Bing Liu's 'Minding the Gap' scores leading 7 noms for Cinema Eye Honors

His coming-of-age story will compete with Three Identical Strangers, Won't You Be My Neighbor? and more

Bing Liu's documentary Minding the Gap gained awards season momentum with the announcement of the nominations for the Cinema Eye Honors. It was recognized in seven categories, including Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Feature Filmmaking and Outstanding Achievement in Direction. 

Liu's film explores the abusive childhoods he and two friends experienced growing up in Rockford, Illinois, and how skateboarding became a crucial escape for them. Minding the Gap also claimed nominations for editing, cinematography, original score and Outstanding Achievement in a Debut Feature Film.

The total of seven nods "ties a record for the most nominations in Cinema Eye history, matching Louie Psihoyos’ The Cove, Lixin Fan’s Last Train Home and Ari Folman’s Waltz With Bashir," Cinema Eye noted in a press release.

In the best doc category, Minding the Gap will go up against Bisbee '17, directed by Robert Greene; Hale County This Morning, This Evening by director RaMell Ross; Of Fathers and Sons by Talal Derki; Tim Wardle's Three Identical Strangers, and Morgan Neville's Won't You Be My Neighbor? 

The Cinema Eye Honors will be presented Thursday, January 10, 2019 at the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, Queens. For the fourth year in a row filmmaker Steve James will host the ceremony. He is also nominated in the Outstanding Nonfiction Series category for his Showtime show America to Me. 

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Related: 
>Minding the Gap's Bing Liu on his characters' childhood trauma: Cycles of violence 'can be broken'
>Won't You Be My Neighbor? director Morgan Neville on the humanity of Fred Rogers: 'I can't find a better advocate for kindness and civility
>Sundance winner Of Fathers and Sons: Director takes huge risk to expose life in Syrian Jihadist family

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This is the full list of Cinema Eye Honors nominees: 

Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Feature Filmmaking

Bisbee ‘17
Directed by Robert Greene | Produced by Susan Bedusa, Bennett Elliot and Douglas Tirola

Hale County This Morning, This Evening
Directed by RaMell Ross | Produced by Joslyn Barnes, Su Kim and RaMell Ross

Minding the Gap
Directed by Bing Liu | Produced by Bing Liu and Diane Moy Quon

Of Fathers and Sons
Directed by Talal Derki | Produced by Ansgar Frerich, Eva Kemme, Tobias N. Siebert and Hans Robert Eisenhauer

Three Identical Strangers
Directed by Tim Wardle | Produced by Grace Hughes-Hallett and Becky Read

Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
Directed by Morgan Neville | Produced by Caryn Capotosto, Nicholas Ma and Morgan Neville


Outstanding Achievement in Direction

Robert Greene | Bisbee ‘17
RaMell Ross | Hale County This Morning, This Evening
Bing Liu | Minding the Gap
Talal Derki | Of Fathers and Sons
Sandi Tan | Shirkers

Outstanding Achievement in Production 

Susan Bedusa, Bennett Elliot and Douglas Tirola | Bisbee ‘17
Stephen Maing, Ross Tuttle and Eric Daniel Metzgar | Crime + Punishment
Josh Lowell, Phillip Manderla and Peter Mortimer | The Dawn Wall
Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin, Evan Hayes and Shannon Dill | Free Solo
Ansgar Frerich, Eva Kemme, Tobias N. Siebert and Hans Robert Eisenhauer | Of Fathers and Sons
Daniel McCabe, Geoff McLean and Alyse Ardell Spiegel | This is Congo

Outstanding Achievement in Editing

RaMell Ross | Hale County This Morning, This Evening
Julien Faraut | John McEnroe: In the Realm of Perfection
Joshua Altman and Bing Liu | Minding the Gap
Michael Harte | Three Identical Strangers
Jeff Malmberg and Aaron Wickenden | Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography

Jarred Alterman | Bisbee ‘17
Shevaun Mizrahi | Distant Constellation
Jimmy Chin, Clair Popkin and Mikey Schaeffer | Free Solo
RaMell Ross | Hale County This Morning, This Evening
Emmanuel Gras | Makala
Bing Liu | Minding the Gap

Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Score

Keegan DeWitt | Bisbee ‘17
Travis Wilkerson | Did You Wonder Who Fired the Gun?
Marco Beltrami | Free Solo
Nathan Halpern and Chris Ruggiero | Minding the Gap
Ishai Adar | Shirkers
Dan Deacon | Time Trial

