2024 IDA Documentary Awards nominations: ‘Sugarcane’ and ‘Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat’ lead en route to Oscars

“Sugarcane” earned a leading five nominations, followed by “Soundtrack to Coup d’Etat” with four for the 40th annual International Documentary Association (IDA) Awards. These Oscar precursors will be celebrated in a ceremony on Dec. 5 at the Orpheum Theater in Los Angeles. See the full list of nominees below.

Among this year’s IDA nominees for Best Feature, only “Sugarcane” was also nominated for the top prize by the Critics Choice Documentary Awards. Nominees in Best Documentary Feature and Best Documentary Short categories have been selected from the shortlists previously announced. IDA members will have access to view each of the nominated films and can begin voting on November 19, 2024.

IDA has been an inconsistent, but important precursor for the Oscars. Last year, only one of the IDA top 10 went on to contend for Best Documentary Feature: “Bobi Wine: The People’s President” lost that Oscar race to “20 Days in Mariupol.” The year prior, all five of the Oscar nominees had first contended here. While the IDA members went with “All That Breathes,” Academy voters chose “Navalny.” In 2021, the IDA was three for five: the Oscars winner “Summer of Soul” as well as IDA champ “Flee” and “Writing with Fire.” Likewise in 2020 when IDA winner “Crip Camp” was nominated along with “Collective” and “Time.” However, the IDA snubbed eventual Oscar champ “My Octopus Teacher.”

Best Feature Documentary

Best Short Documentary

• A Move (Iran, UK | The New York Times Op-Docs | Director: Elahe Esmaili | Producer: Hossein Behboudi Rad)
• A Movement Against the Transparency of the Stars of the Seas (USA, Philippines | Criterion Channel | Director: Esy Casey | Producer: Esy Casey, Nur Jannah Kaalim)
• Amma ki Katha (India | Director: Nehal Vyas | Producer: Nehal Vyas, Advik Beni)
• Enchunkunoto (The Return) (Kenya | Director: Laissa Malih | Producer: Kavita Pillay, Adam Mazo, Tracy Rector, Taylor Hensel)
• Instruments of a Beating Heart (Japan | The New York Times Op-Docs | Director: Ema Ryan Yamazaki | Producer: Eric Nyari)
• Modern Goose (Canada | The New York Times Op-Docs | Director: Karsten Wall | Producer: Alicia Smith)
• Nine Easy Dances(Canada | York University | Director/Producer: Nora Rosenthal)
• The Medallion (UK, Ethiopia, USA | The New Yorker, SUDU Connexion | Director: Ruth Hunduma | Producer: Lily Usher, Tolu Stedford)
• The Poem We Sang (Canada, Palestine, Jordan | MAD Solutions | Director: Annie Sakkab | Producer: Annie Sakkab, Paul Lee)
• Until He’s Back (USA, Spain, Morocco | PBS POV & Scripps News | Director: Jacqueline Baylon | Producer: Jacqueline Baylon, Hailey Gavin)

Best Director

• Agniia Galdanova, “Queendom” (Greenwich Entertainment | USA, France)
• Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Rachel Szor & Yuval Abraham, “No Other Land” (Palestine, Norway, USA)
• Johan Grimonprez, “Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat” (Kino Lorber | Belgium, France, Netherlands)
• Julian Brave NoiseCat, Emily Kassie, “Sugarcane” (National Geographic | USA)
• Shiori Ito, “Black Box Diaries” (MTV Documentary Films | Japan, USA, UK)

Best Cinematography

• Arun Bhattarai, “Agent of Happiness” (Film Movement | Bhutan, Hungary)
• Alix Blair, “Helen and the Bear” (N/A | USA)
• Sareen Hairabedian, “My Sweet Land” (ITVS – PBS / ARTE France / RTS | Jordan, France)
• Ruslan Fedotov, “Queendom” (Greenwich Entertainment | USA, France)
• Christopher LaMarca, Emily Kassie, “Sugarcane” (National Geographic | USA)

Best Editing

• Ema Ryan Yamazaki, “Black Box Diaries” (MTV Documentary Films | Japan, USA, UK)
• Katrina Taylor, “Helen and the Bear” (N/A | USA)
• Raphaelle Martin-Holger, Sareen Hairabedian, “My Sweet Land” (ITVS – PBS / ARTE France / RTS | Jordan, France)
• Rik Chaubet, “Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat” (Kino Lorber | Belgium, France, Netherlands)
• Nathan Punwar, Maya Daisy Hawke, “Sugarcane” (National Geographic | USA)

Best Original Music Score

• Víctor Hernández Stumpfhauser, “Frida” (Amazon MGM Studios | USA)
• Maxwell Sterling, “Life and Other Problems” (DR Sales | Denmark, UK, Sweden)
• Tigran Hamasyan, “My Sweet Land” (ITVS – PBS / ARTE France / RTS | Jordan, France)
• Mali Obomsawin, “Sugarcane” (National Geographic | USA)
• Uno Helmersson, “The Remarkable Life of Ibelin” (Netflix | USA)

Best Writing

Best TV Feature Documentary or Mini-Series

• Madu (Disney+ | USA, UK, Nigeria | Directors: Matthew Ogens, Joel ‘Kachi Benson | Producers: Jamie Patricof, Katie McNeill, Rachel Halilej)
• Night Is Not Eternal ( HBO | Max | USA | Director: Nanfu Wang | Producers: Nanfu Wang, Lori Cheatle)
• Stolen Gold (ESPN | UK, USA, Spain | Director: Suemay Oram | Producer: Santi Aguado, Gentry Kirby)
• The Apartheid Killer (BBC World Service | UK, South Africa | Director: Charlie Northcott, Isa Jacobson | Producers: Isa Jacobson, Charlie Northcott)
• Two American Families: 1991-2024 (PBS | USA | Directors: Tom Casciato, Kathleen Hughes |  Producers: Tom Casciato, Kathleen Hughes, Frank Koughan, Nina Chaudry)

