Awards
Here’s a partial list of awards our filmmakers have received.
¡Las Sandinistas!:
South by Southwest Film Festival (SXSW): Special Jury Recognition (2018)
Mostra Internacional de Cinema / Sao Paulo International Film Festival: New filmmaker Competition, Best Film Award (2018)
(T)ERROR:
News and Documentary Emmy Awards: Outstanding Investigative Documentary (2016)
Sundance Film Festival: U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Break Out First Feature (2015)
International Documentary Association (IDA): Emerging Documentary Filmmaker Award (2015)
Full Frame Documentary Film Festival: Grand Jury Prize (2015)
1971:
International Documentary Association (IDA): ABC News Videosource Award (2014)
45365:
South by Southwest Film Festival (SXSW): Documentary Feature Grand Jury Award (2009)
A Class Apart:
Imagen Awards: Best Documentary (2009)
A Film Unfinished:
Sundance Film Festival: World Cinema Documentary Editing Award (2010)
A Hard Straight:
South by Southwest Film Festival (SXSW): Documentary Jury Award (2004)
A Healthy Baby Girl:
Peabody Awards: George Foster Peabody Award (1997)
A Lion in the House:
Full Frame Documentary Film Festival: Special Jury Citation (2006)
Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival: Audience Award - Best Documentary (2006)
Primetime Emmy Awards: Exceptional Merit in Nonfiction Filmmaking (2007)
A Lion's Trail:
News and Documentary Emmy Awards: Outstanding Cultural and Artistic Programming (2005)
A Panther in Africa:
CINE Golden Eagle Awards: CINE Golden Eagle Award (2004)
A Place of Our Own:
CINE Golden Eagle Awards: CINE Golden Eagle Award (2005)
A Room Nearby:
Peabody Awards: George Foster Peabody Award (2006)
A Son's Sacrifice:
CINE Golden Eagle Awards: CINE Golden Eagle Award (2007)
Tribeca Film Festival: Best Documentary Short (2007)
International Documentary Association (IDA): IDA Award - Short Documentaries (2007)
A Story of People in War and Peace:
Tribeca Film Festival: Best New Documentary Filmmaker (2007)
A Village Called Versailles:
New Orleans Film Festival: Audience Award (2009)
Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival: Call to Action Award (2010)
Abacus: Small Enough to Jail:
Academy Awards: Best Documentary Feature (2018) Nominated
News and Documentary Emmy Awards: Outstanding Business and Economic Documentary (2017)
National Board of Review: Top 5 Best Documentaries (2017)
Critics Choice Documentary Award: Best Political Documentary (2017)
Abduction: The Megumi Yokota Story:
Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival: Top 10 Audience Favorite (2006)
duPont Awards: Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award (2009)
Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry:
duPont Awards: Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award (2013)
Mountainfilm in Telluride: Festival Directors Award (2012)
Almost Sunrise:
CINE Golden Eagle Awards: CINE Golden Eagle Award - Current Affairs or Investigations (2018)
Mountainfilm in Telluride: Moving Mountains Prize (2016)
Always in Season:
Sundance Film Festival: U.S, Special Jury Award for Moral Urgency (2019)
American Aloha: Hula Beyond Hawaii:
CINE Golden Eagle Awards: CINE Golden Eagle Award (2004)
An Honest Liar:
AFI Docs Film Festival: Audience Award for Best Feature (2014)
Animated Women:
CINE Golden Eagle Awards: CINE Golden Eagle Award (1994)
Armed With Faith:
News and Documentary Emmy Awards: Outstanding Politics and Government Documentary (2018)
Art & Copy:
News and Documentary Emmy Awards: Outstanding Arts and Culture Programming (2010)
Ask Not:
GLAAD Media Awards: Outstanding Documentary Award (2010)
Ask the Sexpert:
New Orleans Film Festival: Best Documentary Award (2017)
ATTLA:
American Indian Film Festival: Best Documentary Feature (2019)
Be Good, Smile Pretty:
News and Documentary Emmy Awards: Best Documentary (2003)
duPont Awards: Finalist - Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award (2004)
CINE Golden Eagle Awards: CINE Golden Eagle Award (2004)
Los Angeles Film Festival: Documentary Feature Jury Prize (2003)
Be Like Others:
Berlin International Film Festival: Special Jury Prize (2008)
Beautiful Son:
Hawaii International Film Festival: Best Documentary (2007)
Hawaii International Film Festival: Audience Award (2007)
Best of Enemies:
Academy Awards: Best Documentary Feature Shortlist (2015) Nominated
News and Documentary Emmy Awards: Best Historical Documentary (2016)
International Documentary Association (IDA): Best Music (2015)
International Documentary Association (IDA): ABC News VideoSource Award (2015)
National Board of Review: Top 5 Best Documentaries (2015)
Camden International Film Festival: Audience Award (2015)
Between the Folds:
Peabody Awards: George Foster Peabody Award (2009)
Bhutto:
International Documentary Association (IDA): ABC / NEWS VideoSource Award (2010)
Peabody Awards: George Foster Peabody Award (2011)
Billy Strayhorn: Lush Life:
News and Documentary Emmy Awards: Best Documentary (2007)
Peabody Awards: George Foster Peabody Award (2008)
Bitter Seeds:
International Documentary Association (IDA): Humanitas Documentary Award (2012)
Black Is ... Black Ain't:
Sundance Film Festival: Filmmaker’s Trophy (1995)
Blink:
News and Documentary Emmy Awards: Outstanding Coverage of a Continuing News Story (2001)
Blood Brother:
