37th Annual IDA Documentary Awards
The IDA Documentary Awards is the world's most prestigious event dedicated to the documentary genre, celebrating the best nonfiction films and programs of the year. It seeks to represent excellence in the documentary field from around the world, by emerging and established documentarians. The 2021 Awards was presented at a virtual ceremony on Friday, March 4, 2022. The show was ASL interpreted and captioned. Click "Watch on Youtube" to view the ceremony with timestamps.
Concurrent with the Tribeca Festival the International Documentary Association hosted a luncheon to present the 2021 IDA Awards to the Honorees.
Opening remarks from IDA Executive Director Rick Perez
Roger Ross Williams (r), recipient of the Career Achievement Award with Jean Tsien (l), recipient of the Pioneer Award.
Cecilia Aldarondo (l), recipient of the Emerging Documentary Filmmaker Award in conversation with IDA board member Marcia Smith, President of Firelight Media.
Sushmit Ghosh (l) and Rintu Thomas (r), recipients of the Courage Under Fire Award, with IDA board member, producer Hallee Adelman.
Winner Highlights
[[nid:11471]]
Winners and Nominees
Best Feature
Apenas el sol (Nothing but the Sun) Director/Producer: Arami Ullón Producer: Pascal Trächslin Switzerland, Paraguay/ Film republic | | North By Current Director/Producer: Angelo Madsen Minax Producer: Felix Endara USA / POV |
Faya Dayi Director/Producer: Jessica Beshir Ethiopia, USA, Qatar / Janus Films | | Not Going Quietly Director: Nicholas Bruckman Producer: Amanda Roddy USA / Greenwich Entertainment, POV, Vice |
Flee (winner) Director: Jonas Poher Rasmussen Producers: Monica Hellstrӧm, Signe Byrge Sørensen, Charlotte De La Gournerie Denmark, France, Norway, Sweden / NEON, Participant | | Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) Director: Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson Producers: Joseph Patel, Robert Fyvolent, David Dinerstein USA / Hulu, Searchlight Pictures |
In the Same Breath Director/Producer: Nanfu Wang Producers: Jialing Zhang, Julie Goldman, Christopher Clements, Carolyn Hepburn USA, China / HBO, HBO Max | | Wojnarowicz: F**K You F*ggot F**ker Director/Producer: Chris McKim Producers: Randy Barbato, Fenton Bailey USA / Kino Lorber |
Jacinta Director/Producer: Jessica Earnshaw Producers: Holly Meehl, Nimisha Mukerji USA / Hulu, ABC News | | Writing with Fire Directors/Producers: Rintu Thomas, Sushmit Ghosh India / ITVS, Music Box |
Best Short
A Broken House (winner) Director/Producer: Jimmy Goldblum. Producer: Matt Weaver, former Representative Richard Gephardt, Harrison Nalevansky USA, Lebanon / Condé Nast Entertainment, The New Yorker, POV | | Kalsubai Director: Yudhajit Basu India / Film and Television Institute of India |
Águilas Director/Producer: Kristy Guevara-Flanagan Co-Director/Producer: Maite Zubiaurre USA / The New Yorker | | Open Shutters Director/Producer: Youjin Do USA, South Korea / Field of Vision |
Ain't No Time for Women Director: Sarra El Abed Producer: Isabelle Grignon-Francke Canada / Travelling | | Red Taxi Director/Producer: Anonymous USA, Hong Kong / Field of Vision |
E14 Director: Peiman Zekavat Producer: Sanam Jehanfard UK / Fifth Season LTD | | Senior Prom Director/Producer: Luisa Conlon Producer: Jessica Chermayeff USA / Independent Lens, PBS |
