Cat's meow: 'Kedi' leads nominations for Critics Choice Documentary Awards

Film on felines of Istanbul earns four noms; Agnès Varda (age 89) and Fred Wiseman (age 87) earn directing nominations

The wide open race for documentary awards recognition just got some clarification -- if only a little.

A wide range of film claimed attention as the Broadcast Film Critics Association (BFCA) and the Broadcast Television Journalists Association (BTJA) announced their nominees for the second annual Critics Choice Documentary Awards.

Ceyda Torun's breakout hit Kedi -- about the street cats who bring endless charm to Istanbul -- earned a leading four nominations, including best documentary, best first documentary, most innovative documentary and best director. In addition, the film's feline leads will share the honor for "Most Compelling Living Subject of a Documentary."

Kedi made more than $2.5 million in North America during its theatrical run earlier in the year.

We cannot wait to celebrate the leading lights in the doc world at our second annual event.

--Joey Berlin, president of the Broadcast Film Critics Association

A quintet of documentaries tallied three nominations apiece, including California Typewriter, Chasing Coral, Dawson City: Frozen Time and two films about the crisis in Syria -- City of Ghosts and Cries From Syria. ​

This year the BFCA and BTJA eliminated the distinction between documentaries with a theatrical release and those that played on TV and across streaming services. As a result there are 16 nominees for best documentary.

Among the best doc nominees is Faces Places, co-directed by 89-year-old Agnès Varda and the much younger artist JR, which won the top honor for a documentary at the Cannes Film Festival. Varda and JR also gained nominations in the best director category.

Documentary great Frederick Wiseman, 87, pulled a similarly impressive nomination double. His latest documentary Ex Libris: The New York Public Library earned a best documentary nom and he joined Varda and JR on the list of best director nominees.

---

Read: Faces Places (Visages Villages) wins L'oeil d'or at Cannes

New York Times hails Fred Wiseman's latest as 'magnificent' 

---

Below is the full list of nominees for the Critics Choice Documentary Awards. The ceremony will be held November 2 in Brooklyn.

BEST DOCUMENTARY

• Abacus: Small Enough to Jail – Director: Steve James (PBS / Blue Ice Films, Mitten Media, Motto Pictures, Kartemquin Films Production)
• Beware the Slenderman – Director: Irene Taylor Brodsky (HBO, Warner Bros. Television Distribution / HBO Documentary Films, Vermilion Films)
• Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds – Directors: Alexis Bloom, Fisher Stevens (HBO / Bloomfish Pictures, HBO Documentary Films, Insurgent Docs, RatPac Documentary Films)
• California Typewriter – Director: Doug Nichol (Gravitas Ventures / American Buffalo Pictures)
• Chasing Coral – Director: Jeff Orlowski (Netflix / Exposure Labs)
• City of Ghosts – Director: Matthew Heineman (Amazon Studios, A&E IndieFilms, IFC Films / Our Time Projects)
• Cries From Syria – Director: Evgeny Afineevsky (HBO / Afineevsky – Tolmor Production, Cinepost Barrandov, Levy Entertainment Group, Studio Malibu)
• Dawson City: Frozen Time – Director: Bill Morrison (Kino Lorber / Hypnotic Pictures, Picture Palace Pictures)
• Eagles of Death Metal: Nos Amis – Director: Colin Hanks (HBO / Live Nation Productions, Company Name)
• Ex Libris: The New York Public Library – Director: Frederick Wiseman (Zipporah Films)
• Faces Places – Directors: Agnès Varda & JR (Cohen Media Group / Ciné Tamaris, Social Animals, Rouge International, Arte France Cinéma, Arches Films)
• Jane – Director: Brett Morgen (National Geographic Documentary Films / National Geographic Studios, Public Road Productions)
• Kedi – Director: Ceyda Torun (Oscilloscope Laboratories, YouTube Red / Termite Films)
• One of Us – Directors: Heidi Ewing, Rachel Grady (Netflix / Loki Films)
• Spettacolo – Directors: Jeff Malmberg, Chris Shellen (Grasshopper Film / Open Face)
• Strong Island – Director: Yance Ford (Netflix / Yanceville Films, Louverture Films)

