The nominations for the News and Documentary Emmys acknowledged a wide field this year. The contenders, announced over the weekend by the television academy, saw many non-fiction films recognized across the documentary categories, whereas the doc side of the Emmys’ main slate generally heaped nominations on a handful of films earlier this month. On the Canadian front, the award winning documentary Love in the Time of Fentanyl scored a nomination for Outstanding Current Affairs Documentary, making it the lone Canuck contender.
A handful of docs stood out with three nominations, including Julie Ha and Eugene Yi’s Free Chol Soo Lee, Errol Morris’s The Pigeon Tunnel, Jason Hehir’s Murder in Boston: Roots, Rampage & Reckoning, and Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine’s The Mission.
The documentary set of the News and Documentary Emmy nominations is as follows. Winners will be announced on September 26.
BEST DOCUMENTARY
Elon Musk’s Twitter Takeover – FRONTLINE | PBS
Free Chol Soo Lee – Independent Lens | PBS
Freedom on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom – freedomonfire.film [Miraflores Films | Winter on Fire | MakeMake Entertainment | PFX | 1+1 MEDIA |Diamond Docs | Donbas Frontliner | Donetsk Institute of Information]
Great Photo, Lovely Life: Facing a Family’s Secrets – HBO | Max
Hidden Letters – Independent Lens | PBS [ITVS]
January 6th – Discovery+ [discovery+ | Propagate]
Lakota Nation vs. United States – AMC+ [Unceded Films, LLC | IFC Films]
Mourning In Lod – Showtime [MTV Documentary Films | Medalia Productions]
Murder in Boston: Roots, Rampage & Reckoning – HBO | Max [HBO Documentary Films | The Boston Globe | Little Room Films]
The Stroll – HBO | Max [HBO Documentary Films]
OUTSTANDING CURRENT AFFAIRS DOCUMENTARY
Loudmouth – BET [Naked Edge Films | Get Lifted Film Co. | Group Effort Films |Massenburg Media]
Love in the Time of Fentanyl – Independent Lens | PBS [ITVS]
Mourning In Lod – Showtime [MTV Documentary Films | Medalia Productions]
No Accident – HBO | Max [McGee Media | Just Films/The Ford Foundation | Topic Studios]
Poisoned: The Dirty Truth About Your Food – Netflix [Campfire Studios | Atlas Films]
OUTSTANDING POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTARY
Clarence and Ginni Thomas: Politics, Power and the Supreme Court – FRONTLINE | PBS
Deadlocked: How America Shaped the Supreme Court – Showtime [Trilogy Films]
Floyd Abrams: Speaking Freely – American Masters | PBS [Salty Features | American Masters Pictures | THIRTEEN/WNET]
Giuliani: What Happened to America’s Mayor – CNN
Superpower – Paramount+ [Projected Picture Works | Public School Productions | Aldamisa Entertainment |Vice Studios]
OUTSTANDING SOCIAL ISSUE DOCUMENTARY
Anonymous Sister – anonymoussister.com [Big Mouth Productions | Vulcan Productions]
David Holmes: The Boy Who Lived – HBO | Max
Eat Your Catfish – POV |PBS [Zela Film | American Documentary, POV]
Every Body – NBC [NBC News Studios | BetterThanFiction Productions]
Sound of the Police – Hulu [ABC News Studios | Firelight Films]
OUTSTANDING INVESTIGATIVE DOCUMENTARY
Crush – Paramount+ [Triage Entertainment | All Rise Films |See It Now Studios]
Global Spyware Scandal: Exposing Pegasus – FRONTLINE | PBS [FRONTLINE | Forbidden Film | the Forbidden Stories consortium]
Savior Complex – HBO | Max [Latchkey Films]
Scouts Honor: The Secret Files of the Boy Scouts of America – Netflix [Luminant Media |Grain Media |Insight Films]
Victim/Suspect – Netflix [Motto Pictures, Center for Investigative Reporting Studios]
OUTSTANDING HISTORICAL DOCUMENTARY
America and The Taliban – FRONTLINE | PBS
Free Chol Soo Lee – Independent Lens | PBS
