Presented annually to celebrate nonfiction films, The Cinema Eye Honors awards nominees have been announced via a press release. Sandi Tan’s “Shirkers” is among the leaders of the pack, scoring five nods overall, including Outstanding Achievement in Direction, Outstanding Achievement in a Debut Feature Film, and the Audience Choice Prize. Released on Netflix, Tan’s film explores the mysterious history of a film she made as a teen, also titled “Shirkers.” The feature told the story of a murderous teen played by Tan. Her collaborator and director stole the footage, leaving Tan and her friends searching for answers — and their art.
Tan is the only woman up for Outstanding Achievement in Direction. Shevaun Mizrahi is also in the running for Outstanding Achievement in a Debut Feature Film for “Distant Constellation,” a portrait of a Turkish retirement home. Mizrahi is the only woman to be recognized in the Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography category.
Besides “Shirkers,” other women-directed films nominated for the Audience Choice Prize include Betsy West and Julie Cohen’s tribute to Ruth Bader Ginsburg, “RBG,” Rashida Jones’ look into the life and career of her father Quincy Jones in “Quincy,” and “Free Solo,” Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin’s profile of rock climber Alex Honnold as he prepares a free solo climb of El Capitan.
“Free Solo” is also among the films with the most nominations, snagging four nods overall.
Other women-helmed features up for honors include Nancy Schwartzman’s “Roll Red Roll,” a look into the headline-making sexual assault case in Steubenville, Ohio, and Trish Adlesic and Geeta Gandbhir’s “I Am Evidence,” an investigation into how sexual assault cases are treated by police departments in the U.S. The former is competing for the Spotlight Award and the latter Outstanding Achievement in a Nonfiction Film for Broadcast.
Women are notably absent from a number of categories, including Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Feature Filmmaking and Outstanding Achievement in Editing.
Check out the full list of nominations at Variety.
