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IDA Documentary Awards Menu Block with green and black background and dates of the event as December 4,5,6, 2025
 

This year, IDA received 550+ entries in all categories from 85 countries, an increase over last year in the total number of countries represented. IDA Documentary Awards entries were reviewed by jurors consisting of many dozens of documentary professionals from around the world.

This year, IDA members will have access to view nominated films in the Best Feature Documentary, Best Short Documentary, and craft categories from November 19 to December 31, 2025. Members can vote for their top 3 in the Best Feature Documentary and Best Short Documentary categories from November 19 to December 2, 2025. All other category winners are selected by IDA Documentary Awards jurors. Become an IDA member here.

The 41st IDA Documentary Awards will be presented in the following categories on December 6, 2025: Best Feature Documentary, Best Short Documentary, Best Editing, Best Cinematography, Best Production, Best Director, Best Original Music Score, Best Sound Design, Best Writing, Best Music Documentary, Best Editing, Best Writing, Best Music Score and David L. Wolper Student Documentary Award. Winners in two special categories, the ABC News VideoSource Award and the Pare Lorentz Award, will also be announced on December 6, 2025. 

Purchase Tickets for the Awards CeremonyWatch the Best Feature Documentary Nominees & Special Mentions Watch the Best Short Documentary Nominees & Special Mentions Watch the Craft Recognition Category Nominees

 

41st IDA Documentary Awards Nominees

All nominees listed under each category are in alphabetical order by film title.
 

Best Feature Documentary

Nominees: 

  • Apocalypse in the Tropics (United States | Netflix | Director: Petra Costa | Producers: Alessandra Orofino, Petra Costa)
  • Life After (United States | Multitude Films | Director: Reid Davenport | Producer: Colleen Cassingham)
  • Seeds (United States | Director: Brittany Shyne | Producers: Danielle Varga, Sabrina Schmidt Gordon, Brittany Shyne)
  • Songs of Slow Burning Earth (Ukraine, Sweden, Denmark | EPF Media | Director: Olha Zhurba | Producer: Darya Bassel)
  • The Tale of Silyan (Republic of North Macedonia, United States, United Kingdom | National Geographic | Director: Tamara Kotevska | Producers: Tamara Kotevska, Jean Dakar, Anna Hashmi, Jordanco Petkovski)

Special mentions: 

  • Come See Me in the Good Light (United States | Apple | Director: Ryan White | Producers: Jessica Hargrave, Ryan White, Tig Notaro, Stef Willen)
  • Cover-Up (United States | Netflix | Director: Laura Poitras, Mark Obenhaus | Producers: Yoni Golijov, Olivia Streisand, Laura Poitras, Mark Obenhaus)
  • Deaf President Now! (United States | Apple | Directors: Nyle DiMarco, Davis Guggenheim | Producers: Amanda Rohlke, Davis Guggenheim, Jonathan King, Nyle DiMarco, Michael Harte, Wayne Betts Jr.)
  • Mothers of Chibok (United States, Nigeria | Director: Joel' Kachi Benson | Producers: Jamie Patricof, Katie McNeill, Rachel Halilej, Joel' Kachi Benson, Samira Mohammed, Adeyinka Oduniyi)
  • ORWELL: 2+2=5 (United States | NEON | Director: Raoul Peck | Producers: Alex Gibney, Raoul Peck, George Chignell, Nick Shumaker)
  • YANUNI (Austria, Brazil, United States | Director: Richard Ladkani | Producers: Anita Ladkani, Richard Ladkani, Juma Xipaia, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Davisson, Phillip Watson)
     

Best Short Documentary

Nominees:

  • Correct Me If I'm Wrong (Germany, United States | Director: Hao Zhou | Producer: Tyler Hill)
  • If a Walnut Falls (China, Hong Kong | Director: Bohao Liu | Producer: Bohao Liu)
  • Looking for a Donkey (Mexico, Venezuela | Director: Juan Vicente Manrique | Producers: Juan Vicente Manrique, María Benítez)
  • Mama Micra (Germany | interfilm Berlin | Director: Rebecca Blöcher | Co-director: Frédéric Schuld | Producer: Fabian Driehorst)
  • Their Eyes (France, United States | The New York Times Op-Docs | Director: Nicolas Gourault | Producers: Yannick Beauquis and Quentin Brayer)

Best Short Documentary Special Mentions:

