The International Documentary Association has announced the nominees for its 41st IDA Documentary Awards happening on Saturday, December 6 in Los Angeles, California.
Among the nominees are Netflix acquisition “Apocalypse in the Tropics” and National Geographic film “The Tale of Silyan,” both directed by past Best Documentary Feature Oscar nominees. Missing from the list is most notably “The Perfect Neighbor,” a Sundance hit that was also acquired by Netflix, and recently won several awards at the Critics Choice Documentary Awards, including Best Documentary Feature and Best Director.
IDA received 550+ entries in all categories from 85 countries, an increase over last year in the total number of countries represented. IDA Documentary Awards entries were reviewed by jurors consisting of many dozens of documentary professionals from around the world.
This year, in place of announcing a shortlist for Best Feature and Best Short followed by nominations, IDA’s juries have included special mentions alongside nominees to recognize more of this year’s films.
IDA members will have access to view each of the nominated films and to vote for the winners in the Best Feature Documentary and Best Short Documentary categories from November 19 to December 2, 2025. All other category winners are selected by juries representing the international documentary community.
Winners in two special categories, the ABC News VideoSource Award and the Pare Lorentz Award, will also be announced on December 6, 2025.
At this year’s ceremony, documentary producer Julie Goldman will receive the Career Achievement Award, Brittany Shyne (“Seeds”) will receive the Emerging Filmmaker Award, and Impact Partners will be presented with the Pioneer Award.
Nominees in each category are listed in alphabetical order by film title.
Best Feature Documentary Nominees
“Apocalypse in the Tropics” (United States | Netflix | Director: Petra Costa | Producers:
Alessandra Orofino, Petra Costa)
“Life After” (United States | Multitude Films | Director: Reid Davenport | Producer: Colleen
Cassingham)
“Seeds” (United States | Director: Brittany Shyne | Producers: Danielle Varga, Sabrina Schmidt
Gordon, Brittany Shyne)
“Songs of Slow Burning Earth” (Ukraine, Sweden, Denmark | EPF Media | Director: Olha
Zhurba | Producer: Darya Bassel)
“The Tale of Silyan” (Republic of North Macedonia, United States, United Kingdom | National
Geographic | Director: Tamara Kotevska | Producers: Tamara Kotevska, Jean Dakar, Anna
Hashmi, Jordanco Petkovski)
Best Feature Documentary Special Mentions
“Come See Me in the Good Light” (United States | Apple | Director: Ryan White | Producers:
Jessica Hargrave, Ryan White, Tig Notaro, Stef Willen)
“Cover-Up” (United States | Netflix | Director: Laura Poitras, Mark Obenhaus | Producers: Yoni
Golijov, Olivia Streisand, Laura Poitras, Mark Obenhaus)
“Deaf President Now!” (United States | Apple | Directors: Nyle DiMarco, Davis Guggenheim |
Producers: Amanda Rohlke, Davis Guggenheim, Jonathan King, Nyle DiMarco, Michael Harte,
Wayne Betts Jr.)