International Documentary Association (IDA): Humanitas Documentary Award (2013)
Sundance Film Festival: Grand Jury Prize (2013)
Sundance Film Festival: Audience Award (2013)
Full Frame Documentary Film Festival: Full Frame Inspiration Award (2013)
Sheffield Doc/Fest: Youth Jury Award (2013)
Body and Soul: Diana and Kathy:
International Documentary Association (IDA): IDA Award Finalist - Short Documentaries (2007)
Brakeless:
Peabody Awards: George Foster Peabody Award (2014)
Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin:
CINE Golden Eagle Awards: CINE Golden Eagle Award (2003)
Brother to Brother:
Sundance Film Festival: Special Jury Prize (Dramatic) (2004)
Chiefs:
Tribeca Film Festival: Best Documentary (2002)
Children of the Amazon:
CINE Golden Eagle Awards: CINE Golden Eagle Award (2011)
China Blue:
CINE Golden Eagle Awards: CINE Golden Eagle Award (2007)
International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA): Amnesty Human Rights Award (2005)
Chisholm '72: Unbought & Unbossed:
Peabody Awards: George Foster Peabody Award (2006)
Circo:
Camden International Film Festival: Special Jury Mention (2010)
City of Borders:
Berlin International Film Festival: Special Teddy (Audience) Award (2009)
Coming Out Under Fire:
Sundance Film Festival: Special Jury Award for Technical Excellence (1994)
International Documentary Association (IDA): Silver Certificate (1994)
GLAAD Media Awards: Outstanding Film Documentary (1995)
Peabody Awards: George Foster Peabody Award (1996)
Conscience Point:
Hamptons Film Festival: Victor Rabinowitz & Joanne Grant Award for Social Justice (2019)
Craft In America:
Peabody Awards: George Foster Peabody Award (2007 )
Crank: Darkness on the Edge of Town:
CINE Golden Eagle Awards: CINE Golden Eagle Award, Professional News Division-Analysis (2008)
Daughter from Danang:
Sundance Film Festival: Grand Jury Prize (2002)
Academy Awards: Best Documentary Feature (2003) Nominated
Dawnland:
News and Documentary Emmy Awards: Outstanding Research (2018)
Deej:
Peabody Awards: George Foster Peabody Award (2017)
Democrats:
Tribeca Film Festival: Best Documentary Feature (2015)
Detropia:
Sundance Film Festival: US Documentary Editing Award (2012)
News and Documentary Emmy Awards: Outstanding Editing: Documentary and Long Form (2013)
Discovering Dominga:
CINE Golden Eagle Awards: CINE Golden Eagle Award (2004)
Dolores:
Peabody Awards: George Foster Peabody Award (2018)
Critics Choice Documentary Award: Most Compelling Living Subject of a Documentary (2017)
Donor Unknown:
Tribeca Film Festival: Audience Award for Best Feature Film (Online) (2011)
Double Dare:
AFI Docs Film Festival: Audience Award for Documentary (2003)
Down a Dark Stairwell:
Ashland Independent Film Festival: Best Documentary Feature (2020)
Indy Film Fest: Best Documentary (2020)
El General:
Sundance Film Festival: Directing Award for US Documentary (2009)
End of the Rainbow:
International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA): First Appearance Award (2007)
Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room:
Academy Awards: Best Documentary Feature (2006) Nominated
Every Mother's Son:
CINE Golden Eagle Awards: CINE Golden Eagle Award (2004)
Tribeca Film Festival: Audience Choice Award (2004)
Evolution of a Criminal:
Full Frame Documentary Film Festival: Reva and David Logan Grand Jury Award (2014)
Full Frame Documentary Film Festival: Center for Documentary Studies Filmmaker Award (2014)
International Documentary Association (IDA): Emerging Documentary Filmmaker Award (2014)
Ex Libris:
Critics Choice Documentary Award: Best Director (2017)
Facing the Dragon:
Human Rights Watch New York Film Festival: Nestor Almendros Award (2018)
Family Remains:
Sundance Film Festival: Award for Excellence in Short Filmmaking (1994)
Farmingville:
CINE Golden Eagle Awards: CINE Golden Eagle Award (2005)
CINE Golden Eagle Awards: CINE Golden Eagle Award (2004)
Sundance Film Festival: Special Jury Prize (Documentary) (2004)
Bend Film Festival: Best in Show (2004)
Father Roy: Inside the School of Assassins:
CINE Golden Eagle Awards: CINE Golden Eagle Award (1997)
Feels Good Man:
Cinema Eye Honors: Outstanding Graphic Design or Animation (2020)
Fenceline: A Company Town Divided:
News and Documentary Emmy Awards: Platinum Award, Television and Cable Production (2002)
Fishbowl:
Hawaii International Film Festival: Hawaii Film and Video Maker Award (2005)
Flag Wars:
CINE Golden Eagle Awards: CINE Golden Eagle Award (2004)
South by Southwest Film Festival (SXSW): Jury Prize (2003)
Peabody Awards: George Foster Peabody Award (2004)
For Better or For Worse:
Academy Awards: Best Documentary Feature (1994) Nominated
For God, Tsar and Fatherland:
Sundance Film Festival: World Cinema Directing Award: Documentary (Nino Kirtadze) (2008)
For Once in My Life:
South by Southwest Film Festival (SXSW): Documentary Feature Audience Award (2010)
International Documentary Association (IDA): Music Documentary Award (2010)
Forever Pure:
News and Documentary Emmy Awards: Outstanding Politics and Government Documentary (2017)
Garbage Dreams:
International Documentary Association (IDA): Humanitas Award (2009)
International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA): Best of Fest (2009)
Garbage Warrior:
