The nominations for the 31st IDA Documentary Awards have been revealed, and disappointingly, only one of the six docs competing for the Best Feature Award is helmed by a woman: Liz Garbus’s “What Happened, Miss Simone?”
The portrait of the life and music of Nina Simone is also one of the five features nominated for the ABC News VideoSource Award, given in recognition of documentary filmmaking that incorporates compelling news footage. Lyric R. Cabral is the only other female nominee in that category for “(T)ERROR,” which she co-directed with David Felix Sutcliffe. “(T)ERROR” follows the story of a former Black Panther-turned-counterterrorism informant for the FBI.
Female helmers have a strong presence in the race for Best Short Award, where they constitute the majority of nominees. Three of the five shorts up for an award are women-directed: Dee Hibbert-Jones and Nomi Talisman’s “Last Day of Freedom,” Paulina Skibinska’s “Object” and Kitty Green’s “The Face of Ukraine: Casting Oksana Baiul.” Green’s short, which chronicles the audition process of little girls in war-torn Ukraine auditioning to play former Olympic figure-skating champion and national hero Oksana Baiul, won the HBO Short Documentary Award at the Provincetown International Film Festival back in June.
The awards ceremony will take place on December 5 in Los Angeles and will be hosted by comedian Tig Notaro.
See the female nominees below. (The list is adapted from Deadline.)
Check out Women and Hollywood’s podcast with Liz Garbus discussing “What Happened, Miss Simone?” and our interview with Lyric R. Cabral for “(T)ERROR.”
Best Feature Award
What Happened, Miss Simone?
Director: Liz Garbus
NETFLIX
Best Short Award
The Face of Ukraine: Casting Oksana Baiul
Director: Kitty Green
Producer: Philippa Campey
KURZFILMAGENTUR HAMBURG (GERMANY)
Last Day of Freedom
Directors: Dee Hibbert-Jones and Nomi Talisman
Object
Director: Paulina Skibińska
MUNK STUDIO AND POLISH FILMMAKERS ASSOCIATION
Best Curated Series Award
Independent Lens
Executive Producers: Sally Jo Fifer and Lois Vossen
ITVS/PBS
Storyville
Series Editor: Nick Fraser
Executive Producer: Kate Townsend
BBC TV, BBC WORLD NEWS
Best Limited Series Award
Blood Brothers
Executive Producers: Kees Schaap and Anja
van Oostrom
VARA TELEVISION (THE NETHERLANDS)
Hard Earned
Executive Producers: Steve James, Justine
Nagan, and Gordon Quinn
AL JAZEERA AND KARTEMQUIN FILMS
Rebel Architecture
Executive Producer: Fiona Lawson-Baker
AL JAZEERA ENGLISH
Best Episodic Series Award
NOVA
Senior Executive Producer: Paula Apsell
Deputy Executive Producer: Julia Cort
PBS
This is Life with Lisa Ling
Executive Producers: Amy Bucher, Lisa
Ling, and David Shadrack Smith
CNN AND PART2 PICTURES
Best Short Form Series Award
Highrise: Universe Within
Executive Producers: Anita Lee and Silva Basmajian
NATIONAL FILM BOARD OF CANADA
David L. Wolper Student Documentary Award
El Cacao
Director: Michelle Aguilar
University of California Santa Cruz
In Attla’s Tracks
Director: Catharine Axley
STANFORD UNIVERSITY
ABC News VideoSource Award
(T)ERROR
Directors: Lyric R. Cabral and David
Felix Sutcliffe
PBS, BBC
What Happened, Miss Simone?
Director: Liz Garbus
NETFLIX
