{"id":816267,"date":"2026-10-28T07:06:10","date_gmt":"2026-10-28T07:06:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/816267\/"},"modified":"2026-10-28T07:06:10","modified_gmt":"2026-10-28T07:06:10","slug":"ida-documentary-awards-announces-shortlists-of-years-top-docs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/816267\/","title":{"rendered":"IDA Documentary Awards Announces Shortlists Of Year’s Top Docs"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tThe IDA<\/a> Documentary Awards announced its shortlists of the year\u2019s top documentaries Tuesday, boosting Oscar prospects for a select group of feature films and shorts.<\/p>\n

\n\tSome of the most touted documentaries of the year made the cut, but the list is equally newsworthy for what got left out. In the features categories, 16 films will compete for Best Documentary at the awards show set for December 4 in Los Angeles, among them: A Fox Under a Pink Moon<\/a>, A Life Illuminated<\/a>, Birds of War<\/a>, Nuestra Tierra<\/a>, Nuisance Bear<\/a>, One in a Million<\/a>, and You Can See Everything<\/a> \u2013 the Elizabeth Holmes documentary that has become a runaway box office hit<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tAlso making the list \u2013 Julia Loktev\u2019s My Undesirable Friends: Part II \u2013 Exile<\/a>, the follow up to her Oscar-shortlisted My Undesirable Friends: Part I \u2013 Last Air in Moscow<\/a>. Two-time Oscar winner Ben Proudfoot earned a spot on the list with his feature The Eyes of Ghana<\/a>, and Pegah Ahangarani\u2019s Rehearsals for a Revolution<\/a>, winner of the L\u2019Oeil d\u2019or prize at Cannes, also made the list.<\/p>\n

\n\tBut there were some shocking snubs in that category: no love for Musk, 14th, nor two prominent Gaza-themed films \u2013 American Doctor and NAZA. Also missing out was Once Upon a Time in Harlem, one of the most honored documentaries of the year. The shortlist selection committee favored some comparatively obscure titles, like Concrete Land, directed by Asmahan Bkerat; Filthy, directed by B\u00e0rbara Mestanza and Marc Pujolar; Silver, directed by Natalia Koniarz, and The Fabulous Time Machine, directed by Eliza Capai.<\/p>\n

\n\tScroll for the complete lists.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"An<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tAn ICE deportation flight seen in \u2018They\u2019re Here.\u2019<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tArte France<\/p>\n

\n\tOn the shortlist of short films, a dozen documentaries made the cut, including They\u2019re Here, directed by Oscar winner Laura Poitras and Rachel Lauren Mueller. That timely documentary, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival, examines the deadly ICE occupation of Minneapolis, MN. Bill Morrison, Oscar-nominated last year for Incident<\/a>, made the list with his latest short, Sawyer Avenue, Sunday Afternoon. That documentary also centers on ICE, in this case, the seizure of a man by federal agents \u201cwithout a warrant on a residential street in Chicago.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tRemarkably, four New York Times Op-Docs films made the shorts shortlist: A Wolf in the Suburbs, directed by Am\u00e9lie Hardy; Sanyi Kakas (Sanyi the Rooster), directed by Lotte Salomons; Son, directed by Leona Cauklija, and Stalin Boys, directed by Bianca Giaever and Ora DeKornfeld.<\/p>\n

\n\tDirector Yoruba Richen also made the shorts shortlist with Free Joan Little, as did Oscar-nominated filmmaker Waad Al-Kateab with Maybe Tomorrow, co-directed with Wafa Mustafa. But in a surprise, two-time Oscar nominee Joshua Oppenheimer didn\u2019t get recognized for his new short, The Revolution Against Death (recently acquired by the New York Times Op-Docs<\/a>).<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"IDA<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tIDA<\/p>\n

