'American Doctor' and 'You Can See Everything' Lead Cinema Eye Honors With Seven Nods Each

Poh Si Teng's "American Doctor" and Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim's "You Can See Everything" topped the annual Cinema Eye Honors nominations with seven nods each, the organization announced. The awards recognize outstanding artistic achievement in nonfiction and documentary films and series, and this year's ceremony takes place at the Times Center in New York City on Jan. 11, 2027.

"You Can See Everything" made Cinema Eye history. It's the first film ever nominated across Nonfiction Feature, Direction, Editing, Production, Cinematography and Original Score — six craft categories — plus the Audience Choice Prize.

"American Doctor" landed in Direction, Production, Original Score, Debut Feature and Audience Choice. It also picked up recognition in the Unforgettables category, which honors onscreen collaborators: Dr. Thaer Ahmad, Dr. Mark Perlmutter and Dr. Feroze Sidhwa.

What does this change for the documentary race?

It sets a clear hierarchy going into the winter awards season. Sara Dosa's "Time and Water" sits just behind the leaders with six nominations, including editing, score and visual design — a strong craft showing that signals broad support across the group's voting branches.

The other nominees for the top honor, Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Feature Filmmaking, are:

• "My Undesirable Friends: Part II – Exile" (Julia Loktev)
• "NAZA" (Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor)
• "Once Upon a Time in Harlem" (William Greaves and David Greaves)
• "Rehearsals for a Revolution" (Pegah Ahangarani)
• "To Hold a Mountain" (Biljana Tutorov)

The Direction category mirrors that field. Poh Si Teng, Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, Pegah Ahangarani and Sara Dosa all repeat, joined by Michal Marczak ("Closure") and John Wilson ("The History of Concrete").

Where the craft races stand

Editing pits Jeff Malmberg ("The Bend in the River") against Colin Monie ("Everybody to Kenmure Street"), Anne de Mare and Lynn True ("Once Upon a Time in Harlem"), Ross McElwee and Joe Bini ("Remake"), Erin Casper, Jocelyne Chaput and Mark Harrison ("Time and Water") and Adam Locke-Norton ("You Can See Everything").

In Production, "American Doctor" and "You Can See Everything" compete with "Everest: The Other Side" (Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin and team), "Musk" (Jessie Deeter, Erin Edeiken and Alex Gibney) and "My Undesirable Friends: Part II – Exile" (Julia Loktev).

Cinematography includes "Bucks Harbor," "Closure," "Everest: The Other Side," "The Great Experiment," "To Hold a Mountain" and "You Can See Everything." The score race spans Daniel Pemberton ("Musk"), Cristóbal Tapia De Veer ("Nuisance Bear"), Dan Deacon ("Time and Water"), Suad Bushnaq ("American Doctor") and Ari Balouzian ("You Can See Everything").

Sound Design nominees include "Barbara Forever," "Closure," "NAZA," "Nuisance Bear," "The Oldest Person in the World" and "Time and Water." Visual Design covers "14th," "The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist," "A Fox Under a Pink Moon," "Jean-Michel Basquiat," "Musk" and "Time and Water." Archival Artistry nominees include "Barbara Forever," "Jean-Michel Basquiat," "Nova '78," "Once Upon a Time in Harlem," "Rehearsals for a Revolution" and "Soul Patrol."

Debut, Spotlight and Heterodox fields

Debut Feature contenders are "American Doctor" (Poh Si Teng), "Barbara Forever" (Brydie O'Connor), "Bucks Harbor" (Pete Muller), "The History of Concrete" (John Wilson) and "Nuisance Bear" (Jack Weisman and Gabriela Osio Vanden).

The Spotlight Award shortlists "Jaripeo," "Joybubbles," "My NDA," "TheyDream," "The Whole World is a Lie" and "Wood Street." The Heterodox Award (for work blending fiction and nonfiction techniques) names "Blue Heron," "A Child of My Own" (Maite Alberdi), "Dao," "I Heard That They Are Not Going to See Each Other Anymore," "Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie" and "Whispers in May."

Ten films compete for the Audience Choice Prize, including "Cookie Queens," "The Cycle of Love" (Orlando von Einsiedel), "Steal This Story, Please!" (Carl Deal and Tia Lessin) and "Wild Inside" (Penny Lane), alongside the two frontrunners. The full list is at cinemaeyehonors.com. Winners will be announced at the Times Center ceremony on Jan. 11, 2027, a date that now anchors the nonfiction awards calendar.