Outstanding Achievement in Graphic Design or Animation

Syd Garon, Anton Goddard and Chris Kirk | Bathtubs Over Broadway
Toby Cornish | Beuys
Patrick Mate | Harold and Lillian: A Hollywood Love Story
Shofela Coker | Liyana
Lucas Cellar and Sandi Tan | Shirkers
Ariel Costa and Rodrigo Miguel Rangel | Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

Outstanding Achievement in a Debut Feature Film

América | Directed by Chase Whiteside and Erick Stoll
Distant Constellation | Directed by Shevaun Mizrahi
Hale County This Morning, This Evening | Directed by RaMell Ross
Minding the Gap | Directed by Bing Liu
Shirkers | Directed by Sandi Tan

Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Short Filmmaking

Baby Brother | Directed by Kamau Bilal
Concussion Protocol | Directed by Josh Begley
My Dead Dad's Porno Tapes | Directed by Charlie Tyrell
Skip Day | Directed by Patrick Bresnan and Ivete Lucas
Volte | Directed by Monika Kolecka and Karolina Poryzala

Spotlight Award

The Distant Barking of Dogs | Directed by Simon Lereng Wilmont
Island of Hungry Ghosts | Directed by Gabrielle Brady
The Other Side of Everything | Directed by Mila Turajlic
Roll Red Roll |  Directed by Nancy Schwartzman 
The Silence of Others | Directed by Almudena Carracedo and Robert Bahar
A Woman Captured | Directed by Bernadett Tuza-Ritter


The following categories were previously announced on October 25:

Audience Choice Prize

Bathtubs Over Broadway | Directed by Dava Whisenant
Free Solo | Directed by Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin
Matangi/Maya/M.I.A. | Directed by Stephen Loveridge
Minding the Gap | Directed by Bing Liu
On Her Shoulders | Directed by Alexandria Bombach
Quincy | Directed by Rashida Jones and Al Hicks
RBG | Directed by Julie Cohen and Betsy West
Shirkers | Directed by Sandi Tan
Three Identical Strangers | Directed by Tim Wardle
Won’t You Be My Neighbor? | Directed by Morgan Neville

Outstanding Achievement in a Nonfiction Film for Broadcast

Baltimore Rising | Directed by Sonja Sohn | HBO
Believer | Directed by Don Argott | HBO
The Final Year | Directed by Greg Barker | HBO
I Am Evidence | Directed by Trish Adlesic and Geeta Gandbhir | HBO
Nobody Speak: Trials of the Free Press | Directed by Brian Knappenberger | Netflix
This is Home: A Refugee Story | Directed by Alexandra Shiva | Epix

Outstanding Achievement in a Nonfiction Series for Broadcast

America to Me | Directed by Steve James | Starz
Evil Genius | Directed by Trey Borzilleri and Barbara Schroeder | Netflix
Flint Town | Directed by Zackary Canepari, Drea Cooper and Jessica Dimmock | Netflix
The Fourth Estate | Directed by Liz Garbus | Showtime
The Trade | Directed by Matthew Heineman | Showtime
Wild Wild Country | Directed by Chapman Way and Maclain Way | Netflix

Heterodox Award [recognizing work that blurs the line between fiction and nonfiction]

American Animals | Directed by Bart Layton
Obscuro Barroco | Directed by Evangelia Kranioti
Skate Kitchen | Directed by Crystal Moselle
The Tale | Directed by Jennifer Fox
We the Animals | Directed by Jeremiah Zagar

Unforgettable [honoring subjects of documentaries]
(non-competitive honor)

Annette Ontell | 306 Hollywood
América | América
Issei Sagawa | Caniba
Alex Honnold | Free Solo
Julita Salmerón | Lots of Kids, a Monkey and a Castle
Nick Bollettieri | Love Means Zero
M.I.A. | Matangi/Maya/M.I.A.
Kiere Johnson, Bing Liu and Zack Mulligan | Minding the Gap
Abu Osama | Of Fathers and Sons
Nadia Murad | On Her Shoulders
Ruth Bader Ginsburg | RBG
Scotty Bowers | Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood
Georges Cardona, Jasmine Ng, Sophie Siddique and Sandi Tan | Shirkers
Edward Galland, David Kellman and Robert Shafran | Three Identical Strangers
Fred Rogers | Won’t You Be My Neighbor?