Cinema Eye Honors 2025: First Announcements Highlight Top Docs and Shorts

Cinema Eye Honors

United States (USA)

The Cinema Eye Honors, a key celebration of nonfiction and documentary filmmaking, launched its 2025 season with a series of announcements at its Fall Lunch in Los Angeles, USA, on October 24. Recognizing artistic achievements across various formats, the event unveiled the Audience Choice Longlist, Shorts List semifinalists, and nominees in key Broadcast categories. The announcement also included the annual Unforgettables honorees, spotlighting individuals whose on-screen presence significantly shaped their films.

This year’s Audience Choice Longlist features 16 films, including “Copa 71” by Rachel Ramsay and James Erskine, Lucy Walker’s “Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa,” and “Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story” by Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui. The annual list serves as a barometer of audience acclaim, with past winners often aligning with the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.

The 11 films on the 2025 Shorts List, including “Contractions” by Lynne Sachs and “The Only Girl in the Orchestra” by Molly O’Brien, will be screened in December in Los Angeles and New York before the final nominees are selected.

For the Unforgettables, honorees include Brian Eno (“Eno”), Lhakpa Sherpa (“Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa”), and Chris Smalls (“Union”). Shiori Ito (“Black Box Diaries”) and filmmakers Basel Adra and Yuval Abraham (“No Other Land”) also received recognition.

HBO emerged as the top contender in the Broadcast category, earning 12 nominations, including for the series “Telemarketers” and “Ren Faire.” Apple TV+ followed with six nominations, with Netflix claiming five. Notable nominations include Dawn Porter’s “The Lady Bird Diaries” (Hulu) and Steve James’ ESPN series “The Luckiest Guy in the World,” marking his record 14th nomination.

The 18th annual Cinema Eye Honors Awards Ceremony will take place on January 9, 2025, at the New York Academy of Medicine in East Harlem, concluding Cinema Eye Week, which begins on January 6.

At the Fall Lunch, hosted by major players such as Netflix, Hulu, and Apple Original Films, attendees previewed the innovative works that continue to define and expand the boundaries of nonfiction storytelling.

Audience Choice Award Long List

1. "Black Box Diaries" / Directed by Shiori Ito
2. "Copa 71" / Directed by Rachel Ramsay and James Erskine
3. "Daughters" / Directed by Natalie Rae and Angela Patton
4. "Eno" / Directed by Gary Hustwit
5. "Frida" / Directed by Carla Gutiérrez
6. "Grand Theft Hamlet" / Directed by Pinny Grylls and Sam Crane
7. "Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa" / Directed by Lucy Walker
8. "No Other Land" / Directed by Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham, and Rachel Szor
9. "Piece by Piece" / Directed by Morgan Neville
10. "Porcelain War" / Directed by Brendan Bellomo and Slava Leontyev
11. "The Remarkable Life of Ibelin" / Directed by Benjamin Ree
12. "Secret Mall Apartment" / Directed by Jeremy Workman
13. "Skywalkers: A Love Story" / Directed by Jeff Zimbalist
14. "Sugarcane" / Directed by Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie
15. "Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story" / Directed by Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui
16. "Will and Harper" / Directed by Josh Greenbaum

The Unforgettables Honorees

1. Shiori Ito – "Black Box Diaries"
2. Brian Eno – "Eno"
3. Lhakpa Sherpa – "Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa"
4. Basel Adra and Yuval Abraham – "No Other Land"
5. Patrice Jetter – "Patrice: The Movie"
6. Jenna Marvin – "Queendom"
7. Chris Smalls – "Union"
8. Harper Steele – "Will and Harper"

Broadcast Film Nominees

1. "Bread & Roses" / Directed by Sahra Mani / Apple TV+
2. "Girls State" / Directed by Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss / Apple TV+
3. "Great Photo, Lovely Life: Facing a Family’s Secrets" / Directed by Amanda Mustard and Rachel Beth Anderson / HBO
4. "The Lady Bird Diaries" / Directed by Dawn Porter / Hulu
5. "Slave Play. Not a Movie. A Play." / Directed by Jeremy O. Harris / HBO
6. "Spermworld" / Directed by Lance Oppenheim / FX