Joe Buffalo Director/Producer: Amar Chebib Producer: Hayley Morin, Mack Stannard Canada / Condé Nast Entertainment, The New Yorker | | Since you arrived, my heart stopped belonging to me (Desde que llegaste, mi corazón dejó de pertenecerme) Director/Producer: Erin Semine Kökdil USA / The New Yorker |
Best Director
Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson (winner) Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) USA / Hulu, Searchlight Pictures | | Jonas Poher Rasmussen FLEE Denmark, France, Norway, Sweden / NEON, Participant |
Jessica Beshir Faya Dayi Ethiopia, USA, Qatar / Janus Films | | Nicholas Bruckman Not Going Quietly USA / Greenwich Entertainment |
Jessica Earnshaw Jacinta USA / Hulu, ABC News | | |
Best Curated Series
America ReFramed Executive Producers: Erika Dilday, Justine Nagan, Chris White, Christopher Hastings USA / American Documentary inc., WORLD Channel | | Pacific Heartbeat Executive Producer: Leanne K. Ferrer USA / American Public Television, WORLD Channel, PBS |
American Masters Executive Producer: Michael Kantor USA, Canada / THIRTEEN Productions, LLC, PBS | | POV Executive Producers: Erika Dilday, Chris White USA, Puerto Rico / PBS |
Independent Lens (winner) Executive Producers: Lois Vossen, Sally Jo Fifer USA / Independent Lens, PBS | | |
Best Episodic Series
Alien Worlds Executive Producers: Tim Lambert, Jeremy Dear USA / Netflix | | The Surgeon's Cut Executive Producers: Andrew Cohen, James Van Der Pool USA / Netflix |
Becoming You Executive Producers: Hamo Forsyth, Leanne Klein, Tim Lambert, Martin Conway USA, UK / Apple TV+ | | Untold Executive Producers: Maclain Way, Chapman Way, Ben Silverman, Howard T. Owens, Isabel San Vargas, Ryan Duffy, Miguel Tamayo, Jaymee Messler USA / Netflix |
My Love: Six Stories of True Love (winner) Executive Producers: Xan Aranda, Mo-young Jin, Andrew Fried, Dane Lillegard, Jordan Wynn USA / Netflix | | |
Best Multi-Part Documentary
Exterminate All the Brutes (winner) Director/Executive Producer: Raoul Peck Producers: Daniel Delume. Executive Producers: Rémi Grellety, Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller, Jamie Morris, Jack Oliver, Poppy Dixon USA, France / HBO, HBO Max | | Philly D.A. Directors/Producers: Ted Passon, Yoni Brook Producer: Nicole Salazar. Executive Producers: Josh Penn, Michael Gottwald, Dawn Porter, Sally Jo Fifer, Lois Vossen, Nion McEvoy, Patty Quillin, Jeff Seelbach, Ryan Chanatr, Gena Konstantinakos USA / Independent Lens, PBS |
High on the Hog: How African American Cuisine Transformed America Director/Executive Producer: Roger Ross Williams Producer: Jonathan Clasberry. Executive Producers: Shoshana Guy, Geoff Martz, Craig Piligian, Sarba Das, Fabienne Toback, Karis Jagger USA / Netflix | | Uprising Directors/Executive Producers: Steve McQueen, James Rogan Producers: Helen Bart, Nelson Adeosun, Joanna Boateng. Executive Producers: Nancy Bornat, Soleta Rogan, Tracey Scoffield, Clare Sillery, Carl Callam, Emma Loach, Vivienne Steele, Anna Smith-Tenser, David Tanner, Justin Thomson UK / Amazon Studios |
Nuclear Family Director/Producer: Ry Russo-Young Producers: Dan Cogan, Warren Fischer. Executive Producers: Liz Garbus, Julie Gaither, Jon Bardin, Jenny Raskin, Geralyn Dreyfous, Lauren Haber, Peter Saraf, Leah Holzer, Alex Turtletaub, Maria Zuckerman, Christine Connor, Ryan Heller, Barbara Dobkin, Eric Dobkin, Andrea van Beuren, Joe Landauer USA / HBO, HBO Max | | |
Best Short Form Series
