Jehane Noujaim’s The Square, Sarah Polley’s Stories We Tell, and Lucy Walker’s The Crash Reel are three among the five nonfiction films to receive a Best Documentary nod from the Directors Guild of America. None of their nominations were surprising, as their films have racked up a number of prizes and honors this award season, but it’s welcome news all the same.
Noujaim was the only director not to be a first-time honoree among all five award hopefuls. She has previously been nominated by the DGA for the documentaries Startup.com and Control Room. As a sign of the changing landscape of film in general and documentaries in particular, two of the nominated films — The Square and The Crash Reel — will be released by Netflix and HBO, respectively.
The DGA Awards will take place on January 25th. As previously announced, it will honor Shonda Rhimes and her producing partner Betsy Beers with a diversity award.
Scroll down for the list of female DGA nominees:
JEHANE NOUJAIM
The Square
Netflix
Participant Media
Noujaim Films
Maktube Productions
WorldView
Roast Beef Productions
This is Noujaim’s third DGA Award nomination. She won the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary for Startup.com in 2001 (together with Chris Hegedus) and was also nominated in this category in 2004 for Control Room.
SARAH POLLEY
Stories We Tell
Roadside Attractions
The National Film Board of Canada
This is Polley’s first DGA Award nomination.
LUCY WALKER
The Crash Reel
HBO Documentary Films
KP Rides Again, LLC
Impact Partners
Tree Tree Tree Production
This is Walker’s first DGA Award nomination.