Nonfiction Series Nominees

1. "America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders" / Directed by Greg Whiteley and Chelsea Yarnell / Netflix
2. "Deadlocked: How America Shaped the Supreme Court" / Directed by Dawn Porter / Showtime
3. "The Enfield Poltergeist" / Directed by Jerry Rothwell / Apple TV+
4. "The Luckiest Guy in the World" / Directed by Steve James / ESPN
5. "Ren Faire" / Directed by Lance Oppenheim / HBO
6. "Telemarketers" / Directed by Adam Bhala Lough and Sam Lipman-Stern / HBO

Anthology Series Nominees

1. "Conan O’Brien Must Go" / Executive Producers: Conan O’Brien, Jeff Ross / HBO
2. "De La Calle" / Executive Producers: Nick Barili, Jared Andrukanis, Picky Talarico, Lydia Tenaglia, Christopher Collins, Amanda Culkowski, Bruce Gillmer, Craig H. Shepherd / Paramount+
3. "God Save Texas" / Executive Producers: Lawrence Wright, Alex Gibney, Richard Linklater, Peter Berg, Michael Lombardo, Elizabeth Rogers, Stacey Offman, Richard Perello, Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller / HBO
4. "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, Michele Barnwell / Netflix
5. "How To with John Wilson Season 3" / Executive Producers: Nathan Fielder, John Wilson, Michael Koman, Clark Reinking / HBO
6. "Photographer" / Executive Producers: Elizabeth Chai Vasarhely, Jimmy Chin, Pagan Harleman, Betsy Forhan / National Geographic

Broadcast Editing Nominees

1. "Girls State" / Edited by Amy Foote / Apple TV+
2. "The Greatest Night in Pop" / Edited by Nic Zimmerman, Will Znidaric, David Brodie / Netflix
3. "Ren Faire" / Edited by Max Allman, Nicholas Nazmi / HBO
4. "The Saint of Second Chances" / Edited by Alan Lowe, Jeff Malmberg, Miles Wilkerson / Netflix
5. "Telemarketers" / Edited by Christopher Passig / HBO
6. "Time Bomb Y2K" / Edited by Marley McDonald, Maya Mumma / HBO

Broadcast Cinematography Nominees

1. "America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders" / Director of Photography: Jonathan Nicholas / Netflix
2. "The Enfield Poltergeist" / Directors of Photography: Ruben Woodin Deschamps, Carmen Pellon Brussosa, David Katznelson / Apple TV+
3. "Girls State" / Directors of Photography: Nominees to be determined / Apple TV+
4. "Photographer" / Directors of Photography: Michael Crommett, Rita Baghdadi, Peter Hutchens, Melissa Langer, Pauline Maroun / National Geographic
5. "Ren Faire" / Director of Photography: Nate Hurtsellers / HBO
6. "You Were My First Boyfriend" / Directors of Photography: Brennan Vance, J. Bennett / HBO

Shorts List Semifinalists

1. "Contractions" / Directed by Lynne Sachs / NY Times Op-Docs
2. "Eternal Father" / Directed by Ömer Sami / New Yorker
3. "I Am Ready, Warden" / Directed by Smriti Mundhra / MTV Documentary Films
4. "Incident" / Directed by Bill Morrison / New Yorker
5. "Instruments of a Beating Heart" / Directed by Ema Ryan Yamazaki / NY Times Op-Docs
6. "Love in the Time of Migration" / Directed by Erin Semine Kökdil and Chelsea Abbas / LA Times
7. "Makayla’s Voice: A Letter to the World" / Directed by Julio Palacio / Netflix
8. "The Medallion" / Directed by Ruth Hunduma / New Yorker
9. "A Move" / Directed by Elahe Esmaili / NY Times Op-Docs
10. "The Only Girl in the Orchestra" / Directed by Molly O’Brien / Netflix
11. "A Swim Lesson" / Directed by Rashida Jones and Will McCormack / POV