JFK: One Day in America – National Geographic [72 Films | National Geographic]
To End All War: Oppenheimer & the Atomic Bomb – MSNBC Films | MSNBC [NBC News Studios]
World War II: From the Front Lines – Netflix [72 Films]
OUTSTANDING ARTS AND CULTURE DOCUMENTARY
A Song Film By Kishi Bashi – ‘Omoiyari’ – Paramount+ [Omoiyari, LLC | HappyOkay Films |Dialogue Pictures |Movement Content]
The Legacy of J. Dilla – The New York Times Presents | FX [The New York Times | Left/Right (a North Road company)]
LIFT – liftdocumentary.com [Beaufort 9 Films]
Little Richard: I Am Everything – CNN Films | Max [Bungalow Media + Entertainment]
Willie Nelson & Family – Paramount+ [MTV Entertainment Studios, 101 Studios, Sight Unseen, Blackbird]
OUTSTANDING SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DOCUMENTARY
The Battle to Beat Malaria – NOVA | PBS [Wingspan Productions, HHMI Tangled Bank Studios, NOVA/GBH]
Cosmic Time Machine – Unknown | Netflix
Encounters – Netflix [Amblin Television, Boardwalk Pictures, VICE Studios]
Human Footprint – PBS [Day’s Edge Productions]
Science Fair: The Series – National Geographic [Muck Media]
OUTSTANDING NATURE DOCUMENTARY
Evolution Earth – PBS [Passion Planet | PBS | Arte France| Love Nature]
The Hummingbird Effect – Nature | PBS [Coneflower Productions | The WNET Group | Terra Mater Studios]
Incredible Animal Journeys – National Geographic [Plimsoll Productions]
Path of the Panther – National Geographic [Grizzly Creek Films | Wildpath | National Geographic]
Soul of the Ocean – Nature | PBS [Howard Hall Productions | The WNET Group | Terra Mater Studios |Mark Fletcher Productions]
OUTSTANDING BUSINESS AND ECONOMIC DOCUMENTARY
Age of Easy Money – FRONTLINE | PBS
Big Vape: The Rise and Fall of Juul – Netflix
Elon Musk’s Twitter Takeover – FRONTLINE | PBS
Nothing Lasts Forever – Showtime [Kilo Films]
Working: What We Do All Day – Netflix [ Higher Ground | Concordia Studio]
OUTSTANDING CRIME AND JUSTICE DOCUMENTARY
Amber: The Girl Behind the Alert – Peacock [Lusid Media]
Chowchilla – CNN Films | Max [Zipper Bros Films | Sutter Road Picture Company]
El Equipo – Independent Lens | PBS [Quiet Pictures LLC]
Murder in Boston: Roots, Rampage & Reckoning – HBO | Max [HBO Documentary Films | The Boston Globe | Little Room Films]
Wanted: The Escape of Carlos Ghosn – Apple TV+
OUTSTANDING SHORT DOCUMENTARY
Birthing a Nation: The Resistance of Mary Gaffney – Paramount+
Deciding Vote – The New Yorker Documentary | The New Yorker
Last Song from Kabul – Paramount+
The Silent Witness – lifestories.org/films-series/the-silent-witness
The Takeover – Field of Vision
OUTSTANDING WRITING: DOCUMENTARY
Exposing Parchman – A&E [Good Caper Content | Roc Nation | Red Summer TV ]
Great Photo, Lovely Life: Facing a Family’s Secrets – HBO | Max
Nazis at Nuremberg: The Lost Testimony – National Geographic [Steve Rotfeld Productions]
Netanyahu, America & the Road to War in Gaza – FRONTLINE | PBS
The Pigeon Tunnel – Apple TV+
OUTSTANDING RESEARCH: DOCUMENTARY
Global Spyware Scandal: Exposing Pegasus – FRONTLINE | PBS [FRONTLINE | Forbidden Film | the Forbidden Stories consortium]
JFK: One Day in America – National Geographic [72 Films | National Geographic]
Take Care of Maya – Netflix [Story Syndicate | Wise Fool]
The Lady Bird Diaries – Hulu [ABC News Studios | Trilogy Films]
Victim/Suspect – Netflix [Motto Pictures | Center for Investigative Reporting Studios]
World War II: From the Front Lines – Netflix [72 Films]
OUTSTANDING DIRECTION: DOCUMENTARY
Another Body – anotherbodyfilm.com [WILLA | Murmuration Productions | Remarkably Calm Productions]
Lakota Nation vs. United States – AMC+ [Unceded Films, LLC, | IFC Films]
