Sugarcane, the Nat Geo documentary feature about abuse and forced separations in a Canadian Indigenous community, landed a field-leading six nominations for the Cinema Eye Honors, the organization, which celebrates nonfiction work made for big and small screens, announced on Thursday.
Among the noms for Sugarcane is one for best nonfiction feature, a category in which it will compete alongside Mubi’s Dahomey and the U.S.-distributor-less No Other Land, which both garnered five noms, and MTV Docs’ Black Box Diaries, Netflix’s Daughters, A24’s Look Into My Eyes and Kino Lorber’s Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat.
This is the first year in which the nominees for best nonfiction feature will include the entire creative team behind each doc — the directors, producers, editors, cinematographers, composers, sound designers, visual designers and significant on-screen participants.
The audience choice award, nominees for which were determined by more than 30,000 votes from nonfiction lovers around the world, will go to the aforementioned Daughters or Sugarcane or Greenwich’s Copa 71, Amazon/MGM’s Frida, Netflix’s Mountain Queen, Picturehouse’s Porcelain War, Netflix’s The Remarkable Life of Ibelin, Netflix’s Skywalkers: A Love Story, Warners’ Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story or Netflix’s Will & Harper. The last six films that won the best documentary feature Oscar were all first nominated for the audience award.
Steve James reclaimed the record for most Cinema Eye noms for an individual, landing his 14th, in the category of best nonfiction series for ESPN’s The Luckiest Guy in the World.
The 18th annual Cinema Eye Honors awards ceremony will take place at the New York Academy of Medicine in East Harlem on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025.
A full list of this year’s nominees follows.
Nonfiction Feature
Black Box Diaries
Shiori Ito, Eric Nyari, Hanna Aqvilin, Ema Ryan Yamazaki, Yuta Okamura, Yuichiro Otsuka, Mark Degli Antoni and Andrew Tracy
Dahomey
Mati Diop, Eve Robin, Judith Lou Levy, Gabriel Gonzalez, Joséphine Drouin Viallard and Nicholas Becker
Daughters
Natalie Rae, Angela Patton, Lisa Mazzotta, Justin Benoliel, James Cunningham, Mindy Goldberg, Sam Bisbee, Kathryn Everett, Laura Choi Raycroft, Adrian Aurelius, Philip Nicolai Flindt, Michael Cambio Fernandez and Kelsey Lu
Look Into My Eyes
Lana Wilson, Kyle Martin, Hannah Buck and Stephen Maing
No Other Land
Yuval Abraham, Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Rachel Szor, Fabien Greenberg, Bård Kjøge Rønning, Julius Pollux Rothlaender and Bård Harazi Farbu
Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat
Johan Grimonpre, Daan Milius, Rémi Grellety, Jonathan Wannyn, Rik Chaubet, Ranko Pauković and Alek Bunic Goosse
Sugarcane
Julian Brave NoiseCat, Emily Kassie, Kellen Quinn, Christopher LaMarca, Nathan Punwar, Maya Daisy Hawke, Mali Obomsawin, Martin Czembor, Andrea Bella, Michael Feuser and Ed Archie Noisecat
Direction
Mati Diop
Dahomey
Gary Hustwit
Eno
Lana Wilson
Look Into My Eyes
Elizabeth Lo
Mistress Dispeller
Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor
No Other Land
Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie
Sugarcane
Stephen Maing and Brett Story
Union
Production
Shane Boris, Odessa Rae and Talal Derki
Hollywoodgate
Emma D. Miller, Elizabeth Lo and Maggie Li
Mistress Dispeller
Fabien Greenberg and Bård Kjøge Rønning
No Other Land
Paula DuPre’ Pesmen, Aniela Sidorska, Camilla Mazzaferro and Olivia Ahnemann
Porcelain War
Emily Kassie and Kellen Quinn
Sugarcane
Mars Verrone and Samantha Curley
Union
Editing
Maya Tippet and Marley McDonald
Eno
Alexandra Strauss
Ernest Cole: Lost and Found
Carla Gutiérrez
Frida
Charlotte Tourres
Intercepted
Hannah Buck
Look Into My Eyes
Rik Chaubet
Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat
Cinematography