\n\tThe 42nd IDA Documentary Awards will be presented on Friday, December 4 at The Ebell of Los Angeles. Tabitha Jackson, director of Film Forum in New York City and former director of the Sundance Film Festival, will host the ceremony. In a release, the nonprofit IDA said, \u201cAt a time when filmmakers face critical distribution and funding challenges, IDA looks forward to gathering and uplifting this irrepressible global community and introducing their work to new audiences.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe five nominees for the Best Feature and Best Short categories will be selected from the shortlists that were revealed Tuesday, with nominations set to be announced on November 17. \u201cIDA members from 100 countries will view and vote for the Best Feature and Best Short category winners until voting closes on November 29.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAdditional IDA Awards will be presented in the following categories with winners selected by jurors consisting of 200+ documentary professionals from 60+ countries: Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Original Music Score, Best Production, Best Sound Design, Best Writing, Best Curated Series, Best Episodic Series, Best Documentary Not in the English Language, Best Music Documentary, Best Student Documentary Award, the ABC News VideoSource Award, and the Pare Lorentz Award.<\/p>\n

\n\tThese are the films that made the shortlists announced Tuesday:<\/p>\n

\n\tBest Feature Documentary Shortlist<\/p>\n

\n\tIn alphabetical order by film title.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u25cf A Fox Under a Pink Moon (Iran, T\u00fcrkiye, Greece | KINO LORBER | Director: Mehrdad Oskouei, Co-Director Soraya Akhlaghi | Producers: Mehrdad Oskouei, Siavash Jamali)<\/p>\n

\n\t\u25cf A Life Illuminated (United States | Fourth Act Film | Director: Tasha Van Zandt | Producers: Tasha Van Zandt, Sebastian Zeck, Jessica Harrop, Kathryn Everett)<\/p>\n

\n\t\u25cf Birds of War (Syria, Lebanon, United Kingdom | Dogwoof | Directors: Janay Boulos, Abd Alkader Habak | Producers: Sonja Henrici, Janay Boulos, Abd Alkader Habak)<\/p>\n

\n\t\u25cf Concrete Land (Jordan, Palestine, Qatar | Director: Asmahan Bkerat | Producers: Ban Maraqa, Asmahan Bkerat)<\/p>\n

\n\t\u25cf Do You Love Me (Lebanon, France, Germany | ICARUS\/ Rapid Eye Movies | Director: Lana Daher | Producers: Jean-Laurent Csinidis, Lana Daher)<\/p>\n

\n\t\u25cf Filthy (Spain | Directors: B\u00e0rbara Mestanza, Marc Pujolar | Producer: Pau Sanclemente)<\/p>\n

\n\t\u25cf My Undesirable Friends: Part II \u2014 Exile (United States | MUBI | Director: Julia Loktev | Producer: Julia Loktev)<\/p>\n

\n\t\u25cf Nuestra Tierra (Our Land) (Argentina, United States, Mexico | Strand Releasing | Director: Lucrecia Martel | Producers: Benjam\u00edn Domenech, Santiago Gallelli, Mat\u00edas Roveda, Joslyn Barnes, Javier Leoz, Julio Chavezmontes)<\/p>\n

\n\t\u25cf Nuisance Bear (United States, Canada, United Kingdom | MUBI | Directors: Jack Weisman, Gabriela Osio Vanden | Producers: Will N. Miller, Michael Code, Teddy Leifer, Jack Weisman, Gabriela Osio Vanden)<\/p>\n

\n\t\u25cf One in a Million (United Kingdom, United States | PBS Distribution | Directors: Itab Azzam, Jack MacInnes | Producers: Itab Azzam, Jack MacInnes, Will Anderson, James Bluemel, Andrew Palmer, Raney Aronson-Rath)<\/p>\n

\n\t\u25cf Rehearsals for a Revolution (Czech Republic, Spain | Sony Pictures Classics | Director: Pegah Ahangarani | Producers: Kaveh Farnam, Adria Mones)<\/p>\n

\n\t\u25cf Silver (Poland, Germany, Norway, Bolivia | Director: Natalia Koniarz | Producer: Maciej Kubicki)<\/p>\n