International Documentary Association (IDA): Pare Lorentz Award - Honorable Mention (2008)
The Grierson Trust: Special Commendation Award (2008)
Garrison Keillor: The Man on the Radio in the Red Shoes:
CINE Golden Eagle Awards: CINE Golden Eagle Award (2009)
Girls Like Us:
Sundance Film Festival: Grand Jury Prize (Documentary) (1997)
Give Up Tomorrow:
Tribeca Film Festival: Audience Award (2011 )
Tribeca Film Festival: Special Jury Mention (World Documentary Competition) (2011)
God Loves Uganda:
Mountainfilm in Telluride: Audience Award (2013)
Going on 13:
CINE Golden Eagle Awards: CINE Golden Eagle Award (2008 )
Goodbye Solo:
National Board of Review: Top 10 Independent Film of 2009 (2009)
Granny D Goes to Washington:
CINE Golden Eagle Awards: CINE Golden Eagle Award (2007)
Great Invisible:
South by Southwest Film Festival (SXSW): Grand Jury Award (2014)
Full Frame Documentary Film Festival: Nicholas School Environmental Award (2014)
Gregory Kondos: A Passion for the Land:
CINE Golden Eagle Awards: CINE Golden Eagle Award (1998)
Hale County This Morning, This Evening:
Academy Awards: Best Documentary Feature (2019) Nominated
Peabody Awards: George Foster Peabody Award (2019)
Cinema Eye Honors: Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Feature Filmmaking (2018)
Full Frame Documentary Film Festival: Grand Jury Award (2018)
KCRW Best Documentaries of the Year: Best Documentaries of the Year, 2018 (2018)
Happiness:
Sundance Film Festival: Cinematography Award: World Cinema Documentary (2014)
Have You Heard From Johannesburg:
Primetime Emmy Awards: Exceptional Merit in Nonfiction Filmmaking (2012)
International Documentary Association (IDA): Limited Series Award (2010)
Heart of the Sea: Kapolioka'ehukai:
Hawaii International Film Festival: Special Jury Prize /Aloha Spirit Award (2002)
Ashland Independent Film Festival: Best Documentary (2003)
Hell and Back Again:
Academy Awards: Best Documentary Feature (2012) Nominated
duPont Awards: Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award (2012)
Hell of a Nation:
CINE Golden Eagle Awards: Special Jury Prize for Best News Analysis (2006)
High Tech, Low Life:
The Grierson Trust: Best Newcomer Documentary (2013)
Holding On: A Love Story from the Street:
CINE Golden Eagle Awards: CINE Golden Eagle Award (1998)
Homeland:
AFI Docs Film Festival: Audience Award for Documentary (2000)
How to Survive a Plague:
Academy Awards: Best Documentary Feature (2013) Nominated
Peabody Awards: George Foster Peabody Award (2013)
International Documentary Association (IDA): Best First Film (2012)
I Am Not Your Negro:
Academy Awards: Best Documentary Feature (2017) Nominated
News and Documentary Emmy Awards: Outstanding Arts and Culture Documentary (2018)
International Documentary Association (IDA): Best Writing (2016)
Berlin International Film Festival: Panorama Audience Award, Best Documentary (2017)
I.M. Pei: Building China Modern:
CINE Golden Eagle Awards: CINE Golden Eagle Award (2010)
If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front:
Sundance Film Festival: Best Editing (2011)
Academy Awards: Best Documentary Feature (2012) Nominated
If I Can't Do It:
duPont Awards: Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award (1999)
Imelda:
International Documentary Association (IDA): ABC News Video Source Award, Distinguished Documentary Achievement Awards (2003)
Sundance Film Festival: Excellence in Cinematography (Documentary) (2004)
In Football We Trust:
News and Documentary Emmy Awards: Outstanding Business and Economic Documentary (2016)
In Jackson Heights:
New York Film Critics Circle: Best Non-FictioFilmn (2015)
In the Light of Reverence:
CINE Golden Eagle Awards: CINE Golden Eagle Award (2002)
American Indian Film Festival: Best Documentary Feature (2000)
In the Matter of Cha Jung Hee:
Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival: Special Jury Award, Best Director (2010)
Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival: Special Jury Award, Best Editor (2010)
In the Realms of the Unreal:
CINE Golden Eagle Awards: CINE Golden Eagle Award (2005)
India's Daughter:
Peabody Awards: George Foster Peabody Award (2015)
King Corn:
Peabody Awards: George Foster Peabody Award (2008 )
Kiss My Wheels:
CINE Golden Eagle Awards: CINE Golden Eagle Award (2003)
Knocking:
Indy Film Fest: Audience Award - Best Documentary (2006)
Kumu Hina:
GLAAD Media Awards: Outstanding Documentary (2016)
Landfall:
DOC NYC - New York Documentary Festival: Grand Jury Prize (2020)
Last Train Home:
International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA): Best Feature Length Documentary Award (2009)
Big Sky Documentary Film Festival: Best Feature Award (2010)
News and Documentary Emmy Awards: Outstanding Business and Economic Reporting – Long Form Award (2012)
News and Documentary Emmy Awards: Best Documentary (2012)
Latino Americans:
Peabody Awards: George Foster Peabody Award (2013)
Let the Fire Burn:
International Documentary Association (IDA): Best Editing (2013)
Cinema Eye Honors: Outstanding Achievement Editing (2014)
Letter from Waco:
South by Southwest Film Festival (SXSW): Feature Documentary Award (1997)
Limited Partnership:
International Documentary Association (IDA): Humanitas Award (2014)
San Diego Asian Film Festival: Audience Award (2014)
Lioness:
Full Frame Documentary Film Festival: Center for Documentary Studies Filmmaker Award (2008)
