‘Sugarcane’, ‘Super/Man’, ‘Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story’ Lead Critics Choice Documentary Award Nominations

Sugarcane, Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story, and Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story are the leading nomination vote getters for the Critics Choice Association‘s Ninth Annual Critics Choice Documentary Awards with winners to be named in a ceremony at the Edison Ballroom in NYC on November 10, 2024. Full Disclosure: I am a CCA member and served on the Documentary selection committee again this year.

Sugarcane, a powerful film about an investigation into abuse and missing children at an Indian residential school and its effect on the nearby Sugarcane Reservation, received a leading 8 nominations, while Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story received 6 nominations for its remarkable and moving tale of a unique friendship between a man and an otter in remote Shetland Islands.

The latter is the kind of wonderful unheralded film that could play exceptionally well with the Academy in the same way that My Octopus Teacher did as it went on to win the Oscar. Both Sugarcane and Billy & Molly come from National Geographic Films. Super/Man, from Warner Bros. which also received 6 nominations and like Sugarcane (Best Director Docu winner) debuted at the Sundance Film Festival, is the emotional and expertly told story of actor Christopher Reeve and his life-changing near-fatal horse riding accident that led him to become a activist for disability rights.

All three are nominated for the top award, Best Documentary Feature, along with four movies from Neflix including another Sundance debut Will & Harper, Daughters, The Greatest Night In Pop, and The Remarkable Life Of Ibelin. Also up for Best Docu Feature are Focus Features’ inventive Pharrell Williams Lego doc Piece By Piece from Oscar winner Morgan Neville , Disney+’s Emmy winning Jim Henson Idea Man from director Ron Howard, and Walt Disney Studios’ Music By John Williams which is slated to open the AFI Film Festival in Hollywood next week.

One of the first stops in the season, the Critics Choice Documentary Awards are often a harbinger of the Oscars and certainly shine a light on many potential nominees.

The Critics Choice Documentary Awards will be live-streamed through YouTube, X and Facebook.Viewing links will be available on the Critics Choice Association website at 7:00 PM ET on Sunday, November 10.

Here is a complete list of the nominees:

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story (National Geographic)

Daughters (Netflix)

The Greatest Night in Pop (Netflix)

Jim Henson Idea Man (Disney+)

Music by John Williams (Walt Disney Studios)

Piece by Piece (Focus Features)

The Remarkable Life of Ibelin (Netflix)

Sugarcane (National Geographic)

Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story (Warner Bros. Pictures, DC Studios, HBO  

    Documentary Films, CNN Films)

Will & Harper (Netflix)

BEST DIRECTOR

Ian Bonhôte & Peter Ettedgui – Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story (Warner Bros.   

    Pictures, DC Studios, HBO Documentary Films, CNN Films)

Josh Greenbaum – Will & Harper (Netflix)

Ron Howard – Jim Henson Idea Man (Disney+)

Julian Brave NoiseCat & Emily Kassie – Sugarcane (National Geographic)

Natalie Rae & Angela Patton – Daughters (Netflix)

Benjamin Ree – The Remarkable Life of Ibelin (Netflix)

BEST NEW DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKER(S)

Brendan Bellomo & Slava Leontyev – Porcelain War (Picturehouse)

Carla Gutiérrez – Frida (Amazon MGM Studios)

Charlie Hamilton James – Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story  

    (National Geographic)

Sue Kim – The Last of the Sea Women (Apple TV+)

Julian Brave NoiseCat & Emily Kassie – Sugarcane (National Geographic)

Natalie Rae & Angela Patton – Daughters (Netflix)

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Michael Cambio Fernandez – Daughters (Netflix)

Charlie Hamilton James, Johnny Rolt, Bertie Gregory – Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story  

    (National Geographic)

Christopher LaMarca, Emily Kassie – Sugarcane (National Geographic)

Iris Ng, Eunsoo Cho, Justin Turkowski – The Last of the Sea Women (Apple TV+)

Zoë White – Will & Harper (Netflix)

Jessica Young – The Blue Angels (Amazon MGM Studios)

BEST EDITING

Otto Burnham – Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story (Warner Bros. Pictures, DC Studios,

    HBO Documentary Films, CNN Films)

Rik Chaubet – Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat (Kino Lorber)

Paul Crowder – Jim Henson Idea Man (Disney+)

Troy Lewis, Adelina Bichiș – Daughters (Netflix)

Nathan Punwar, Maya Daisy Hawke – Sugarcane (National Geographic)

Robert Stengård – The Remarkable Life of Ibelin (Netflix)

BEST SCORE

Erland Cooper – Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story (National Geographic)

