Always reliable for highlighting interesting documentary films, the slate of nominees for the Cinema Eye Honors has been announced. Documentary Citizenfour, about filmmaker Laura Poitras' working relationship with Edward Snowden and NSA surveillance, leads the pack with six nominations. Director Steve James' Life Itself, about the life of film critic Roger Ebert, and co-directors Iain Forsythe and Jane Pollard's 20,000 Days on Earth, about musician Nick Cave, earned five nominations each.
The other films that received multiple nominations included The Case Against 8, with three, and Actress, The E-Team, Finding Vivian Maier, Jodorowsky’s Dune, Ne Me Quitte Pas, Particle Fever and Return to Homs with two each.
The category of Nonfiction Film for Television included two films each from HBO Documentary Films and ESPN — HBO's The Education of Muhammad Hussein, directed by Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady, and Six by Sondheim, directed by James Lapine, and ESPN's Hillsborough, directed by Daniel Gordon, and The Price of Gold, directed by Nanette Burstein. The fifth nominee is Jimi Hendrix: Here My Train A Comin', directed by Bob Smeaton for American Masters on PBS.
The award winners will be announced in a ceremony at the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens, New York, on Wednesday, January 7. A full list of Cinema Eye Honors nominees follows.
Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Feature Filmmaking
20,000 Days on Earth
Citizenfour
Life Itself
The Overnighters
Verunga
Outstanding Achievement in Direction
Nick Broomfield, Tales of the Grim Sleeper
Robert Greene, Actress
Steve James, Life Itself
Jesse Moss, The Overnighters
Laura Potras, Citizenfour
Outstanding Achievement in Editing
Kate Amend, The Case Against 8
Sabine Lubbe Baker and Niels van Koevorden, Ne Me Quitte Pas
Mathilde Bonnefoy, Citizenfour
Marshall Curry, Point and Shoot
Robert Greene, Actress
Steve James and David E. Simpson, Life Itself
Outstanding Achievement in Production
Laura Poitras, Mathilde Bonnefoy and Dirk Wilutzky, Citizenfour
Ben Cotner and Ryan White, The Case Against 8
Katy Chevigny, Ross Kauffman and Marilyn Ness, The E-Team
Orwa Nyrabia and Hans Robert Eisenhauer, The Return to Homs
Joanna Natesegara and Orlando von Einsiedel, Virunga
Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography
Laura Poitras, Kirsten Johnson, Katy Scoggin and Trevor Paglen, Citizenfour
Ross Kauffman and Rachel Beth Anderson, The E-Team
Niels van Koevorden, Ne Me Quitte Pas
Andrew Droz Palermo, Rich Hill
Franklin Dow and Orlando von Einsiedel, Virunga
Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Filmmaking for Television
The Education of Muhammad Hussein
Hillsborough
Jimi Hendrix: Here My Train A Comin'
The Price of Gold
Six by Sondheim
Outstanding Achievement in Graphic Design or Animation
Kyle McKeveny and Matt St. Leger, Captivated: The Trials of Pamela Smart
Syd Garon, Jodorowsky's Dune
MK12, Particle Fever
Syd Garon and Benoit St. Jean, Red Army
Jeremy Landman, The Unknown Known
Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Score
Nick Cave and Warren Ellis, 20,000 Days on Earth
Joshua Abrams, Life Itself
David Perlick-Molinari, Mateo
David Wingo, The Great Invisible
Edwyn Collins, The Possibilities Are Endless
Outstanding Achievement in a Debut Feature Film
Approaching the Elephant, directed by Amanda Rose Wilder
Evolution of a Criminal, directed by Darius Clark Monroe
Finding Vivian Maier, directed by John Maloof and Charlie Siskel
The Return to Homs, directed by Talal Derki
20,000 Days on Earth, directed by Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard
Spotlight Award
1971, directed by Johanna Hamilton
An Honest Liar, directed by Tyler Measom and Justin Weinstein
Evaporating Borders, directed by Iva Radivojevic
Living Stars, directed by Gaston Duprat and Mariano Cohn
My Name Is Salt, directed by Farida Pacha
Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Short Filmmaking
"Hacked Circuit," directed by Deborah Stratman
"Joanna," directed by Anita Kopacz
"The Lion's Mouth Opens," directed by Lucy Walker
"Notes on Blindness," directed by Peter Middleton and James Spinney
"One Year Lease," directed by Brian Bolster
Audience Choice
20,000 Days on Earth
Citizenfour
Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me
Finding Vivian Maier
Jodorowsky's Dune
Keep On Keepin' On
Life Itself
Mistaken for Strangers
Particle Fever
The Case Against 8