  • All The Empty Rooms (United States | Netflix | Director: Joshua Seftel | Producers: Joshua Seftel, Conall Jones, James Costa, Trevor Burgess)
  • The Candy Factory (United States | The New Yorker | Directors: Cory Jacobs and Jason Schmidt | Producers: Cory Jacobs and Jason Schmidt)
  • Landscapes of Longing (India, United States | Directors: Alisha Tejpal, Mireya Martinez, Anoushka Mirchandani | Producers: Alisha Tejpal, Mireya Martinez)
  • perfectly a strangeness (Canda, Chile | Premium Films | Director: Alison McAlpine | Producer: Alison McAlpine)
  • Please Step Aside! (Germany | Raha Films | Director: Raha Faridi | Producer: Raha Faridi)
  • Voices From The Abyss (Mexico | EPF Media | Directors: Irving Serrano & Víctor Rejón | Producer: Ramón Llaven Zavala)
     

Best Director

Nominees:

  • Petra Costa, Apocalypse in the Tropics (United States | Netflix)
  • Reid Davenport, Life After (United States | Multitude Films)
  • Brittany Shyne, Seeds (United States)
  • Olha Zhurba, Songs of Slow Burning Earth (Ukraine, Sweden, Denmark | EPF Media)
  • Tamara Kotevska, The Tale of Silyan (Republic of North Macedonia, United States, United Kingdom | National Geographic)
     

Best Cinematography

Nominees:

  • Ben Sturgulewski, Champions of the Golden Valley (United States)
  • Subhadeep Dey, Mrinmoy Mondal, Rupesh Chaturbedi, Redlight to Limelight (India, Finland, Latvia | BBC Storyville)
  • Jean Dakar, The Tale of Silyan (Republic of North Macedonia, United States, United Kingdom | National Geographic)
  • Natalia Pietsch, Grzegorz Piekarski, The Town That Drove Away (Poland | LARMO, Polish National TV)
  • Richard Ladkani, YANUNI (Austria, Brazil, United States)
     

Best Editing

Nominees:

  • Julia Loktev, Michael Taylor, My Undesirable Friends: Part I — Last Air in Moscow (United States | Argot)
  • Pablo Proenza, Natchez (United States | ITVS)
  • Robinson Devor, Jason Reid,  Adam Sekuler, Matt Levinthal, Darren Lund, Suburban Fury (United States)
  • Daniel Claridge, Pedro Kos, Sara Newens, The White House Effect (United States | Netflix)
  • Alex Megaro, Ian Bell, WTO/99 (United States)
     

Best Production

Nominees:

  • Alessandra Orofino, Petra Costa, Apocalypse in the Tropics (United States | Netflix)
  • Yoni Golijov, Olivia Streisand, Laura Poitras, Mark Obenhaus, Cover-Up (United States | Netflix)
  • Colleen Cassingham, Life After (United States | Multitude Films)
  • Danielle Varga, Sabrina Schmidt Gordon, Brittany Shyne, Seeds (United States)
  • Andrew Jarecki, Charlotte Kaufman, The Alabama Solution (United States | HBO Max)
     

Best Original Music Score

Nominees:

  • Sam Slater, Divia (Ukraine, Poland, Netherlands)
  • Mato Wayuhi, Free Leonard Peltier (United States)
  • Matthew Dougherty, Shuffle (United States)
  • Frédéric Filiatre, The Sorcerer: Julio Zachrisson (Panama)
  • Afshin Azizi, Writing Hawa (France, Netherlands, Qatar | First Hand Films, Icarus Films)
     

Best Sound Design

Nominees:

  • Yannick Dauby, Nigel Brown, Always (United States, France, Taiwan)
  • Alexander Dudarev, Architecton (Germany, France, United States | A24)
  • Thomas Perez-Pape, Only on Earth (Denmark, Spain | DR, HBO, SVT)
  • Rico Andriolo, Manu Gerber, Song of Breath (Switzerland, Italy)
  • Rubí J. Pérez, The Silence of My Hands (Mexico | AD Maiora)
     

Best Writing

Nominees: 

  • Petra Costa, Alessandra Orofino, Nels Bangerter, David Barker, Tina Baz, Apocalypse in the Tropics (United States | Netflix)
  • Bipuljit Basu, Redlight to Limelight (India, Finland, Latvia | BBC Storyville)
  • Sasha Wortzel, River of Grass (United States)
  • Cristina Costantini, Tom Maroney, Sally (United States | National Geographic)
  • Robinson Devor, Jason Reid, Bob Fink, Charles Mudede, Suburban Fury (United States)
     

Best Music Documentary

Nominees:

