Ava DuVernay's '14th' Leads Critics Choice Documentary Awards With Six Nominations

Ava DuVernay's "14th" leads the 11th Critics Choice Documentary Awards with six nominations, including best documentary feature. Netflix topped all distributors with 17 nominations, nearly double the nine earned by runner-up Neon.

Four films received five nominations each: Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim's examination of Elizabeth Holmes, "You Can See Everything"; Gabriela Osio Vanden and Jack Weisman's polar bear migration story, "Nuisance Bear"; David Greaves' archival portrait of Black cultural history, "Once Upon a Time in Harlem"; and Pegah Ahangarani's Iranian historical documentary, "Rehearsals for a Revolution."

The ceremony takes place Nov. 8 at the Edison Ballroom in New York City, with television host and producer Ross Matthews serving as host. The awards, now in their 11th year, celebrate excellence in nonfiction filmmaking.

Who are the directing nominees?

DuVernay, Fielder and Oppenheim are among the directing nominees. They are joined by:

• Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor for "NAZA"
• Felipe Bustos Sierra for "Everybody to Kenmure Street"
• Ross McElwee for "Remake"
• Orlando von Einsiedel for "The Cycle of Love"

Von Einsiedel is the only directing nominee whose film did not land a documentary feature nomination.

What does this mean for the Oscar race?

The organization's track record of predicting Oscar success has been mixed. Its inaugural top prize winner, "O.J.: Made in America" (2016), went on to win the Academy Award for documentary feature. Since then, only three other top prize winners or nominees have crossed over to the Oscars: winner "Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)" (2021) and nominees "Will & Harper" (2024) and "The Perfect Neighbor" (2025). All others failed to be nominated, or in some cases did not even make the preliminary shortlist, as with 2022's "Good Night Oppy."

Which honors will be presented?

As previously announced, Ron Howard will receive the Critics Choice Impact Award. Filmmaker Jehane Noujaim will receive the CCA's Pennebaker Award, presented by Chris Hegedus, Pennebaker's widow and longtime collaborator. The award, formerly known as the Critics Choice Lifetime Achievement Award, recognizes filmmakers whose careers have made a profound and lasting contribution to documentary storytelling.

Feature-length documentaries, two-part documentaries and short-form documentaries are eligible if they were first released commercially in the U.S. between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2026.

Best Documentary Feature

• "14th" (Netflix)
• "Everest: The Other Side" (National Geographic Documentary Films)
• "Everybody to Kenmure Street" (Icarus Films)
• "The History of Concrete" (Magnolia Pictures)
• "Musk" (Bleecker Street)
• "Naza" (The Guardian / MK2 Films)
• "Once Upon a Time in Harlem" (Neon)
• "Rehearsals for a Revolution" (Sony Pictures Classics)
• "Remake" (Music Box Films)
• "You Can See Everything" (A24)

Best Director

• Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor — "Naza"
• Felipe Bustos Sierra — "Everybody to Kenmure Street"
• Ava DuVernay — "14th"
• Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim — "You Can See Everything"
• Ross McElwee — "Remake"
• Orlando von Einsiedel — "The Cycle of Love"

Best First Documentary Feature

• David Greaves — "Once Upon a Time in Harlem"
• Baz Luhrmann — "EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert"
• Gabriela Osio Vanden and Jack Weisman — "Nuisance Bear"
• Xander Robin — "The Python Hunt"
• Poh Si Teng — "American Doctor"
• John Wilson — "The History of Concrete"

Best Cinematography

• David Bolen — "You Can See Everything"
• David Bolen and Matt Clegg — "The Python Hunt"
• Sophie Darlington — "Lion"
• Franklin Dow — "The Cycle of Love"
• Gabriela Osio Vanden and Jack Weisman — "Nuisance Bear"
• Clair Popkin, Jimmy Chin and Christopher Murphy — "Everest: The Other Side"

Best Editing

• Spencer Averick — "14th"
• Anne de Mare and Lynn True — "Once Upon a Time in Harlem"
• Adam Locke-Norton — "You Can See Everything"
• Colin Monie — "Everybody to Kenmure Street"
• Jonathan Redmond — "EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert"
• Cori Wapnowska — "The History of Concrete"

Best Narration

• "The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist" — Daniel Roher and Caroline Lindy
• "The History of Concrete" — John Wilson
• "Lorne" — Chris Parnell
• "Nuisance Bear" — Mike Tunalaaq Gibbons
• "Rehearsals for a Revolution" — Pegah Ahangarani
• "Remake" — Ross McElwee

