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Award Nominees and Winners

Best Feature

City Of Ghosts
Director/Producer: Matthew Heineman
AMAZON STUDIOS

 

Dina (Winner)
Directors/Producers: Antonio Santini and Dan Sickles
THE ORCHARD

Faces Places
Directors: Agnès Varda and JR
COHEN MEDIA GROUP

 

LA 92
Directors: Dan Lindsay and TJ Martin
Producers: Jonathan Chinn, Simon Chinn and Sarah Gibson
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

Strong Island
Director/Producer: Yance Ford
Producer: Joslyn Barnes
NETFLIX

 

 


Best Short

Edith+Eddie (Winner)
Director: Laura Checkoway
Producers: Laura Checkoway, Thomas Lee Wright
KARTEMQUIN FILMS

 

The Fight
Directors/Producers: Violeta Ayala and Dan Fallshaw
THE GUARDIAN

Heaven Is A Traffic Jam On The 405
Director/Producer: Frank Stiefel

 

Long Shot
Director/Producer: Jacob LaMendola
Producers: Mary Beth Minthorn, Milos S. Silber and Todd Wiseman Jr.
NETFLIX

Mr. Connolly Has ALS
Director/Producer: Dan Habib
IMPACT MEDIA PARTNERS

 

The Rabbit Hunt
Director: Patrick Bresnan
Producers: Maida Brankman, Ivete Lucas
TOPIC STUDIOS


Best Curated Series Award

American Experience
Executive Producer: Mark Samels
PBS

 

Dokumania
Executive Producer: Anders Bruus
DR

Independent Lens (Winner)
Executive Producers: Lois Vossen and Sally Jo Fifer
PBS

 

REEL SOUTH
Executive Producers: Rachel Raney and Amy Shumaker
UNC-TV, South Carolina ETV, NETA  and WORLD

POV
Executive Producers: Justine Nagan and Chris White
PBS

 

 


Best Limited Series Award

Daughters of Destiny
Executive Producer: Vanessa Roth
Netflix

 

The Defiant Ones (Winner)
Executive Producers: Allen Hughes, Doug Pray, Andrew Kosove, Broderick Johnson, Laura Lancaster, Michael Lombardo, Gene Kirkwood and Jerry Longarzo
HBO

The Keepers
Executive Producers: Jessica Hargrave, Ryan White and Josh Braun
Netflix

 

The Vietnam War
Executive Producer: Ken Burns
PBS/WETA

TIME: The Kalief Browder Story
Executive Producers: Jenner Furst, Nick Sandow, Julia Willoughby Nason, Michael Gasparro, Shawn “JAY Z” Carter, Chachi Senior, and Sharon Levy​
Spike

 

 


Best Episodic Series Award

Anthony Bourdain Parts Unknown
Executive Producers: Anthony Bourdain, Christopher Collins, Lydia Tenaglia and Sandra Zweig
CNN

 

Chef’s Table
Executive Producers: David Gelb, Matthew Weaver, Brian McGinn, Andrew Fried, and Dane Lillegard
Netflix

Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath
Executive Producers: Leah Remini, Aaron Saidman, Alex Weresow, Devon Graham Hammonds, Elaine Frontain Bryant and Amy Savitsky
A&E

 

MARS
Executive Producers: Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, Michael Rosenberg, Dave O’Connor, Jon Kamen, Tommy Turtle, David Sirulnick, Jonathan Silberberg, Everardo Gout, Justin Wilkes, Tim Pastore, Matt Renner, and Robert Palumbo
National Geographic

Planet Earth II (Winner)
Executive Producer: Michael Gunton
BBC AMERICA/BBC Worldwide

 

 


Best Short Form Series Award

Field of Vision
Executive Producers: Laura Poitras, AJ Schnack and Charlotte Cook
Field of Vision

 

Shorts on Time
Executive Producer: Jenni Wolfson
Lifetime

The Guardian documentaries
Executive Producers: Charlie Phillips and Lindsay Poulton
The Guardian

 

The New York Times Op-Docs (Winner)
Executive Producer: Kathleen Lingo
The New York Times

The Secret Life of Muslims
Executive Producers: Joshua Seftel and Reza Aslan
Vox

 

 


David L. Wolper Student Documentary Award

This award recognizes exceptional achievement in non-fiction film and video production at the university level and brings greater public and industry awareness to the work of students in the documentary field.

Believers
Director: Ray Whitehouse
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

 

Chomo
Director: Maayan Arad
Producer: Khaled Gad
National Film and Television School (United Kingdom)

How To Make A Pearl
Director: Jason Hanasik
UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism

 

Man on Fire (Winner)
Director: Joel Fendelman
Producer: James Sanchez
University of Texas, Austin

Room 140
Director: Priscilla Gonzalez Sainz
Stanford University

 

 


ABC News VideoSource Award

This award is given each year for the best use of news footage as an integral component in a documentary.

Blood On The Mountain
Directors: Mari-Lynn Evans and Jordan Freeman
Virgil Films/Netflix

 

Elián
Directors: Tim Golden and Ross McDonnell
Gravitas Ventures, CNN Films

Icarus
Director: Bryan Fogel
Netflix

 

LA 92 (Winner)
Directors: Dan Lindsay & TJ Martin
National Geographic

Obit.
Director: Vanessa Gould
Kino Lorber

 

 


Pare Lorentz Award Winner

The Pare Lorentz Award recognizes films that demonstrate exemplary filmmaking while focusing on the appropriate use of the natural environment, justice for all and the illumination of pressing social problems.

Watani: My Homeland (Recipient)
Director: Marcel Mettelsiefen

 

Intent to Destroy (Special Mention)
Director: Joe Berlinger


Creative Recognition Award Winners

 

Best Cinematography

Machines
Cinematography by: Rodrigo Trejo Villanueva 
KINO LORBER

Best Editing

Dawson City: Frozen Time
Edited by: Bill Morrison 
KINO LORBER

Best Music

Brimstone & Glory
Original Score by: Dan Romer and Benh Zeitlin
OSCILLOSCOPE LABORATORIES

Best Writing

Donkeyote
Written by: Chico Pereira, Manuel Pereira and Gabriel Molera
SCOTTISH DOCUMENTARY INSTITUTE