“Mothers of Chibok” (United States, Nigeria | Director: Joel ‘Kachi Benson | Producers: Jamie
Patricof, Katie McNeill, Rachel Halilej, Joel ‘Kachi Benson, Samira Mohammed, Adeyinka
Oduniyi)
“Orwell: 2+2=5” (United States | NEON | Director: Raoul Peck | Producers: Alex Gibney, Raoul
Peck, George Chignell, Nick Shumaker)
“Yanuni” (Austria, Brazil, United States | Director: Richard Ladkani | Producers: Anita Ladkani,
Richard Ladkani, Juma Xipaia, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Davisson, Phillip Watson)
Best Short Documentary Nominees
“Correct Me If I’m Wrong” (Germany, United States | Director: Hao Zhou | Producer: Tyler Hill)
“If a Walnut Falls” (China, Hong Kong | Director: Bohao Liu | Producer: Bohao Liu)
“Looking for a Donkey” (Mexico, Venezuela | Director: Juan Vicente Manrique | Producers: Juan
Vicente Manrique, María Benítez)
“Mama Micra” (Germany | interfilm Berlin | Director: Rebecca Blöcher | Co-director: Frédéric
Schuld | Producer: Fabian Driehorst)
“Their Eyes” (France, United States | The New York Times Op-Docs | Director: Nicolas Gourault |
Producers: Yannick Beauquis and Quentin Brayer)
Best Short Documentary Special Mentions
“All The Empty Rooms” (United States | Netflix | Director: Joshua Seftel | Producers: Joshua
Seftel, Conall Jones, James Costa, Trevor Burgess)
“The Candy Factory” (United States | The New Yorker | Directors: Cory Jacobs and Jason
Schmidt | Producers: Cory Jacobs and Jason Schmidt)
“Landscapes of Longing” (India, United States | Directors: Alisha Tejpal, Mireya Martinez,
Anoushka Mirchandani | Producers: Alisha Tejpal, Mireya Martinez)
“perfectly a strangeness” (Canda, Chile | Premium Films | Director: Alison McAlpine | Producer:
Alison McAlpine)
“Please Step Aside!” (Germany | Raha Films | Director: Raha Faridi | Producer: Raha Faridi)
Voices From The Abyss (Mexico | EPF Media | Directors: Irving Serrano & Víctor Rejón |
Producer: Ramón Llaven Zavala)
Best Director
Petra Costa, “Apocalypse in the Tropics” (United States | Netflix)
Reid Davenport, “Life After” (United States | Multitude Films)
Brittany Shyne, “Seeds” (United States)
Olha Zhurba, “Songs of Slow Burning Earth” (Ukraine, Sweden, Denmark | EPF Media)
Tamara Kotevska, “The Tale of Silyan” (Republic of North Macedonia, United States, United
Kingdom | National Geographic)
Best Cinematography
Ben Sturgulewski, “Champions of the Golden Valley” (United States)
Subhadeep Dey, Mrinmoy Mondal, Rupesh Chaturbedi, “Redlight to Limelight” (India, Finland,
Latvia | BBC Storyville)
Jean Dakar, “The Tale of Silyan” (Republic of North Macedonia, United States, United Kingdom |
National Geographic)
Natalia Pietsch, Grzegorz Piekarski, “The Town That Drove Away” (Poland | Polish National
TV)
Richard Ladkani, “Yanuni” (Austria, Brazil, United States)
Best Editing
Julia Loktev, “My Undesirable Friends: Part I — Last Air in Moscow” (United States | Argot)
Pablo Proenza, “Natchez” (United States | ITVS)
Jason Reid, Robinson Devor, Adam Sekuler, Matt Levinthal, “Suburban Fury” (United States)
Daniel Claridge, Pedro Kos, Sara Newens, “The White House Effect” (United States | Netflix)
Alex Megaro, Ian Bell, “WTO/99” (United States)
Best Original Music Score
Sam Slater, “Divia” (Ukraine, Poland, Netherlands)
Mato Wayuhi, “Free Leonard Peltier” (United States)
Matthew Dougherty, “Shuffle” (United States)
Fréderic Filiartre, “The Sorcerer: Julio Zachrisson” (Panama)
Afshin Azizi, “Writing Hawa” (France, Netherlands, Qatar | First Hand FIlms, Icarus Films)
Best Production
Alessandra Orofino, Petra Costa, “Apocalypse in the Tropics” (United States | Netflix)
Yoni Golijov, Olivia Streisand, Laura Poitras, Mark Obenhaus, “Cover-Up” (United States |
Netflix)
Colleen Cassingham, “Life After” (United States | Multitude Films)
Danielle Varga, Sabrina Schmidt Gordon, Brittany Shyne, “Seeds” (United States)