Lost Boys of Sudan:
CINE Golden Eagle Awards: CINE Golden Eagle Award (2004)
Independent Spirit Awards: DIRECTV/IFC Truer Than Fiction Award (2004)
Lost Sparrow:
American Indian Film Festival: Best Documentary Feature (2009)
Love & Diane:
CINE Golden Eagle Awards: CINE Golden Eagle Award (2004)
Independent Spirit Awards: DIRECTV/IFC Truer Than Fiction Award (2003)
Love Free or Die:
Sundance Film Festival: Special Jury Award (Documentary) (2012)
Made in L.A.:
News and Documentary Emmy Awards: Outstanding Continuing Coverage of a News Story (2008)
Mai's America:
South by Southwest Film Festival (SXSW): Audience Award (2002)
International Documentary Association (IDA): Distinguished Achievement Award (2002)
International Documentary Association (IDA): Distinguished Documentary Achievement Awards, Feature Competition (2003)
Mama Africa: Growing Up Urban:
Cannes International Film Festival: Kodak Best Short Film Award, Close Up On Bintou (2001)
Cannes International Film Festival: Kodak Prize (2001)
Mapping Stem Cell Research: Terra Incognita:
DocEdge Festival: DOCNZ Best International Feature - Special Mention (2007)
Peabody Awards: George Foster Peabody Award (2008)
Maquilapolis: City of Factories:
CINE Golden Eagle Awards: CINE Golden Eagle Award (2006)
Tribeca Film Festival: Special Mention, Outstanding Achievement in Documentary Award (2006)
Marwencol:
International Documentary Association (IDA): Jacqueline Donnet Emerging Filmmaker Award for Director Jeff Malmberg (2010)
South by Southwest Film Festival (SXSW): Documentary Feature Jury Award (2010)
Independent Spirit Awards: Truer Than Fiction Award (2011)
Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise:
Peabody Awards: George Foster Peabody Award (2017)
AFI Docs Film Festival: Audience Award for Best Feature (2016)
Medora:
News and Documentary Emmy Awards: Outstanding Business and Economic Reporting (2014)
Midnight Traveler:
News and Documentary Emmy Awards: Outstanding Current Affairs Documentary (2019)
Peabody Awards: George Foster Peabody Award (2019)
Sundance Film Festival: World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for No Borders (2019)
Minding the Gap:
Academy Awards: Best Documentary Feature (2019) Nominated
Peabody Awards: George Foster Peabody Award (2018)
International Documentary Association (IDA): Best Editing (2018)
International Documentary Association (IDA): Best Feature (2018)
Sundance Film Festival: U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Breakthrough Filmmaking (2018)
Cinema Eye Honors: Outstanding Achievement in Direction (2018)
Cinema Eye Honors: Outstanding Achievement in Editing (2018)
Cinema Eye Honors: Outstanding Achievement in a Debut Feature Film (2018)
Sheffield Doc/Fest: Doc Audience Award (2018)
Full Frame Documentary Film Festival: Audience Award (2018)
The Grierson Trust: Best Cinema Documentary (2019)
Independent Spirit Awards: Truer Than Fiction Award (2019)
KCRW Best Documentaries of the Year: Best Documentaries of the Year, 2018 (2018)
New York Film Critics Circle: Best Documentary (2018)
Critics Choice Documentary Award: Best First-Time Director (2018)
Mountainfilm in Telluride: Best Documentary Feature (2018)
CAAM Fest: Best Documentary (2018)
Mine:
South by Southwest Film Festival (SXSW): Documentary Feature Audience Award (2009)
Mirror Dance:
CINE Golden Eagle Awards: CINE Golden Eagle Award (2005)
Most Honorable Son:
CINE Golden Eagle Awards: CINE Golden Eagle Award, History (2008)
Motherland:
Sundance Film Festival: Special Jury Award for Commanding Vision(World Cinema) (2017)
Mr. SOUL!:
International Documentary Association (IDA): Best Music (2018)
Critics Choice Documentary Award: Best First Documentary Feature (2020)
My America ... Or Honk if You Love Buddha:
Sundance Film Festival: Excellence in Cinematography (Documentary) (1997)
My Country No More:
Big Sky Documentary Film Festival: Best Feature (2018)
My Country, My Country:
CINE Golden Eagle Awards: CINE Golden Eagle Award (2006)
Full Frame Documentary Film Festival: Inspiration Award (2006)
Academy Awards: Best Documentary Feature (2007) Nominated
My Perestroika:
Peabody Awards: George Foster Peabody Award (2011)
Na Kamalei: The Men of Hula:
Hawaii International Film Festival: Audience Award (2007)
Hawaii International Film Festival: Hawaii Filmmaker Award (2007)
San Diego Asian Film Festival: Best Documentary (2007)
Negroes with Guns: Rob Williams and Black Power:
Full Frame Documentary Film Festival: Charles E. Guggenheim Emerging Artist Award - Honorable Mention (2009)
New Year Baby:
International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA): Audience Pick (2007)
Newtown:
Peabody Awards: George Foster Peabody Award (2017)
Next Year Country:
Big Sky Documentary Film Festival: Big Sky Award (2010 )
No Man's Land:
Big Sky Documentary Film Festival: Big Sky Award (2018)
No Subtitles Necessary: Laszlo & Vilmos:
New Orleans Film Festival: Best Documentary Award (2009)
Nobody's Business:
Berlin International Film Festival: The Caligari Film Prize (1997)
Berlin International Film Festival: International Film Critics Association Prize (1997)
Berlin International Film Festival: Churches of the Ecumenical Jury Prize (1997)
News and Documentary Emmy Awards: Outstanding Interview/Interviewers (1998)