Earth at Night in Color Producers: Sam Hodgson, Simon Muriel, Tom Payne, Justin Anderson, Joe Stevens. Executive Producer: Alex Williamson UK, USA / Apple TV+ | | POV Shorts Producer: Opal Bennet. Executive Producers: Erika Dilday, Chris White USA / PBS |
Field of Vision Producers: Youjin Do, Ruun Nuur, Chase Whiteside, Mike Plante, Arielle de Saint Phalle, Paul Dallas, Dana Brandes-Simon, Malika Zouhali-Worrall, Patricia Benabe, Anonymous. Executive Producer: Charlotte Cook USA / Field of Vision | | Viral Dreams (winner) Producers: Georg Tschurtschenthaler, Udi Nir, Sagi Bornstein. Executive Producer: Christian Beetz Germany, Israel / HOT8, SVT, DR, ZDF/Arte |
K-Pop Evolution Producers: Robert Ock, Sejin Park, Ann Shin. Executive Producers: Scot McFadyen, Sam Dunn Canada, South Korea / YouTube Originals | | Witness Producers: Lisa Camillo, Owen Kean, Saad Zuberi, Amber Fares, Emile Guertin, Reem Haddad. Executive Producer: Fiona Lawson-Baker Italy, Pakistan, Israel / Al Jazeera English |
Best Multi-Part Audio Documentary or Series
My Fugitive Host: Nina Gilden Seavey. Senior Producer: Kat Aaron. Managing Editors: Joel Lovell, Maddy Sprung-Kaiser. Producers: Agerenesh Ashagre, Justine Daum, Janelle Anderson, Maria Robins-Somerville, Xandra Ellin. Executive Producers: Jenna Weiss-Berman, Max Linsky USA / Pineapple Street Studios | | I'm Not A Monster Reporter/Producer: Josh Baker. Producers: Joe Kent, Max Green. Executive Producers: Raney Aronson-Rath, Dylan Haskins UK, USA, Syria / FRONTLINE, BBC Sounds, BBC Panorama |
Suave (winner) Reporters: Maggie Freleng, Julieta Martinelli. Producer/Executive Producer: Maria Hinojosa. Producers: Maggie Freleng, Julieta Martinelli, Marlon Bishop, Audrey Quinn, Stephanie Lebow USA / Futuro Studios, PRX | | Through The Cracks Reporter: Jonquilyn Hill. Producers: Ruth Tam, Patrick Fort. Executive Producer: Poncie Rutsch USA / WAMU, PRX |
The Vanishing of Harry Pace Producers: Shima Oliaee, Jami Floyd, Jad Abumrad USA / WNYC | | |
Best Stand-Alone Audio Documentary
La foresta dei violini Composers: Francesca Bolognesi, Benoit Bories. Producers: RSI SRG.SSR Rete Due Laser, Faïdos Sonore Switzerland, Italy, France | | VICE News Reports: Monaea, A 2020 Diary (winner) Reporter: Monaea Upton. Reporter/Producer: Jen Kinney. Producers: Ashley Cleek, Adizah Eghan, Kyle Murdock, Adreanna Rodriguez. Executive Producer: Kate Osborn USA / VICE News, iHeartRadio |
The Story of Two Moms Director: Woo-Kwang Kim. Executive Producer: Yeon-Hui Lee South Korea / KBS | | |
Best Music Documentary
Lydia Lunch: The War Is Never Over Director/Producer: Beth B USA / Kino Lorber | | Tina Directors: Dan Lindsay, T.J. Martin Producers: Simon Chinn, Jonathan Chinn, Diane Becker USA / HBO, HBO Max |
The Sparks Brothers Director/Producer: Edgar Wright Producers: Nira Park, George Hencken, Laura Richardson UK / Focus Features | | The Velvet Underground Director/Producer: Todd Haynes Producers: Christine Vachon, Julie Goldman, Christopher Clements, Carolyn Hepburn, David Blackman USA / Apple TV+ |
Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) (winner) Director: Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson Producers: Joseph Patel, Robert Fyvolent, David Dinerstein USA / Hulu, Searchlight Pictures | | |
David L. Wolper Student Documentary Award
This award recognizes exceptional achievement in non-fiction film and video production at the university level and brings greater public and industry awareness to the work of students in the documentary field.