  • El Canto de las Manos (Spain, United States | Feel Sales | Director: María Valverde | Producers: María Valverde, Martí Font i Isern, Cristina Oliva, Gustavo Dudamel)
  • Move Ya Body: The Birth of House (United States | Director: Elegance Bratton | Producer: Chester Algernal Gordon)
  • One to One: John & Yoko (United Kingdom | Magnolia Pictures, HBO Documentary Films | Director: Kevin Macdonald | Co-director: Sam Rice-Edwards | Producers: Peter Worsley, Kevin Macdonald, Alice Webb)
  • Selena y Los Dinos (United States | Netflix | Isabel Castro | Producers: Julie Goldman, Christopher Clements, J. Daniel Torres, Simran Singh, David Blackman)
  • Sly Lives! (aka The Burden of Black Genius) (United States | Hulu | Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson | Producers: Joseph Patel and Derik Murray)
     

Best Curated Series

Nominees:

  • 99 (France | EP: Jérôme Plan)
  • Independent Lens (United States | PBS | EPs: Lois Vossen, Carrie Lozano, Royd Chung)
  • POV Season 38 (United States | PBS | EPs: Erika Dilday, Chris White)
  • POV Shorts Season 8 (United States | PBS | EPs: Opal H. Bennett, Erika Dilday, Chris White)
  • The New York Times Op-Docs (United States | The New York Times Op-Docs | EPs: Kathleen Kingsbury, Adam B. Ellick, Alexandra Garcia)

Best Episodic Series

Nominees:

  • Citizen Nation (United States | PBS | Directors: Bret Sigler, Singeli Agnew | Producers: Veronika Adaskova, Emily Orr, Wesley Harris, Cole Cahill, Victor Couto, Tom Brown)
  • Earnhardt (United States | Prime Video | Director: Joshua Altman | Producers: Riel Roch-Decter, Joshua Altman, Ben Piner, Zoë Morrison | Executive Producers: Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, Sara Bernstein, Christopher St. John, Justin Wilkes, Dan Lindsay, TJ Martin, Tim Clark, John Dahl, Matt Summers)
  • Eyes on the Prize III: We Who Believe in Freedom Cannot Rest 1977-2015 (United States | HBO Max | Directors: Geeta Gandbhir, Samantha Knowles, Muta'Ali, Rudy Valdez, Smriti Mundhra, Asako Gladsjo | Producers: Asako Gladsjo, Nimco Sheikhaden, Jevon Frank, Leah Smith, Clare Smith Marash, Niema Jordan)
  • The Sing Sing Chronicles (United States | NBC News Studios in association with Trilogy Films, MSNBC Films | Director: Dawn Porter | Showrunner/Executive Producer: Kimberley Ferdinando | Producers: Lauren Capps, Sadie Bass, Nick McElroy)
  • Turning Point: The Vietnam War (United States | Netflix | Director: Brian Knappenberger | Showrunner: Sarah Huisenga | Producers: Doan Hoang Curtis, Bo Kovitz, Keven McAlester, Tommy Nguyen) 

David L. Wolper Student Documentary

  • Beyond Eden (United Kingdom | National Film and Television School, UK | Director: Al Johnstone | Producer: Al Johnstone)
  • Dancing in Tomorrowland (United States | UCLA | Director: Jakob Roston | Producers: Grace Vincent, Nazanin Nemetollahi)
  • Two Days on the Interstate (United Kingdom | National Film and Television School, UK | Director: Tatiana Stark | Producer: Tatiana Stark)
  • Two Travelling Aunties (United Kingdom | National Film and Television School, UK | Director: Christine Seow | Producer: Christine Seow)
  • What a day, what a life (United Kingdom | National Film and Television School, UK | Director: Maylana Colchete | Producers: Luiza Amelio de Carvalho, Maylana Colchete)
     

Pare Lorentz Award

Given to a feature or short documentary that reflects the spirit and tradition of Pare Lorentz's work. A successful candidate for the Pare Lorentz Award will demonstrate one or more of Lorentz's central concerns—the appropriate use of the natural environment, justice for all, and the illumination of pressing social problems—presented as a compelling story through skillful filmmaking. A Pare Lorentz Award exhibits the highest production values and artistry in its directing, writing, music composition, camera work, editing, and research, and exemplifies the spirit and tradition of Pare Lorentz's work—his passion for people and the land and his quest for a more fruitful coexistence between the two. Entries in the Feature and Short categories are eligible for this award. PRIZE: $2,500 cash honorarium. If there is more than one award recipient, the cash prize will be split equally between them. The Pare Lorentz Award is not connected to the Pare Lorentz Documentary Grant.


ABC News VideoSource Award

This award recognizes a feature documentary that uses news footage as an integral component of the storytelling. "News footage" is defined as factual footage, contemporary or historical, shot for use in contexts such as newsreels, news specials, magazines, or nightly news. "Integral component" is defined as footage central to the structure, meaning, and impact of the work. PRIZE: $5,000 cash honorarium. If there is more than one award recipient, the cash prize will be split equally between them.