Andrew Jarecki, Charlotte Kaufman, “The Alabama Solution” (United States | HBO Max)
Best Sound Design
Yannick Dauby, “Always” (United States, France, Taiwan)
Alexander Dudarev, “Architecton” (Germany, France, United States | A24)
Thomas Perez-Pape, “Only on Earth” (Denmark, Spain | DR, HBO, SVT)
Rico Andriolo, Manu Gerber, “Song of Breath” (Switzerland, Italy)
Rubí J. Pérez, “The Silence of My Hands” (Mexico | AD Maiora)
Best Writing
Petra Costa, Alessandra Orofino, Nels Bangerter, David Barker, “Apocalypse in the Tropics”
(United States | Netflix)
Bipuljit Basu, “Redlight to Limelight” (India, Finland, Latvia | BBC Storyville)
Sasha Wortzel, “River of Grass” (United States)
Cristina Costantini, Tom Maroney, “Sally” (United States | National Geographic)
Robinson Devor, Jason Reid, Bob Fink, Charles Mudede, “Suburban Fury” (United States)
Best Curated Series
“99” (France | EP: Jérôme Plan)
“Independent Lens” (United States | PBS | EPs: Lois Vossen, Carrie Lozano, Royd Chung)
“POV Season 38” (United States | PBS | EPs: Erika Dilday, Chris White)
“POV Shorts Season 8” (United States | PBS | EPs: Opal H. Bennett, Erika Dilday, Chris White)
“The New York Times Op-Docs” (United States | The New York Times Op-Docs | EPs: Kathleen Kingsbury, Adam B. Ellick, Alexandra Garcia)
Best Episodic Series
“Citizen Nation” (United States | PBS | Directors: Bret Sigler, Singeli Agnew | Producers:
Veronika Adaskova, Emily Orr, Wesley Harris, Cole Cahill, Victor Couto, Tom Brown)
“Earnhardt” (United States | Prime Video | Director: Joshua Altman | Producers: Riel
Roch-Decter, Tally Hair, Rebecca Russell)
“Eyes on the Prize III: We Who Believe in Freedom Cannot Rest 1977-2015” (United States |
HBO Max | Directors: Geeta Gandbhir, Samantha Knowles, Muta’Ali, Rudy Valdez, Smriti
Mundhra, Asako Gladsjo | Producers: Asako Gladsjo, Nimco Sheikhaden, Jevon Frank, Leah
Smith, Clare Smith Marash, Niema Jordan)
“The Sing Sing Chronicles” (United States | PNBC News Studios in association with Trilogy
Films, MSNBC Films | Director: Dawn Porter | Producers: Lauren Capps, Sadie Bass, Nick
McElroy)
“Turning Point: The Vietnam War” (United States | Netflix | Director: Brian Knappenberger |
Producers: Doan Hoang Curtis, Bo Kovitz, Keven McAlester, Tommy Nguyen)
Best Music Documentary
“El Canto de las Manos” (Spain, United States | Feel Sales | Director: María Valverde |
Producers: María Valverde, Martí Font Isern, Cristina Oliva, Gustavo Dudamel)
“Move Ya Body: The Birth of House” (United States | Director: Elegance Bratton | Producer:
Chester Algernal Gordon)
“One to One: John & Yoko” (United Kingdom | Magnolia Pictures, HBO Documentary Films |
Director: Kevin Macdonald | Co-director: Sam Rice-Edwards | Producers: Peter Worsley, Kevin
Macdonald, Alice Webb)
“Selena y Los Dinos” (United States | Netflix | Director: Isabel Castro | Producers: Julie
Goldman, Christopher Clements, J. Daniel Torres, Simran Singh, David Blackman)
“Sly Lives! (aka The Burden of Black Genius)” (United States | Hulu | Director: Ahmir
“Questlove” Thompson | Producers: Joseph Patel and Derik Murray)
David L. Wolper Student Documentary
“Beyond Eden” (United Kingdom | National Film and Television School, UK | Director: Al Johnstone |
Producer: Al Johnstone)
“Dancing in Tomorrowland” (United States | UCLA | Director: Jakob Roston | Producers: Grace
Vincent, Nazanin Nemetollahi)
“Two Days on the Interstate” (United Kingdom | National Film and Television School, UK | Director:
Tatiana Stark | Producer: Tatiana Stark)
“Two Travelling Aunties” (United Kingdom | National Film and Television School, UK | Director:
Christine Seow | Producer: Christine Seow)
“What a day, what a life” (United Kingdom | National Film and Television School, UK | Director: Maylana
Colchete | Producers: Luiza Amelio de Carvalho, Maylana Colchete)