National Board of Review names 'RBG' best documentary of the year

New York-based group also salutes Free Solo, Won't You Be My Neighbor? and more

Within hours of Hale County This Morning, This Evening earning best documentary at the IFP Gotham Awards, the National Board of Review weighed in with its choice for the top nonfiction film of the year. The New York-based group picked RBG, the hit documentary about Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

The film by Betsy West and Julie Cohen made a stunning $14 million at the domestic box office earlier in the year, before its television debut on CNN. RBG has been widely praised by critics, including the New York Times, which hailed it as "a loving and informative documentary portrait of Justice Ginsburg."

NBR highlighted a quintet of other nonfiction films on its list of best documentaries of the year, including fellow box office juggernauts Won't You Be My Neighbor?, Three Identical Strangers and Free Solo. The NBR also saluted two Hulu documentaries, Crime + Punishment and Minding the Gap. 

U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, subject of the documentary "RBG." Photo courtesy CNN Films

The National Board of Review also presented its Freedom of Expression award to On Her Shoulders, Alexandria Bombach's documentary about Nobel Peace Prize winner Nadia Murad. 

Last year NBR gave its top doc award to Brett Morgen's film Jane. The National Board of Review, founded in 1909, is composed of "film enthusiasts, filmmakers, professionals and academics of varying ages and backgrounds," according to the NBR website. 

The NBR will honor its award winners at a gala event in New York on January 8.

---

Related:
>Nadia Murad, subject of documentary On Her Shoulders, named winner of Nobel Peace Prize
>Sundance documentary RBG sells to Participant, Magnolia Pictures
​

---