Okie Noodling:
South by Southwest Film Festival (SXSW): Audience Award, Documentary Competition (2001)
On a Knife Edge:
Portland Film Festival: The Storytellers’ Festival & Conference: Grand Jury Awards - Feature Documentary (2017)
Once Upon a Time in the Bronx:
Berlin International Film Festival: Teddy Bear, Best Gay/Lesbian Short (1994)
One Child Nation:
Sundance Film Festival: U.S. Grand Jury Prize Documentary (2019)
Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival: Hot Docs Pitch Prize - 2nd Place (2018)
Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience:
International Documentary Association (IDA): IDA Award Finalist - Feature Documentary (2007)
Academy Awards: Best Documentary Feature (2008) Nominated
News and Documentary Emmy Awards: Outstanding Informational Programming (2008)
News and Documentary Emmy Awards: Music and Sound (2008)
Our Disappeared/Nuestros Desaparecidos:
CINE Golden Eagle Awards: CINE Golden Eagle Award (2008)
Our Time Machine:
Tribeca Film Festival: Best Cinematography - Documentary (2019)
Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival: Grand Jury Award for Outstanding International Documentary Feature (2019)
CAAM Fest: Best Documentary (2019)
Out of State:
Portland Film Festival: The Storytellers’ Festival & Conference: Grand Jury Awards - Jury Prize for Artistic Vision (2017)
San Diego Asian Film Festival: Best Feature Documentary (2017)
Hawaii International Film Festival: Made in Hawaii Best Feature Film & Audience Choice for Documentary Feature (2017)
Hawaii State Bar Association: Liberty Bell Award (2017)
Cayman International Film Festival: Best Documentary Feature Film (2017)
Outlawed in Pakistan:
News and Documentary Emmy Awards: Outstanding Research (2013)
Park Avenue: Money, Power & the American Dream:
Peabody Awards: George Foster Peabody Award (2013)
Patsy Mink: Ahead of the Majority:
CINE Golden Eagle Awards: CINE Golden Eagle Award (2009)
Hawaii International Film Festival: Audience Award (2008)
Peace Officer:
South by Southwest Film Festival (SXSW): Documentary Feature Audience Award (2015)
People's Republic of Desire:
South by Southwest Film Festival (SXSW): Documentary Feature Grand Jury Award (2018)
DocEdge Festival: Best International Director (2018)
CAAM Fest: Cinematography Award (2018)
Pepper's Pow Wow:
American Indian Film Festival: Best Documentary Feature (1995)
Please Vote for Me:
DocEdge Festival: Best International Documentary - medium length (2007)
DocEdge Festival: Screenrights Best Educational Film (2007)
Ashland Independent Film Festival: Best Documentary Feature (2008)
Power Trip:
Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival: Best International Feature Documentary (2003)
Berlin International Film Festival: Berliner Zeitung Readers' Jury Prize (2003)
Berlin International Film Festival: Special Mention (2003)
Precious Cargo:
CINE Golden Eagle Awards: CINE Golden Eagle Award (2002)
Promises:
Mostra Internacional de Cinema / Sao Paulo International Film Festival: Best Documentary and Audience Award (2001)
News and Documentary Emmy Awards: Best Background Informational Documentary (2002)
News and Documentary Emmy Awards: Best Documentary (2002)
Academy Awards: Best Documentary Feature (2002) Nominated
Putin's Kiss:
Sundance Film Festival: Best Cinematography in World Cinema (Documentary) (2012)
QUEST:
Full Frame Documentary Film Festival: Grand Jury Prize (2017)
Full Frame Documentary Film Festival: Kathleen Bryan Edwards Award for Human Rights (2017)
Independent Spirit Awards: Jeep Truer Than Fiction Award (2018)
Race to Execution:
CINE Golden Eagle Awards: CINE Golden Eagle Award, People and Places (2008)
Rain in a Dry Land:
CINE Golden Eagle Awards: CINE Golden Eagle Award (2007)
Full Frame Documentary Film Festival: Working Films Award (2006)
Ralph Ellison's King of the Bingo Game:
CINE Golden Eagle Awards: CINE Golden Eagle Award (2000)
Reel Injun: On the Trail of the Hollywood Indian:
Peabody Awards: George Foster Peabody Award (2010)
Refugee:
Hawaii International Film Festival: Best Documentary (2003)
San Diego Asian Film Festival: Grand Jury Prize (2003)
Hamptons Film Festival: Dan and Ewa Abraham Award for Films in Conflict and Resolution (2003)
Hamptons Film Festival: Brizzolara Family Inspirational Film Award (2003)
Rich Hill:
Sundance Film Festival: Grand Jury Prize (Documentary) (2014)
Richard Wright - Black Boy:
CINE Golden Eagle Awards: CINE Golden Eagle Award (1995)
Rising Waters: Global Warming and the Fate of the Pacific Islands:
Mountainfilm in Telluride: Special Jury Citation for envirommental awareness (2000)
Rodents of Unusual Size:
Bend Film Festival: Best Environmental/Outdoor Adventure Award (2018)
Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World:
Sundance Film Festival: Special Award for Masterful Storytelling (World Cinema) (2017)
Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival: Audience Award for Best Canadian Documentary (2017)
Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival: Audience Award (2017)
Saigon, U.S.A.:
CINE Golden Eagle Awards: CINE Golden Eagle Award (2003)
School Prayer: A Community at War:
News and Documentary Emmy Awards: Best Coverage of a Continuing News Story (2001)
Scout's Honor:
Sundance Film Festival: Freedom of Expression Award (2001)
