'Apollo 11' dominates fourth annual CCA documentary awards with 5 wins
The Critics Choice Association (CCA) announced the winners of the fourth annual Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards tonight at a gala event, hosted by HGTV’s Jonathan Scott of Property Brothers at BRIC in Brooklyn, N.Y.
“Once again, we are thrilled to celebrate and support the vibrant and groundbreaking work of these talented documentarians,” said CCA CEO Joey Berlin. “We are proud that our yearly gala event has become an informed and valuable way for people to find the best films out there and for the work of these filmmakers to find their audiences,”
Apollo 11 took home the evening’s most prestigious award for Best Documentary Feature, as well as Best Editing for Todd Douglas Miller, Best Score for Matt Morton, Best Archival Documentary, and Best Science/Nature Documentary.
However, two other films shared Best Director honors in a tie between Peter Jackson for They Shall Not Grow Old, and Julia Reichert and Steven Bognar for American Factory. The former also brought home the award for Most Innovative Documentary, while the latter also won the award for Best Political Documentary.
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| Never-before-seen footage of the first moon mission is abundant in "Apolo 11." |
During the ceremony, a special new honor, The D A Pennebaker Award, was presented to legendary documentarian Frederick Wiseman. Formerly known as the Critics’ Choice Lifetime Achievement Award, the award is named for prior winner D A Pennebaker, who passed away last summer. It was presented by filmmaker Chris Hegedus, Pennebaker’s longtime collaborator and widow.
Additionally, acclaimed filmmaker Michael Apted was presented with The Landmark Award, an honor bestowed upon him for his extraordinary and unparalleled achievement with the Up series, which has just added 63 Up, distributed by BritBox, to this historic work. The award was presented by Michael Moore, who was honored with the Critics’ Choice Lifetime Achievement Award last year.
Other presenters at the star-studded event included Jim Gaffigan, Zooey Deschanel, Rose McGowan, Dr. Ruth Westheimer, Wyatt Cenac, Lou Diamond Phillips, Gloria Reuben, and many others.
Remaining award winners were:
Best Cinematography: John Chester, The Biggest Little Farm.
Best Narration: Bruce Springsteen, Western Stars.
Best First Documentary Feature: Directors Tamara Kotevska and Ljubomir Stefanov, Honeyland.
Best Biographical Documentary: Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am.
Best Music Documentary: Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice.
Best Sports Documentary: Maiden.
Best Short Documentary: Period. End of Sentence.
Finally, this year’s honorees for Most Compelling Living Subject in a Documentary were Dr. Amani Ballor (The Cave); David Crosby (David Crosby: Remember My Name); Tracy Edwards (Maiden): Imelda Marcos (The Kingmaker): Hatidze Muratova (Honeyland): Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Amy Vilela, Cori Bush, and Paula Jean Swearengin (Knock Down the House): Linda Ronstadt (Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice), and Dr. Ruth Westheimer (Ask Dr. Ruth).
The documentary awards are an off-shoot of The Critics’ Choice Awards, which are bestowed annually by CCA to honor the finest in cinematic and television achievement. Historically, the Critics’ Choice Awards are the most accurate predictor of the Academy Award nominations.
The CW Television Network will again partner with CCA as the exclusive broadcast home for the 25th annual Critics’ Choice Awards, honoring the finest achievements in both movies and television as part of a three-hour special on The CW on Jan. 12.
(story courtesy of CCA)
