Ava DuVernay’s 14th is the frontrunner for the 11th annual Critics Choice Documentary Awards after picking up six nominations when the Critics Choice Association announced its contenders on Tuesday. The Netflix film, which looks at the 14th Amendment and how it is being undermined under the Trump administration, is nominated for best documentary feature, best director, best editing, best music score, best political documentary and best historical documentary.
Three films follow with five nominations each: You Can See Everything, the A24 documentary about Elizabeth Holmes directed by Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim; David Greaves’s Once Upon a Time in Harlem, released by Neon; and Nuisance Bear, the Mubi title from Gabriela Osio Vanden and Jack Weisman. Six more films landed four nominations: Everest: The Other Side, Everybody to Kenmure Street, The History of Concrete, Rehearsals for a Revolution, Remake and EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert. Musk and NAZA have three apiece, while Morgan Neville’s Man on the Run and Lorne each earned two.
Several established names were recognised once, among them Questlove for Earth, Wind & Fire, Ron Howard for Avedon, Werner Herzog for Ghost Elephants, Barbara Kopple for Union Town, Lawrence Kasdan for Marty, Life Is Short and Judd Apatow for Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man! The best director shortlist sets DuVernay against Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor for NAZA, Felipe Bustos Sierra for Everybody to Kenmure Street, Fielder and Oppenheim, Ross McElwee for Remake and Orlando von Einsiedel for The Cycle of Love.
The awards have become an early, if imperfect, guide to the Academy’s thinking. Over their first decade, 26 of the 113 films nominated for best documentary feature went on to receive Oscar nominations, and 59 made the Oscar shortlist. The group has also shown a stronger preference for American work: since 2019, 75 per cent of its top-category nominees were made in the US, compared with fewer than 29 per cent of Oscar nominees. Contenders were picked by volunteer committees drawn from the association’s membership of more than 500 critics and entertainment journalists.
Winners will be announced on Sunday 8 November at the Edison Ballroom in New York City. Howard, whose Avedon is in the running this year, will also be presented with the Critics Choice Impact Award on the night. Jehane Noujaim is set to receive the Pennebaker Award, which will be handed over by Chris Hegedus, the widow and longtime filmmaking partner of D.A. Pennebaker.
