filmmaker Stanley Nelson will be presented with the Critics' Choice Impact Award. As previously announced, multiple award-winning filmmaker Michael Moore will be honored with the Critics’ Choice Lifetime Achievement Award.
Robert De Niro will present Moore with his award, while Joe Berlinger will present Nelson's award. Other presenters will include Rashida Jones (Quincy), Matt Dillon, Natasha Lyonne, Pamela Adlon, Steve James (America to Me), David Kellman/Bobby Shafran (Three Identical Strangers), Ryan Fox/Anjali Chadha/Dr. Serena McCalla (Science Fair), Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi/Alex Honnold (Free Solo) and Morgan Neville (Won’t You Be My Neighbor?).
For the first time, the Critics' Choice Documentary Awards has introduced the Catalyst Sponsorship, a program for industry leaders to support the event.
Said Broadcast Film Critics Association president Joey Berlin: "The year 2018 has been called 'The Year of the Documentary,' and we are so happy to give these films and shows the recognition and high praise that they deserve."
A full list of nominees follows.
Updated 10:35 a.m. Nov. 5: Added names of presenters.
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Best Documentary
Won't You Be My Neighbor? (WINNER)
Director: Morgan Neville (Focus Features)Crime + Punishment
Director: Stephen Maing (Hulu)Dark Money
Director: Kimberly Reed (PBS)Free Solo
Directors: Jimmy Chin, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi (National Geographic Documentary Films)Hal
Director: Amy Scott (Oscilloscope)Hitler's Hollywood
Director: Rüdiger Suchsland (Kino Lorber)Minding the Gap
Director: Bing Liu (Hulu)RBG
Directors: Julie Cohen, Betsy West (Magnolia Pictures, Participant Media)Three Identical Strangers
Director: Tim Wardle (Neon, CNN Films)Wild Wild Country
Directors: Chapman Way, Maclain Way (Netflix) -
Best Limited Documentary Series
The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling (HBO) (WINNER)
America to Me (Starz)
Dirty Money (Netflix)
Elvis Presley: The Searcher (HBO Documentary Films, Sony Pictures Television)
Flint Town (Netflix)
One Strange Rock (National Geographic)
The Fourth Estate (Showtime Networks)
Wild Wild Country (Netflix)
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Best Ongoing Documentary Series
Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown (CNN) (WINNER)
30 for 30 (ESPN)
American Masters (PBS)
Frontline (PBS)
Independent Lens (PBS)
Making a Murderer (Netflix)
POV (PBS)
The History of Comedy (CNN)
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Best Director
Morgan Neville (WINNER)
Won't You Be My Neighbor? (Focus Features)Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi
Free Solo (National Geographic Documentary Film)Bing Liu
Minding the Gap (Hulu)Kimberly Reed
Dark Money (PBS)Rudiger Suchsland
Hitler's Hollywood (Kino Lorber)Tim Wardle
Three Identical Strangers (Neon, CNN Films) -
Best First-Time Director
Cristina Costantini and Darren Foster (WINNER, TIE)
Science Fair (National Geographic Documentary Films)Bing Liu (WINNER, TIE)
Minding the Gap (Hulu)Heather Lenz
Kusama: Infinity (Magnolia Pictures)Stephen Nomura Schible
Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda (MUBI0Rudy Valdez
The Sentence (HBO Documentary Films)Chapman Way and Maclain Way
Wild Wild Country (Netflix) -
Best Political Documentary
RBG (WINNER)
Directors: Julie Cohen, Betsy West (Magnolia Pictures, Participant Media)Dark Money
Director: Kimberly Reed (PBS)Fahrenheit 11/9
Director: Michael Moore (Briarcliff Entertainment)Flint Town
Directors: Zackary Canepari, Drea Cooper, Jessica Dimmock (Netflix)Hitler's Hollywood
Director: Rüdiger Suchsland (Kino Lorber)John McCain: For Whom the Bell Tolls
Directors: George Kunhardt, Peter W. Kunhardt, Teddy Kunhardt (HBO)The Fourth Estate
Directors: Liz Garbus, Jenny Carchman (Showtime Networks) -
Best Sports Documentary
Free Solo (WINNER)
Directors: Jimmy Chin, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi (National Geographic Documentary Film)Andre the Giant
Director: Jason Hehir (HBO)Being Serena (HBO)
John McEnroe: In the Realm of Perfection
Director: Julien Faraut (Oscilloscope Laboratories)Minding the Gap
Director: Bing Liu (Hulu)The Workers Cup
Director: Adam Sobel (Passion River) -
Best Music Documentary
Quincy (WINNER)
Directors: Alan Hicks, Rashida Jones (Netflix)Bad Reputation
Director: Kevin Kerslake (Magnolia Pictures)David Bowie: The Last Five Years
Director: Francis Whately (HBO Documentary Films)Elvis Presley: The Searcher
Director: Thom Zimny (HBO Documentary Films, Sony Pictures Television)Lynyrd Skynyrd: If I Leave Here Tomorrow
Director: Stephen Kijak (Showtime Networks)Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda
Director: Stephen Nomura Schible (MUBI)Whitney
Director: Kevin Macdonald (Roadside Attractions, Miramax) -
Most Compelling Living Subject of a Documentary
Scotty Bowers
Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood (Greenwich Entertainment, Kino Lorber, Starz!)Ruth Bader Ginsburg
RBG (Magnolia Pictures, Participant Media)Alex Honnold
Free Solo (National Geographic Documentary Film)Joan Jett
Bad Reputation (Magnolia Pictures)Quincy Jones
Quincy (Netflix)David Kellman and Bobby Shafran
Three Identical Strangers (Neon, CNN Films)John McEnroe
John McEnroe: In the Realm of Perfection (Oscilloscope Laboratories)Leon Vitali
Filmworker (Kino Lorber) -
Most Innovative Documentary
Free Solo (WINNER)
Directors: Jimmy Chin, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi (National Geographic Documentary Film)306 Hollywood
Directors: Elan Bogarin, Jonathan Bogarin (PBS, El Tigre)Hitler's Hollywood
Director: Rüdiger Suchsland (Kino Lorber)Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda
Director: Stephen Nomura Schible (MUBI)Wild Wild Country
Directors: Chapman Way, Maclain Way (Netflix)Won't You Be My Neighbor?
Director: Morgan Neville (Focus Features) -
Best Cinematography
Free Solo (WINNER)
Cinematographers: Jimmy Chin, Clair Popkin, Mikey Schaefer (National Geographic Documentary Film)306 Hollywood
Cinematographers: Elan Bogarin, Jonathan Bogarin, Alejandro Mejía (PBS, El Tigre)The Dawn Wall
Cinematographer: Brett Lowell (The Orchard)Minding the Gap
Cinematographer: Bing Liu (Hulu)Pandas
Cinematographer: David Douglas (Warner Bros.)Wild Wild Country
Cinematographer: Adam Stone (Netflix) -
Best Editing
Won't You Be My Neighbor? (WINNER)
Editors: Jeff Malmberg, Aaron Wickenden (Focus Features)Dark Money
Editor: Jay Arthur Sterrenberg (PBS)Filmworker
Editor: Tony Zierra (Kino Lorber)Free Solo
Editor: Bob Eisenhardt (National Geographic Documentary Film)John McEnroe: In the Realm of Perfection
Editor: Julien Faraut (Oscilloscope Laboratories)Three Identical Strangers
Editor: Michael Harte (Neon, CNN Films)