The 7th Annual Critics Choice Documentary Nominations offer various types of documentaries from studios, independents, and streaming services. What you don’t see, however, is any sort of critical look at or objective take on the ideology reflected here. It is just accepted that everyone is in alignment. And they are.
Documentaries used to be obligated to reflect an objective viewpoint. But that ended long ago. Even the Academy now tends to nominate docs that are partisan and specific to their way of thinking. So when the Critics Choice singles out one category called “Political Documentaries,” in a sense, but for a few notable and rare exceptions, they all are.
I find this a little cloistered, preaching to the choir that is ultimately not as useful as hard-hitting objective docs or were in the past. I bring this up not to get screamed at or lectured by the commenters here but to provide some kind of criticism of what the awards race has become. It isn’t “bad” for those who participate. It is comforting. And that is the best way to get nominated.
Either way, that is not to comment on the quality of these docs. Most are very good and worth a watch.
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Aftershock (Hulu)
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)
Good Night Oppy (Amazon Studios)
The Janes (HBO)
Moonage Daydream (HBO/Neon)
Navalny (HBO/CNN/Warner Bros. Pictures)
Sidney (Apple TV+)
BEST DIRECTOR
Judd Apatow, Michael Bonfiglio – George Carlin’s American Dream (HBO)
Margaret Brown – Descendant (Netflix)
Sara Dosa – Fire of Love (National Geographic Documentary Films/Neon)
Reginald Hudlin – Sidney (Apple TV+)
Brett Morgen – Moonage Daydream (HBO/Neon)
Laura Poitras – All the Beauty and the Bloodshed (HBO/Neon)
Daniel Roher – Navalny (HBO/CNN/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 (Neon)
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Benjamin Bernhard, Riju Das – All That Breathes (HBO)
Magda Kowalczyk – Cow (IFC Films)
Lucas Tucknott – McEnroe (Showtime)
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)
Helen Kearns, Rejh Cabrera – Good Night Oppy (Amazon Studios)
Brett Morgen – Moonage Daydream (HBO/Neon)
Langdon Page, Maya Daisy Hawke – Navalny (HBO/CNN/Warner Bros. Pictures)
Katharina Wartena – Three Minutes: A Lengthening (Neon)
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)
David Schwartz – Lucy and Desi (Amazon Studios)
Marius de Vries, Matt Robertson – Navalny (HBO/CNN/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 (Neon)
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 (HBO/Neon)
Nothing Compares (Showtime)
Riotsville, U.S.A. (Magnolia Pictures)
Three Minutes: A Lengthening (Neon)
BEST HISTORICAL DOCUMENTARY
The Automat (A Slice of Pie Productions)
Descendant (Netflix)
The Janes (HBO)
Lowndes County and the Road to Black Power (Peacock)
Still Working 9 to 5 (Mighty Fine Entertainment)
Three Minutes: A Lengthening (Neon)
The U.S. and the Holocaust (PBS)
BEST BIOGRAPHICAL DOCUMENTARY
George Carlin’s American Dream (HBO)
The Last Movie Stars (HBO Max)
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 (HBO/Neon)
Nothing Compares (Showtime)
The Return of Tanya Tucker – Featuring Brandi Carlile (Sony Pictures Classics)
BEST POLITICAL DOCUMENTARY
Aftershock (Hulu)
All the Beauty and the Bloodshed (HBO/Neon)
Gabby Giffords Won’t Back Down (Briarcliff Entertainment)
The Janes (HBO)
Navalny (HBO/CNN/Warner Bros. Pictures)
Retrograde (National Geographic Documentary Films)
Freedom on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom (Netflix)
BEST SCIENCE/NATURE DOCUMENTARY
All That Breathes (HBO)
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 (Magnolia/HBO)
Hockeyland (Greenwich Entertainment)
Kaepernick & America (Dark Star Pictures)
McEnroe (Showtime)
The Redeem Team (Netflix)
Welcome to Wrexham (FX/Hulu)
BEST SHORT DOCUMENTARY
38 at the Garden (HBO)
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)
The Last Movie Stars (HBO Max)
The Lincoln Project (Showtime)
Our Great National Parks (Netflix)
The U.S. and the Holocaust (PBS)
We Need to Talk About Cosby (Showtime)
BEST ONGOING DOCUMENTARY SERIES
30 for 30 (ESPN)
American Masters (PBS)
Cheer (Netflix)
The Circus (Showtime)
Unsolved Mysteries (Netflix)
Welcome to Wrexham (FX/Hulu)