Ilan Eshkeri – Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story (Warner Bros. Pictures, DC Studios,

    HBO Documentary Films, CNN Films)

Nathan Halpern – Will & Harper (Netflix)

Uno Helmersson – The Remarkable Life of Ibelin (Netflix)

Kelsey Lu – Daughters (Netflix)

Marc Shaiman – Albert Brooks: Defending My Life (HBO | Max)

BEST NARRATION

Bad River (50 Eggs Films)

   Written by Mary Mazzio

   Performed by Quannah ChasingHorse & Edward Norton

Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story (National Geographic)

   Written by Charlie Hamilton James

   Performed by Billy Mail & Susan Mail

Dahomey (Mubi)

   Written by Makenzy Orcel

   Performed by Lucrece Houegbelo, Parfait Viayinon, Didier Sedoha Nassegande, and Sabine

      Badjogoumin

Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger (Cohen Media Group)

   Written and performed by Martin Scorsese

Queens (National Geographic)

   Written by Chloë Sarosh

   Performed by Angela Bassett

Steve! (Martin) A Documentary in 2 Pieces (Apple TV+)

   Written and performed by Steve Martin

BEST ARCHIVAL DOCUMENTARY

Black Twitter: A People’s History (Hulu/Onyx Collective)

The Greatest Night in Pop (Netflix)

Jim Henson Idea Man (Disney+)

Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger (Cohen Media Group)

Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat (Kino Lorber)

Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story (Warner Bros. Pictures, DC Studios, HBO  

    Documentary Films, CNN Films)

BEST HISTORICAL DOCUMENTARY

Bad River (50 Eggs Films)

Dahomey (Mubi)

The Greatest Night in Pop (Netflix)

Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger (Cohen Media Group)

Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat (Kino Lorber)

Sugarcane (National Geographic)

BEST BIOGRAPHICAL DOCUMENTARY

Frida (Amazon MGM Studios)

I Am: Celine Dion (Amazon MGM Studios)

Jim Henson Idea Man (Disney+)

The Remarkable Life of Ibelin (Netflix)

Steve! (Martin) A Documentary in 2 Pieces (Apple TV+)

Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story (Warner Bros. Pictures, DC Studios, HBO  

    Documentary Films, CNN Films)

BEST MUSIC DOCUMENTARY

The Greatest Night in Pop (Netflix)

I Am: Celine Dion (Amazon MGM Studios)

Music by John Williams (Walt Disney Studios)

Piece by Piece (Focus Features)

Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band (Hulu)

Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat (Kino Lorber)

BEST POLITICAL DOCUMENTARY

Bad River (50 Eggs Films)

Girls State (Apple TV+)

Porcelain War (Picturehouse)

Stopping the Steal (HBO | Max)

Sugarcane (National Geographic)

The Truth vs. Alex Jones (HBO | Max)

BEST SCIENCE/NATURE DOCUMENTARY

Apollo 13: Survival (Netflix)

Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story (National Geographic)

Blink (National Geographic)

The Last of the Sea Women (Apple TV+)

Secrets of the Octopus (National Geographic)

The Space Race (National Geographic)

BEST SPORTS DOCUMENTARY

Copa 71 (New Black Films)

The Dynasty: New England Patriots (Apple TV+)

Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa (Netflix)

Mr. McMahon (Netflix)

Simone Biles Rising (Netflix)

The Turnaround (Netflix)

BEST TRUE CRIME DOCUMENTARY

American Nightmare (Netflix)

Black Box Diaries (MTV Documentary Films/Paramount+)

Incident (The New Yorker)

The Jinx – Part Two (HBO | Max)

Stopping the Steal (HBO | Max)

Sugarcane (National Geographic)

BEST SHORT DOCUMENTARY

I Am Ready, Warden (MTV Documentary Films/Paramount+)

Incident (The New Yorker)

Makayla’s Voice: A Letter to the World (Netflix)

Once Upon a Time in Ukraine (Earle Mack Productions, Storyville Films, Goldcrest Films)

The Only Girl in the Orchestra (Netflix)

The Turnaround (Netflix)

BEST LIMITED DOCUMENTARY SERIES

America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders (Netflix)

Black Twitter: A People’s History (Hulu/Onyx Collective)

Mr. McMahon (Netflix)

Ren Faire (HBO | Max)

Secrets of the Octopus (National Geographic)

Simone Biles Rising (Netflix)

BEST ONGOING DOCUMENTARY SERIES

30 for 30 (ESPN)

America’s Most Wanted (Fox Broadcasting Company)

The Food That Built America (History)

Independent Lens (PBS)

The Jinx – Part Two (HBO | Max)

POV (PBS)