Best Music Score

• Ari Balouzian — "You Can See Everything"
• Dan Deacon — "Time and Water"
• Caroline Ho — "Everest: The Other Side"
• Jason Moran — "14th"
• Cristóbal Tapia de Veer — "Nuisance Bear"
• Hans Zimmer, Niccolò Pacella and George Hutson Warren — "Lion"

Best Music Documentary

• "Earth, Wind & Fire (To Be Celestial vs. That's the Weight of the World)" (HBO Max)
• "EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert" (Neon)
• "Man on the Run" (Amazon MGM Studios)
• "Oasis: Don't Look Back in Anger" (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
• "Peter Asher: Everywhere Man" (Greenwich Entertainment)
• "Sara Bareilles: Good Grief" (Group Effort Films / Naked Edge Films)

Best Political Documentary

• "14th" (Netflix)
• "American Doctor" (Watermelon Pictures)
• "Ask E. Jean" (Abramorama)
• "Everybody to Kenmure Street" (Icarus Films)
• "Musk" (Bleecker Street)
• "NAZA" (The Guardian / MK2 Films)
• "Union Town" (Cabin Creek Films)

Best Historical Documentary

• "14th" (Netflix)
• "Once Upon a Time in Harlem" (Neon)
• "Rehearsals for a Revolution" (Sony Pictures Classics)
• "SCTV: The Greatest Show You've Never Heard Of" (Netflix)
• "Soul Patrol" (Kino Lorber)
• "Turning Point: Generation 9/11" (Netflix)

Best Biographical Documentary

• "Avedon" (Netflix)
• "Jean-Michel Basquiat" (Netflix)
• "Lorne" (Focus Features)
• "Marty, Life Is Short" (Netflix)
• "Mel Brooks: The 99-Year-Old Man!" (HBO Max)
• "Musk" (Bleecker Street)

Best Archival Documentary

• "EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert" (Neon)
• "Making Marie Antoinette" (Mubi)
• "Man on the Run" (Amazon MGM Studios)
• "Once Upon a Time in Harlem" (Neon)
• "Rehearsals for a Revolution" (Sony Pictures Classics)
• "Remake" (Music Box Films)

Best Science/Nature Documentary

• "The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist" (Focus Features)
• "Ghost Elephants" (National Geographic Documentary Films)
• "Lion" (National Geographic)
• "Nuisance Bear" (Mubi)
• "Secrets of the Bees" (National Geographic)
• "Time and Water" (National Geographic Documentary Films)

Best Sports Documentary

• "The Dynasty: UConn Huskies" (Apple TV)
• "Everest: The Other Side" (National Geographic Documentary Films)
• "Give Me the Ball!" (ESPN)
• "Rafa" (Netflix)
• "Standout: The Ben Kjar Story" (Samuel Goldwyn Films)
• "Tyson" (Netflix)

Best True Crime Documentary

• "Baby Doe" (Narrative Distribution)
• "Funny Money: The Dane Cook Story" (Dark Star Pictures)
• "The Idaho Murders: College Nightmare" (Netflix)
• "A Killer Story" (HBO Max)
• "Lost Women of Alaska" (Investigation Discovery)
• "Murder in Glitterball City" (HBO Max)

Best Short Documentary

• "The Baddest Speechwriter of All" (Netflix)
• "A Derailment" (POV)
• "Escalation" (Bonfire Films)
• "Miller Night Football" (HBO Max)
• "Oh Whale" (The New Yorker / Switchboard Magazine)
• "The Second Life of Freddie Nole" (Sweet World Films)
• "A Short Documentary About a Giant Pencil" (archilux)
• "They're Here" (Praxis Films)

Best Limited Documentary Series

• "9/11: Reunited" (National Geographic)
• "The Dark Wizard" (HBO Max)
• "The Dynasty: UConn Huskies" (Apple TV)
• "High Horse: The Black Cowboy" (Peacock)
• "Lion" (National Geographic)
• "The Man Will Burn" (HBO Max)
• "Rafa" (Netflix)

Best Ongoing Documentary Series

• "30 for 30" (ESPN)
• "American Masters" (PBS)
• "America's Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders" (Netflix)
• "The Food That Built America" (History)
• "Hazardous History with Henry Winkler" (History)
• "Independent Lens" (PBS)
• "Untold" (Netflix)

The Nov. 8 ceremony at the Edison Ballroom will offer the first clear signal of which nonfiction films carry momentum into the Academy Award race — even if, on past evidence, only a few of these nominees will survive the crossover.