Cinema Eye Honors: 'American Factory,' 'Apollo 11' Lead Nominees

1:26 PM 11/7/2019

by Annie Howard

'Aquarela,' 'The Cave,' 'For Sama,' Beyoncé's 'Homecoming,' 'Honeyland' and 'Midnight Family' nabbed three nominations each.

'American Factory,' 'Apollo 11'
'American Factory,' 'Apollo 11'
Courtesy of Films

Documentaries American Factory and Apollo 11 lead the 2020 Cinema Eye Honors nominations with five nods each, followed by Aquarela, The Cave, For Sama, Beyoncé's Homecoming, Honeyland and Midnight Family with three nominations each. American Factory, Apollo 11, For Sama, Honeyland, Midnight Family and One Child Nation all picked up a nomination for the evening's top honor, outstanding nonfiction feature.

Netflix leads the distributors/studios with 17 nominations, followed by Neon with 10 nominations, HBO with 9 and National Geographic with 8. Female filmmakers and craftspersons make up 40 percent of the 2020 nominees, a new high for Cinema Eye.

The 2020 Cinema Eye Honors awards ceremony is set for Monday, Jan. 6, at the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens, New York.

A full list of this year's nominees follows.

  • Outstanding Nonfiction Feature

    'American Factory'
    'American Factory'
    Chuck Kennedy/Netflix

    American Factory
    Directed and Produced by Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert
    Produced by Jeff Reichert and Julie Parker Benello

    Apollo 11
    Directed and Produced by Todd Douglas Miller
    Produced by Thomas Petersen and Evan Krauss

    For Sama
    Directed by Waad al-Kateab and Edward Watts
    Produced by Waad al-Kateab

    Honeyland
    Directed by Ljubomir Stefanov and Tamara Kotevska
    Produced by Atanas Georgiev and Ljubomir Stefanov

    Midnight Family
    Directed and Produced by Luke Lorentzen
    Produced by Kellen Quinn

    One Child Nation
    Directed and Produced by Nanfu Wang and Jialing Zhang
    Produced by Christoph Jörg, Julie Goldman, Christopher Clements and Carolyn Hepburn

  • Outstanding Direction

    'The Cave'
    'The Cave'
    Busan International Film Festival

    American Factory
    Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert

    The Cave
    Feras Fayyad

    Cold Case Hammarskjöld
    Mads Brügger

    Honeyland
    Ljubomir Stefanov and Tamara Kotevska

    The Hottest August
    Brett Story

    One Child Nation
    Nanfu Wang and Jialing Zhang

  • Outstanding Editing

    'Apollo 11'
    'Apollo 11'
    Courtesy of TIFF; Courtesy of NEON

    17 Blocks
    Jennifer Tiexiera

    American Factory
    Lindsay Utz

    Apollo 11
    Todd Douglas Miller

    Letter to the Editor
    Alan Berliner

    Mike Wallace is Here
    Billy McMillin

  • Outstanding Production

    'Aquarela'
    'Aquarela'
    Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics

    Aquarela
    Aimara Reques, Sigrid Dyekjær and Heino Deckert

    Apollo 11
    Todd Douglas Miller, Thomas Petersen and Evan Krauss

    The Cave
    Kirstine Barfod and Sigrid Dyekjær

    For Sama
    Waad Al-Kateab

    Midnight Family
    Luke Lorentzen and Kellen Quinn

    Midnight Traveler
    Emelie Mahdavian and Su Kim

  • Outstanding Cinematography

    'Midnight Family'
    'Midnight Family'
    Courtesy of Sundance Film Festival

    Aquarela
    Victor Kossokovsky

    Anthropocene: The Human Epoch
    Nicholas De Pencier

    Honeyland
    Fejmi Daut and Samir Ljuma

    Midnight Family
    Luke Lorentzen

    What You Gonna Do When the World’s On Fire?
    Diego Romero

  • Outstanding Original Score

    'Anthropocene: The Human Epoch'
    'Anthropocene: The Human Epoch'
    Courtesy of Sundance Film Festival

    American Factory
    Chad Cannon

    Anthropocene: The Human Epoch
    Rose Bolton and Norah Lorway

    Apollo 11
    Matt Morton

    Aquarela
    Eicca Toppinen

    Black Mother
    4th Disciple

    Symphony of the Ursus Factory
    Dominik Strycharski

  • Outstanding Graphic Design or Animation

    'The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley'
    'The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley'
    Courtesy of Sundance Institute

    The Great Hack
    Ash Thorp, Matthew Hornick and Patrick Cederberg

    The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley
    Hazel Baird

    Moonlight Sonata: Deafness in Three Movements
    Brian Kinkley and Ben Luce

    Our Time Machine
    Ryan Wehner

  • Outstanding Debut

    'Jawline'
    'Jawline'
    Courtesy of Sundance Film Festival

    The Disappearance of My Mother
    Directed by Beniamino Barrese

    Jawline
    Directed by Liza Mandelup

    Scheme Birds
    Directed by Ellen Fiske and Ellinor Hallin

    Searching Eva
    Directed by Pia Hellenthal

    Swarm Season
    Directed by Sarah Christman

    Symphony of the Ursus Factory
    Directed by Jasmina Wójcik

  • Outstanding Nonfiction Short

    Crannog
    Directed by Isa Roa

    Fast Horse
    Directed by Alex Lazarowich

    Ghosts of Sugar Land
    Directed by Bassam Tariq

    Lowland Kids
    Directed by Sandra Winther

    Stay Close
    Directed by Luther Clement and Shuhan Fan

    Subject to Review
    Directed by Theo Anthony

  • Audience Choice Prize

    'Maiden'
    'Maiden'
    Courtesy of TIFF

    17 Blocks
    Directed by Davy Rothbart

    The Amazing Johnathan Documentary
    Directed by Ben Berman

    American Factory
    Directed by Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert

    Apollo 11
    Directed by Todd Douglas Miller

    Ask Dr. Ruth
    Directed by Ryan White

    The Biggest LIttle Farm
    Directed by John Chester

    The Cave
    Directed by Feras Fayyad

    For Sama
    Directed by Waad Al-Kateab and Edward Watts

    Knock Down the House
    Directed by Rachel Lears

    Maiden
    Directed by Alex Holmes

  • Spotlight

    Always in Season
    Directed by Jacqueline Olive

    Bellingcat: Truth in a Post-Truth World
    Directed by Hans Pool

    Dark Suns
    Directed by Julien Elie

    Present.Perfect
    Directed by Shengze Zhu

    The Raft
    Directed by Marcus Lindeen

  • The Unforgettables (Non-Competitive Honor)

    'Knock Down the House'
    'Knock Down the House'
    'Knock Down the House' / Sundance Institute

    Advocate
    Lea Tsemel

    The Amazing Johnathan Documentary
    The Amazing Johnathan

    Ask Dr. Ruth
    Dr. Ruth Westheimer

    The Cave
    Dr. Amani Ballour

    The Disappearance of My Mother
    Benedetta Barzini

    For Sama
    Waad and Hamza al-Kataeb

    Hail Satan?
    Lucien Greaves

    Honeyland
    Hatidze Muratova

    Knock Down the House
    Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

    Maiden
    Tracy Edwards

    Midnight Family
    Juan Ochoa

    Midnight Traveler
    Fatima Hussaini and Hassan Fazili

    Seahorse
    Freddy

    What You Gonna Do When the World’s On Fire?
    Judy Hill

    XY Chelsea
    Chelsea Manning

  • 2020 Shorts List Films

    All on a Mardi Gras Day
    Directed by Michal Pietrzyk

    In the Absence
    Directed by Seung Jun-Yi

    Life Overtakes Me
    Directed by John Haptas and Kristine Samuelson

    St. Louis Superman
    Directed by Smriti Mundhra and Sami Khan

  • Outstanding Broadcast Film

    'At the Heart of Gold: Inside the USA Gymnastics Scandal'
    'At the Heart of Gold: Inside the USA Gymnastics Scandal'
    HBO

    Apollo: Missions to the Moon
    Directed by Tom Jennings | National Geographic

    At the Heart of Gold: Inside the USA Gymnastics Scandal
    Directed by Erin Lee Carr | HBO

    Breslin and Hamill: Deadline Artists
    Directed by John Block, Jonathan Alter and Steve McCarthy | HBO

    Homecoming
    Directed by Beyoncé Knowles-Carter | Netflix

    Leaving Neverland
    Directed by Dan Reed | HBO

    The Sentence
    Directed by Rudy Valdez | HBO

  • Outstanding Broadcast Series

    'Salt Fat Acid Heat'
    'Salt Fat Acid Heat'
    Courtesy of FOX

    The Case Against Adnan Syed
    Directed by Amy Berg | HBO

    The Family
    Directed by Jesse Moss | Netflix

    Jonestown: Terror in the Jungle
    Directed by Shan Nicholson and Richard Lopez | SundanceTV

    Last Chance U: Season 4
    Directed by Greg Whiteley | Netflix

    Salt Fat Acid Heat
    Directed by Caroline Suh | Netflix

    Tricky Dick
    Directed by Mary Robertson | CNN

  • Outstanding Broadcast Editing

    'Leaving Neverland'
    'Leaving Neverland'
    Courtesy of HBO

    Apollo: Mission to the Moon
    David Tillman | National Geographic

    Homecoming
    Alexander Hammer, Andrew Morrow, Nia Imani and Julian Klincewicz | Netflix

    Leaving Neverland
    Jules Cornell | HBO

    Tricky Dick
    Benji Kast, David Mehlman, Diana DiCilio and Seth Skundrick | CNN

  • Outstanding Broadcast Cinematography

    'Homecoming'
    'Homecoming'
    Netflix; Inset: Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic

    Homecoming
    Mark Ritchie, Julian Klincewicz, Dikayl Rimmasch and Irie Calkins | Netflix

    Into the Okavango
    Neil Gelinas | National Geographic

    Salt Fat Acid Heat
    Luke McCoubrey | Netflix

    Tigerland
    Matt Porwoll and Ross Kauffman| Discovery

  • Heterodox

    'Honey Boy'
    'Honey Boy'
    Courtesy of TIFF

    Atlantics
    Directed by Mati Diop

    Honey Boy
    Directed by Alma Har’el

    The Infiltrators
    Directed by Alex Rivera and Cristina Ibarra

    The Souvenir
    Directed by Joanna Hogg

    Vitalina Varela
    Directed by Pedro Costa

  • Legacy Award

    Koyaanisqatsi
    Directed and Produced by Godfrey Reggio
    Cinematography Ron Fricke
    Editing Ron Fricke and Alton Walpole
    Original Score Philip Glass