Sundance Film Festival: Audience Award for Best Documentary (2001)
Sea Point Days:
DocEdge Festival: Best Editing Award (2009)
DocEdge Festival: Best Cinematography Finalist (2009)
SEED: The Untold Story:
Sheffield Doc/Fest: Environmental Award (2016)
Señorita Extraviada (Missing Young Woman):
Sundance Film Festival: Special Jury Award (2002)
Human Rights Watch New York Film Festival: Nestor Almendros Prize (2002)
International Documentary Association (IDA): Distinguished Achievement Award (2002)
International Documentary Association (IDA): Distinguished Documentary Achievement Awards, Feature Competition (2003)
Seoul Train:
Big Sky Documentary Film Festival: Runner up, Best Documentary Short (2005)
duPont Awards: Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award (2006)
Shadow of the Holy Book:
International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA): Joris Ivens Competition Selection (2007)
Shadya:
International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA): Golden Movie Squad (2006)
Shakespeare Behind Bars:
Bend Film Festival: Best of Show (2005)
Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart: Lorraine Hansberry:
Peabody Awards: George Foster Peabody Award (2018)
Sing Faster: The Stagehands' Ring Cycle:
Sundance Film Festival: Filmmaker's Trophy, Documentary Competition (1999)
Sisters in Law:
International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA): Audience Award (2005)
Cannes International Film Festival: C.I.C.A.E. Award (2005 )
Hawaii International Film Festival: Best Documentary (2005)
Peabody Awards: George Foster Peabody Award (2008)
Solar Mamas:
Peabody Awards: George Foster Peabody Award (2012)
Stand Up: Muslim American Comics Come of Age:
CINE Golden Eagle Awards: CINE Golden Eagle Award (2007)
Still Life with Animated Dogs:
Peabody Awards: George Foster Peabody Award (2002)
Store Wars: When Wal-Mart Comes to Town:
CINE Golden Eagle Awards: CINE Golden Eagle Award (2002)
Stranded: The Andes Plane Crash Survivors:
International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA): Joris Ivens Jury Award (2007)
Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival: Audience Award Finalist (2008)
Street Fight:
CINE Golden Eagle Awards: CINE Golden Eagle Award (2005)
Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival: Audience Award (2005)
Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival: Best International Feature Documentary (2005)
Tribeca Film Festival: Audience Award (2005)
International Documentary Association (IDA): Donnet Award (2005)
Academy Awards: Best Documentary Feature (2006) Nominated
Struggles in Steel: A Story of African-American Steelworkers:
duPont Awards: Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award (1998)
Summer Pasture:
Peabody Awards: George Foster Peabody Award (2012)
Sunset Story:
Los Angeles Film Festival: Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature (2003)
Tribeca Film Festival: Special Jury Award (2003)
T-Rex: Her Fight for Gold:
Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival: Doc for Schools Student Choice Award (2015)
Taken In: The Lives of America's Foster Children:
duPont Awards: Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award (1998)
Taking Root: The Vision of Wangari Maathai:
Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival: Audience Award (2008)
Tell Them We Are Rising: The Story of Black Colleges and Universities:
Utah Teens Talk FIlm: Most Woke Award (2017)
Thank You for Playing:
News and Documentary Emmy Awards: Best Documentary (2016)
The Amasong Chorus: Singing Out:
CINE Golden Eagle Awards: CINE Golden Eagle Award (2003)
The Armor of Light:
News and Documentary Emmy Awards: Outstanding Social Issue Documentary (2016)
The Bad Kids:
International Documentary Association (IDA): Best Music (2016)
Sundance Film Festival: Special Jury Awards – Vérité Filmmaking (2016)
The Beetle:
Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival: Audience Top Ten Laurel Choice (2008)
The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution:
NAACP Image Award: Outstanding Documentary – (Film) (2015)
The Boys of Baraka:
NAACP Image Award: Outstanding Independent and Foreign Film, Image Award (2006)
South by Southwest Film Festival (SXSW): Special Jury Award for Documentary Feature (2005)
CINE Golden Eagle Awards: CINE Golden Eagle Award (2006)
The Buffalo War:
CINE Golden Eagle Awards: CINE Golden Eagle Award (2001)
Ashland Independent Film Festival: Best Environmental Film (2001)
The Burning Barrel:
Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival: Best International Short Documentary (1997)
International Documentary Association (IDA): Best Short (1997)
The Carmelita Tropicana Story:
Berlin International Film Festival: Teddy Bear, Best Gay/Lesbian Short (1994)
The Cats of Mirikitani:
Tribeca Film Festival: Audience Award (2006)
Tribeca Film Festival: New York Loves Film Documentary Feature Honorable Mention (2006)
Big Sky Documentary Film Festival: Best Feature (2007)
San Diego Asian Film Festival: Grand Jury Award (2007)
The City (La Ciudad):
South by Southwest Film Festival (SXSW): Best Narrative Feature (1999)
The Desert of Forbidden Art:
CINE Golden Eagle Awards: CINE Golden Eagle Award (2010)
The Devil Never Sleeps:
International Documentary Association (IDA): Best Five Docs of the Year (1995)
