Cinema Eye Honors Unveil Nominees for 2027’s Best Documentary Films and Series

The Cinema Eye Honors, one of the main bellwethers for the Best Documentary Feature race, began its 20th annual celebrations with a first wave of awards announcements for its 2027 ceremony. 17 films made it onto its Audience Choice Prize Longlist, including Sundance breakouts like “American Doctor” and “Once Upon a Time in Harlem” as well as recent box office successes “The History of Concrete” and “You Can See Everything.” The organization’s Unforgettable Honorees, an award celebrating on-camera collaborators, were also announced with the 2027 winners coming from six films: Dr. Thaer Ahmad, Dr. Mark Perlmutter and Dr. Feroze Sidhwa from “American Doctor,” E. Jean Carroll from “Ask E. Jean,” Soraya Akhlaghi from “A Fox Under a Pink Moon,” Billie Jean King from “Give Me the Ball,” Israa from “One in a Million,” and Amy Goodman from “Steal This Story, Please!” On the Broadcast side, nominees were announced for five different categories, from Outstanding Achievement in Broadcast Film to Outstanding Achievement in Broadcast Editing. The annual Shorts List, spotlighting 10 of the year’s top documentary short films, including “They’re Here” co-directed by Oscar winner Laura Poitras, was also part of the announcement. Finally, “Hoop Dreams,” Steve James’ documentary masterpiece, will receive the Legacy Award, which is presented to a classic nonfiction film that continues to inspire today’s working filmmakers. James will accept the award on behalf of his team members Peter Gilbert (Producer and DP), Frederick Marx (Producer and Editor), Adam Singer (Sound Recordist), Gordon Quinn (Executive Producer and founder of Kartemquin Films), Bill Haugse (Editor), Marcie McCall (Kartemquin) and Ben Sidran (Composer). Cinema Eye will celebrate its 20th annual Awards Ceremony on Monday, January 11, 2027. A full list of this year’s Cinema Eye Honors announcements and nominees follows. Unforgettables Honorees Dr. Thaer Ahmad, Dr. Mark Perlmutter and Dr. Feroze Sidhwa“American Doctor” E. Jean Carroll“Ask E. Jean” Soraya Akhlaghi“A Fox Under a Pink Moon” Billie Jean King“Give Me the Ball” Israa“One in a Million” Amy Goodman“Steal This Story, Please!” Audience Choice Prize Longlist “The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist”Directed by Daniel Roher and Charlie Tyrell “American Doctor”Directed by Poh Si Teng “Ask E. Jean”Directed by Ivy Meerapol “The Bend in the River”Directed by Robb Moss “Cookie Queens”Directed by Alysa Nahmias “The Cycle of Love”Directed by Orlando von Einsiedel “Everest: The Other Side”Directed by Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi “Everybody to Kenmure Street”Directed by Felipe Bustos Sierra “Give Me the Ball”Directed by Liz Garbus and Elizabeth Wolff “The History of Concrete”Directed by John Wilson “NAZA”Directed by Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor “The Oldest Person in the World”Directed by Sam Green “Once Upon a Time in Harlem”Directed by William Greaves and David Greaves “Steal This Story, Please”Directed by Carl Deal and Tia Lessin “Time and Water”Directed by Sara Dosa “Wild Inside”Directed by Penny Lane “You Can See Everything”Directed by Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim Outstanding Achievement in Broadcast Film “Bang My Box: The Robin Byrd Story”Directed by Jyllian Gunther and Stephanie SchwamHBO Max “The Bitter Pill”Directed by Clay TweelPOV “Critical Incident: Death at the Border”Directed by Richard RowleyHBO Max “Earth, Wind & Fire: To Be Celestial vs. That’s