Just one day after the Cinema Eye Honors documentary nominations were announced at a cheery London pub party, the rather more solemn International Documentary Association has weighed in with their own nods. It’s a less playful list — no mention for Justin Bieber this time, I’m afraid — and one that pointedly omits several of the year’s most prominent docs: “Senna,” “The Arbor” and “The Interrupters,” among others, are all conspicuous by their absence. Not having seen most of the IDA’s choices, I’m in no position to say whether they’re being discerning or wilful.
The IDA’s only overlap with Cinema Eye in the top category is Chilean veteran director Patricio Guzmán’s “Nostalgia for the Light,” a fused meditation on astronomy and Pinochet-era politics that won the Best Documentary prize at last year’s European Film Awards. It’s certainly one of the year’s most critically beloved documentaries, but I suspect it may yet prove a tough sell to the Academy.
In the short category, “Minka,” which also scored a nod from Cinema Eye and may be a title to file for future reference. Meanwhile, 2010 Oscar nominees “Poster Girl” and “The Warriors of Qiugang” resurface here. Check out the full list of IDA nominees after the jump.
Best Feature
“Better This World”
“How to Die in Oregon”
“Nostalgia for the Light”
“The Redemption of General Butt Naked”
“The Tiniest Place”
Best Short
“Broken Doors”
“Maya Deren’s Sink”
“Minka”
“Poster Girl”
“The Warriors of Qiugang”
Best Limited Series
“Boomtown”
“If God is Willing and Da Creek Don’t Rise”
“Michael Feinstein’s American Songbook”
“The National Parks Project”
“On Series”
Best Continuing Series
“30 for 30”
“American Experience”
“The Passionate Eye”
“POV”
“Vanguard”
David L. Wolper Student Documentary Awards
“Guañape Sur”
“Heart-Quake”
“River of Victory”
“Smoke Songs”
“Transit”
IDA Humanitas Award
“The Carrier”
“How to Die in Oregon”
“The Learning”
“Position Among the Stars”
“The Tiniest Place”
ABC News Videosource Award
“The Green Wave”
“Michael Feinstein’s American Songbook Ep. 2: Best Band in the Land”
“The Pruitt-Igoe Myth”
“The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers”
“Reagan”