\n\t\u25cf The Eyes of Ghana (United States, United Kingdom, Ghana | Director: Ben Proudfoot | Producers: Nana Adwoa Frimpong, Ben Proudfoot, Anita Afonu, Moses Bwayo, Brandon Somerhalder, Ethan Lewis, Vinnie Malhotra)<\/p>\n

\n\t\u25cf The Fabulous Time Machine (Brazil | Split Screen | Director: Eliza Capai | Producer: Mariana Genesc\u00e1)<\/p>\n

\n\t\u25cf To Hold a Mountain (Serbia, Montenegro, France | Submarine | Directors: Biljana Tutorov, Petar Glomazi\u0107 | Producer: Biljana Tutorov)<\/p>\n

\n\t\u25cf You Can See Everything (United States | A24 | Directors: Nathan Fielder, Lance Oppenheim | Producers: Nathan Fielder, Lance Oppenheim, Tatiana Bears, Maggie Ambrose, Jack Davis)<\/p>\n

\n\tBest Short Documentary Shortlist<\/p>\n

\n\tIn alphabetical order by film title.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u25cfA Wolf in the Suburbs (Canada | The New York Times Op-Docs | Director: Am\u00e9lie Hardy | Producer: Rosalie Chicoine Perreault)<\/p>\n

\n\t\u25cf Free Joan Little (United States | PBS | Director: Yoruba Richen | Producer: Christalyn Hampton)<\/p>\n

\n\t\u25cf Fruits of Despair (Iran | Raina Film Festival Distribution | Director: Nima Nassaj | Producers: Faezeh Davoodi, Asghar Torabi, Nima Nassaj, Mahshid Afzali)<\/p>\n

\n\t\u25cf How to Catch a Butterfly (Netherlands | Director: Kiriko Mechanicus | Producer: Ilja Roomans)<\/p>\n

\n\t\u25cf Lost Songs of Sundari (India | Director: Sudarshan Sawant | Producers: Sudarshan Sawant, Charles Correa Foundation)<\/p>\n

\n\t\u25cf Maybe Tomorrow (United Kingdom, Germany, Syria | Channel 4 | Directors: Waad Al-Kateab, Wafa Mustafa | Producers: Waad Al-Kateab, Joanna Natasegara, Abigail Anketell-Jones)<\/p>\n

\n\t\u25cf Sanyi Kakas (Sanyi the Rooster) (Hungary, Netherlands | The New York Times Op-Docs\/Amsterdam University of the Arts | Director: Lotte Salomons | Producers: Raphael Hogers, Nova Nagel, Kes Raven)<\/p>\n

\n\t\u25cf Sawyer Avenue, Sunday Afternoon (United States | The New Yorker | Director: Bill Morrison | Producers: Bill Morrison, Jamie Kalven, Mar\u00eda In\u00e9s Zamudio)<\/p>\n

\n\t\u25cf Son (Sweden | The New York Times Op-Docs | Director: Leona Cauklija | Producers: Balder Ljunggren, Joel Viksten Abrahamsson)<\/p>\n

\n\t\u25cf Stalin Boys (United States | The New York Times Op-Docs | Directors: Bianca Giaever, Ora DeKornfeld | Producers: Bianca Giaever, Ora DeKornfeld, Alejandra Vasquez, Sam Osborn)<\/p>\n

\n\t\u25cf The Hotline (United States | HBO Max | Directors: Ricki Stern, Jesse Sweet | Producers: Ricki Stern, Simon Killmurry)<\/p>\n

\n\t\u25cf They\u2019re Here (United States | Directors: Laura Poitras, Rachel Lauren Mueller | Producers: Rachel Lauren Mueller, Laura Poitras, Yoni Golijov)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The IDA Documentary Awards announced its shortlists of the year\u2019s top documentaries Tuesday, boosting Oscar prospects for a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":816268,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[96,121098,121099,2839,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-816267","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-entertainment","tag-ida","tag-international-documentary-association","tag-movies","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/816267","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=816267"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/816267\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/816268"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=816267"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=816267"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=816267"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}