Best Curated Series

• 30 for 30 (ESPN Films | USA | EPs: Heather Anderson, Marsha Cooke, Brian Lockhart, Burke Magnus)
• 99 – We all share 99% of the same DNA (N/A | France | EP: Jérôme Plan)
• Independent Lens (PBS | USA | EPs: Lois Vossen, Carrie Lozano)
• POV (PBS | USA | EPs: Erika Dilday, Chris White)
• The New York Times Op-Docs (The New York Times Op-Docs | USA | EP: Adam Ellick)

Best Episodic Series

Best Music Documentary

• Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story (National Film Board of Canada | Canada | Directors: Michael Mabbott, Lucah Rosenberg-Lee| Producers: Amanda Burt, Justine Pimlott, Sam Dunn, Scott McFadyen)
• Beatles 64 (Disney+ | Director: David Tedeschi | USA | Producers: Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Olivia Harrison, Sean Ono Lennon, Martin Scorsese, Margaret Bodde, Jonathan Clyde, Mikaela Beardsley)
• Maestra (BRKLY | USA | Director: Maggie Contreras, Producers: Maggie Contreras, Neil Berkeley, Emma West, Melanie Miller, Lauren Lexton)
• Omar & Cedric: If This Ever Gets Weird (Oscilloscope Laboratories | USA | Director: Nicolas Jack Davies | Producers: Johann Scheerer)
• Songs from the Hole (N/A | USA | Director: Contessa Gayles | Producer: Contessa Gayles, richie reseda, David Felix Sutcliffe)

Best Limited Series Documentary

• A Town Called Victoria (PBS | USA | Director: Li Lu | Producers: Li Lu, Anthony Pedone | EPs: Deniese Davis, Hunter Arnold, Lois Vossen, Rachel Raney, Royd Chung, Donald Young, Stephen Gong, Li Lu)
• Choir (Disney+ | USA | Director: Rudy Valdez | EPs: Jason Blum, Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, Justin Wilkes, Sara Bernstein, Michael Seitzman, Chris McCumber, Jeremy Gold, Gretchen Palek, Ryan Miller, Rudy Valdez, Ross Dinerstein)
• Hitler and the Nazis: Evil on Trial (Netflix | USA | Director: Joe Berlinger | EPs: Joe Berlinger, Tim Pastore, Patrick Milling-Smith, Matt Renner, Yoshi Stone)
• Murder in Boston: Roots, Rampage & Reckoning (HBO | Max | USA | Director: Jason Hehir | Producers: Jason Hehir, Jacob Rogal, Nicholas Eisenberg, Jilllian Moosmamm | EPs: Joie Jacoby, Linda Pizzuti Henry, Dan Krockmalnic, Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller, Sara Rodriguez)
• STAX: Soulsville U.S.A. (HBO | Max | USA | Director: Jamila Wignot | Producers: Jamila Wignot, Kara Elverson | EPs: Ezra Edelman, Caroline Waterlow, Nigel Sinclair, Nicholas Ferrall, Scott Pascucci, Sophia Dilley, Michele Smith, Jody Gerson, David Blackman, Charlie Cohen, Ron Broitman, Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller, Tina Nguyen)

Best Audio Documentary

• “What’s Up, Michael Freeman?” (Ear Hustle and Radiotopia from PRX | USA | Host: Earlonne Woods, Nigel Poor | Engineers: Earlonne Woods, Fernando Arruda, Harry Culhane | USA | Producers: Amy Standen, Bruce Wallace, Rahsaan Thomas)
• Long Shadow: In Guns We Trust (PRX | USA | Hosts:  Garrett M. Graff and Jennifer Mascia | Engineers: Claire Mullen and Yi-Wen Lai-Tremewan | Producers: John Patrick Pullen, Emily Martinez. Matthew Shaer, and Aleah Papes)
• Pack One Bag (Lemonada | USA | Host: David Modigliani | Engineer: Willa Kaufman | Producers: David Modigliani, Willa Kaufman, Nicki Stein, Eric Spiegelman, Whitney Donaldson, Stanley Tucci, Jessica Cordova Kramer, Stephanie Wittels Wachs)
• Shadowball: Rise of the Black Athlete (Audible | USA | Host: Jemele Hill | Engineer: Neil Cabana | Producers: Joy Road Entertainment, PG Cuschieri, Jim Young, Matthew Hatchette, Neil Cabana, Carey Williams, Jemele Hill)
• The Sunday Story: A Song for Grief in China (NPR | USA, China | Hosts: John Ruwitch, Aowen Cao | Engineer: Josh Newel | Producers: Justine Yan, Jenny Schmidt)

David L. Wolper Student Documentary

• Her Name Was Zehava (NYU’s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute | USA, Israel | Director: Tamar Baruch | Producer: Tamar Baruch)
• Jerhy ( University of California, Santa Cruz | Costa Rica, USA, | Director: John Ortiz | Producer: John Ortiz)
• Milk (National Film and Television School | UK | Director: Miranda Stern | Producer: Ashionye Ogene)
• The Anarchist and The Fridge (School of Visual Arts MFA Social Documentary Film | USA | Director: Yunchang Zhang | Producer: Yunchang Zhang)
• The Waiter, the Scientist and Jenny (National Film and Television School | UK | Director: Joe Snelling | Producer: Joe Snelling)

The IDA Documentary Awards is one of the world’s most prestigious events 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.