The Devil's Miner:
Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival: Fipresci Award for Best Documentary (2005)
Tribeca Film Festival: Best Documentary Filmmaker (Special Mention) (2005)
The Education of Shelby Knox:
Sundance Film Festival: American Excellence in Cinematography Award, Documentary (2005)
South by Southwest Film Festival (SXSW): Audience Award (Lone Star States) (2005)
Full Frame Documentary Film Festival: Emerging Pictures Audience Award (2005)
Full Frame Documentary Film Festival: Women in Leadership Award (2005)
The English Surgeon:
Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival: Best International Feature Documentary (2008)
Sheffield Doc/Fest: Most Popular Audience Film (2008)
News and Documentary Emmy Awards: Outstanding Science and Technology Programming (2010)
duPont Awards: Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award (2011)
The Fire Next Time:
CINE Golden Eagle Awards: CINE Golden Eagle Award (2005)
The Flute Player:
CINE Golden Eagle Awards: CINE Golden Eagle Award (2004)
South by Southwest Film Festival (SXSW): Audience Award (2003)
The Force:
Sundance Film Festival: Best Directing, US Documentary (2017)
The Gate of Heavenly Peace:
International Documentary Association (IDA): Distinguished Achievement Award (1996)
Peabody Awards: George Foster Peabody Award (1996)
The Homestretch:
News and Documentary Emmy Awards: Outstanding Business and Economic Reporting (2015)
The Horse Boy:
South by Southwest Film Festival (SXSW): Audience Award (Lone Star States) (2009)
The House I Live In:
Peabody Awards: George Foster Peabody Award (2013)
Sundance Film Festival: Grand Jury Prize (Documentary) (2012)
The Interpreters:
Mountainfilm in Telluride: Moving Mountains Prize (2018)
The Interrupters:
News and Documentary Emmy Awards: Outstanding Informational Programming - Long Form (2012)
The Invisible War:
Sundance Film Festival: Audience Award for Best Documentary (2012)
Academy Awards: Best Documentary Feature (2013) Nominated
Independent Spirit Awards: Best Documentary (2013)
News and Documentary Emmy Awards: Best Documentary (2013)
News and Documentary Emmy Awards: Outstanding Investigative Journalism—Long Form (2013)
Peabody Awards: George Foster Peabody Award (2013)
The Island President:
International Documentary Association (IDA): Pare Lorentz Award (2012)
The Judge:
Peabody Awards: George Foster Peabody Award (2018)
The Judge and the General:
duPont Awards: Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award (2010)
The Kill Team:
Tribeca Film Festival: Best Documentary Feature (2013)
Independent Spirit Awards: Truer Than Fiction (2015)
National Board of Review: Top 5 Best Documentaries (2014)
The King:
KCRW Best Documentaries of the Year: Best Documentaries of the Year, 2018 (2018)
The Land is Ours:
American Indian Film Festival: Best Documentary Feature (1996)
The Last Cowboy:
CINE Golden Eagle Awards: CINE Golden Eagle Award (2005)
The Lord Is Not on Trial Here Today:
Peabody Awards: George Foster Peabody Award (2010)
CINE Golden Eagle Awards: CINE Golden Eagle Award - Historical Program (2011)
The Mole Agent:
Academy Awards: Best Documentary Feature (2020) Nominated
Cinema Eye Honors: Outstanding Original Score (2020)
The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers:
International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA): Special Jury Prize (2009)
Academy Awards: Best Documentary Feature (2010 ) Nominated
Peabody Awards: George Foster Peabody Award (2010)
The New Americans:
International Documentary Association (IDA): Best Limited Series, Distinguished Documentary Achievement Awards (2003)
The New Black:
AFI Docs Film Festival: Audience Award for Documentary (2013)
The Oath:
Sundance Film Festival: Excellence in Cinematography Award for Kirsten Johnson and Laura Poitras (2010)
International Documentary Association (IDA): Humanitas Award (2010)
The Order of Myths:
Independent Spirit Awards: Truer Than Fiction Award (2009)
Peabody Awards: George Foster Peabody Award (2009)
The Paper:
CINE Golden Eagle Awards: CINE Golden Eagle Award, People and Places (2008)
The People's Court:
CINE Golden Eagle Awards: CINE Golden Eagle Award (2007)
The Prison in Twelve Landscapes:
Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival: Special Jury Award - Canadian Feature (2016)
The Providers:
SF DocFest: Spirit of Activism Award (2018)
The Question of Equality:
GLAAD Media Awards: Outstanding Television Documentary (1996)
The Real Dirt on Farmer John:
Bend Film Festival: Audience Award (2005)
Bend Film Festival: Grand Jury Award (2005)
The Return:
Tribeca Film Festival: Audience Award for Documentary (2016)
The Revisionaries:
duPont Awards: Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award (2014)
The Self-Made Man:
CINE Golden Eagle Awards: CINE Golden Eagle Award (2005)
Full Frame Documentary Film Festival: Center for Documentary Studies Filmmaker Award (2005)
The Silence of Others:
News and Documentary Emmy Awards: Best Documentary (2019)
News and Documentary Emmy Awards: Outstanding Politics and Government Documentary (2019)
Peabody Awards: George Foster Peabody Award (2019)
International Documentary Association (IDA): Pare Lorentz Award (2018)
Sheffield Doc/Fest: Grand Jury Award (2018)
Berlin International Film Festival: Panorama Audience Award (2018)