Joséphine Drouin Viallard
Dahomey
Elizabeth Lo
Mistress Dispeller
Satya Rai Nagpual
Nocturnes
Andrey Stefanov
Porcelain War
Christopher LaMarca
Sugarcane
Olivier Sarbil
Viktor
Original Score
Wally Badarou and Dean Blunt
Dahomey
Alexeï Aïgui
Ernest Cole: Lost and Found
Victor Hernández Stumpfhauser
Frida
Nainita Dasai
Nocturnes
Uno Helmersson
The Remarkable Life of Ibelin
Mali Obomsawin
Sugarcane
Sound Design
Nicolas Becker
Dahomey
Nas Parkash and Patrick Fripp
Eno
Alex Lane
Intercepted
Tom Paul, Shreyank Nanjappa and Sukanto Mazumder
Nocturnes
Ranko Pauković and Alek Bunic Goosse
Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat
Peter Albrechtsen, Nicolas Becker and Heikki Kossi
Viktor
Visual Design
Brendan Dawes
Eno
Sofía Inés Cázares and Renata Galindo
Frida
Howard Baker
Piece by Piece
Brendan Bellomo and BluBlu Studios
Porcelain War
Agniia Galdanova
Queendom
Rasmus Tukia and Ada Wikdahl
The Remarkable Life of Ibelin
Debut Feature
Black Box Diaries
Directed by Shiori Ito
Daughters
Directed by Natalie Rae and Angela Patton
Frida
Directed by Carla Gutiérrez
Grand Theft Hamlet
Directed by Pinny Grylls and Sam Crane
Hollywoodgate
Directed by Ibrahim Nash’at
No Other Land
Directed by Yuval Abraham, Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal and Rachel Szor
Audience Choice Prize Nominees
Copa 71
Directed by James Erskine and Rachel Ramsay
Daughters
Directed by Natalie Rae and Angela Patton
Frida
Directed by Carla Gutiérrez
Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa
Directed by Lucy Walker
Porcelain War
Directed by Brendan Bellomo and Slava Leontyev
The Remarkable Life of Ibelin
Directed by Benjamin Ree
Skywalkers: A Love Story
Directed by Jeff Zimbalist
Sugarcane
Directed by Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie
Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story
Directed by Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui
Will and Harper
Directed by Josh Greenbaum
Shorts List Semifinalists (nominees to be announced in December)
Contractions
Directed by Lynne Sachs | NY Times Op-Docs
Eternal Father
Directed by Ömer Sami | New Yorker
I Am Ready, Warden
Directed by Smriti Mundhra | MTV Documentary Films
Incident
Directed by Bill Morrison | New Yorker
Instruments of a Beating Heart
Directed by Ema Ryan Yamazaki | NY Times Op-Docs
Love in the Time of Migration
Directed by Erin Semine Kökdil and Chelsea Abbas | LA Times
Makayla’s Voice: A Letter to the World
Directed by Julio Palacio | Netflix
The Medallion
Directed by Ruth Hunduma | New Yorker
A Move
Directed by Elahe Esmaili | NY Times Op-Docs
The Only Girl in the Orchestra
Directed by Molly O’Brien | Netflix
A Swim Lesson
Directed by Rashida Jones and Will McCormack | POV
Unforgettables Honorees
Shiori Ito
Black Box Diaries
Brian Eno
Eno
Lhakpa Sherpa
Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa
Basel Adra and Yuval Abraham
No Other Land
Patrice Jetter
Patrice: The Movie
Jenna Marvin
Queendom
Chris Smalls
Union
Harper Steele
Will and Harper
Spotlight
Black Snow
Directed by Alina Simone
Homegrown
Directed by Michel Premo
A New Kind of Wilderness
Directed by Silje Evensmo Jacobsen
A Photographic Memory
Directed by Rachel Elizabeth Seed
Two Strangers Trying Not to Kill Each Other
Directed by Jacob Perlmutter and Manon Ouimet
Heterodox
Caught by the Tides
Directed by Jia Zhang-ke
Kneecap
Directed by Rich Peppiatt
My First Film
Directed by Zia Anger
Pavements
Directed by Alex Ross Perry
Sing Sing
Directed by Greg Kwedar
Songs from the Hole
Directed by Contessa Gayles
Broadcast Film
Bread & Roses
Directed by Sahra Mani | Apple TV+
Girls State
Directed by Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss | Apple TV+
Great Photo, Lovely Life: Facing a Family’s Secrets
Directed by Amanda Mustard and Rachel Beth Anderson | HBO
The Lady Bird Diaries
Directed by Dawn Porter | Hulu
Slave Play. Not a Movie. A Play.
