Critics Choice Documentary Awards 2024 Winners List

Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story and Will & Harper tied for best documentary feature at the 2024 Critics Choice Documentary Awards on Sunday night.

The first film won in all six of the categories in which it was nominated.

In addition to best documentary feature, Super/Man, about the actor who played the Man of Steel and his advocacy for disability awareness after he was paralyzed in a tragic accident, won best director (Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui), best editing (Otto Burnham), best score (Ilan Eshkeri), best archival documentary and best biographical documentary.

Sugarcane, which scored the most nominations this year with eight, won two awards, for best political documentary and best true-crime documentary. The Last of the Sea Women and Simone Biles Rising also won two awards each. The first film, which counts Malala Yousafzai among its producers, won the awards for best cinematography (Iris Ng, Eunson Choo and Justin Turkowski) and best science/nature documentary. Simone Biles Rising won for best sports doc and best limited docuseries.

Daughters‘ Natalie Rae and Angela Patton won best new documentary filmmaker(s), and Steve! (Martin) A Documentary in 2 Pieces won for best narration, written and performed by Steve Martin.

Additionally, The Greatest Night in Pop won best historical documentary; Music by John Williams won best music documentary; and 30 for 30 was named best ongoing documentary series.

In addition to the competitive awards, Rory Kennedy received the Pennebaker Award, named after D.A. Pennebaker and presented by Chris Hegedus, Pennebaker’s longtime collaborator and widow.

The ninth annual Critics Choice Awards were presented Sunday night at New York’s Edison Ballroom. The ceremony, hosted by Erich Bergen, was also livestreamed on YouTube, X and Facebook. Presenters and guests included Ron Howard, Chelsea Clinton, Amanda Zurawski, Jerry and Jessica Seinfeld, Jeremy Piven, Bridget Moynahan, Lorraine Toussaint, Michael Cyril Creighton, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Ali Wentworth, R.J. Cutler, Lauren Greenfield, Andrew Jarecki, Ken Leung, Chai Vasarhelyi and Marc Shaiman.

A complete list of this year’s Critics Choice Documentary Awards winners follows.

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story (National Geographic)
Daughters (Netflix)
The Greatest Night in Pop (Netflix)
Jim Henson Idea Man (Disney+)
Music by John Williams (Walt Disney Studios)
Piece by Piece (Focus Features)
The Remarkable Life of Ibelin (Netflix)
Sugarcane (National Geographic)
Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story (Warner Bros. Pictures, DC Studios, HBO
Documentary Films, CNN Films) (WINNER – TIE)
Will & Harper (Netflix) (WINNER – TIE)

BEST DIRECTOR

Ian Bonhôte & Peter Ettedgui – Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story (Warner Bros.
Pictures, DC Studios, HBO Documentary Films, CNN Films) (WINNER)
Josh Greenbaum – Will & Harper (Netflix)
Ron Howard – Jim Henson Idea Man (Disney+)
Julian Brave NoiseCat & Emily Kassie – Sugarcane (National Geographic)
Natalie Rae & Angela Patton – Daughters (Netflix)
Benjamin Ree – The Remarkable Life of Ibelin (Netflix)

BEST NEW DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKER(S)

Brendan Bellomo & Slava Leontyev – Porcelain War (Picturehouse)
Carla Gutiérrez – Frida (Amazon MGM Studios)
Charlie Hamilton James – Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story
(National Geographic)
Sue Kim – The Last of the Sea Women (Apple TV+)
Julian Brave NoiseCat & Emily Kassie – Sugarcane (National Geographic)
Natalie Rae & Angela Patton – Daughters (Netflix) (WINNER)

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Michael Cambio Fernandez – Daughters (Netflix)
Charlie Hamilton James, Johnny Rolt, Bertie Gregory – Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story
(National Geographic)
Christopher LaMarca, Emily Kassie – Sugarcane (National Geographic)
Iris Ng, Eunsoo Cho, Justin Turkowski – The Last of the Sea Women (Apple TV+) (WINNER)
Zoë White – Will & Harper (Netflix)
Jessica Young – The Blue Angels (Amazon MGM Studios)

BEST EDITING

Otto Burnham – Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story (Warner Bros. Pictures, DC Studios,
HBO Documentary Films, CNN Films) (WINNER)
Rik Chaubet – Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat (Kino Lorber)
Paul Crowder – Jim Henson Idea Man (Disney+)
Troy Lewis, Adelina Bichiș – Daughters (Netflix)
Nathan Punwar, Maya Daisy Hawke – Sugarcane (National Geographic)
Robert Stengård – The Remarkable Life of Ibelin (Netflix)

