Come See Me in the Good Light leads the nominations for this year’s Cinema Eye Honors. The film directed by Ryan White scored six nominations including Feature and Director. Come See Me in the Good Light shares the story of poets Andrea Gibson and Megan Falley as the former receives a terminal cancer diagnosis and they cherish their remaining days together. Gibson and Falley are also cited in the non-competitive “Unforgettables” category recognizing memorable film participants.
On the doc’s heels are three films with five nominations each: 2000 Meters to Andriivka, directed by Mystlav Chernov; Cover-Up, directed by Laura Poitras and Mark Obenhaus; and Seeds by Brittany Shyne. All three films are nominees for Feature and Director. Rounding out the Feature category are Afternoons of Solitude, directed by Albert Serra; The Perfect Neighbor; directed by Geeta Gandbhir; and Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk, directed by Sepideh Farsi.
The Cinema Eye Honors nominees also include three Canadian films among the short docs: Am I the skinniest person you’ve ever seen?, directed by Eisha Marjara; perfectly a strangeness, directed by Alison McAlpine; and Who Loves the Sun, directed by Arshia Shakiba.
Today’s announcement also include two records: with her recognition for Cover-Up, Laura Poitras becomes the most nominated person in Cinema Eye history with 16. Poitras previously won five times, including three Cinema Eye Honors for CitizenFour, and then Best Director for both All the Beauty and the Bloodshed and The Oath. Meanwhile, Geeta Gandbhir set a new record as the person with the most nominated projects. In addition to her recognition for The Perfect Neighbor, she’s also a nominee for the short doc The Devil Is Busy with Christalyn Hampton and the series Harlem Ice alongside Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, Sara Bernstein, Justin Wilkes, and Robin Roberts.
Finally, ten contenders for the Audience Award advance from the longlist to the shortlist. Notably, though, the only nominee for Feature also on the Audience Award shortlist is Come See Me in the Good Light, although several fellow nominees were on the longlist. The shortlisted films, drawn from over 60,000 votes are Apocalypse in the Tropics; Coexistence, My Ass!; Come See Me in the Good Light; The Eyes of Ghana; It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley; The Librarians; Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore; Mr. Nobody Against Putin; Prime Minister; and The Tale of Silyan. Winners will be announced on January 8, 2026.
The full list of Cinema Eye Honors nominees is as follows:
Feature
2000 Meters to Andriivka – Mstyslav Chernov, Michelle Mizner, Raney Aronson-Rath, Alex Babenko and Sam Slater
Afternoons of Solitude – Albert Serra, Montse Triola, Luis Ferrón, Pedro Palacios, Artur Tort, Mac Verdaguer and Jordi Ribas
Come See Me in the Good Light – Ryan White, Jessica Hargrave, Tig Notaro, Stef Willen, Brandon Somerhalder, Berenice Chávez, Blake Neely, Dave Richards, Brent Kiser, Andrea Gibson and Megan Falley
Cover-Up – Laura Poitras, Mark Obenhaus, Yoni Golijov, Olivia Streisand, Mia Cioffi Henry, Amy Foote, Peter Bowman, Maya Shenfeld and Seymour Hersh
The Perfect Neighbor – Geeta Gandbhir, Alisa Payne, Nikon Kwantu, Sam Bisbee, Viridiana Lieberman, Laura Heinzinger and Felipe Messeder
Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk – Sepideh Farsi, Javad Djavahery, Fatma Hassona, Cinna Peyghamy and Pierre Carrasco
Seeds – Brittany Shyne, Danielle Varga, Sabrina Schmidt Gordon, Malika Zouhali-Worrall, Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe, Daniel Timmons, Ben Kruse and Willie Head Jr.
Direction
Mstyslav Chernov – 2000 Meters to Andriivka
Albert Serra – Afternoons of Solitude
Ryan White – Come See Me in the Good Light
Laura Poitras and Mark Obenhaus – Cover-Up
Geeta Gandbhir – The Perfect Neighbor
David Osit – Predators
Brittany Shyne – Seeds
Editing
Michelle Mizner – 2000 Meters to Andriivka
Amy Foote, Peter Bowman and Laura Poitras – Cover-Up
Alexander Kashcheev – I Am Not Everything I Want to Be
Julia Loktev and Michael Taylor – My Undesirable Friends: Part 1 – Last Air in Moscow
Alexandra Strauss – Orwell: 2+2=5
Viridiana Lieberman – The Perfect Neighbor
Stephan Krumbiegel, Olaf Voigtländer and Alfredo Castro – Riefenstahl
Production
Mstyslav Chernov, Michelle Mizner and Raney Aronson-Rath – 2000 Meters to Andriivka
Andrew Jarecki and Charlotte Kaufman – The Alabama Solution
James Jones – Antidote
Petra Costa and Alessandra Orofino – Apocalypse in the Tropics
Helle Faber – Mr. Nobody Against Putin
Julia Loktev – My Undesirable Friends: Part 1 – Last Air in Moscow
Cinematography
Artur Tort – Afternoons of Solitude
Ben Bernhard – Architecton
Brandon Somerhalder – Come See Me in the Good Light
Lars Erlend Tubaas Øymo and Tor Edvin Eliassen – Folktales
Brittany Shyne – Seeds
Jean Dakar – The Tale of Silyan
Original Music Score
Sam Slater – 2000 Meters to Andriivka
Blake Neely – Come See Me in the Good Light
Maya Shenfeld – Cover-Up
Kris Bowers – The Eyes of Ghana
Todd Griffin – Folktales
Alexeï Aïgui – Orwell: 2+2=5
Sound Design
Alexander Dudarev – Architecton
James LeBrecht, Greg Francis and Nina Hartstone – Deaf President Now!
