The 2018 Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards took place Saturday night at BRIC in Brooklyn. Voted on by the Broadcast Film Critics Association and the Broadcast Television Journalists Association, they are somewhat of a precursor for what to expect at the Oscars in the Best Documentary Feature category.
This year’s Best Documentary winner as chosen by the critics is Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, about beloved television icon Mister Rogers. Its director, Morgan Neville, also walked away with the Best Director prize, on top of a Best Editing victory. Free Solo won three awards of its own: Best Sports Documentary, Most Innovative Documentary and Best Cinematography.
Here’s the full list of winners and nominees at this year’s Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards, with winners at the top and in bold.
BEST DOCUMENTARY
Won’t You Be My Neighbor? – Director: Morgan Neville
- Crime + Punishment – Director: Stephen Maing
- Dark Money – Director: Kimberly Reed
- Free Solo – Directors: Jimmy Chin, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi
- Hal – Director: Amy Scott
- Hitler’s Hollywood – Director: Rüdiger Suchsland
- Minding the Gap – Director: Bing Liu
- RBG – Directors: Julie Cohen, Betsy West
- Three Identical Strangers – Director: Tim Wardle
- Wild Wild Country – Directors: Chapman Way, Maclain Way
BEST LIMITED DOCUMENTARY SERIES
The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling (HBO)
- America to Me (Starz)
- Dirty Money (Netflix)
- Elvis Presley: The Searcher (HBO)
- Flint Town (Netflix)
- The Fourth Estate (Showtime)
- One Strange Rock (National Geographic)
- Wild Wild Country (Netflix)
BEST ONGOING DOCUMENTARY SERIES
Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown (CNN)
- 30 for 30 (ESPN)
- American Masters (PBS)
- Frontline (PBS)
- The History of Comedy (CNN)
- Independent Lens (PBS)
- Making a Murderer (Netflix)
- POV (PBS)
BEST DIRECTOR
Morgan Neville – Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
- Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi – Free Solo
- Bing Liu – Minding the Gap
- Kimberly Reed – Dark Money
- Rüdiger Suchsland – Hitler’s Hollywood
- Tim Wardle – Three Identical Strangers
BEST FIRST TIME DIRECTOR
Cristina Costantini and Darren Foster – Science Fair
Bing Liu – Minding the Gap
- Heather Lenz – Kusama – Infinity
- Stephen Nomura Schible – Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda
- Rudy Valdez – The Sentence
- Chapman Way and Maclain Way – Wild Wild Country
BEST POLITICAL DOCUMENTARY
RBG – Directors: Julie Cohen, Betsy West
- Dark Money – Director: Kimberly Reed
- Fahrenheit 11/9 – Director: Michael Moore
- Flint Town – Directors: Zackary Canepari, Drea Cooper, Jessica Dimmock
- The Fourth Estate – Directors: Liz Garbus, Jenny Carchman
- Hitler’s Hollywood – Director: Rüdiger Suchsland
- John McCain: For Whom the Bell Tolls – Directors: George Kunhardt, Peter W. Kunhardt, Teddy Kunhardt
BEST SPORTS DOCUMENTARY
Free Solo – Directors: Jimmy Chin, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi
- Andre the Giant – Director: Jason Hehir
- Being Serena
- John McEnroe: In the Realm of Perfection – Director: Julien Faraut
- Minding the Gap – Director: Bing Liu
- The Workers Cup – Director: Adam Sobel
BEST MUSIC DOCUMENTARY
Quincy – Directors: Alan Hicks, Rashida Jones
- Bad Reputation – Director: Kevin Kerslake
- David Bowie: The Last Five Years – Director: Francis Whately
- Elvis Presley: The Searcher – Director: Thom Zimny
- Lynyrd Skynyrd: If I Leave Here Tomorrow – Director: Stephen Kijak
- Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda – Director: Stephen Nomura Schible
- Whitney – Director: Kevin Macdonald
MOST COMPELLING LIVING SUBJECT OF A DOCUMENTARY
(ALL LISTED IN THE CATEGORY WERE HONORED AT THE EVENT)
- Scotty Bowers – Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood
- Ruth Bader Ginsburg – RBG
- Alex Honnold – Free Solo
- Joan Jett – Bad Reputation
- Quincy Jones – Quincy
- David Kellman and Bobby Shafran – Three Identical Strangers
- John McEnroe – John McEnroe: In the Realm of Perfection
- Leon Vitali – Filmworker
MOST INNOVATIVE DOCUMENTARY
Free Solo – Directors: Jimmy Chin, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi
- 306 Hollywood – Directors: Elan Bogarin, Jonathan Bogarin
- Hitler’s Hollywood – Director: Rüdiger Suchsland
- Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda – Director: Stephen Nomura Schible
- Wild Wild Country – Directors: Chapman Way, Maclain Way
- Won’t You Be My Neighbor? – Director: Morgan Neville
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Free Solo – Cinematographers: Jimmy Chin, Clair Popkin, Mikey Schaefer
- 306 Hollywood – Cinematographers: Elan Bogarin, Jonathan Bogarin, Alejandro Mejía
- The Dawn Wall – Cinematographer: Brett Lowell
- Minding the Gap – Cinematographer: Bing Liu
- Pandas – Cinematographer: David Douglas
- Wild Wild Country – Cinematographer: Adam Stone
BEST EDITING
Won’t You Be My Neighbor? – Editors: Jeff Malmberg, Aaron Wickenden
- Dark Money – Editor: Jay Arthur Sterrenberg
- Filmworker – Editor: Tony Zierra
- Free Solo – Editor: Bob Eisenhardt
- John McEnroe: In the Realm of Perfection – Editor: Julien Faraut
- Three Identical Strangers – Editor: Michael Harte