Nominations for the 35th Annual IDA Documentary Awards have been announced, and films helmed by women dominate.

Of 10 Best Feature nominees, six are directed or co-directed by women. Titles in the running include “One Child Nation,” Nanfu Wang and Jialing Zhang’s investigation into the untold history of China’s controversial one-child policy and its impact on generations of families, and “American Factory,” Julia Reichert and Steven Bognar’s look inside what happens when a Chinese billionaire buys a former GM plant in Ohio.

The Best Director category is comprised of five nominees, including directors and directing teams. Every project being recognized is co-directed or directed by a woman. Filmmakers up for honors include Waad al-Kateab and Edward Watts for “For Sama,” a message to al-Kateab’s daughter, and the story of her life in Aleppo through five years of the Syrian revolution, and Tamara Kotevska and Ljubomir Stefanov’s “Honeyland,” a portrait of the last woman working as a wild beekeeper in Europe.

This marks the first time that the IDA will award the Best Director trophy.

“With the addition of the Best Director Award, the IDA is making an important statement,” said IDA’s Executive Director Simon Kilmurry. “We felt the need to more clearly acknowledge the creativity and bold directorial vision that is behind many of the films we are privileged to consider. We hope that this award recognizes the fact that documentary directing is a vital and unique art form.”

The IDA Documentary Awards will take place December 7 in LA. As previously announced, this year’s honorees include directors Freida Lee Mock (“Anita”) and Rachel Lears (“Knock Down the House”). The former is set to receive the Career Achievement Award and the latter the Emerging Doc Filmmaker Award. The IDA just announced that al-Kateab will also be honored. The “For Sama” director and producer is this year’s recipient of the Courage Under Fire Award, “presented to documentarians displaying conspicuous bravery in the pursuit of truth, as a recognition from their peers for putting the freedom of speech — represented in the crafts of documentary filmmaking and journalism — above all else, even their own personal safety.”

“Back in Aleppo, I had no option but to fight the fears and horrors of this war through filming my experience both as a mother and as a female filmmaker. And now to receive the Courage Under Fire Award, I am moved and honored and even more inspired to continue to tell these important stories,” said al-Kateab. “This award means so much, and I hope it will serve as an inspiration to women around the world who are suffering from war or prejudice, so that they may find the strength to film their lives and to tell their truth. I would like to share this award with all of the brave filmmakers and citizen journalists behind the scenes whom you may never hear about and who have experienced these horrors together with us in Aleppo, Ghouta, and now in Idleb. Thank you to the IDA and to all documentary filmmakers who are changing the world with their films.”

Check out all of the women-directed and co-directed films up for Best Feature and Best Director below. The complete list of nominees for the 2019 IDA Documentary Awards is available over at Deadline.

2019 IDA Documentary Awards Best Feature Nominees 

Advocate (Canada, Israel, Switzerland / Film Movement. Directors and Producers: Rachel Leah Jones and Philippe Bellaiche. Producers: Paul Cadieux and Joelle Bertossa)

American Factory (USA / Netflix. Directors and Producers: Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert. Producers: Jeff Reichert and Julie Parker Benello)

For Sama (Syria, UK / PBS Distribution, Channel 4, FRONTLINE. Director and Producer: Waad al-Kateab. Director: Edward Watts)

Honeyland (Macedonia / NEON. Director: Tamara Kotevska. Director and Producer: Ljubomir Stefanov. Producer: Atanas Georgiev)

One Child Nation (USA / Amazon Studios. Directors and Producers: Nanfu Wang and Jialing Zhang. Producers: Christoph Jörg, Julie Goldman, Christopher Clements and Carolyn Hepburn)

The Edge of Democracy (Brazil, USA / Netflix. Director and Producer: Petra Costa. Producers: Joanna Natasegara, Shane Boris and Tiago Pavan)

2019 IDA Documentary Awards Best Director Nominees 

Petra Costa (The Edge of Democracy. Brazil, USA / Netflix)

Rachel Leah Jones and Philippe Bellaiche (Advocate. Canada, Israel, Switzerland / Film Movement)

Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert (American Factory. USA / Netflix)

Tamara Kotevska and Ljubomir Stefanov (Honeyland. Macedonia / NEON)

Waad al-Kateab and Edward Watts (For Sama. Syria, UK / PBS Distribution, Channel 4, FRONTLINE)