‘No Other Land,’ ‘Queendom,’ ‘Black Box Diaries,’ ‘Sugarcane’ & More Make IDA’s Shortlist Of Year’s Top Documentaries

The International Documentary Association today released its shortlist of contenders for Best Feature Documentary and Best Short Documentary, a possible harbinger of Oscar success.

Among the features making the list is No Other Land, a documentary by a collective of Palestinian and Israeli filmmakers that has yet to secure U.S. distribution. It has won awards at festivals from Berlin and Busan to Belfast and beyond.

Queendom, a film about the extraordinary Russian drag performance artist Jenna Marvin continues its surge, making the IDA shortlist after securing a place on the DOC NYC shortlist of the year’s best documentaries.

National Geographic’s Sugarcane, about atrocities at a so-called Indian residential school in Canada, continued its strong pre-Oscar awards run by making the IDA list of contenders. Netflix made the list with The Remarkable Life of Ibelin, a strong Oscar contender. And MTV Documentary Films earned a spot with Black Box Diaries, the film directed by Shiori Itō that centers on the filmmaker’s investigation into her own sexual assault. Scroll for the full list of films to make the feature and short shortlists.

Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat from veteran filmmaker Johan Grimonprez made the list, as did a film by newcomer Jazmin Renée Jones – Seeking Mavis Beacon. Hollywoodgate, directed by Ibrahim Nash’at and Ernest Cole: Lost and Found, directed by Oscar nominee Raoul Peck also made the feature list.

Any shortlist is notable for films that didn’t make the cut. Among the omissions are Will & Harper, Daughters, and Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa, all from Netflix, which have factored in other best of the year lists released so far, including DOC NYC’s. Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story, from Warner Bros Discovery, is also MIA.

The IDA says it received more than 700 entries for awards consideration, originating from 77 countries, “an increase over last year both in the total number of entries and the countries represented.” The shortlists will be whittled to a list of 10 nominees each for features and shorts, with that announcement expected on November 19. IDA members will vote to determine the ultimate winners in those two categories.

The 40th IDA Documentary Awards will take place December 5 at The Orpheum Theater in downtown Los Angeles (the ceremony also will be streamed live on IDA’s social media channels).

“The 40th IDA Documentary Awards continues the tradition of celebrating the best of international nonfiction media of the year,” noted Dominic Asmall Willsdon, IDA’s executive director. “We are grateful to all filmmakers who shared their work for consideration this year, representing a record amount of countries in the award’s history. The impressive shortlist for Best Features and Best Shorts reflects on the prowess of our worldwide documentary community both in their artistry and dedication to raising public awareness on some of the most important subjects we face in today’s world.”

Along with Best Feature Documentary and Best Short Documentary, the IDA Awards includes more than a dozen additional competitive categories, “with winners selected by blue-ribbon jurors consisting of 300 documentary professionals from 40+ countries.” This categories include Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Writing, Best Music Score, Best Curated Series, Best Episodic Series, Best Limited Series, Best TV Feature Documentary,  Best Music Documentary, Best Audio Documentary, David L. Wolper Student Documentary Award, ABC News VideoSource Award, and the Pare Lorentz Award.

Below are the shortlisted films in the feature and short categories:

Best Feature Documentary Shortlist

In alphabetical order by film title.

Best Short Documentary Shortlist

In alphabetical order by film title.

40th IDA Documentary Awards Key Dates