BEST DIRECTOR

• Evgeny Afineevsky – Cries from Syria (HBO / Afineevsky – Tolmor Production, Cinepost Barrandov, Levy Entertainment Group, Studio Malibu)
• Amir Bar-Lev – Long Strange Trip (Amazon / Amazon Studios, Double E Pictures, Sikelia Productions, AOMA Sunshine Films)
• Matthew Heineman – City of Ghosts (Amazon Studios, A&E IndieFilms, IFC Films / Our Time Projects)
• Bill Morrison – Dawson City: Frozen Time (Kino Lorber / Hypnotic Pictures, Picture Palace Pictures)
• Doug Nichol – California Typewriter (Gravitas Ventures / American Buffalo Pictures)
• Jeff Orlowski – Chasing Coral (Netflix / Exposure Labs)
• Irene Taylor Brodsky – Beware the Slenderman (HBO, Warner Bros. Television Distribution / HBO Documentary Films, Vermilion Films)
• Ceyda Torun – Kedi (Oscilloscope Laboratories, YouTube Red / Termite Films)
• Agnès Varda & JR – Faces Places (Cohen Media Group / Ciné Tamaris, Social Animals, Rouge International, Arte France Cinéma, Arches Films)
• Frederick Wiseman – Ex Libris: The New York Public Library (Zipporah Films)

BEST FIRST DOCUMENTARY

• California Typewriter – Director: Doug Nichol (Gravitas Ventures / American Buffalo Pictures)
• Kedi – Director: Ceyda Torun (Oscilloscope Laboratories, YouTube Red / Termite Films)
• Nowhere to Hide – Director: Zaradasht Ahmed (East Village Entertainment / Ten Thousand Images)
• Step – Director: Amanda Lipitz (Fox Searchlight / Impact Partners, Stick Figure Productions)
• Strong Island – Director: Yance Ford (Netflix / Yanceville Films, Louverture Films)
• Whose Streets? – Director: Sabaah Folayan, Co-Director: Damon Davis (Magnolia Pictures)

BEST POLITICAL DOCUMENTARY

• 11/8/16 – Directors: Duane Andersen, Don Argott & Sheena M. Joyce, Yung Chang, Garth Donovan, Petra Epperlein & Michael Tucker, Vikram Gandhi, Raul Gasteazoro, Jamie Goncalves, Andrew Beck Grace, Alma Har’el, Daniel Junge, Alison Klayman, Ciara Lacy, Martha Shane, Elaine McMillion Sheldon, Bassam Tariq (The Orchard / Cinetic Media)
• Abacus: Small Enough to Jail – Director: Steve James (PBS / Blue Ice Films, Mitten Media, Motto Pictures, Kartemquin Films Production)
• An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power – Directors: Bonni Cohen, Jon Shenk (Paramount / Actual Films, Participant Media)
• City of Ghosts – Director: Matthew Heineman (Amazon Studios, A&E IndieFilms, IFC Films / Our Time Projects)
• Dolores – Director: Peter Bratt (PBS Distribution / 5 Stick Films)
• The Reagan Show – Directors: Sierra Pettengill, Pacho Velez (Gravitas Ventures, CNN Films)

BEST SPORTS DOCUMENTARY

• AlphaGo – Director: Greg Kohs (Submarine Entertainment / Moxie Pictures, Reel As Dirt)
• Disgraced – Director: Pat Kondelis (Showtime Networks / Bat Bridge Entertainment)
• Icarus – Director: Bryan Fogel (Netflix / Alex Productions, Diamond Docs, Impact Partners)
• Speed Sisters – Director: Amber Fares (First Run Features)
• Take Every Wave: The Life of Laird Hamilton – Director: Rory Kennedy (Sundance Selects / Moxie Firecracker Films)
• Trophy – Directors: Christina Clusiau, Shaul Schwarz (CNN Films, The Orchard / Candescent Films, Pulse Films, Reel Peak Films)