the Weight of the World”Directed by Ahmir “Questlove” ThompsonHBO Max “Seen & Heard: The History of Black Television”Directed by Giselle Bailey and Phil BertelsenHBO Max “Songs From the Hole”Directed by Contessa GaylesNetflix Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Series “High Horse: The Black Cowboy”Directed by Jason PerezPeacock “Hurricane Katrina: Race Against Time”Directed by Traci A. CurryNational Geographic “Katrina: Come Hell and High Water”Directed by Geeta Gandbhir, Samantha Knowles and Spike LeeNetflix “Mr. Scorsese”Directed by Rebecca MillerApple TV “Trust Me: The False Prophet”Directed by Rachel DretzinNetflix “The Yogurt Shop Murders”Directed by Margaret BrownHBO Max Outstanding Achievement in Anthology Series “Limitless: Live Better Now” (Season Two)Executive Producers Darren Aronofsky, Jane Root, Ari Handel, Tom Watt-Smith, Chris Hemsworth and Benjamin GraysonDisney+ “Neighbors”Executive Producers Ronald Bronstein, Eli Bush, John Paul Lopez-Ali, Josh Safdie, Harrison Fishman and Dylan RedfordHBO Max “Trainwreck”Executive Producers Sheun Adelasoye de Nicola, Alexander Marengo and Tim WardleNetflix “Tucci in Italy” (Season Two)Executive Producers Stanley Tucci, Lottie Birmingham, Amanda Lyon and Simon RaikesNational Geographic “Untold” (Volume Six)Executive Producers Ben Silverman, Howard Owens, Isabel San Vargas, Chapman Way, Maclain Way and Ryan DuffyNetflix Outstanding Achievement in Broadcast Editing “Skyking”Edited by Emiliano Battista and Alexis JohnsonHulu “Bang My Box: The Robin Byrd Story”Edited by Jeremy StulbergHBO Max “Breakdown: 1975”Edited by Alan Lowe and Jody McVeigh-SchultzNetflix “Earth, Wind & Fire: To Be Celestial vs. That’s the Weight of the World”Edited by Andrew Morrow, Matt Cascella and Tim ZieglerHBO Max “Katrina: Come Hell and High Water”Edited by Arielle Amsalem and Anna AusterNetflix “Mr. Scorsese”Edited by David BarterApple TV Outstanding Achievement in Broadcast Cinematography “Caught in the Crackdown”Cinematographers Timothy Grucza, Jeremy Gould and Nick KrausFrontline | PBS “High Horse: The Black Cowboy”Cinematographers Jerry Henry and Justin JanowitzPeacock “The Man Will Burn”Cinematographers Benji Lanpher, Consuelo Althouse and Natalie SimHBO Max “Songs from the Hole”Cinematographers Michelle Kwong and Contessa GaylesNetflix “Tucci in Italy” (Season Two)Cinematographer Matt BallNational Geographic “The Yogurt Shop Murders”Cinematographer Justin ZweifachHBO Max Shorts List “The Boys and the Bees”Directed by Arielle Knight “Buckskin”Directed by Mars Verrone “A Derailment”Directed by Nathan Truesdell “Free Joan Little”Directed by Yoruba Richen “I Got My Brother”Directed by Victor Gabriel “an open field”Directed by Teboho Edkins “Sawyer Avenue, Sunday Afternoon”Directed by Bill Morrison “They’re Here”Directed by Laura Poitras and Rachel Lauren Mueller “La Tierra del Valor (The Home of the Brave)”Directed by Cristina Costantini “Water Cooler”Directed by Emma V.F. Key Dates for the 2027 Cinema Eye Honors Monday, October 26: Voting Opens for Audience Choice First Round VotingMonday, November 2: Voting Closes for Audience Choice First Round VotingThursday, November 12: Cinema Eye Honors Feature Film Nominations AnnouncedWednesday, December 2: Shorts List Screenings, DCTV, New YorkSaturday, December 5: Shorts List Screenings, Vidiots, Los AngelesMonday, December 14: Shorts Nominees Announced and Final Audience Choice Voting Opens Friday, January 8, 2026: Cinema Eye Weekend begins in New York CityMonday, January 11, 2026: 20th Annual Cinema Eye Honors Awards Ceremony