Berlin International Film Festival: Peace Prize (2018)
The Split Horn: Life of a Hmong Shaman in America:
CINE Golden Eagle Awards: CINE Golden Eagle Award (2002)
The Trials of Muhammad Ali:
International Documentary Association (IDA): ABC News Videosource Award (2013)
News and Documentary Emmy Awards: Outstanding Historical Programming (2014)
The Waiting Room:
Full Frame Documentary Film Festival: Charles E. Guggenheim Emerging Artist Award (2012)
Independent Spirit Awards: Truer Than Fiction Award (2013)
The Way We Get By:
Indy Film Fest: Eric Parker Social Justice Award (2009)
South by Southwest Film Festival (SXSW): Documentary Feature Special Jury Award (2009)
Full Frame Documentary Film Festival: Full Frame Audience Award (2009)
The Weather Underground:
Academy Awards: Best Documentary Feature (2004) Nominated
The Woodmans:
News and Documentary Emmy Awards: Outstanding Arts & Culture Programming (2011)
Through the Night:
DOC NYC - New York Documentary Festival: Special Jury Recognition for Ethics of Care (2020)
Thunder in Guyana:
CINE Golden Eagle Awards: CINE Golden Eagle Award (2003)
To Be Heard:
DOC NYC - New York Documentary Festival: Audience Award (2011)
DOC NYC - New York Documentary Festival: Grand Jury Prize (2011)
TOWER:
News and Documentary Emmy Awards: Outstanding Historical Documentary (2017)
Cinema Eye Honors: Outstanding Achievement in Graphic Design and Animation (2016)
Critics Choice Documentary Award: Most Innovative Documentary (2016)
South by Southwest Film Festival (SXSW): Audience Award (2016)
South by Southwest Film Festival (SXSW): Documentary Feature Special Jury Award (2016)
South by Southwest Film Festival (SXSW): Louis Black “Lone Star” Award (2016)
TRAPPED:
Peabody Awards: George Foster Peabody Award (2016)
Sundance Film Festival: Special Jury Award for Social Impact Filmmaking (2016)
Travis:
Peabody Awards: George Foster Peabody Award (1998)
Troop 1500:
South by Southwest Film Festival (SXSW): Audience Award Runner Up (Lone Star States) (2005)
Trudell:
American Indian Film Festival: Best Documentary Feature (2005)
True Conviction:
Tribeca Film Festival: Special Jury Mention (Best Documentary Feature) (2017)
SF DocFest: Non-Fiction Vanguard Award (2017)
Twelve Disciples of Nelson Mandela:
CINE Golden Eagle Awards: CINE Golden Eagle Award (2006)
Two Gods:
New Orleans Film Festival: Documentary Feature Jury Award (2020)
Two Towns of Jasper:
Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival: Silver Award (2002)
Peabody Awards: George Foster Peabody Award (2004)
duPont Awards: Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award (2004)
Unmistaken Child:
Camera Image International Film Festival: Golden Frog Award - Best Documentary Feature (2009)
Full Frame Documentary Film Festival: Full Frame Inspiration Award (2009)
Full Frame Documentary Film Festival: Anne Dellinger Special Jury Award (2009)
Full Frame Documentary Film Festival: Charles E. Guggenheim Emerging Artist Award - Honorable Mention (2009)
Unrest:
Sundance Film Festival: Special Jury Award for Editing (2017)
Sheffield Doc/Fest: Illuminate Award (2017)
Waltz with Bashir:
Academy Awards: Best Foreign Language Film (2009) Nominated
International Documentary Association (IDA): Feature Documentary Award (2008)
Cinema Eye Honors: Directing Award (2009)
Cinema Eye Honors: Graphic Design and Animation Award (2009)
Cinema Eye Honors: Music Composition Award (2009)
Cinema Eye Honors: International Feature Award (2009)
Directors Guild of America: Outstanding Directorial Achievement Award (2009)
Waste Land:
International Documentary Association (IDA): Best Documentary Award (2010)
Sundance Film Festival: World Cinema Audience Award: Documentary (2010)
International Documentary Association (IDA): Pare Lorentz Award (2010)
Academy Awards: Best Documentary Feature (2011) Nominated
We Still Live Here - Âs Nutayuneân:
Full Frame Documentary Film Festival: Full Frame Inspiration Award (2011)
Mountainfilm in Telluride: Moving Mountains Prize (2011)
Welcome to Leith:
Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival: Filmmaker to Filmmaker Award (2015)
Ashland Independent Film Festival: Honorable Mention: Documentary Editing (2015)
When Billy Broke His Head ... And Other Tales of Wonder:
Sundance Film Festival: Freedom of Expression Award (1995)
When I Walk:
News and Documentary Emmy Awards: Outstanding Informational Programming - Long Form (2014)
Where Soldiers Come From:
South by Southwest Film Festival (SXSW): Best Editing - Documentary Feature (2011)
News and Documentary Emmy Awards: Outstanding Continuing Coverage of a News Story – Long Form Award (2012)
Who Killed Chea Vichea?:
Peabody Awards: George Foster Peabody Award (2011)
Why Can't We Be a Family Again?:
CINE Golden Eagle Awards: CINE Golden Eagle Award (2002)
Academy Awards: Best Documentary Short (2002) Nominated
Wildland:
News and Documentary Emmy Awards: Outstanding Cinematography: Documentary (2018)
News and Documentary Emmy Awards: Outstanding Editing: Documentary (2018)
Wolves in Paradise:
CINE Golden Eagle Awards: CINE Golden Eagle Award - Environmental and Natural Science (2008)
Won't You Be My Neighbor?:
Independent Spirit Awards: Best Documentary (2019)
Young@Heart:
International Documentary Association (IDA): Music Documentary Award (2008)