The Mission – National Geographic [National Geographic | Lightbox | Mile End Films]
Take Care of Maya – Netflix [Story Syndicate | Wise Fool]
Victim/Suspect – Netflix [Motto Pictures | Center for Investigative Reporting Studios]
OUTSTANDING CINEMATOGRAPHY: DOCUMENTARY
Incredible Animal Journeys– National Geographic [Plimsoll Productions]
The Lost Pyramid – Unknown | Netflix [A Story Syndicate]
Murder in Big Horn – Showtime [Fairhaven]
The Pigeon Tunnel Apple TV+ [Ink Factory | Fourth Floor | Jago Films, |Storyteller Productions | 127 Wall]
Swift Justice – The New Yorker Documentary | The New Yorker
OUTSTANDING EDITING: DOCUMENTARY
American Manhunt: The Boston Marathon Bombing – Netflix
David Holmes: The Boy Who Lived – HBO | Max
Little Richard: I Am Everything – CNN Films | Max [Bungalow Media + Entertainment]
Murder in Boston: Roots, Rampage & Reckoning – HBO | Max [HBO Documentary Films | The Boston Globe | Little Room Films]
The Pigeon Tunnel – Apple TV+ [Ink Factory | Fourth Floor | Jago Films, |Storyteller Productions | 127 Wall]
OUTSTANDING GRAPHIC DESIGN: DOCUMENTARY
Ancient Earth – NOVA | PBS [BBC Studios | NOVA | WGBH]
Neighbour Abdi – Op-Docs | The New York Times
Nixon’s Reversal – Ovid [Hi-Lo | Lost Nation Pictures]
Who Killed Robert Wone? – Peacock [Jupiter Entertainment]
World War II: From the Front Lines – Netflix [72 Films]
OUTSTANDING MUSIC COMPOSITION: DOCUMENTARY
David Holmes: The Boy Who Lived – HBO | Max
Freedom on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom – freedomonfire.film [Miraflores Films, Winter on Fire, MakeMake Entertainment, PFX, 1+1MEDIA, Diamond Docs, Donbas Frontliner, Donetsk Institute of Information]
JFK: One Day in America – National Geographic [72 Films]
Navajo Police: Class 57 – HBO | Max [Concordia Studios]
World War II: From the Front Lines – Netflix [72 Films]
OUTSTANDING SOUND: DOCUMENTARY
Big Beasts – Apple TV+ [Plimsoll Productions in association with Apple]
Freedom on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom – freedomonfire.film
[Miraflores Films | Winter on Fire | MakeMake Entertainment | PFX |1+1 MEDIA |Diamond Docs | Donbas Frontliner | Donetsk Institute of Information]
Incredible Animal Journeys – National Geographic [Plimsoll Productions]
The Legacy of J. Dilla – The New York Times Presents | FX [The New York Times | Left/Right (a North Road company)]
The Lost Pyramid | Unknown | Netflix [Story Syndicate]
OUTSTANDING LIGHTING DIRECTION: DOCUMENTARY
Homicide Hunter: The Man With No Face – ID: Investigation | Discovery [Jupiter Entertainment]
JFK: One Day in America | National Geographic
To End All War: Oppenheimer & the Atomic Bomb – MSNBC Films | MSNBC [NBC News Studios]
Who Killed Robert Wone? – Peacock [Jupiter Entertainment]
Wild Crime: Blood Mountain – Hulu [Lone Wolf Media, ABC News Studios]
OUTSTANDING ART DIRECTION / SET DECORATION / SCENIC DESIGN: DOCUMENTARY
Burden of Proof – HBO | Max
Chowchilla – CNN Films | Max [Zipper Bros Films | Sutter Road Picture Company]
The Enfield Poltergeist – Apple TV+ [MetFilm | Concordia Studio | Apple]
MADOFF: The Monster of Wall Street – Netflix [RadicalMedia]
Stan Lee – Disney + [Marvel Studios]
Who Killed Robert Wone? – Peacock [Jupiter Entertainment]
OUTSTANDING PROMOTIONAL ANNOUNCEMENT: DOCUMENTARY
Giuliani: What Happened to America’s Mayor – CNN
Incredible Animal Journeys – National Geographic [Plimsoll Productions]
JFK: One Day in America – National Geographic [72 Films]
The Mission – National Geographic [National Geographic | Lightbox | Mile End Films]
Teaser: Free Chol Soo Lee on Independent Lens – Independent Lens | PBS [ITVS]
Trailer: The Lady Bird Diaries – Hulu [ABC News Studios | Jump Cut]