BEST MUSIC DOCUMENTARY

• Clive Davis: The Soundtrack of our Lives – Director: Chris Perkel (Apple Music / IM Global, Scott Free Productions)
• Contemporary Color – Directors: Bill Ross IV, Turner Ross (Oscilloscope / The Department of Motion Pictures, Public Domain, Todo Mundo)
• Eagles of Death Metal: Nos Amis – Director: Colin Hanks (HBO / Live Nation Productions, Company Name)
• I Called Him Morgan – Director: Kasper Collin (FilmRise, Submarine Entertainment / Kasper Collin Produktion, Sveriges Television, Film i Väst)
• Long Strange Trip – Director: Amir Bar-Lev (Amazon / Amazon Studios, Double E Pictures, Sikelia Productions, AOMA Sunshine Films)
• Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World – Director: Catherine Bainbridge, Co-Director: Alfonso Maiorana (Kino Lorber / ARTE G.E.I.E, Rezolution Pictures)

MOST COMPELLING LIVING SUBJECT OF A DOCUMENTARY

• The Cats of Istanbul – Kedi (Oscilloscope Laboratories, YouTube Red / Termite Films)
• Etty – One of Us (Netflix / Loki Films)
• Al Gore – An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power (Paramount / Actual Films, Participant Media)
• Laird Hamilton – Take Every Wave: The Life of Laird Hamilton (Sundance Selects / Moxie Firecracker Films)
• Dolores Huerta – Dolores (PBS / 5 Stick Films)
• Gigi Lazzarato – This is Everything: Gigi Gorgeous (YouTube Red / SelectNext, Cabin Creek Films)
• The Sung Family – Abacus: Small Enough to Jail (PBS / Blue Ice Films, Mitten Media, Motto Pictures, Kartemquin Films Production)

MOST INNOVATIVE DOCUMENTARY

• 78/52 – Director: Alexandre O. Philippe (IFC Midnight / ARTE, Exhibit A Pictures, Milkhaus, Screen Division, Sensorshot Productions)
• Casting JonBenet – Director: Kitty Green (Netflix / Forensic Films, Symbolic Exchange, Meridian Entertainment)
• Dawson City: Frozen Time – Director: Bill Morrison (Kino Lorber / Hypnotic Pictures, Picture Palace Pictures)
• Karl Marx City – Directors: Petra Epperlein, Michael Tucker (Bond/360 / Pepper & Bones)
• Kedi – Director: Ceyda Torun (Oscilloscope Laboratories, YouTube Red / Termite Films)
• Last Men in Aleppo – Director: Firas Fayyad, Co-Director: Steen Johannessen (Grasshopper Film / Aleppo Media Center, Larm Film)

BEST SONG IN A DOCUMENTARY

• An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power – “Truth to Power” – OneRepublic (Paramount / Actual Films, Participant Media)
• Chasing Coral – “Tell Me How Long” – Kristen Bell (Netflix / Exposure Labs)
• Cries From Syria – “Prayers for This World” – Cher (HBO / Afineevsky – Tolmor Production, Cinepost Barrandov, Levy Entertainment Group, Studio Malibu)
• Dina – “Best I Can” – Michael Cera featuring Sharon Van Etten (The Orchard / Cinereach, El Peligro, Killer Films)
• Served Like a Girl – “Dancing Through the Wreckage” – Pat Benatar (Entertainment Studios, Freestyle Digital Media)
• Step – “Jump” – Cynthia Erivo (Fox Searchlight / Impact Partners, Stick Figure Productions)

BEST LIMITED DOCUMENTARY SERIES (TV/STREAMING)

• The Defiant Ones (HBO)
• Five Came Back (Netflix / Amblin Television, IACF Productions, Netflix, Passion Pictures, Rock Paper Scissors Entertainment)
• The Keepers (Netflix / Film 45, Tripod Media)
• The Nineties (CNN / CNN, Playtone, Herzog & Company)
• Planet Earth II (BBC America, AMC, SundanceTV / BBC Natural History Unit, BBC America, ZDF, Tencent, France Télévisions)
• The Vietnam War (PBS / Florentine Films, WETA-TV Washington)

BEST ONGOING DOCUMENTARY SERIES (TV/STREAMING)

• 30 for 30 (ESPN / ESPN Films)
• American Masters (PBS / WNET New York City)
• Frontline (PBS / WGBH-TV Boston)
• Independent Lens (PBS / Independent Television Service, Inc.)
• POV (PBS / American Documentary, Inc.)
• VICE (HBO / VICE Media)