Andreas Lindberg Svensson – Folktales
Bonnie Wild – Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore
Sean Ono Lennon, Sam Gannon and Simon Hilton – One to One: John and Yoko
Daniel Timmons and Ben Kruse – Seeds
Visual Design
Nominees to be determined – Ghost Boy
Nominees to be determined – In Waves and War
Sara Gunnarsdóttir and Josh Shaffner – It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley
Norn Jordan – The New Yorker at 100
Joseph Midthun – Swamp Dogg Gets His Pool Painted
Nominees to be setermined – Zodiac Killer Project
Debut
Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore – Shoshannah Stern
Monk in Pieces – Billy Shebar and David C. Roberts
Remaining Native – Paige Bethmann
Seeds – Brittany Shyne
The Shepherd and the Bear – Max Keegan
Swamp Dogg Gets His Pool Painted – Isaac Gale and Ryan Olson
Spotlight Award
Always – Deming Chen
The Encampments – Michael T Workman and Kei Pritsker
Flophouse America – Monica Strømdahl
Sanatorium – Gar O’Rourke
To the West, in Zapata – David Bim
Audience Choice Prize
Apocalypse in the Tropics – Petra Costa
Coexistence, My Ass! – Amber Fares
Come See Me in the Good Light – Ryan White
The Eyes of Ghana – Ben Proudfoot
It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley – Amy Berg
The Librarians – Kim A. Snyder
Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore – Shoshannah Stern
Mr. Nobody Against Putin – David Borenstein
Prime Minister – Michelle Walsh and Lindsay Utz
The Tale of Silyan – Tamara Kotevska
Audience Choice Prize Longlist
Cover-Up – Laura Poitras and Mark Obenhaus
Cutting Through Rocks – Sara Khaki and Mohammadreza Eyni
Deaf President Now! – Nyle DiMarco and Davis Guggenheim
Folktales – Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady
Orwell: 2+2=5 – Raoul Peck
The Perfect Neighbr – Geeta Gandbhir
Unforgettables Honorees
Noam Shuster-Eliassi – Coexistence, My Ass!
Andrea Gibson and Megan Falley – Come See Me in the Good Light
Seymour Hersh – Cover-Up
Sara Shahverdi – Cutting Through Rocks
Pavel Talankin – Mr. Nobody Against Putin
Jacinda Ardern – Prime Minister
Fatma Hassona – Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk
Shorts List
All The Empty Rooms – Joshua Seftel
Am I the skinniest person you’ve ever seen? – Eisha Marjara
Armed Only With a Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud – Brent Renaud and Craig Renaud
Crying Glacier – Lutz Stautner
The Devil Is Busy – Geeta Gandbhir and Christalyn Hampton
The Long Valley – Rodrigo Ojeda-Beck and Robert Machoian
Mama Micra – Rebecca Blöcher
perfectly a strangeness – Alison McAlpine
We Were the Scenery – Christopher Radcliff
Who Loves the Sun – Arshia Shakiba
Broadcast Film
Deaf President Now! – Nyle DiMarco and Davis Guggenheim
Democracy Noir – Connie Field
Enigma – Zackary Drucker
My Mom Jayne – Mariska Hargitay
Pee-wee as Himself – Matt Wolf
Sly Lives! (aka The Burden of Black Genius) – Ahmir ‘Questlove’ Thompson
Nonfiction Series
Chimp Crazy – Eric Goode
Couples Therapy – Pax Wassermann and Bennett Elliott
Dallas, 2019 – Darius Clark Monroe
The Sing Sing Chronicles – Dawn Porter
Social Studies – Lauren Greenfield
The Stanford Prison Experiment: Unlocking the Truth – Juliette Eisner
Anthology Series
Conan O’Brien Must Go – Conan O’Brien and Jeff Ross
Harlem Ice – Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, Sara Bernstein, Justin Wilkes, Robin Roberts and Geeta Gandbhir
Omnivore – René Redzepi, Ben Liebmann, Chris Rice, Matt Goulding, Collin Orcutt and Mateo Willis
Our Oceans – Jonathan Smith and James Honeyborne
SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night – Morgan Neville, Caitrin Rogers and Juaquin Cambron
Tucci in Italy – Stanley Tucci, Lottie Birmingham, Amanda Lyon and Simon Raikes
Broadcast Editing
Deaf President Now! – Michael Harte
My Mom Jayne – JD Marlow
Pee-wee as Himself – Damian Rodriguez
Sly Lives! (aka The Burden of Black Genius) – Joshua L. Pearson
Social Studies – Alyse Ardell Spiegel, Helen Kearns, Catherine Bull and Charles Little II
Wise Guy: David Chase and The Sopranos – Andy Grieve
Broadcast Cinematography
Chef’s Table: Legends – Will Basanta
Dallas, 2019 – Christine Ng
No Taste Like Home with Antoni Porowski – Steve Lidgerwood
Omnivore – Tom Elliott, Sy Turnbull and Jurgen Lisse
Our Oceans – Roger Munns, Roger Horrocks, Justin Maguire, Ryan Tidman and Jamie McPherson
Social Studies – Bryan Donnell, Jenna Rosher and Jerry Risius