BEST SCORE

Erland Cooper – Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story (National Geographic)
Ilan Eshkeri – Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story (Warner Bros. Pictures, DC Studios,
HBO Documentary Films, CNN Films) (WINNER)
Nathan Halpern – Will & Harper (Netflix)
Uno Helmersson – The Remarkable Life of Ibelin (Netflix)
Kelsey Lu – Daughters (Netflix)
Marc Shaiman – Albert Brooks: Defending My Life (HBO | Max)

BEST NARRATION

Bad River (50 Eggs Films)
Written by Mary Mazzio
Performed by Quannah ChasingHorse & Edward Norton

Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story (National Geographic)
Written by Charlie Hamilton James
Performed by Billy Mail & Susan Mail

Dahomey (Mubi)
Written by Makenzy Orcel
Performed by Lucrece Houegbelo, Parfait Viayinon, Didier Sedoha Nassegande, and Sabine
Badjogoumin

Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger (Cohen Media Group)
Written and performed by Martin Scorsese

Queens (National Geographic)
Written by Chloë Sarosh
Performed by Angela Bassett

Steve! (Martin) A Documentary in 2 Pieces (Apple TV+) (WINNER)
Written and performed by Steve Martin

BEST ARCHIVAL DOCUMENTARY

Black Twitter: A People’s History (Hulu/Onyx Collective)
The Greatest Night in Pop (Netflix)
Jim Henson Idea Man (Disney+)
Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger (Cohen Media Group)
Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat (Kino Lorber)
Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story (Warner Bros. Pictures, DC Studios, HBO
Documentary Films, CNN Films) (WINNER)

BEST HISTORICAL DOCUMENTARY

Bad River (50 Eggs Films)
Dahomey (Mubi)
The Greatest Night in Pop (Netflix) (WINNER)
Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger (Cohen Media Group)
Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat (Kino Lorber)
Sugarcane (National Geographic)

BEST BIOGRAPHICAL DOCUMENTARY

Frida (Amazon MGM Studios)
I Am: Celine Dion (Amazon MGM Studios)
Jim Henson Idea Man (Disney+)
The Remarkable Life of Ibelin (Netflix)
Steve! (Martin) A Documentary in 2 Pieces (Apple TV+)
Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story (Warner Bros. Pictures, DC Studios, HBO
Documentary Films, CNN Films) (WINNER)

BEST MUSIC DOCUMENTARY

The Greatest Night in Pop (Netflix)
I Am: Celine Dion (Amazon MGM Studios)
Music by John Williams (Walt Disney Studios) (WINNER)
Piece by Piece (Focus Features)
Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band (Hulu)
Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat (Kino Lorber)

BEST POLITICAL DOCUMENTARY

Bad River (50 Eggs Films)
Girls State (Apple TV+)
Porcelain War (Picturehouse)
Stopping the Steal (HBO | Max)
Sugarcane (National Geographic) (WINNER)
The Truth vs. Alex Jones (HBO | Max)

BEST SCIENCE/NATURE DOCUMENTARY

Apollo 13: Survival (Netflix)
Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story (National Geographic)
Blink (National Geographic)
The Last of the Sea Women (Apple TV+) (WINNER)
Secrets of the Octopus (National Geographic)
The Space Race (National Geographic)

BEST SPORTS DOCUMENTARY

Copa 71 (New Black Films)
The Dynasty: New England Patriots (Apple TV+)
Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa (Netflix)
Mr. McMahon (Netflix)
Simone Biles Rising (Netflix) (WINNER)
The Turnaround (Netflix)

BEST TRUE CRIME DOCUMENTARY

American Nightmare (Netflix)
Black Box Diaries (MTV Documentary Films/Paramount+)
Incident (The New Yorker)
The Jinx – Part Two (HBO | Max)
Stopping the Steal (HBO | Max)
Sugarcane (National Geographic) (WINNER)

BEST SHORT DOCUMENTARY

I Am Ready, Warden (MTV Documentary Films/Paramount+)
Incident (The New Yorker)
Makayla’s Voice: A Letter to the World (Netflix)
Once Upon a Time in Ukraine (Earle Mack Productions, Storyville Films, Goldcrest Films)
The Only Girl in the Orchestra (Netflix) (WINNER)
The Turnaround (Netflix)

BEST LIMITED DOCUMENTARY SERIES

America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders (Netflix)
Black Twitter: A People’s History (Hulu/Onyx Collective)
Mr. McMahon (Netflix)
Ren Faire (HBO | Max)
Secrets of the Octopus (National Geographic)
Simone Biles Rising (Netflix) (WINNER)

BEST ONGOING DOCUMENTARY SERIES

30 for 30 (ESPN) (WINNER)
America’s Most Wanted (Fox Broadcasting Company)
The Food That Built America (History)
Independent Lens (PBS)
The Jinx – Part Two (HBO | Max)
POV (PBS)