Nineteen feature documentaries and eight memorable figures lead the first wave of nominees for this year’s Cinema Eye Honors. The documentary awards released today the list for the non-competitive “Unforgettables” distinction recognizing documentary participants who make an impact through their personal stories and their respective films. The participants in the slimmer list for 2026 include the trio of doctors raising awareness for the plight of people in Gaza in American Doctor; E. Jean Carroll, whose story of fearlessly standing up to Donald Trump fuels Ask E. Jean; Soraya Aklaghi, who puts a new perspective on migration stories in A Fox Under a Pink Moon; tennis icon Billie Jean King, who gets her due in Give Me the Ball!; Israa, the refugee who moves to Germany with her family in One in a Million; and independent journalist Amy Goodman, whose life and work inform Steal This Story, Please!
Four of those documentaries—American Doctor, Ask E. Jean, Give Me the Ball, and Steal This Story, Please!—appear on the audience award longlist. The eventual Oscar winner for Best Documentary Feature landed on the list among the previous eight years.
Other nominees in contention for audience voting include The AI Doc: Or How I Become an Apocaloptimist, The Bend in the River, Cookie Queens, The Cycle of Love, Everest: The Other Side, Everybody to Kenmure Street, Give Me the Ball, The History of Concrete, NAZA, The Oldest Person in the World, Once Upon a Time in Harlem, Time and Water, Wild Inside, and You Can See Everything. Voting opens on Oct. 26.
The Cinema Eye Honors also release the nominees for its awards for broadcast, series, and short documentaries. Nominees include The Yogurt Shop Murders, Earth, Wind & Fire: To Be Celestial vs. That’s the Weight of the World, Mr. Scorsese, and a pair of Hurricane Katrina docs by Traci A. Curry and Geeta Gandbhir, Samantha Knowles and Spike Lee, respectively. Honorees on the shorts front include Oscar winner Laura Poitras and Rachel Lauren Mueller (They’re Here), Oscar nominee Bill Morrison (Swayer Avenue, Sunday Afternoon), and Oscar nominee Nathan Truesdell (A Derailment).
Also honoured was the landmark documentary Hoop Dreams, as this year’s recipient of the Legacy Award. Steve James will accept the honour on behalf of his team. The full list of CinemaEye Honors nominees will be announced leading up to the winners’ ceremony in January.
Unforgettables Honorees
Dr. Thaer Ahmad, Dr. Mark Perlmutter and Dr. Feroze Sidhwa – American Doctor
Jean Carroll – Ask E. Jean
Soraya Akhlaghi – A Fox Under a Pink Moon
Billie Jean King – Give Me the Ball
Israa – One in a Million
Amy Goodman – Steal This Story, Please!
Audience Choice Prize Longlist
The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist
Directed by Daniel Roher and Charlie Tyrell
American Doctor
Directed by Poh Si Teng
Ask E. Jean
Directed by Ivy Meerapol
The Bend in the River
Directed by Robb Moss
Cookie Queens
Directed by Alysa Nahmias
The Cycle of Love
Directed by Orlando von Einsiedel
Everest: The Other Side
Directed by Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi
Everybody to Kenmure Street
Directed by Felipe Bustos Sierra
Give Me the Ball
Directed by Liz Garbus and Elizabeth Wolff
The History of Concrete
Directed by John Wilson
NAZA
Directed by Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor
The Oldest Person in the World
Directed by Sam Green
Once Upon a Time in Harlem
Directed by William Greaves and David Greaves
Steal This Story, Please!
Directed by Carl Deal and Tia Lessin
Time and Water
Directed by Sara Dosa
Wild Inside
Directed by Penny Lane
You Can See Everything
Directed by Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim
Outstanding Achievement in Broadcast Film
Bang My Box: The Robin Byrd Story
Directed by Jyllian Gunther and Stephanie Schwam
HBO Max
The Bitter Pill
Directed by Clay Tweel
POV
Critical Incident: Death at the Border
Directed by Richard Rowley
HBO Max
Earth, Wind & Fire: To Be Celestial vs. That’s the Weight of the World
Directed by Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson
HBO Max
Seen & Heard: The History of Black Television
Directed by Giselle Bailey and Phil Bertelsen
HBO Max
Songs From the Hole
Directed by Contessa Gayles
Netflix
Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Series
High Horse: The Black Cowboy
Directed by Jason Perez
Peacock
Hurricane Katrina: Race Against Time
Directed by Traci A. Curry
National Geographic
Katrina: Come Hell and High Water
Directed by Geeta Gandbhir, Samantha Knowles and Spike Lee
Netflix
Mr. Scorsese
Directed by Rebecca Miller
Apple TV
Trust Me: The False Prophet
Directed by Rachel Dretzin
Netflix
The Yogurt Shop Murders
Directed by Margaret Brown
HBO Max
Outstanding Achievement in Anthology Series
Limitless: Live Better Now (Season Two)
Executive Producers Darren Aronofsky, Jane Root, Ari Handel, Tom Watt-Smith, Chris Hemsworth and Benjamin Grayson
Disney+
Neighbors
Executive Producers Ronald Bronstein, Eli Bush, John Paul Lopez‑Ali, Josh Safdie, Harrison Fishman and Dylan Redford
HBO Max
Trainwreck
Executive Producers Sheun Adelasoye de Nicola, Alexander Marengo and Tim Wardle
Netflix
Tucci in Italy (Season Two)
Executive Producers Stanley Tucci, Lottie Birmingham, Amanda Lyon and Simon Raikes
National Geographic
Untold (Volume Six)
Executive Producers Ben Silverman, Howard Owens, Isabel San Vargas, Chapman Way, Maclain Way and Ryan Duffy
Netflix
Outstanding Achievement in Broadcast Editing
#Skyking
Edited by Emiliano Battista and Alexis Johnson
Hulu
Bang My Box: The Robin Byrd Story
Edited by Jeremy Stulberg
HBO Max
Breakdown: 1975
Edited by Alan Lowe and Jody McVeigh-Schultz
Netflix
Earth, Wind & Fire: To Be Celestial vs. That’s the Weight of the World
Edited by Andrew Morrow, Matt Cascella and Tim Ziegler
HBO Max
Katrina: Come Hell and High Water
Edited by Arielle Amsalem and Anna Auster
Netflix
Mr. Scorsese
Edited by David Barter
Apple TV
Outstanding Achievement in Broadcast Cinematography
Caught in the Crackdown
Cinematographers Timothy Grucza, Jeremy Gould and Nick Kraus
Frontline | PBS
High Horse: The Black Cowboy
Cinematographers Jerry Henry and Justin Janowitz
The Man Will Burn
Cinematographers Benji Lanpher, Consuelo Althouse and Natalie Sim
HBO Max
Songs from the Hole
Cinematographers Michelle Kwong and Contessa Gayles
Netflix
Tucci in Italy (Season Two)
Cinematographer Matt Ball
National Geographi
The Yogurt Shop Murders
Cinematographer Justin Zweifach
HBO Max
Shorts List
The Boys and the Bees
Directed by Arielle Knight
Buckskin
Directed by Mars Verrone
A Derailment
Directed by Nathan Truesdell
Free Joan Little
Directed by Yoruba Richen
I Got My Brother
Directed by Victor Gabriel
an open field
Directed by Teboho Edkin
Sawyer Avenue, Sunday Afternoon
Directed by Bill Morrison
They’re Here
Directed by Laura Poitras and Rachel Lauren Mueller
La Tierra del Valor (The Home of the Brave)
Directed by Cristina Costantini
Water Cooler
Directed by Emma V.F.