Directed by Jeremy O. Harris | HBO
Spermworld
Directed by Lance Oppenheim | FX
Nonfiction Series
America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders
Directed by Greg Whiteley and Chelsea Yarnell | Netflix
Deadlocked: How America Shaped the Supreme Court
Directed by Dawn Porter | Showtime
The Enfield Poltergeist
Directed by Jerry Rothwell | Apple TV+
The Luckiest Guy in the World
Directed by Steve James | ESPN
Ren Faire
Directed by Lance Oppenheim | HBO
Telemarketers
Directed by Adam Bhala Lough and Sam Lipman-Stern | HBO
Anthology Series
Conan O’Brien Must Go
Executive Producers Conan O’Brien and Jeff Ross | HBO
De La Calle
Executive Producers Nick Barili, Jared Andrukanis, Picky Talarico, Lydia Tenaglia, Christopher Collins, Amanda Culkowski, Bruce Gillmer and Craig H. Shepherd | Paramount+
God Save Texas
Executive Producers Lawrence Wright, Alex Gibney, Richard Linklater, Peter Berg, Michael Lombardo, Elizabeth Rogers, Stacey Offman, Richard Perello, Nancy Abraham and Lisa Heller | HBO
High on the Hog Season 2
Executive Producers Roger Ross Williams, Geoff Martz, Craig Piligian, Sarba Das, Fabienne Toback, Karis Jagger, Jessica B. Harris, Stephen Satterfield and Michele Barnwell | Netflix
How To with John Wilson Season 3
Executive Producers John Wilson, Nathan Fielder, Michael Koman and Clark Reinking | HBO
Photographer
Executive Producers Elizabeth Chai Vasarhely, Jimmy Chin, Pagan Harleman, Betsy Forhan, Anna Barnes and Chris Kugelman | National Geographic
Broadcast Editing
Girls State
Edited by Amy Foote | Apple TV+
The Greatest Night in Pop
Edited by Nic Zimmerman, Will Znidaric and David Brodie | Netflix
Ren Faire
Edited by Max Allman and Nicholas Nazmi | HBO
The Saint of Second Chances
Edited by Alan Lowe, Jeff Malmberg and Miles Wilkerson | Netflix
Telemarketers
Edited by Christopher Passig | HBO
Time Bomb Y2K
Edited by Marley McDonald and Maya Mumma | HBO
Broadcast Cinematography
America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders
Director of Photography Jonathan Nicholas | Netflix
The Enfield Poltergeist
Directors of Photography Ruben Woodin Deschamps, Carmen Pellon Brussosa and David Katznelson | Apple TV+
Girls State
Directors of Photography Martina Radwan, Daniel Carter, Laela Kilbourn, Erynn Patrick Lamont, Laura Hudock, Thorsten Thielow | Apple TV+
Photographer
Director of Photography Michael Crommett, Rita Baghdadi, Peter Hutchens, Melissa Langer and Pauline Maroun | National Geographic
Ren Faire
Director of Photography Nate Hurtsellers | HBO
You Were My First Boyfriend
Director of Photography Brennan Vance and J. Bennett | HBO
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