Anchored Out Directors/Producers: Katie Bernstein, Clara Mokri USA / UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism | | Seahorse (winner) Director/Producer: Nele Dehnenkamp Producer: Christine Duttlinger Germany / Film Academy Baden-Württemberg / POV Shorts |
In The Space You Left Director/Producer: Christine Saab. Producer: Ju Park UK / National Film and Television School | | The Doll Director/Producer: Elahe Esmaili Iran / Tehran University of Art |
No Soy Óscar Director: Jon Ayon. Producer: Emily Ruth Smith USA, Mexico / Stanford University | | |
Best Cinematography
Ascension Cinematographers: Jessica Kingdon, Nathan Truesdell USA / MTV Documentary Films | | The Lost Leonardo Cinematographer: Adam Jandrup Denmark, France / Sony Pictures Classics |
Cusp Cinematographers: Isabel Bethencourt, Parker Hill USA / SHOWTIME Documentary Films | | The First Wave Cinematographers: Ross McDonnell, Thorsten Thielow, Brian Dawson, Matthew Heineman, Alex Pritz USA / National Geographic |
Faya Dayi (winner) Cinematographer: Jessica Beshir Ethiopia, USA, Qatar | | |
Best Editing
Charm Circle Editors: Michael Levine, Nira Burstein USA | | Simple As Water Editors: Purcell Carson, Megan Mylan USA, Syria |
Homeroom Editors: Kristina Motwani, Rebecca Adorno USA / Hulu | | Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) (winner) Editor: Joshua L. Pearson USA / Hulu, Searchlight Pictures |
Procession Editor: Robert Greene USA / Netflix | | |
Best Music Score
Eyes on the Prize: Hallowed Ground (winner) Composer: Roman GianArthur USA / HBO Max | | Speer Goes to Hollywood Composer: Frank Ilfman Israel, Austria, Germany |
Manzanar, Diverted: When Water Becomes Dust Composers: Lori Goldston, Steve Fisk, Alexander Miranda USA / PBS | | The Lost Leonardo Composer: Sveinung Nygaard Denmark, France / Sony Pictures Classics |
Pelé Composers: Antônio Pinto, Gabriel Ferreira, Felipe Kim USA, Brazil / Netflix | | The Neutral Ground Composer: Sultana Isham USA / PBS |
Best Writing
Duty Free Writer: Sian-Pierre Regis USA / Independent Lens, PBS | | Not Going Quietly Writers: Nicholas Bruckman, Amanda Roddy USA / Greenwich Entertainment |
Eyes On The Prize: Hallowed Ground Writers: Lenelle Moïse, Sophia Nahli Allison USA / HBO Max | | The One And Only Dick Gregory Writer: Andre Gaines USA / SHOWTIME Documentary Films, Cinemation Studios, Hartbeat Productions, Hillman Grad Productions |
North By Current (winner) Writer: Angelo Madsen Minax USA / POV, PBS | | |
ABC News VideoSource Award
The ABC News VideoSource Award is given each year for the best use of news footage as an integral component in a documentary.
9/11 Inside the President War Room Director/Producer: Adam Wishart Producer: Simon Finch UK, USA / Apple TV+ | | Like a Rolling Stone: The Life & Times of Ben Fong-Torres Director/Producer: Suzanne Joe Kai USA |
American Experience: Sandra Day O’Connor Director/Producer: Michelle Ferrari Producer: Connie Honeycutt USA / PBS | | Whirlybird (winner) Director/Producer: Matt Yoka Producer: Diane Becker USA / Greenwich Entertainment, A&E IndieFilms |
Cured Directors/Producers: Patrick Sammon, Bennett Singer USA / Independent Lens, PBS | | |
Pare Lorentz Award
The Pare Lorentz Award recognizes films that demonstrate exemplary filmmaking while focusing on the appropriate use of the natural environment, justice for all and the illumination of pressing social problems.
The First Wave (winner) Director: Matthew Heineman Producers: Jenna Millman, Leslie Norville USA / National Geographic | | Tigre Gente (honorable mention) Director/Producer: Elizabeth Unger Producer: Joanna Natasegara USA |